Divine 1

Kaitlyn Divine
Reifke
AP Biology, Period 1
19 October 2015
Photosynthesis Lab Write Up - Problem: In this procedure the accumulation of oxygen was
measured in different types of plant leaves.
Introduction: The reason for doing this lab is to measure how much oxygen the different plant
leaves take in. Carbon dioxide is consumed during photosynthesis. The plant absorbs carbon
dioxide from the environment using its stomata. Oxygen is produced during photosynthesis. The
oxygen is just a byproduct from light dependent reactions of photosynthesis and the stomata just
releases it into the atmosphere at the end of the process. Photosynthesis will be measured in this
lab by testing a variable that we know affects photosynthesis.This lab will test many floating leaf
disks and their rate of photosynthesis. This will also test the buoyancy of the leaves. Without
enough light, a plant cannot photosynthesize very quickly, even if there is plenty of water and
carbon dioxide. Increasing the light intensity will boost the speed of photosynthesis. Sometimes
photosynthesis is limited by the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, Even if there is plenty
of light, a plant cannot photosynthesize if there is an insufficient amount of carbon dioxide. If it
gets too cold or too hot, the rate of photosynthesis will decrease, making temperature a big factor
of photosynthesis as well. The hypothesis is that the leaves with carbon dioxide will consume the
oxygen quicker. This is the hypothesis because something needs carbon dioxide to consume the
oxygen, especially the spinach because it is thinner than the ivy leaves and light can go through it
better.

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Materials and Methods: 0.2% CO2 solution,tap water, sharpie, liquid soap, four plastic
syringes, spinach leaves, ivy leaves, hole punch, four clear plastic cups, a timer, and a light
source.
1. Prepare all of the solutions in the four cups. There are two cups with CO2 and two
cups with only water. There is a spinach and CO2 cup, an ivy and CO2 cup, a spinach and
water cup, and an ivy and water cup. Add liquid soap to each solution.
2. Cut twenty holes out of both the ivy and spinach leaves.
3. Place ten holes of the spinach leaves into one syringe, labeled with CO2 ten more
holes of spinach leaves in a syringe labeled without CO2. Place ten holes of the ivy
leaves into one syringe labeled with CO2, and ten more holes of ivy leaves into the last
syringe labeled without CO2. Each leaf type gets an only soap and water solution and a
CO2 solution. Push all of the air out of the syringes.
4. Fill the syringes up with the proper solutions. The pour the leaves and the
solutions from the syringes into their proper cups and put them under a light.
5. Watch and record how many leaf holes float up over fifteen minutes on the
minute.
Results: All of the leaves in the CO2 solution started floating quicker than the leaves in the
normal soap solution, which was the control. Every solution had activity except for the ivy
leaves without CO2.

Data Table:
Table 1. Minutes v. Floating Disk Count

Divine 3

Minutes

Ivy w/CO2

Spinach w/CO2

Ivy w/o CO2

Spinach w/o
CO2

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

11

10

10

10

12

10

10

10

13

10

10

10

14

10

10

10

15

10

10

10

Calculations:
Ivy w/ CO2 ET50= 7.2 minutes, 1/7.2 = .139
Ivy w/o CO2 ET50= 0 minutes, 1/0 = 0, no floating disks at all
Spinach w/ CO2 ET50= 3.2 minutes, 1/3.2 = .3125
Spinach w/o CO2 ETF50= 8.5 minute, 1/8.5 = .118
Graph:

Divine 4

Figure 1. Minutes v. Floating Disk Count

Discussion: The hypothesis was that the leaves in the solution with the CO2 would float quicker
than the leaves in the soap water and the hypothesis was supported. This happened because the
CO2 was entering the leaves allowing them to produce oxygen through photosynthesis and float.
All of the data points to the fact that all the leaves floated a lot faster and easier when they were
in the CO2 solution. Our controlled variables were the amounts of everything, everything had the
same amount of leaf holes and of the solution. The manipulated variables were the leaf type and
the solutions. The independent variable is time. The dependent variables are the sizes and the
amount of the leaf holes, the type and amount of the solution, and the leaf type. The control was
the leaves in the only water and soap solution. Possible errors that could have gone wrong in this
experiment is that the cups could have gotten switched and mixed up the solutions. There also
might not have been enough light.