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The Effect of Bicarbonate Concentration on the Rate of Photosynthesis of Baby Spinach Leaves

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The Effect of Bicarbonate Concentration on the Rate of Photosynthesis of Baby Spinach Leaves

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Names: Dawson Garcia, Tejas Mahabaleshwarkar, Bo Schneider, and Xiqing Wang

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How does the concentration of bicarbonate affect the rate of photosynthesis of baby spinach leaves?

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Hypothesis: The higher the concentration of bicarbonate, the higher the rate of photosynthesis of baby spinach leaves.

Prediction: If the concentration of bicarbonate increases the rate of photosynthesis of baby spinach leaves, then it will take a shorter amount of time for chads in the cup labeled 8g to float than it takes for chads in the cups labeled 1g, 2g, and 4g to float because the leaves will have more carbon dioxide to react with.

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1. Collect materials. Set up lab station. Abide by lab rules.

2. Set up five cups. Fill each with 200mL of distilled water. Label cups with 0g, 1g, 2g, 4g, and 8g.

3. Use a balance to mass 1g of bicarbonate. Pour into cup labeled 1g and mix until the bicarbonate dissolves.

4. Repeat step 3 with 2g, 4g, and 8g of bicarbonate.

5. Hole punch 20 chads out of baby spinach leaves.

6. Remove plunger from a 10mL syringe. Place 4 chads into the syringe. Replace plunger into the syringe.

7. Use the syringe and draw 5mL of solution from the cup labeled 0g. Push air bubbles out the syringe.

8. Hold a finger tightly on top of the syringe nozzle. Pull the plunger back, shaking the syringe periodically. Let go of the plunger and remove finger from the syringe nozzle. The chads should sink.

9. Remove plunger from syringe. Pour contents back into cup labeled 0g. Replace plunger into the syringe.

10. Start timer. Swirl cup periodically. Wait for and record the time it takes for 2 of the 4 chads to float to the surface of the solution.

11. Repeat steps 6-8 with cups labeled 1g, 2g, 4g, and 8g.

12. Clean up lab station.

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As the concentration of carbon dioxide increased, the rate of photosynthesis increased.
The concentration of carbon dioxide and the rate of photosynthesis have a positive correlation.
When 0g of carbon dioxide was used, the rate of photosynthesis was 0.0014.
When 1g of carbon dioxide was used, the rate of photosynthesis was 0.0017.
When 2g of carbon dioxide was used, the rate of photosynthesis was 0.0026.
When 4g of carbon dioxide was used, the rate of photosynthesis was 0.0035.
When 8g of carbon dioxide was used, the rate of photosynthesis was 0.0038.

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The researchers accept their hypothesis that the higher the concentration of bicarbonate, the higher the rate of photosynthesis of baby spinach leaves. When 8g of bicarbonate was used, the rate of photosynthesis was 0.0038, which was 0.0024, 0.0021, 0.0012, and 0.0003 greater than the rate of photosynthesis when 0g, 1g, 2g, 4g, and 8g of bicarbonate was used, respectively. Errors could include bicarbonate residue in the weighing boats after pouring the bicarbonate into each cup of distilled water. This would have skewed the measurements of bicarbonate to be less than what they should have been, also affecting the rate of photosynthesis. Another error is the chads sticking to the sides of the cups, which would have skewed the rates of photosynthesis to be lower than what they should have been. To minimize errors in the future, scientists can use distilled water to rinse bicarbonate residue from the weighing boats into the cups to ensure accurate measurements of bicarbonate and swirl the cups more periodically to prevent the chads from sticking to the sides of the cups. This experiment could be used in any situation where rate of photosynthesis of a plant needed to be found.