How Leaf Type Affects the Rate of Photosynthesis by Vasiliki Alexakis

Problem Investigated

valexakis5006 — 2024-02-20 15:05:58 UTC

Will the type of leaf used change the number of floating disks?

Hypothesis

valexakis5006 — 2024-02-20 15:06:48 UTC

If different types of leaves are used for each syringe, the amount of disks floating in each syringe will vary.

Controls & Variables

valexakis5006 — 2024-02-20 15:19:27 UTC

Our controlled change (independent variable), is the kind of leaf used during the experiment. Our dependent variable is how many disks rise as a result of undergoing photosynthesis. The control group is the spinach leaf, because we already know how it reacts with the bicarbonate from our last experiment. The factors held constant are the amount of time spent under the sunlight, the amount of disks, and the amount of bicarbonate.

Procedure

adragos5085 — 2024-02-20 15:20:07 UTC

Using a hole puncher, we obtained 30 leaf disks, 10 for each syringe, the syringes contain 10 red cabbage, spinach, or romaine disks. We pulled the plungers out of both syringes and place 10 leaf disks into each barrel. We then pulled the plunger back of each syringe to fill it to the 6 ml mark with distilled water. We created a vacuum for each syringe, causing the leaf disks to sink. We placed all 3 syringes under the light source and begin timing immediately, recording the total number of disks floating at each minute, At the end of each minute we gently swirled the disks in the syringe, we did this for a total of 18 minutes

Evaluation

adragos5085 — 2024-02-20 15:27:10 UTC

The hypothesis that different types of leaves for each syringe will affect the amount of disks floating was supported by the data. For romaine there was a total of 5 disks floating, and for spinach there was 10, while for red cabbage there was 0 disks floating.

Materials

adragos5085 — 2024-02-20 15:30:23 UTC

The materials used was an iPad, 3 syringes, bicarbonate, romaine lettuce leaves, red cabbage, and spinach leaves, and a lamp

valexakis5006 — 2024-02-20 15:41:21 UTC

valexakis5006 — 2024-02-20 15:41:49 UTC

valexakis5006 — 2024-02-20 15:42:32 UTC

Line Graph for Data

adragos5085 — 2024-02-20 15:48:37 UTC

Experiment Process Summary

valexakis5006 — 2024-02-20 15:48:49 UTC

Today, we will investigate how the type of leaf used affects how many disks float in the syringe we placed underneath a light. When the disks float, it is an indication that photosynthesis took place because the buoyancy changes. We placed them in a bicarbonate solution to provide them with the necessary CO2 for photosynthesis. Let’s take a more deep look at the procedure.

Data Table

valexakis5006 — 2024-02-20 23:33:28 UTC