Photosynthesis Virtual Labs.
Lab 1: Glencoe Photosynthesis Lab
Analysis Questions
1. Make a hypothesis about which color in the visible spectrum causes the most plant growth and which color in the visible spectrum causes the least plant growth?
If chlorophyll is green, and reflects green light, then a plant exposed only to green light will not grow as well as a plant exposed to another color of light
If violet light has the shortest wavelength of all visible light, which has the most energy, then a plant exposed to violet light will grow better than a plant exposed to other colors of light.
2. How did you test your hypothesis? Which variables did you control in your experiment and which variable did you change in order to compare your growth results?
I grew both violet and green light exposed plants and compared them both to plants growing under red light as a control, and then compared the other colors of light to red.
Results:
Filter Color
|
Spinach Avg. Height (cm)
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Raddish Avg. Height (cm)
|
Lettuce Avg. Height (cm)
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Red
|
11 ⅔
| ||
Orange
|
6
| ||
Green
|
3 ⅓
| ||
Blue
|
12
| ||
Violet
|
8 ⅔
|
3. Analyze the results of your experiment. Did your data support your hypothesis? Explain. If you conducted tests with more than one type of seed, explain any differences or similarities you found among types of seeds.
My hypothesis was partially supported by my data. As I predicted, plants growing under green light grew the shortest of all the plants, but violet light didn’t cause the plants to grow the most. Instead, blue caused the most plant growth.
4. What conclusions can you draw about which color in the visible spectrum causes the most plant growth?
When grown under blue light, a plant will grow taller than if it was grown under a different color of light.
5. Given that white light contains all colors of the spectrum, what growth results would you expect under white light?
I would expect similar growth, because white light contains blue light, which caused the most plant growth.
Site 2: Photolab
This simulation allows you to manipulate many variables. You already observed how light colors will affect the growth of a plant, in this simulation you can directly measure the rate of photosynthesis by counting the number of bubbles of oxygen that are released.
There are 3 other potential variables you could test with this simulation: amount of carbon dioxide, light intensity, and temperature.
Choose one variable and design and experiment that would test how this factor affects the rate of photosynthesis. Remember, that when designing an experiment, you need to keep all variables constant except the one you are testing. Collect data and write a lab report of your findings that includes:
- Question
- Hypothesis
- Experimental parameters (in other words, what is the dependent variable, independent variable, and control?)
- Data table
- Conclusion (Just 1st and 3rd paragraphs since there's no way to make errors in a virtual lab)
*Type this document on a word processor or in Google Docs and submit via Canvas.
In this lab we asked how temperature affected the rate of photosynthesis in plants. My hypothesis was that a plant subjected to higher temperatures would photosynthesize at a faster rate than a plant subjected to lower temperatures. To test this in the virtual lab, I set white light intensity and amount of Carbon Dioxide to the maximum allowed, and counted the amount of bubbles per minute at different temperatures, because without Carbon Dioxide and Light, photosynthesis would not occur. My data showed that 25 degrees (C) was the optimal temperature for photosynthesis because the most oxygen was produced at that temperature. This is probably because the enzymes in plants work best at that temperature, and anything lower or higher will begin to denature them.
This lab was done to demonstrate the effect on external conditions on internal functions such as photosynthesis. From this lab I learned how the rate of photosynthesis can be easily measured by counting the amount of oxygen bubbles, which helps me understand the reactants and products, such as oxygen, of photosynthesis and what happens to them. Based on my experience from this, I could choose optimal conditions for growing plants in a controlled environment.
Temperature Vs. Rate of Photosynthesis
Temperature (C)
|
Bubbles/Minute
|
10
|
24
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25
|
66
|
40
|
54
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