lhselligposfall2023 project 13
- Project reviewer
Joined 21 Sep 2023
Project by group lhselligposfall2023
Info
| Explore | We know that plants photosynthesize. We know that the mass of a plant comes from photosynthesis. We discovered that photosynthesis can happen even when a leaf is not connected to a plant. Plants' ability to photosynthesize interests us. |
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| Research Question | How does changing the plant we create leaf disks from affect the rate of photosynthesis? |
| Predictions | We think that the spinach leaf disks will float before the rhododendron leaf disks. We think this because spinach leaves are thicker (as opposed to rhododendron leaves), which means there are more chloroplasts to photosynthesize, which means they will release oxygen quicker, and therefore will... |
| Experimental Design | Step one: create leaf disks out of rhododendron leaves and spinach leaves. 3 disks per leaf type. Step two: Prepare baking soda and water solution and infiltrate leaf disks using the same method as the leaf disk lab, but use 50 ml beakers instead of plastic cups, and 40ml of water per beaker.... |
| Conclusion | We found that the rhododendron leaves rose quicker than the spinach leaves. This answers our research question in that different plants photosynthesize at different rates, as if they photosynthesized at the same rates, every leaf disks would rise at the same time. We had no problems, but we... |
| About this Project | I think that this team did a great job of engaging with scientific thinking. You can easily follow their questioning and decision-making process throughout the development and execution of their experiment, while engaging with the scientists who were involved. -- Meghan Britton, Liaison |
Updates
To wrap up our unit of photosynthesis, we had to create an infographic explaining how photosynthesis and cellular respiration connect to the idea of a seed turning into a giant tree. Here is a link to mine (I made it with Canva): https://www.canva.com/design/DAF1fSCko04/hun0S6XO7D0lvE5ylDtGNg/view?utm_content=DAF1fSCko04&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor
Thanks for helping us out and being our mentors!
Very good! It is great how you summarized it and made a great design! Congratulations!
Here is a summary of our answers to the questions we answered about our investigation:
We found that the rhododendron leaves rose quicker than the spinach leaves. This answers our research question in that different plants photosynthesize at different rates, as if they photosynthesized at the same rates, every leaf disks would rise at the same time. We had no problems, but we noticed that one leaf disk rose, then the next minute fell, then the next minute rose again. This did not affect our results as the rhododendron leaves rose marginally faster than the spinach leaves.
Hi Team!
Congrats on finishing the project!
Are you doing some kind of presentation about the project in class?
Thank you for being participative students! It is been great work with you all!
Gabriela
Project update: We finished our investigation, but we had to use rhododendron leaves instead of maple leaves. We found that the rhododendron leaf disks rose quicker than spinach leaf disks. We are not sure why, but I think it may be related to the speed that the plants grow. Since photosynthesis is where the mass of a plant comes from, if one plant grows faster/increases mass faster than another, it is possible that it is photosynthesizing faster. There are other factors to growth rate, so this is just a guess.
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Leaf Anatomy:
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Leaf Structure: The overall structure of the leaf, including the arrangement of cells, veins, and tissues, can impact the efficiency of photosynthesis. For example, a well-organized mesophyll layer with a high surface area exposed to light facilitates optimal photosynthetic activity.
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Leaf Size: Larger leaves often have more surface area for capturing sunlight, which can enhance photosynthesis. However, very large leaves may also experience challenges in terms of water loss and temperature regulation.
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Leaf Pigments:
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Chlorophyll Content: Chlorophyll is the pigment responsible for capturing light energy during photosynthesis. The amount and type of chlorophyll present in the leaf can influence the plant's ability to absorb specific wavelengths of light.
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Accessory Pigments: Other pigments, such as carotenoids and xanthophylls, complement chlorophyll by capturing additional light wavelengths. These pigments broaden the spectrum of light that plants can use for photosynthesis.
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Leaf Color:
- Leaf Coloration: The color of the leaf can affect its ability to absorb and reflect light. Dark green leaves generally absorb more light for photosynthesis compared to lighter-colored leaves.
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Leaf Surface Characteristics:
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Leaf Surface Area: The surface area of the leaf exposed to light affects the amount of sunlight that can be captured for photosynthesis.
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Leaf Texture: The presence of hairs, wax, or other surface features can affect the reflection of light, water retention, and temperature regulation, all of which can impact photosynthesis.
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Stomatal Characteristics:
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Stomatal Density: Stomata are tiny openings on the leaf surface that regulate gas exchange, including the intake of carbon dioxide (CO2) for photosynthesis. The density and distribution of stomata can influence the rate of CO2 uptake.
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Stomatal Size: Larger stomata may allow for faster gas exchange, but they can also increase water loss through transpiration.
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Leaf Age:
- Senescence: Older leaves may have a reduced capacity for photosynthesis as they undergo senescence, a natural aging process. Younger leaves often exhibit higher rates of photosynthesis.
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Leaf Orientation:
- Leaf Angle: The orientation of leaves relative to the direction of sunlight can affect the amount of light intercepted. Some plants exhibit adaptations, such as leaves that track the sun or have specific orientations, to optimize light absorption.
Hi Team!
Great to see you were able to adapt the experiment to your needs. This is very common in science, many times we have to adapt/redesign the experiment to what we really have/is possible to do at the moment.
As you were doing the experiment just with the leaves (they are not attached to the plant), I think this difference might be more due to differences in the leaf characteristics.
Here are some leaf characterisctics that can affect photosyntheses:
Note about your "Info":
*the leaf thickness is more related to the water content.
*the water content is one of the many things that influence the chloroplast content, which is mainly influenced by genetics.
*So, you can keep with your prediction, but just to make clear this would be an indirect influence.
Got it. Thanks!
We are doing a independent investigation in class of how different leaf disks affect the rate at which photosynthesis occurs
This is our question: How does changing material of leaf disks affect the rate of photosynthesis
Our Procedure:
Step one: create leaf disks out of maple leaves and spinach leaves.
Step two: Prepare baking soda and water solution and infiltrate leaf disks using the same method as the leaf disk lab. Prepare two cups using this method, infiltrate 3 leaf disks
Step three: Place spinach and maple leaf disks in separate cups. Place these cups under a lamp, 3 – 5 cm away from the lamp.
Step four: Turn lamp on, start stopwatch. When all leaf disks have risen in each cup, record the time it took.
Do you have any suggestions to improve either our question or our procedure write up?
Hi Team!
That's exciting you are doing your own experiment, right? Now, you are a scientist too :)
Good research question!! You can be more specific and say what type of leaf characteristics, that are different between these two, you think will influence photosynthesis.
Take 10 leaf discs from different leaves for each cup. Taking a more randomized sample collection will reduce the possibility of a not accurate result that might be biased by 1 leaf with some unique characteristics.
Excited to see your results!
Gabriela
Hi Team!
First, just to wrap up your last questions about the leaf discs and Elodea experiment:
*congrats on your last observations and answers about the leaf discs, that's right! By "info section" I meant this gray space above our chat, which you have already filled by now. :)
*about the elodea experiment: when CO2 is added to the phenol red solution, the color of the solution turns light yellow. Adding CO2 to the solution, makes the pH decrease. Thus, just the vial with elodea in the dark should turn yellow, right? Because there is respiration going on in the dark, this process consumes O2 and releases CO2. By somehow, CO2 got into the solution too on the other vials, that's why you notice them turn light yellow.
Hello! I am the Meghan, the liaison for all of Mrs Ellig's groups. I've been checking in and I see that most of our groups are designing their experiments (yay!). I want to encourage students to use the Info area with the blue boxes to outline the parts of their experiment and use that as guidance. Any information that is put in there should be editable. This way everyone knows where to look when wanting to know more about your project, and it doesn't get buried in the feed. Feel free to keep asking questions and communicating with mentors in the Feed, and keep up the good work!
Hi Team! Great to see your progress! :)
Remember that when we are doing an experiment is very important to take notes of, literally, everything! The methods are what validate our results. Then, later we can evaluate what we did, see if there is something that could have an influence on the results, maybe make some changes and redo the experiment, and write a scientific paper about it.
Looking forward to seeing your results! Tell me what you notice in each vial and why they are happening.
Gabriela
After our experiment, the phenol red solution in each of the vials turned pink, except for the vial that was wrapped in tinfoil and had a piece of elodea in it (It turned clear). We do not know why this happened, they should have all stayed yellow/clear, and the one with elodea that was not wrapped in tinfoil should have been the only one to turn pink. This is because photosynthesis releases oxygen, which is what causes the phenol red to turn pink. 3 of the vials cannot photosynthesize, as they either don't have access to light or don't have elodea in them, so there should have been no change. We may have done something wrong in our setup.
We did the first half of a two part lab and we start part two tomorrow, the lab is light and dark
We finished part 1 of the light and dark lab, and are currently doing the pre-lab for part 2. We will do the actual lab for part 2 tomorrow.
Hi Team! That's great to hear you are done with the experiment.
I have some questions for you:
1) Did you observe the disc floating in all the cups? Why in some cups the discs float and in some cups not? What does this mean?
2) Did you notice bubbles around the discs floating? What do the bubbles represent? Which gas is being formed and why?
3) Did you have any difficulties or errors that wanna discuss?
Also, remember to fill in the Info section above. That is a good practice to plan a science project.
See you,
Gabriela
I noticed that the only leaf disks that floated were the ones in the cup with the baking soda. These ones were able to float because they have access to CO2, which is needed in photosynthesis, and photosynthesis produces oxygen, which causes the leaf disks to float.
The bubbles around the leaf disks were the oxygen being produced by photosynthesis.
We did notice that the disks in the cup with the breath and water solution did not float despite them having access to CO2. This is because that cup only halfway under the lamp and received less light than the other cups (a mistake on our end)
Also, what do you mean by "The info section above"? I am not sure what you mean.
- Caleb
Hi Meghan! I have some questions I would like to ask you. How many years does it take to earn a PhD? What is urban plant ecology?
Also I forgot to add this. We just finished our leaf disk lab. I thought the infiltration part of the lab was cool, and it was really cool to see the leaf disks start floating when placed under the light!
Hello team! It is very nice to meet you all and to learn more about you. My name is Meghan, and I am the liaison who will be working with your teacher, the mentors, and all of the student teams. My job is basically to make sure everything goes smoothly as you are planning out and working on your projects. You will likely see me posting from time to time :)
I am a former middle school science teacher, and I am in the 2nd year of a PhD program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. My area of interest is in urban plant ecology, and I am more specifically interested in the growth patterns of milkweeds in urban environments. Outside of my work, I enjoy reading and crafting (especially crochet). Feel free to ask any questions that you might have for me, and I can't wait to see what you decide to explore for your project!
I like anything related to computers, especially home lab stuff. Aside from that, I like almost any unconventional sport (ultimate frisbee, ping pong, and mini golf if that counts) along with Cross Country. I have some experience with plants. I accidently propogated a peperomia plant when a piece of it fell off (I wanted to keep it, but I didn't know what I was supposed to do, so I just placed it in a small container with water, and it's still growing!) I have also created a terrarium before. My favorite subjects in school are math and Spanish (I really want to become fluent). I want to get a job in the software part of the computer industry, preferably something with coding.
Ben-jamen: I like to play the piano and compose music, I have a garden in my backyard that has cucumbers carrots watermelons pumpkins and NASTY weeds. My favorite subject in school is either band or college and high school world history. I don’t know what I want to do yet for the future.
Hello Team!
I’m Gabriela, your scientist mentor. I’m an Environmental and Sanitary Engineer from São Paulo, Brazil. Also, I am a Master’s student in Plant Biology at Oklahoma State University. My research is related to ecology and climate change. Have you noticed how climate has been changing through the last decades? Do you know why and how this is happening?
I’ve been interested in plants since my childhood. I remember my mom making tea with medicinal herbs and I was amazed about how the plants can help us. Do you usually use medicinal herbs too? If so, which ones? My favorite ones are lavender and rosemary!
In my free time, I like hiking and traveling to know new places. What is your favorite trip so far? Also, I play flute and like to learn new music. What about you, what do you like to do in your free time?
Looking forward to meeting you all!
Gabriela