| Explore | We know that they need water and sunlight. We know that they change colors. We know that they perform photosynthesis. They need CO2 to perform photosynthesis. They do cellular respiration |
|---|---|
| Research Question | Will more carbon dioxide affect the rate of photosynthesis? |
| Predictions | The cup with more baking soda will either have a faster or slower rate of photosynthesis. We predict that the cup with more baking soda will have a faster rate of photosynthesis. There will be more CO2 which means they won’t have to wait for more and plants need CO2 to perform photosynthesis. |
| Experimental Design | Repeat the same filtration process making sure all of the leaves sink. Instead of having a plain and baking soda cup, use two baking soda cups. One will have 1 tablespoon and the other will have two tablespoons of baking soda. Control: amount of water independent: baking soda dependent: # of leaves that float faster |
| Conclusion | More carbon dioxide will affect the rate of photosynthesis. Our evidence is that the cup with more baking soda had a slower rate of photosynthesis. This shows that plants perform photosynthesis slower with more atmospheric carbon. With more atmospheric carbon the slower the rate of photosynthesis. After running the experiment a second time we changed the amount of baking soda in each cup. Instead of having 2 teaspoons in one cup and 1 teaspoon in the other we had 1.5 teaspoons in one cup and 1 teaspoon in the other. After making this change the leaves in the cup with less baking soda all had a faster rate of photosynthesis with the first leaf floating at five minutes. In the cup with more baking soda, the first leaf floated at 24 minutes. In conclusion, with more atmospheric carbon the slower rate of photosynthesis there will be. |