The Monts/ St. Andrew`s Episcopal School / SAE_S11_P27

School Level: High School
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Research Information


Research Question
What is the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis?

Research Predictions
If English ivy leaves are exposed to a higher intensity of light, then the plants will undergo the photosynthesis at a faster rate.

Experimental Design
Control group- the group is the box with wax paper on it

Experimental group- the group with cellophane on it, the cellophane will allow the majority of the sunlight to come through.

Independent Variable: the intensity of the sun

Dependent Variable: rate of photosynthesis

Control Variable: same type of plant, distance from the sun, same box, location, temperature, water, amount of soap and baking soda, same syringe, same type of beaker, same person getting out air

-Materials and Equipment list
• The sun
• Leaves from English ivy
• Cell phone timer (2)
• Wax paper
• 2 cardboard boxes
• Hole puncher
• Syringes
• Dish soap
• Baking soda
• Water
• 2 beakers
• Tweezers

Procedure:

1. Obtain the ivy plant from the science teacher.
2. Build two open-topped boxes.
3. Place wax paper over one box and secure with tape.
4. Hole punch 20 leaf samples from the ivy plant.
5. Place the samples in a syringe.
6. Make the samples sink to the bottom by pushing and pulling on the syringe.
7. Transfer all of the samples into a beaker (filled with water, baking soda, and dish soap). Have another beaker containing the same substances prepared.
8. Use tweezers to remove 10 of the samples from the original solution and place them in the second beaker containing the same substances.
9. Place one of the beakers in the box covered with wax paper and the other beaker in the box with no covering.
10. Place the boxes in the sun.
11. Time how long it takes for each of the samples to rise to the top.
12. Record data.




Research Conclusions
My hypothesis stated that the English ivy would undergo the photosynthesis at a faster rate when it is exposed to a higher light intensity. The leaf flotation device showed that the leaves under no covering rose significantly faster than the one under wax covering with a lower light intensity. My data does support my hypothesis and it was proven correctly.

Our goals for preforming this experiment were to find out the ideal conditions for plant photosynthesis and to better learn how to make experiments. My data showed that the leaves under no covering took less time to rise to the top of the beaker. This means that is has a faster rate of photosynthesis. If you are planning on planting plants efficiently you should use a higher intensity place or light bulb so it will perform better. This is the ideal condition for plants. Our other goal was to better understand the process of making experiments. We had to change around our experiment several times and it was very confusing but we learned a lot about the process.

Our uncontrolled variables could possibly be the temperature. Since we did one trial when the sun was out and it was very hot which could have varied the results because the disks rose very fast so we could accurately record the data fast enough. We decided to do the experiment again when the sun wasn’t out and the when the sun wasn’t out and it was 69 degrees. It made the disks rise slower so we could more accurately record the data. If we did this experiment again, I would have probably bought plants and brought them in and let them grown under different light intensities so I could get more controlled results.



Conversations - use this space to communicate about this project


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April 22, 2011 | 1:48 PM | Dr. Catrina Adams

Farewell and Best Wishes
As this research project is now in the final stages of wrapping-up, we wish to thank everyone who participated in this inquiry; the students, mentors, teachers and others behind the scenes. We appreciate all of your efforts and contributions to this online learning community.

Scientific exploration is a process of discovery that can be fun! There are many unanswered questions about plants just waiting for new scientists to consider, investigate, and share.

Please come back and visit the PlantingScience Research Gallery Archive anytime to view this project in the future. You can search the Archive by key word, team name, topic, or school name.

Good bye for now.
Warm regards,
The PlantingScience team
April 13, 2011 | 8:27 AM | Sophy Thomson  (Scientist/Mentor)


Congratulations Mont, Max, Lily and Noah.

Thank you for your kind words. I am sorry that we could not communicate more often (we are in two different time zones and I was probably asleep when you did your experiments!). The suggestions I posted on Monday seems to have got lost. Never mind, you have managed to complete the experiment and get the results too.

In the experimental design, there was a mention of using cellophane paper but there is no reference to it in your procedure. To test the 'ideal conditions for photosynthesis' as stated in your conclusions, you need to consider other parameters too. Would you have obtained similar results at a much higher light intensity?

I am sure this was a great experience for you in spite of the initial difficulties that you encountered. You have now got an idea of the scientific methods, how to formulate hypothesis, make predictions and test it. This will definitely help you to improve on the experimental design and procedure in your future investigations.

I enjoyed being a part of your plantingscience project.

Best Wishes

Sophy
April 12, 2011 | 8:53 AM | mont  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thomson,

Thank you so much for all your help. I'm so happy you were able to take time from your day just to help with our project. I think we will do great on this project and thanks to your help, you got us on the right track.

Thank You,
Mont
April 12, 2011 | 8:50 AM | lily78  (Team Member)

Hello!
Dear Dr. Thomson,

Thank you so much for all your help! Our lab report was due today and we are done with our experiment. The only things left are our grade on this website. We greatly appreciate everything you did for us.

Thanks!
Lily
April 12, 2011 | 8:49 AM | maxc2014  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thomson,
We have completed our experiment and it turned out well. Despite the problems that we had earlier, our experiment turned out for the best. Thank you so much for the help and guidance that you have given us these past few weeks.

Thank you,
Max
April 12, 2011 | 8:46 AM | mont  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thomson,
April 12, 2011 | 8:46 AM | mont  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thomson,
April 12, 2011 | 8:46 AM | noahf  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thomson,
Yesterday we completed our lab reports. Today we turned in our labs now that they are complete. I would like to thank you very much for your time and your helpful insight.
April 7, 2011 | 9:06 AM | maxc2014  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thomson,
We are testing light intensity with the rate of photosynthesis. We performed our experiment today and it did not turn out as planned. We performed the leaf flotation device today but there was no sun out and it was 69 degrees. The data recorded did not turn out as planned. The data disproved our hypothesis and the leaf samples rose in the box with wax paper covering it and the samples did not rise in the box with no covering. We have changed our experiment a little, so if there is some confusion please tell us. The plant that we are using for the leaf flotation device is ivy. We need feedback to know what to do about our results. Sorry for not writing back so quickly.
Thank you,
Max, Mont, Lily, and Noah
April 4, 2011 | 12:25 AM | Sophy Thomson  (Scientist/Mentor)


Good start Max, Noah, Mont and Lily. Could you tell me which plant you are growing ? Make sure that you use the same type of plant, and the amount of water, soil composition etc are constant.

What is your prediction?

Best
Sophy
March 31, 2011 | 6:48 PM | maxc2014  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thompson,
Today we figured out that our first experiment would be too difficult so we changed it a bit. We have decided to use different light bulb wattages and determine which plant shows the most growth. We started to grow our plants today. Please write back and advise accordingly.

Thank you,
Max, Noah, Mont & Lily
March 29, 2011 | 9:02 AM | noahf  (Team Member)


Also, today we decided that our hypothesis is that The plant whose light intensity is being increased (plant A) will start to grow more. The idea is that plant A will adapt to the amount of light. It will start with low light and will be able to use the less light to photosynthesize. As the light increases, the rate of photosynthesis will too but more so in plant A because it will be more used to low light, if that makes sense. Plant B will be our control. We will be sure to use several of the same plants to get consistent data. If that make sense, we would love to here your thoughts.

Hypothesis: If we increase the light intensity over time then the plant will grow larger then if we keep a plant under the same intensity.

Noah, Max, Mont & Lily
March 29, 2011 | 8:55 AM | noahf  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thompson,

Sorry about getting to you so late, i was absent for a series of doctors appointments as well as academic contests which caused me to miss school on the days that my team members sent emails to you. I just thought i'd let you know that I'm on the team too and looking forward to working with you.
March 28, 2011 | 11:45 PM | Sophy Thomson  (Scientist/Mentor)


Sorry about the few typographical errors in the previous communication. I was in a hurry and hit the submit button too soon!
March 28, 2011 | 11:29 PM | Sophy Thomson  (Scientist/Mentor)


Dear Mont, Max and Lily,

Glad to hear from you. I am as excited as you all in following the project that you have taken up. max mentioned that you are palnning to study the effect of light intensity.

1. It is not clear what your hypothesis is. Do you expect the rate of photosynthesis to increase as the light intensity continues to increase or is there a limit?
2. You mentioned that one plant would be kept under high power. Could you specify how many lux that would be and why?
3. You could use bulbs of different light intensity, say starting from 40, 80, 120 instead of using paper to cover the bulbs or using a dimmer.
4. Are you going to expose the same plant to these different intensities of light? What do you expect to see after three days of exposure to a certain intensity?

Send in any specific query that you have?

All the best

Sophy
March 28, 2011 | 5:42 PM | maxc2014  (Team Member)


Dear Dr. Thompson,
Today our group decided that we would have our project based on light intensity. We are planing on having two plants under an artificial light source. One plant would be under high power, and the other plant we would be increasing how much light it gets over every three days. We are planing on using a dimmer, 3 switch light bulb or just covering the light with thin paper. We would love to have feedback and suggestions on our experiment from you.
Thank you,
Max
March 25, 2011 | 12:35 PM | mont  (Team Member)

Thanks
Dr. Sophy Thomson,

Hi, i'm Mont from Austin, Texas. I attend St. Andrews high school and i'm a 9th grader. We are working on designing an experiment over photosynthesis in the next few weeks. Thanks so much for all the help you will give me!

Thanks,
Mont
March 25, 2011 | 12:31 PM | maxc2014  (Team Member)

Hello
Hello my name is Max and I am in the 9th grade in Austin. We are working on designing a project that deals with photosynthesis. I am looking forward to working with you.

Max
March 25, 2011 | 12:31 PM | lily78  (Team Member)

Hello
Dear Dr. Sophy Thompson

I am a ninth grade student at St. Andrews in Austin, Texas. I will be doing an experiment testing the rate of photo synthesis. Next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I will be posting more questions and messages.

Thank you!
Lily
March 20, 2011 | 8:33 PM | Sophy Thomson  (Scientist/Mentor)


Hi Team #27

I guess your experiments are under way. Please let me know how I can be of help.

Best

Sophy
March 11, 2011 | 4:53 AM | Sophy Thomson  (Scientist/Mentor)


Hi,

I am your mentor this session and I am eagerly waiting to hear from you about your research topic.

Best wishes

Sophy
March 10, 2011 | 6:43 PM | Heather

Welcome!
I am happy to welcome you to this community of plant researchers. Your team has the opportunity to be mentored by a scientist to help you develop and perform your own research project. The mentor's role is to encourage and guide you through the scientific process of discovery. The more you share your ideas and research information online, the more your mentor can help.

Your scientist mentor for this project will be Dr Sophy Thomson from American University of Ras Al Khaimah. Please introduce yourself and post some possible research topic ideas to get a conversation rolling.

These resources are available to help you get started:
Thinking Like a Scientist / Working Like a Scientist
Designing Experiments
Guide to Using A Spreadsheet

Best wishes as you start this scientific journey. We are all pleased to share this experience with you.
Have fun!

Sincerely,
The PlantingScience team




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