BIO 43 - PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

Exercise VI. Gaseous Products

of Photosynthesis

SUBIMTTED TO: Mr. PERCY MARK SIENES

Laboratory Instructor

SUBMITTED BY: JAIKA DE JESUS YBER

BS Biology IV
Abstract

Plants use photosynthesis as a way of producing glucose. They take in light energy from the sun and

water and carbon dioxide from the air. This is then used to produce oxygen and glucose. In this experiment,

leaf disks from kangkong (Ipomoea aquatica) is observed the sodium bicarbonate aids carbon dioxide in

gaseous exchange in plants.

Introduction

While the definition of photosynthesis - which states that it is a process by which plants prepare

their own food using sunlight, carbon dioxide and water, is most often restricted to elementary books, a

technically sound definition of the same states that it is 'a process wherein phototrophs use energy

derived from the Sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into organic matter, which is eventually used

for cellular functions such as biosynthesis and respiration'. Phototrophs here are organisms - plants, algae

and bacteria, with the ability to carry out photosynthesis to derive energy (Science and Technology

Concepts Middle School, 2019).

Methods

The gathered leaves were healthy with less veins. Using a puncher, about 30 leaf disks were

cut from the kangkong (Ipomoea aquatica) leaves and were then placed inside a syringe barrel.

Used the plunger to make sure that there will only be a small amount of air left inside the barrel.

Filled the syringe with distilled water to remove some of the air left by inverting the syringe and
push out a little water just enough not to have an air bubble at the top of the syringe. Then create

a vacuum while the syringe is still inverted by putting a finger at the opening of the syringe while

drawing the plunger backwards, make sure to hold this for 5-10 seconds. That step ensures to

remove the air from the leaf disks. Placed a finger at the opening of the syringe held it there for

10 seconds. During this process the leaf disks will start to sink; the sunken leaf disks were

transferred to a plastic petri dish.

Three beakers were used in this experiment and were labeled to avoid confusion. Beaker A

should be filled with 100mL distilled water. Beaker B contains 1.5 grams of sodium bicarbonate

while beaker C was added with 3.0 grams of sodium bicarbonate.10 leaf disks were submerged

in each beaker and were put under a good light source and observed in an hour if there are leaf

disks that floats in at least every 5 minutes.

Results

No. of floating leaf disks

Time
(minutes)
Beaker A Beaker B Beaker C

5 0 0 0
10 0 0 0
15 0 0 0
20 0 0 0
25 0 0 0
30 0 0 0
35 0 0 0
 40 0 0 0
45 0 0 1
50 0 1 2
55 0 2 4
60 0 1 4

Discussions

It is evident that there are more leaf disks that floats in a beaker with more sodium bicarbonate

than the one without or with lesser amount of sodium bicarbonate for it aids the plant cells collect

CO2 gas through photosynthesis. It was observed that the presence and absence of light also

affected the leaf disks ability to float.

Conclusion

Photosynthesis, where light energy is converted into chemical energy stored

in glucose that can later be used in respiration. The importance of light source for a plant

activity to push through and the role of sodium bicarbonate was highlighted in this experiment.

References

Agriculture Information Bank. (2013) Retrieved from

https://agrinfobank.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/effects-of-sodium-bicarbonate-on-plant-growth/

Science and Technology Concepts Middle School. (2019). What is Photosynthesis. Smithsonian Science

Education Center. Retrieved from https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/what-photosynthesis