DATA ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT - PHOTOSYNTHESIS

To complete this assignment you are divided into teams of four students. Each team should construct four
separate, properly formatted graphs, one drawn by each team member and shared with the other team members.
Each team member should then interpret the content of the four graphs by answering the three questions related
to photosynthesis.

The following data were obtained by measuringthe rate of photosyntheis (P) as leaves were exposed to varying
light levles of different colour. Photosynthesis in these experiments was measured as the amount of carbon
dioxide (CO2) absorbed by a certain surface area of leaf per unit of time (hence the unit of meaasurement for the
rate of photosynthesis, or P, is µmol/m2/s). The experiment was conducted four times, each time with a filter
that changed the colour of the light (light is measured as an amount of light per unit area per unit time, so light
also has the units µmol/m2/s. Measurements of the photosynthetic rates (P) were taken each time the light
intensity was increased by 200 µmol/m2/s.

Construct a graph of the data obtained from each experiment.

Note: The independent variable (x axis) is what the experimenter manipulates in the experiment; the dependent
varibale (y axis) is what the experimenter measures.

Table 1. Photosynthetic rate (P) (µmol/m2/s) of a tomato leaf (Solanum Lycopersicon esculentum) exposed to
increasing light intensities (µmol/m2/s), using different colour filters (white, red, green and blue).

White filter Red filter Green filter Blue filter

Light (P) Light (P) Light (P) Light (P)
intensity µmol/m2/s intensity µmol/m2/s intensity µmol/m2/s intensity µmol/m2/s
µmol/m2/s µmol/m2/s µmol/m2/s µmol/m2/s
0 -1.6 0 -1.4 0 -1.5 0 -1.4
200 5.7 200 1.0 200 -1.0 200 1.7
400 10.8 400 3.2 400 -0.8 400 4.5
600 13.4 600 5.1 600 -0.3 600 7.2
800 14.9 800 7.0 800 0.0 800 9.3
1000 15.3 1000 8.6 1000 0.5 1000 10.9
1200 15.7 1200 9.8 1200 0.9 1200 12.2
1400 16.1 1400 11.1 1400 1.1 1400 12.7
1600 15.9 1600 12.0 1600 1.7 1600 13.8
1800 16.3 1800 12.9 1800 2.0 1800 14.3
2000 16.0 2000 11.3 2000 2.3 2000 14.5

QUESTIONS
1. How do the different colours of light affect the rate of photosynthesis? In your answer make reference to
light intensities and photosynthetic rates from the data in Table 1 and in the graphs (provide units).

2. Do the results of these experiments make sense based on what you know about how photosynthetic
pigments absorb light of various wavelengths? In your answer describe how photosynthetic pigments absorb
different wavelengths of light and make reference to the data in Table 1.

3. In these experiments, photosynthetic rate (P) describes how much carbon dioxide is absorbed by a known
area of leaf in a given amount of time. Explain why there is a negative photosynthetic rate when there is no
light exposed to the leaf. In other words, what is happening in the leaf’s cells that would result in a net
release of carbon dioxide when the leaf is in the dark?