By: Rasha Abdel Fattah Mobile: 01211266283

✓ explain that plants gain nutrition from mineral salts absorbed through the roots and from glucose made in photosynthesis
✓ investigate the effects of mineral deficiencies on plant growth

Plants need to take in a number of elements to stay alive. The most
important are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
Plants get hydrogen and oxygen from water in the soil, and carbon and
oxygen from carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere. Water and
carbon dioxide are used to synthesise food during photosynthesis.
Oxygen is used to release energy from food during respiration.
In addition to these three elements, plants need a number of minerals for
healthy growth. These are absorbed through the roots as mineral ions
dissolved in the soil water. Two important mineral ions needed by plants
are:
• nitrate - for making amino acids, which are needed to make proteins
• magnesium - for making chlorophyll
If a plant does not get enough minerals, its
growth will be poor. It will suffer from
deficiency symptoms:
• deficient in nitrate - it will suffer from
stunted growth
deficient in magnesium - its leaves will turn
yellow

✓ by examination of original historical experimental work, deduce, define and describe photosynthesis using a word equation and a balanced symbol
equation, describing how the atoms in carbon dioxide and water can be 'rearranged' into glucose and oxygen

Ancient Greek scientists

Scientists in ancient Greece believed that plants gained mass only by taking in minerals from the soil. They would not have tested this idea.
Jan Baptist van Helmont (1580-1644)
Van Helmont carried out an experiment to see if the idea from ancient Greece was correct. He grew a willow tree in a weighed amount of soil. After five
years, he discovered that the willow tree weighed about 74 kg more than it did at the start. As the weight of the soil had hardly changed, van Helmont
concluded that plant growth cannot only be due to minerals from the soil. He thought that the extra plant
material had come from the water alone.
Joseph Priestley (1733 - 1804)
Joseph Priestley carried out an experiment that showed that plants produce oxygen. He put a mint plant in a
closed container with a burning candle. The candle flame used up the oxygen and went out. After 27 days,
Priestley was able to re-light the candle. This showed that plants produce a gas that allows fuels to burn.
This gas is oxygen.

It is the process by which green plants make sugar from carbon dioxide and water using sunlight energy absorbed by chlorophyll
Carbon Dioxide + Water Glucose + Oxygen
Chlorophyll
Raw Materials End Products

Diffuses through Stomata Osmosis thru the root

Green pigment, absorbs all the

Light colors and reflects the green

Light Energy Chlorophyll in chloroplasts Chemical Energy in the glucose molecules

Intake of Raw Materials:

Raw Material Intake method

Carbon Dioxide Diffusion Through stomata from the air → to air spaces → to mesophyll cells " spongy and palisade.

Water Osmosis from the soil through root hair cells → to xylem of the root → to xylem of the stem → to xylem of the leaves.

Mineral Salts Active transport

✓ undertake experiments to understand the role of chlorophyll in trapping light energy and transforming it into chemical energy for the formation of
glucose and storage of starch
Experiment for photosynthesis should fulfill these steps: Destarching a plant
1- Destarch the plant • It means removing the stored starch formed during photosynthesis from the plant
2- Do starch test of one of the leaves to ensure absence of tissues
starch • It is done by putting the plant in darkness for 48 hours (2 days)
3- Do the experiment • The plant will not photosynthesize; the starch will be used up in respiration without
4- Retest for starch replacement.
5- A control experiments It is important to follow the formation of new starch during the experiment
“Control Experiment is an experiment that is set up to ensure that only
the factor under investigation has caused that result. Plants cannot photosynthesize in the presence of green light only
The control experiment could be the same experiment but with adding
the missing factor in the original experiment”

Chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis

1- Do steps 1 & 2 on a variegated plant
2- Expose the plant to light for 6 hours.
3- Test the leaf for starch
Observation
Green area → blue black → starch present
White area → yellow brown → no starch

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 By: Rasha Abdel Fattah Mobile: 01211266283

investigate the effect of varying light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration and temperature on the rate of photosynthesis (e.g. in submerged aquatic
plants), identifying how limiting factors restrict the rate of photosynthesis
1- Under different light intensities
a- By using a lamp at different distances from the water plant in a dark room.
b- By using a lamp with different intensities.

Tip
Precautions: In the above experiment, after changing each distance, wait for a short period of time before counting the gas bubbles so that the plant
adjust itself to the new conditions.
A heat filter is placed in front of the lamp to absorb the heat emitted from the lamp " as we are investigating the effect of light intensity only".

2- Under different concentrations CO2

By using different masses of hydrogen carbonate which produces CO2
3- Under different temperatures
By using water with different temperatures ( using a thermometer and a water bath)
How to measure the rate of photosynthesis under the previous conditions?
1- By counting the number of bubbles per unit time.
But this is not accurate because:
- Size of bubbles may be different.
- Bubbles may be too small to be seen
- Miscounting due to rapid bubbles production rate
2- By using graduated tube or gas syringe to collect and measure the volume of the gas

Temperature Light Carbon Dioxide Concentration

✓ Compare and contrast photosynthesis and respiration

Photosynthesis Respiration

Reactants 6CO2 and 12H2O and light energy C6H12O6 and 6O2

Requirement of sunlight Can occur only in presence of sunlight Sunlight not required; cellular respiration occurs at

all times.

Equation 6CO2 + 6H2O + light --> C6H12O6 + 6O2 6O2 + C6H12O6 --> 6CO2 +6H2O + ATP

(energy)

Chemical reaction Carbon dioxide &water combine in presence of Glucose is broken down into water and carbon

sunlight to produce glucose &oxygen. dioxide (and energy).

Products C6 H12 O6 & 6O2 & 6H20 6CO2 & 6H2O & energy(ATP)

Main function Production of food. Energy Capture. Breakdown of food. Energy release.

Occurs in Chloroplasts Mitochondria

oxygen & carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is absorbed and oxygen is released. Oxygen is absorbed and carbon dioxide is released.

Energy Required Released

Occurs during Day Day & Night

Occurs in which organism Producers (plants, Algae and some bacteria) All living organisms

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