Name: Piper Little

Date: June 4, 2021

Photosynthesis Post-Lab Worksheet

Part One: Observing Evidence of Photosynthesis
A. Answer your Data Analysis questions from the Procedure here: (5 points each)
1. Which test tube(s) revealed a color change during this investigation?
Test tube 1 and test tube 2.

2. What does a color change indicate in this investigation?

A color change indicates that an acidic substance is present within distilled
water.

B. Fill out the following chart based on the experiment: (10 points)
3.
Test Tube #1 Test Tube #2 Test Tube #3
What plant Elodea What plant Elodea What plant None
is present? is present? is present?
What was BTB What was BTB What was BTB
in the in the in the
solution? solution? solution?

Light Yes Light No Light Yes

source? source? source?
Color Green Color Green Color Green
before? before? before?

Color Blue Color Yellow Color Green

after? after? after?

(continue below)

C. Answer the following questions based on this portion of the Lab Procedure:
(5 points each)
4. Why doesn’t the Elodea plant in the solution produce oxygen in the dark?
Because there is no light source, the chlorophyll cannot absorb energy and
produce glucose to release oxygen.

5. For each tube that changed color, why do you think there was a color change?
Test tube 1 turned blue because it underwent photosynthesis, which produced
oxygen. Test tube 2 turned yellow because it used cellular respiration as it was
left in the dark, and it produced carbon dioxide.

6. Bromothymol blue is an indicator used to detect the presence of what gas?

Carbon dioxide

7. Why did you initially breathe into the solution to turn it green?

When you exhale, you release carbon dioxide, which turned the solution green
because of the small presence of CO2.

(continue below)
Part Two: Observing Rate of Photosynthesis
A. Answer your Data Analysis questions from the Procedure here: (5 points each)
1. Explain why the plant was producing bubbles when placed near the light source.
The plant was producing bubbles because when near a light source, it
underwent photosynthesis, which produced oxygen.

2. How does the rate of photosynthesis change when the distance of the light source
changes?
The closer the plant is to a light source, the faster the rate of photosynthesis
and production of oxygen will be.

B. Answer the following questions based on this portion of the Lab Procedure:
(5 points each)
3. What was the rate of photosynthesis for each light source (per minute)?
6 cm: 22 bubbles per minute
20 cm: 8 bubbles per minute

(continue below)
4. What is the purpose of the sodium bicarbonate being mixed into the solution?
It supplied CO2 to the Elodea plants, boosting photosynthesis.
5. How does this investigation demonstrate that plants give off oxygen during
photosynthesis? Explain your answer based on your observations.

When the Elodea with the sliced stem in water is placed underneath the heat
lamp, it continuously produces bubbles. These are oxygen bubbles that are
being produced because the plant is undergoing photosynthesis.

Part Three: Observing a Byproduct of Photosynthesis

A. Answer your Data Analysis questions from the Procedure here: (5 points each)
1. Why is it important for plants to release oxygen as a byproduct?

Plants release oxygen as it is their waste. It is important because it supplies

oxygen to all of the animals and humans on earth who rely on it to survive.

(conitnue below)
2. Compare and contrast this experiment in Part 3 of photosynthesis with the
exploration of photosynthesis through the observation of the oxygen bubbles in part 2.
 Both of these experiments are very similar as in they both use the production
of oxygen bubbles and heat lamps. In part 2, a heat lamp is used with a
crushed stem of Elodea at both 6 cm and 20 cm to observe how many bubbles
are produced. In part 3, an upside funnel is placed over the Elodea and a heat
lamp is place next to it. Leaving it overnight, you are able to determine the rate
of photosynthesis by how much the test tube has been displaced.

B. Answer the following questions based on this portion of the lab procedure:
(5 points each)
3. Why should the level of water in the beaker be above the highest point of the funnel's
stem?

It should be above the highest point so we can properly gauge how much
oxygen was produced during photosynthesis.

4. What do you think would happen if we added more sodium bicarbonate to the
solution?
If we added more sodium bicarbonate, I think that much more oxygen would
be produced during photosynthesis.

(continue below)
Part Four:
Label the major parts of the chloroplast: (15 points)
 Move the labels below to the best position on the picture to identify its components. Do
so by clicking and dragging the actual textbox and placing it in the correct location on
the chloroplast.

inner
outer membrane
membrane thylakoid
granum
stroma