PAG 12.

3: Investigating the rate of oxygen production in pondweed

Introduction:
This investigation is used to investigate the rate of oxygen produced
in pondweed and how this is affected by abiotic factors, for example
light intensity, water stress and. Pondweed contain specialised tissue
called aerenchyma that allow gases to diffuse inside the plant. When
the aerenchyma is cut, these gases are released as bubbles.
When the temperatures are at optimum and there is a high
availability of carbon dioxide, light intensity becomes the limiting
factor as when light intensity increases, the rate of photosynthesis
increases. This occurs to a certain point when light intensity is in
excess is no longer the limiting factor, and so when light intensity
increases, the rate of photosynthesis does not increase resulting in
either carbon dioxide concentration or temperature being limiting
factors.

Aim:
To plan and carry out an experiment into the rate of photosynthesis
in pondweed and investigate the effect of light intensity as an abiotic
factor on the rate of photosynthesis in a plant due to the rate at
which oxygen is produced.
Hypothesis:
When the distance of the light source is further away from the
pondweed (light intensity), the slower the rate of photosynthesis
until a certain point when the light intensity is not a limiting factor
and decreasing the distance of the light source from pondweed has
no effect on the rate of photosynthesis.
Method:

1. Pull the syringe plunger and allow water to enter the syringe, until the
syringe and the plastic tube are full of water
2. Replace the syringe plunger and slowly push the water out of the flared
end of the tube to ensure that there are no air bubbles in the capillary
tube
3. Cut a 10cm length of the selected pondweed at an angle and make sure
that bubbles of gas are emerging from the cut stem. Place the
pondweeds cut end upwards into a boiling tube containing some of the
water in which it has been kept in and add 2 drops of sodium hydrogen
carbonate solution
4. Place the boiling tube in a beaker of water at around 25 degrees Celsius
(use the thermometer to check)
5. Place the light source as close as to the beaker as possible. Measure and
record the distance between the light source and the plant in a suitable
table
6. Leave the apparatus with the capillary tube positioned, so that it is not
collecting gas given off by the plant for 5-10 minutes to allow the plant to
acclimatise to the new light intensity
7. Position the capillary tube over the cut end of the plant stem and after a
known period (for example 5 minutes) gently pull the syringe plunger and
bring the oxygen bubble into the tube against the scale. Read and record
the length of the bubble
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 twice more
9. Move the light source further away from the plant. Measure and record
the distance. Repeat steps 6 and 7.
10. Continue the investigation at different light intensities. Record the data
and plot a graph of rate of photosynthesis against light intensity
Results Table:

Distance of light Length of bubbles Average length of

from pondweed (mm) bubble (mm)
(cm)
0
10
20
30