Testing a leaf for starch

Aims
In this practical students will:

 test a leaf to see if it has produced starch.

Students will be working scientifically to:

 use appropriate techniques, apparatus, and materials during laboratory work, paying attention to
health and safety

 evaluate risks

 interpret observations to draw conclusions

 present reasoned explanations.

Students will be using the following literacy skills:

 use of scientific terminology when explaining observations for their experiment.

Teacher notes
 The students will need to know about the process of photosynthesis and its products, especially
starch. They also need to know about the colour change of starch with iodine. These ideas can be
covered by using the starters or by discussion.

 Issue the students with the practical sheet and discuss the safety issues with the experiment.

 Ask students to answer the first two questions, which are risk-assessment questions about the
experiment.

 You may be able to synchronise the practical with some groups.

 Check all the Bunsen burners are turned off before allowing students access to the ethanol.

 For extension, students can be provided with variegated leaves and coloured leaves.

Answers
Hypothesis
Adding iodine to starch causes a colour change to blue-black.
Prediction
There will not be a colour change for this experiment.
Questions
1 Risk assessments should include any relevant hazards associated with the practical, and realistic
and relevant precautions to take to minimize the hazard.
2 A description of how iodine turned blue-black in colour when added to the prepared leaf.

© Oxford University Press 2014 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original.
3 Iodine is a test for starch. If iodine turns blue-black starch is present. Therefore the leaf produces
starch, so it photosynthesises.
4 Green colour of leaf could prevent colour change being visible.

Extension
1 Boiling in ethanol decolourised the leaf, making the colour change more visible.
2 You would not see the iodine turn blue-black, as the plant would not have been able to
photosynthesise in the absence of light. Therefore no starch would have been produced.

Support sheet
The accompanying support sheet contains a table to assist students in carrying out their risk
assessment.

© Oxford University Press 2014 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original.
Technician notes

Safety
 Iodine is a possible irritant.

 Alcohol is flammable. Do not pour alcohol down the sink.

 Keep long hair tied back and secure loose clothing when using the Bunsen burner.

 Wear eye protection.

Equipment and materials

 eye protection

 Bunsen burner

 tripod

 gauze

 heatproof mat

 250 ml beaker

 boiling tube

 forceps

 white tile

 iodine

 ethanol

 leaf from any plant that has been in sunlight for at least a day

© Oxford University Press 2014 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original.