BIOS 135 Lab Report Format for ModelChem Labs

BIOS 135 Lab Report Format for ModelChem Labs I. Title Leaf Lab Week 5 iLab II. Introduction Photosynthesis is a process that allows plants to capture the energy of light from the sun and utilizes it in order to change things like carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen. The following experiment will show the reactions of photosynthesis as they occur inside the tomato leaf compared to the corn leaf. The tomato leaf will perform a C-3 photosynthesis, but the corn leaf performs a C-4 photosynthesis. In the following experiment, I will show what light intensity does between the two leaves and how they take in CO2 in different lightings. There are two stages of photosynthesis that primarily depend on light. The rate of photosynthesis is directly proportional with the intensity of the light until there is a point where all the pigments are occupied and cannot absorb any more light energy. Below, you can find the overall reaction for photosynthesis and its product: 6 C02 + 12H20 + light energy - C6H1206 + 602 + 6H20 The purpose of this laboratory is to: • Demonstrate how photosynthetic rates in different plants can change in response to factors such as light intensity, light quality, CO2 concentration, and temperature. • Simulate measurements of CO2 assimilation rates in leaves. • Investigate dark respiration, photochemical efficiency, CO2 conductance, carboxylation efficiency, light compensation points, and photosynthetic saturation. • Compare photosynthesis in C3 and C4 plants. • Study the effects of polyploidy on photosynthetic rates. ( III. Procedure 1) Set up equipment – light source, heat filter, leaf chamber, drying column, infrared gas analyzer 2) Measure surface area of leaf 3) Place the leaves inside chamber 4) Set flow of C02 to 500 ml/min for tomato leaf and 5000 ml/min for corn leaf