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In this fun plant biology project, you will explore how plants use photosynthesis to make energy for themselves with the help of the floating leaf disk assay.
This is because leaves have air in the spaces between cells, which helps them collect CO 2 gas from their environment to use in photosynthesis. When you apply a gentle vacuum to the leaf disks in solution, this air is forced out and replaced with solution, causing the leaves to sink.
Jul 26, 2022 · As oxygen is produced by photosynthesis, it comes out of solution and infiltrates the leaf tissue, replacing some of the water. This decreases the density of the disks, and they begin to float. The number of disks that float per unit of time gives a measure of the rate of photosynthesis.
Do your leaf disks start to float sooner in a colder or a warmer baking soda solution? Test how the intensity of the light affects photosynthesis. Place the cup closer to your light source and farther away.
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Jun 30, 2019 · Watch spinach leaf disks rise and fall in a baking soda solution in response to photosynthesis. The leaf disks intake carbon dioxide from a baking soda solution and sink to the bottom of a cup of water. When exposed to light, the disks use carbon dioxide and water to produce oxygen and glucose.
- Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Jul 11, 2023 · To measure the rate of photosynthesis, you will replace the air in the spongy mesophyll in your leaf disks with a liquid. This will cause the leaf disks to sink. Then you will put these leaf disks in water with dissolved CO 2 and measure the amount of time it takes for the leaf disks to float.
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Why do you think the leaf disks started to float over time? Students most likely observed that the leaf disks in the "with baking soda, light" cup all started to float after a while. If they took a closer look at the leaf disk surface, they might have noticed gas bubbles accumulating over time.
