Fun Facts!

• A notch in a tree will remain the same distance from the ground as the tree grows.
• Banana oil is made from petroleum.
• 84% of a raw apple and 96% of a raw cucumber is water.
• The largest single flower is the Rafflesia or “corpse flower”. They are generally 0.9144 metres in diameter with the record being 42 inches.
• Onions contain a mild antibiotic that fights infections, soothes burns, tames bee stings and relieves the itch of athletes foot.
• Quinine, one of the most important drugs known to man, is obtained from the dried bark of an evergreen tree native to South America.
• The rose family of plants, in addition to flowers, gives us apples, pears, plums, cherries, almonds, peaches and apricots.
• No species of wild plant produces a flower or blossom that is absolutely black, and so far, none has been developed artificially.
• Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.
• The bright orange color of carrots tell you they are an excellent source of Vitamin A which is important for good eyesight, especially at night. Vitamin A helps your body fight infection, and keeps your skin and hair healthy.
• A plant’s stem appears and grows upward shortly after the primary root appears. It continues to grow above ground level.
• Water and minerals flow upward through the roots into the stem of the plant and then into the leaves of the plant.
• Pistils have three parts – the stigma, the style, and the ovary.
• Petals are usually colorful, and they attract insects and birds that help with pollination.
• Fruit is really the part of a flower in which seeds grow. Cherries, apples, and even milkweed pods are fruit.
• Buds are small swellings on a plant from which a shoot, leaf, or flower usually develops.
• The primary root is the first thing to sprout from a seed, and it grows downward.
• A seed contains its own food supply, which helps the sprouting plant as it begins its new life.
• Roots are covered with root hairs that absorb water and minerals.
• Grapes and clematis have stems that climb with tendrils, which hold onto a surface, as the stems get longer.
• Posted by wilber
  

Results after friday 13 lab test

Results

.....Temperature ..... ..... Oxygen Content .....
Cold Water [-150c] ..... ..... ...7.94 mg/L
Warm Water [400c] ..... ..... ..6.98 mg/L
Mean Water [370c] ..... ..... ..8.18 mg/L

Our Point of View:

An optimum temperature ranging from 25oC to 35oC is a good temperature range for the highest rate for photosynthesis.

At temperatures around 0 degrees the enzymes stop working as they are inactive and at very high temperatures the enzymes are denatured. Since both the stages of photosynthesis require enzyme activity, the temperature has an effect on the rate of photosynthesis.

Thoughts:

I think that the range temperatures we measured could be more chosen with
more reason instead of randomly picked in a given range. I would have also liked to have made more measurements to find the optimum temperature of the plant.

Due to time constraint and everyone mistaking the pH sensor for the oxygen sensor, there was very little time left to conduct the experiment. Each set-up had a ‘photosynthesis’ time of only 3 minutes which is really short.

We using the oxygen sensor were more reliable than counting bubbles but there were still inaccuracies in the experiment.
Posted by wilber edited by glenn and?

How does temperature affect photosynthesis?

The rate of photosynthesis in relation to temperature forms a bell curve. At low temperatures the enzymes responsible for photosynthesis have very little energy since they are made of proteins so the rate of photosynthesis is slow. If it is cold enough for water to freeze it can be very harmful for a plant, as the temperature increases, the enzymes get more energy so the rate of photosynthesis increases. If it gets too hot until 60 degree Celsius the enzymes begin to lose their shape (denature). this means they are unable to function properly and the rate of photosynthesis decreases again. Also at higher temperatures the stomata close to prevent water loss, this also stops gas exchange which slows down photosynthesis even further,if it is hot enough for water to boil this can be very harmful.

tada! as promised in our FACTBUST section we will tag an interesting clip on ...

DOES TALKING/PLAYING MUSIC TO A PLANT AFFECT ITS GROWTH ?

so now ..

MYTHBUSTERS rock!

Our Photosynthesis Experiment

Aim:

Whether the temperature of the water affects photosynthesis in plants.

Hypothesis:

The plants which absorbs the cold water will have the highest rate of photosynthesis

Approach:

There will be 5 set-ups, including the main control. Each set-ups will have different temperature: Hot(70 Degrees), Cold(5 Degrees), Warm(40 Degrees), Cool(15 degrees), and room temperature(Main control). The calculation of rate of the photosynthesis is by counting the number of bubbles in the set-ups produced by the plants.

Apparatus:

5 Boiling Test tubes, 5 beakers(Able to put the whole flask inside), 5 Funnels(Smaller then beaker), 5 Laboratory Thermometers

Materials:

5 Hydrilla, Tape water, Ice cubes. Boiling Water.

Variable:

Remains constant-Tye of Plant, amount of water, environment, amount of sunlight

Dependent variable- Temperature of water

Procedure:

Your main control set-up should look something like this

Step 1: In the first set-up, boil water and let it cool till the temperature drops to 70 degrees. Pour it into a beaker. The temperature should be 70 degrees. Label the set-up "A"

Step 2: in the next set-up, poured the boiled water and let it cool in the beaker till the temperature is 50 degrees. Label the set-up "B"

Step 3:In the third set-up, put some ice into the beaker of tape water, then measure the temperature. The temperature should be 15 degrees. mark the beaker as beaker "C"

Step 4:In the fourth set-up, repeat the step as stated in step 4. The temperature should be 5 degrees. Mark the beaker as beaker "D"

Step 5:Next, pour tap water into the beaker. Label the beaker "E". This will be the main control set-up

Step 6: Next put a Hydrillas into every funnel

Step 7: Turn the funnel upside down, be careful not to drop the Hydrilla out of the funnel, and slowly deep it into a beaker of water

Step 8:Repeat step 7 for all the hydrilla

Step 9:In 15 minutes, count the number of bubbles coming out of the hydrilla

Step 10:Record the results in a table

Step 11:Draw Conclusion

What is the best condition for photosynthesis in the science lab?

Our Photosynthesis Experiment!
Whether temperature of water affects the rate of photosynthesis in the plants.

Example of our experiment (It is not pond water, but tape water)

Firstly there will be 3 sample. Each sample will have different temperatures of water. There will be: a warm water sample, cold water sample and a room temperature water sample.

Rates of photosynthesis are affected by many ways!
The rate of photosynthesis is affected by a number of factors including light levels, temperature, amount of water, amount of nutrients. If the condition that the plants needs are improved, the rate of photosynthesis should also increase.

Temperature
Take it for example if we were to increase the temperature from 10 degrees to 20 degrees. Will the rate of photosynthesis increase in double too? Yes! This is so as the enzymes in the plants will be closer to their optimum working temperature. Ad temperature increases, the molecules in the cells will be moving at a faster rate due to kinetic energy theory. However, if the temperature were to increase to a certain level, the rate of photosynthesis will drop as the plant's enzymes are denatured. Therefore, they are more likely to join onto the enzymes and react. But will there by any difference if we were to let the temperature in the environment remain the same, but the temperature of water that the plant absorbs change? That is for us to find out!


What can photosynthesis affect?
Many would know hat light plays a very vital role for photosynthesis in plants. But do you know that plants sensitivity to light plays a role in the control of plant structural development(Morphogenesis). The use of light to control structural development is called photomorphogenesis, and it is dependent on the presence of specialized photoreceptor, which are the chemical pigments capable of absorbing specific wavelengths of light.


Plants use 4 kinds of photoreceptor:
-Phytochrome
-Cryptochrome
-A UV-B photoreceptor
-Protochlorophyllide a

Phytochrome and Cytochrome
They are photoreceptor proteins which are complex molecules structures formed by joining a protein with a light-sensitive pigment.
Cytochrome is also known as the UV-A photoreceptor, because it absorbs ultraviolet light in the long wave "A" region.

UV-B photoreceptor
It is one or more compounds that have yet to be identified with certainty.

Protochlorophyllide a
As its name suggested, it is a chemical precursor of chlorophyll

Wavelengths

White light is separation into the different colours(=wavelengths) of light by passing it through a prism. Wavelength is define as the distance as the distance from peak to peak(Or trough to trough). The energy of it inversely proportional to the wavelength. Thus, the longer the wavelength, the the lesser energy.

Wavelengths and other aspects of the wave nature of lights

The orders of the colours is determined by the wavelength of light. Visible light is one small part of the electromagnet spectrum. The longer the wavelength of visible light, the more red the colour. Likewise, the shorter the wavelengths are towards the vilet side of the spectrum. Wavelengths which are longer then red are referred to as infrared, while those shorter then violet are ultraviolet.

hello homosapiens.
here are some must know facts:

Photosynthesis

1. If photosynthesis has taken place, then glucose must first be formed from carbon dioxide.


2. When glucose is formed more quickly than it is used up, the excess glucose is change to sucrose before converting into starch before being transferred to stem,root,flower and etc for storage.


3. Starch formation is not photosynthesis but it is the work of subcellular compartmentation.
4. http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/vol54/issue382/images/large/erg074f1.jpeg for more info
   

Okay. so here's a few question we asked ourselves during the practical last Friday .

Practical on Friday

1. Why did the leaf keep floating ?!
   
2. What is the purpose of boiling the leaf why not just burn it or something ?


3. Why alcohol not other liquid substances?

Our views:

1. The leaf kept floating as some plants open their stomata at high temperatures. When the leaf was boiled the in water, it stomata opened and the gases in it was released out. That was why a lot of small bubbles was formed on the underside of the leaves. Another reason would simply be that the leaf was less dense compared to the water due to the amount of air inside the leaf,air is less dense then water.
2. It was to denature the enzymes present in the leaves so the stored starch will not be broken down. If the starch is broken down into glucose, the glucose is to minuscule in size for the iodine solution to 'detect' since it only checks for presence of starch molecule.
3. Solutions like methanol(wood alcohol),Ethanol(denatured alcohol),Propanol and Butanol(both are fuel like alcohol) but mostly widely used alcohol are methanol and ethanol are used to break cell membranes,allowing chlorophyll to be released into the water. Chlorophyll dissolves easily in ethanol/methanol. After the decolourization,checking for starch presence is easy. This is also why the water in the test tube turns green.
4. 

   warning: this might make your head go > boom. so take your time to digest.
   

and lastly, remember to attempt the questions for the experiment we did. see you guys tomorrow. glenn and edited by wilber

What can we learn ?'

1. That plants require a specific temperature range for growth as the video shows Charlie
   being 'depressed' and wilting due to the seasonal change to winter.During winter in
   either hemisphere, the lower altitude of the Sun in winter causes the sunlight to hit
   that hemisphere at an oblique angle.Light have to travel a longer distance over the atmosphere.Thus,plants receive less sunlight in winter.
2. Seeds don't make their own food! So where do they get it? At first the seed gets its food from the cotyledons which are the store house of many nutrients from what I understand. It uses these to grow the first leaves and from there on it makes its own food by photosynthesizing.
   OR
3. A seedling gets food from stored areas of adults plants like roots, stems and leaves. This "food packet" is called an endosperm in flowering plants. However some plants, such as some orchid seeds are so small that they include no endosperm This is different in gymnosperms, but the overall principle is the same, the parent plant provides the seed with nutrition so yay.
   
   

FactBUST > Do plants really have feelings ? Check out our blog soon to find out!!!

glenn

RE: The science inquest's comment

Reason:
You could even use gene doping to inject epithelial tissues in skin with a viral chloroplast gene, they can already do it with mitochondria in muscle tissue, which is awesome, so why not do it and become independent beings that photosynthesize without consuming food.

Carbon dioxide in the blood stream would be converted into sugars and oxygen in the skin cells, sugars and oxygen would be used in body tissues for respiration, producing carbon dioxide.


-------------------------------
1. Normal cells Metabolize Sugar and Oxygen to produce energy, and Carbon Dioxide.

C6H12O6 + 6O<2> 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy (ATP)

(sugar + oxygen ---> Carbon Dioxide + Water + ENERGY)

-------------------------------

2. Chloroplasts in plants produce Sugar and Oxygen, using Carbon Dioxide and water (in the presence of sunlight)

6CO2 + 12H2O + sunlight -> C6H12O6 + 6H2O + 6O2

(carbon dioxide + water + sunlight----> Sugar + water + Oxygen.

--------------------------------

3. The Equations sort of cancel out,(depending on the number of respiring cells Vs number of photosynthesizing cells) the person would have very minimal food requirements. Possibly limited oxygen requirements (great for diving).

6CO2 + 12H2O + sunlight ----> C6H12O6 + 6H2O + 6O2 -----> 6CO2 + 12H2O + energy (ATP)

Which essentially balances, Humans could become solar powered


Read more: http://forums.myspace.com/t/4288997.aspx?fuseaction=forums.viewthread#ixzz0v4oyMzh5


Evidence: http://forums.myspace.com/t/4288997.aspx?fuseaction=forums.viewthread#ixzz0v4nsElUG

Photo with the piration

THEORIES

wilber: photosynthesis & respiration are both a continuous process on the world,due to the earth revolving around the sun.

tongchen: photosynthesis & respiration are both continuous processes

shuqi: respiration is dependent on photosynthesis

glenn: no respiration = no photosynthesis

rena: respiration helps in photosynthesis

FINAL group theory: Respiration & Photosynthesis are dependent on each other,without
one of the process there would not be another,ceasing the balance.

Questions!

1. Why study photosynthesis?

rep: So that we can understand it and and possibly use its function in the next generation if plants ever extinct.To shed light on 'use its function in the next generation' it means manipulate it and injecting our embryo with chlorophyll changing DNA and changing its DNA while it is growing would not cause too much side effects.So that we can also know its importance, significance in lowering global warming and not waste tons of paper and cut tons of forest and the role it plays in our everyday life for our survival as humankind. Lastly,but inevitably, to pass our biology/chemistry exams o.o

2. What is the importance of photosynthesis?

rep: Without this important process, the levels of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases would increase and we would eventually run out of oxygen and die out. Also, if plants ever photosynthesize, how would they attain food?

3. How will photosynthesis affect us?

rep: As mentioned,without photosynthesis,carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases would rapidly increase,we would soon run out of oxygen.Without oxygen we cannot function as oxygen is used to create energy.We would be frozen stiff and fall to the ground and stop moving and in the end die.If plants also didn't photosynthesize to get food, then all green plants would die. And we wouldn't have to eat our green veggies ever again!

Do comment on our theories/ans or whatever.If you disagree,comments down below,link it and post constructive criticism.Don't troll,flame and hate.

Wilber and Glenn.