In: Biology
write an improved experimental design to test the hypothesis “If blue light is more effective at promoting photosynthesis, then more oxygen gas (O2) will be produced when plants are exposed to blue-filtered light compared to other wavelengths.”
Mature 2 inch sections (sprigs) of Elodea will be used to measure the oxygen production under different light conditions. 5 sprigs will be tested. One spring will be kept in the dark (absence of light). The others will be exposed to light filtered with cellophane. One sprig’s light will be filtered through clear cellophane to receive all wavelengths of light, and the other sprig’s light will be filtered through red, blue, and green cellophane respectively. The no-light plant will be kept in dark. On the other hand, the other plants will be kept together on a counter. Each plant sprig will be placed in equal sized upside-down test tubes in 100ml of tap water so that oxygen bubbles produced by the plant will be trapped at the top of the test tube. The experiment will be continued for 24 hours, and then the volume of oxygen gas produced will be measured by multiplying the length of the oxygen pocket by the circle described by the test tube, ?r2. The average volume produced by all groups will be graphed and compared to determine which condition produced the most total volume of oxygen.