Science Fair

1. Science Fair SAI, MINT, PLOY

2. Question How different colors of light affect the oxygen production of plants? Does different wavelength of light effect the amount of oxygen plants produce?

3. Purpose • To find our if photosynthesis in plants would be affected by different wavelength of light

4. Background Research • Plants manufacture their own food by using photosynthesis. The leaf may views as a solar collector. • White light is separated into different colors of light by passing it through a prism. Every color has different wavelengths. The energy of is inversely proportional to the wavelength: the longer wavelengths have less energy than do shorter ones.

5. Background Research(2) Order of rainbow is determined by the wavelength of light. Visible light is one small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The longer the wavelength of light, the more red the color. The shorter wavelengths are towards the violet side. Wavelength that longer than red are called as infrared, while shorter than violent are ultraviolet.

6. Background Research • A pigment is any substance that absorbs light. Color of pigment is came from the wavelength of light reflected, in other word, those not absorbed. Chlorophyll is the green pigment common to all photosynthesis cells. They absorb all visible light except green, this is the reason we see leave as a green color. Black pigments absorb the entire wavelength.

7. Hypothesis If we put the plant in the enclose box and give it different light spectrum (green, red, and blue), then red and blue spectrum would increase the frequency of oxygen production the most. According to our background research, the color that we see from an object is that color because it absorb all light spectrum except that color, and it reflect that color. The plant has green pigment; therefore we predict that it will absorb blue and red the most, so red and blue light will be most useful for the photosynthesis, and it will produce a lot of oxygen.

8. Materials: • 40 green bean seeds • 5 transparent plastic bags • 300 grams of soil • 100 ml (or about 119 grams) of water • 10 rubber bands • a black box where no light can shine through • 3 thick boards to divide the box into 5 sections • 1 black future/plastic board • 1 black poster paper • 10 label paper • 4 light bulbs of the following colors: red, blue, green, white • Plugs • Wire • oxygen detector • computer with program to collect data from detectora • watch/clock

9. Control: • amount of water pour into the plants • amount of sunlight (??) • amount of space for each plants • same paper size • Variables: • colors of transparent film (different wavelengths)

10. Procedures:

11. Preparing Experiment (box) • Use the 3 thick boards to divide the box into 6 sections • Cut the black future board to the same size as the base of the black box • Pierce a hole in the 4 sections, make sure its on the same place (in the middle) • Place the 4 light bulbs in each hole • Take the rest of the black future board and stick it on top of the first board to cover up the hole made to put in the bulbs • Cut a small square to the side of the box of each section leaving the top part of the square uncut for it to be able to open upward and close, make sure it's all the same length and width • Cut the black poster to the same size of the box's side (two piece of two side) • Cover the small squares with the black poster paper on both side of the box • Label each sections with the following names: RED, BLUE, GREEN, WHITE, and NO LIGHT

12. Preparing Experiment (plant) • Prepare 5 plastic bags • Put 60 grams of soil in each plastic bag • Water 20 mL in each plastic bag • Plant 8 green bean seeds in row of 2 and column of 8, make sure it's evenly spaced • Tie up each bag with the rubber bands, make sure that same amount of air inside is the same and that the place where it is tied have the same distance from the top • Tie another rubber band on top of the bands before, make sure its the same distance • Label each plastic bags with the following names: RED, BLUE, GREEN, WHITE, and NO LIGHT

13. Starting the Experiment • Place the box near the plug socket • Put in all the plastic bag containing the seeds • Turn on the light and record the time it is turned on (ex. 4:00pm)

14. During the Experiment • Leave the light on for 24 hours, then turn it off to observe its growth, make sure that the time it's turn off is always 1 hr to collect its oxygen production • Take out the the first plant (make sure it's always the same order of plant taken out) • Twist and then pinch the area below the two rubber band to lock the air in • Pull/Untie the two rubber bands, remember: the air should still be locked in • Stick the Oxygen detector right on top of the twisted place • Wrap the plastic bag around the Oxygen Detector

15. During the Experiment(2) 7. Use the rubber bands to tie up both the detector and the plastic bag 8. Untwist the bag and start collecting the data: at least 5 mins each 9. Twist the bag again when you're done collecting the data 10. Untie the rubber bands 11. Take out the Oxygen detector 12. Tie the rubber bands back; same as the first time 13. Repeat Step 2-12 for 4 other plants 14. Do this for 3 days

16. Data Average oxygen produced per second (total of one minute)

17. Data (2) Average oxygen produced per second (total of 2 minutes)

18. Graph: Day 1

19. Graph: Day 2

20. Graph: Day 3

21. Graph: Average

22. Conclusion The hypothesis supported the data, but not entirely. The most efficient light spectrum to increase the frequency of oxygen production is not both red and blue, but only blue. Red is also useful, but it is a lot less compare to blue.

23. Explanation • The plant’s leaves contain green Chloroplasts, organelles that carry out photosynthesis, and it’s green because it has green pigment chlorophyll, so by this pigment is absorb other color, except green. • The plant’s leaves are not only contains chlorophyll, but is also contains xanthophylls (yellows) and carotenoids (yellows, oranges and reds) that also used in photosynthesis, so the leaves also reflect some orange, yellow and few red color • Therefore, blue are the most color spectrum that the leaves absorb, so the more light it can obtain, the more work in photosynthesis, and result as the more of oxygen will be produce • As an suggestion if need you to grow the plant indoor, the plant will grow best with about 15% of red and 85% of blue spectrum, so LED light will be the most useful to grow plant indoor because it contains red and blue spectrum

24. Error • The white light as the control variable should produce more oxygen than green spectrum, but there could be some confounding variables include to make this happen as such: • In the process of putting in the oxygen measuring device there could be some mistake that make the out air atmosphere to get into the plastic bag • When the plastic bag is tied at the beginning, different amount of air pass in the plastic bag • The seed of the plant itself could be an error because some seed are not as good as another

25. Improvement • We should have some machine to help make the level of the air in the plastic remain the some when we tie the plastic bag • Need to be more careful not to let the air from outside the plastic bag to pass in • Check each seed that it is all some quality of being able to grow

26. Future Studies • How does different level intensity will affect the plant’s oxygen production/ plant’s growth? • Is the sunlight better than self-made light? • How different light affect the plant’s growth • Which kinds of light are harmful to the plant?

27. Bibliography "PHOTOSYNTHESIS." Estrella Mountain Community College. Web. 09 May 2010. <http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html>.