Hello, thank you very much for the video. I am reaching out to you with a specific inquiry. I am planning to conduct a research project to assess the influence of dust deposition on plant leaves on the photosynthetic rate. My idea is to select random plants and manually wash the dust off some of them while leaving others unwashed. I would like to know how I can easily measure a proxy for the photosynthetic rate. I am uncertain if the method of the Floating Leaves will be effective as I suspect that the dust may be removed when I introduce the leaves into the solution. I would greatly appreciate any recommendations you can provide. Thank you!
I love it! This sounds like a fascinating experiment! I agree, the solution would surely interfere with dust levels. Perhaps there's a way to lock in/on the dust levels before adding into solution? *though that itself would be another variable. I imagine you would have to run it in a controlled chamber where gases are measured precisely (oxygen and carbon dioxide). Good luck!
You can place the leaves in a closed chamber and use either a CO2 sensor or O2 gas sensor to measure the rate of photosynthesis (CO2 will go down, O2 will go up). Vernier makes these sensors :). Good luck!!!
This was a great demo of my favorite lab
Thanks, Don! Is there anything you'd change or add?
What are we indirectly measuring in this lab, sir?
What kind of leaf did you use there? Also sick Back to the Future reference!
Haha! Glad you liked it. I used spinach from my salad!
I've also used kale and chard in the past, those also work well. And students can always try other types of leaves.
Hello, thank you very much for the video. I am reaching out to you with a specific inquiry. I am planning to conduct a research project to assess the influence of dust deposition on plant leaves on the photosynthetic rate. My idea is to select random plants and manually wash the dust off some of them while leaving others unwashed. I would like to know how I can easily measure a proxy for the photosynthetic rate. I am uncertain if the method of the Floating Leaves will be effective as I suspect that the dust may be removed when I introduce the leaves into the solution. I would greatly appreciate any recommendations you can provide. Thank you!
I love it! This sounds like a fascinating experiment! I agree, the solution would surely interfere with dust levels. Perhaps there's a way to lock in/on the dust levels before adding into solution? *though that itself would be another variable. I imagine you would have to run it in a controlled chamber where gases are measured precisely (oxygen and carbon dioxide). Good luck!
You can place the leaves in a closed chamber and use either a CO2 sensor or O2 gas sensor to measure the rate of photosynthesis (CO2 will go down, O2 will go up). Vernier makes these sensors :). Good luck!!!
Which board and markers are you using?
I was using a black lab bench and expo dry erase neon markers. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the video! I will use it for my classes as a front load
You're welcome! I hope it's helpful. 😊