Gizmos: Photosynthesis Lab Directions
1. Go to pg. _________ in your notebook and in the heading write:
Gizmos: Photosynthesis Lab
2. Drop down 1 line and write the following notes:
Photosynthesis: Light energy is used to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) into
glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen gas (O2). Glucose is a sugar molecule made by plants that is used for
energy and as a building block for larger molecules. Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in the
chloroplasts of plant cells that absorbs light energy and does photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis Chemical Equation:
3. Skip a line or two and write the following question:
What color of light is best for photosynthesis?
4. Drop down a line and write your own hypothesis with this sentence frame:
Plants will produce the most oxygen during photosynthesis when under ___________
colored lights.
5. Drop down a line and create a table that looks like this:
Color (nm)
O2 Produced (mL/h)
Violet (400)
Blue (450)
Cyan (500)
Green (550)
Yellow (600)
Orange (650)
Red (700)
6. Go to Gizmos (link can be found on Canvas) and open the Photosynthesis Lab
7. Click on the Color tab on the left at the top.
8. Click on the Bar Chart tab and mess around with the Light Intensity, CO2 level, and Light
Wavelength to watch what happens to the Oxygen flow bar!
9. Set the Temperature to 24.0, Light Intensity to 90%, CO2 level to 1000ppm and Light
Wavelength down to 400 nm
10. Click the Bar Chart tab found at the top again and click “Show numerical values”
11. Write the O2 flow number in your data table for 400 nm
12. Change the Light Wavelength to 450 nm and write the O2 flow number in your data table.
13. Continue changing the Light Wavelength every 50 nm and write the O2 flow numbers in your
data table.
14. Create your own Bar Graph using your data table in your notebook (if you need the backside
go for it!). Your bar graph bars should be colored similar to the wavelength colors!
Oxygen Flow
(mL/h)
10
0
The effect of light
wavelength on oxygen flow
in plants
80
60
40
Re
d
Oran
ge
Yello
w
Gre
en
Cyan
Viole
t
0
Blue
20
Wavelength
(nm)
15. Write a short CER paragraph answering the question above.
a. Make a claim about which wavelength had the best oxygen production.
b. Use evidence from your graph or data table to support your claim.
One piece of evidence from my graph is …
c. Write a reasoning sentence connecting your evidence to your claim. Remember the
plant makes oxygen by doing photosynthesis and the color of the light affects how well
the plant could do that process!
This proves my claim because …
16. Take a picture of your notebook pages and upload them to Canvas for grading!