Monday, August 23, 2010

A plant that receives the nutrition needs will continue to live. But what if we took all its oxygen away. Do you think the plant can grow? Why?

Oxygen is needed for the plant to carry out cellular respiration. Glucose is first used by the cells during tissue respiration to provide energy for cellular activities. This only occurs when there is oxygen. Hence, when the plant is oxygen deprived, its cells are unable to produce energy to sustain the plant's life and it will die (assuming that the oxygen produced by the plant during photosynthesis is also removed).

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Some Tips on cellular Respiration! ;)

Ello!~

As everybody know, humans all need energy to function and we get this energy from the foods we eat. The most efficient way for cells to harvest energy stored in food is through cellular respiration, a catabolic pathway for the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP, a high energy molecule, is expended by working cells. Cellular respiration occurs in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. It has three main stages: glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and electron transport

The energy released in respiration is used to synthesize ATP to store this energy. The energy stored in ATP can then be used to drive processes requiring energy.

Glycolysis


Glycolysis means "splitting sugars." Glucose, a six carbon sugar, is split into two molecules of a three carbon sugar. In the process, two molecules of ATP, two molecules of pyruvic acid and two "high energy" electron carrying molecules of NADH(reaction formed) are produced. Glycolysis can occur w/ or w/o oxygen. In the presence of oxygen, glycolysis is the first stage of cellular respiration. W/o oxygen, glycolysis allows cells to make small amounts of ATP. This process is called fermentation.

Citric Acid Cycle

The Citric Acid Cycle/Krebs Cycle begins after the two molecules of the three carbon sugar produced in glycolysis are converted to a slightly different compound (acetyl CoA). Through a series of intermediate steps, several compounds capable of storing "high energy" electrons are produced along with two ATP molecules. These compounds, known as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), are reduced in the process. These reduced forms carry the "high energy" electrons to the next stage. The Citric Acid Cycle occurs only when oxygen is present but it doesn't use oxygen directly.



Electron Transport


Electron Transport requires oxygen directly. The electron transport "chain" is a series of electron carriers in the membrane of the mitochondria in eukaryotic cells. Through a series of reactions, the "high energy" electrons are passed to oxygen. In the process, a gradient is formed, and ultimately ATP is produced.



Sources:


http://biology.about.com/od/cellularprocesses/a/cellrespiration.htm


P.S. It really takes A LOT OF time to digest this ! So, dear readers, take your time.

By: --Existence2e1--

Factors Affecting Photosynthesis :D

Hey!

Our class did a few experiments on what are the factors that will affect rate of photosynthesis and so here they are:


  • Amount of water
  • Amount of carbon dioxide
  • Music
  • Spectrum of light
  • Surface area of leaf
  • Temperature

By: --Existence2e1-- :)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Ongoing Respiration !


Today Ms Wang did an experiment in class .

3 test tube were filled with Universal indicator ( Equal amount ) .


Aim:To find out if respiration had taken place


[Will Turn from Purple to Deep Red to Yellow if respiration had taken occur ( C02 Present)]

Procedures :

1) 4o worms were put in a tube

2) 20 worms in another tube

3) The third tube were passed around to "collect" carbon dioxide from us .


Results:

The tube with 4o worms is the most carbon dioxide (Deep Red w little yellowish) follow by 20 worms (Red) and us . (Pale red )


Experiment Error : 1)The students did not breath directly into the test tube .

2) The limit time had been surpassed

3)Worms are still breathing when we stop .

Conclusion : Respiration had taken place .


Discussion : The more we respire we give out more carbon dioxide, thus changing the colour.

Longer time = More Carbon dioxide produced .


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Types of Repiration : Cellular Respiration , Anaerobic respiration and Aerobic respiration

Question asked : Which Types Of Respiration is better .

Our Thoughts : Aerobic respiration as more energy is produced .

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Respiration in plants?

Respiration is a passive process that occur in ALL plants for growth.

Energy is stored is the form of glucose , product of photosynthesis , released for in plant metabolism .


Equation : Glucose + Oxygen -------- Water + Carbon Dioxide + Energy .


Factors that affects respiration in plants : -Less significance in woody than herbaceous plant

-Plant that are in developmental stage ; increases

during flowering stage.

-Temperature; minimun 0 degree celcius ; maximum

45- 50 degree celcius .

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Question of the day : Does Lactic Acid make you itchy ?

Saturday, August 14, 2010

`` Experiment (Updated) ``

Okay, so we executed the experiment on 13th Aug, Friday. It is somehow succesful, but we made some changes to the experiment. So, here is the NEWEST updated version !! :

Aim: To find out if the amount of water affects the rate of photosynthesis.

Hypothesis: The photosynthesis rate increases as the amount of water provided increases.

Approach: Have 3 setups of hydrilla plants in each of the 3 beakers. Sunlight is kept constant for all setups. One beaker will be filled to the brim with water, One half-filled with water and one 1/4 filled with water. At the end of the experiment, we'll use the date logger to calculate the rate of photosynthesis by obtaining the amount of oxygen produced (O2)

Apparatus:
  • 1 light lamp
  • 3 small beakers
  • 1 data logger
  • 1 spectular spoon
  • scotch tape
  • paper

Materials:

  • 3 hydrilla plants
  • sodium hydrogencarbonate
  • tap water

Variables:

(Constant) Water temperature, intensity of light, type of plant, amount of sodium hydrogen carbonate.

(Changing) Amount of water.

Methods/Procedures:

  1. Fill all 3 beakers with tap water and label them. ( 1/4 filled, one half-filled, 1 filled to the brim )
  2. Place 1 hydrilla plant into each beaker and ensure that all plants are fully submerged in the water
  3. Use a spectular spoon to put 2 spoons of sodium hydrogencarbonate into beaker 1 (1/4 filled).
  4. Wait for 10 minutes for the sodium hydrogencarbonate to dissolve in order for the plant to have carbon dioxide to carry out photosynthesis.
  5. Put scotch tape to mark down the position of the beaker placed.
  6. Place the oxygen testing sensor into the beaker with 1/4 filled with water.
  7. Put the beaker under the light lamp, within equal distance and wait for 5 minutes.
  8. Record the amount of oxygen produced (O2).
  9. Repeat steps 3 - 8 for the other 2 beakers.
Diagram: (not included in the blog)

Results:

Amount of oxygen produced (O2)
Beaker 1 8.3
Beaker 2 8.29
Beaker 3 8.27

Our Point Of View:
The amount of sodium hydrogencarbonate is constant throughout the whole experiment but the water level is not constant. Therefore, there is a higher sodium hydrogencarbonate in lesser water and as we all know carbon dioxide allows plant to photosynthesis better, thus the amount of oxygen produced (O2) will be higher when the water level is lesser.
The amount of sodium hydogencarbonate will affect the amount of oxygen produced (O2) as carbon dioxide can change the pH of water. This works when carbon dioxide dissolves slightly in water to form a weak acid called carbonic acid, H2CO3, according to the following reaction: CO2 + H2O --> H2CO3 . The most important thing to note is carbon dioxide is only water-soluble.

Discussion:
The hypothesis is supported. We encountered problems when the amount of sodium hydrogencarbonate placed in the beakers was not sufficient therefore resulting in the inaccurate recordings of oxygen produced (O2). We also did not fully submerge the hydrilla plant in the water thus the leftover parts of the plant did not carry out the process of photosynthesis. Last mistake that we made was that 10 minutes wasn’t sufficient for the sodium hydrogencarbonate to dissolve for the plant to have carbon dioxide to photosynthesis, so the results will also be inaccurate. The experiment could be improved if we had keep notice to time and arranged the setup correctly as well.

Conclusion:
The amount of water does affects the rate of photosynthesis.


We welcome comments on our experiment and how to improve on it as well !!~
So, please comment, comment & comment !!~ ;P





By --Existence-- 2E1 :D

Thursday, August 12, 2010

More on Photosynthesis ;)

Here are some pictures for you guys as i think it is an easier way to learn by observing/looking. And also, I don't want all the other previous posts that only have texts bore you all. :P

Hope you guys find the previous video nice & interesting!!~ :D


Once the season of the fall starts, there'll be a change of colour in the leaves. They no longer stay green but turns into the colours in the picture above. The reason is because during the fall, there isn't enough sunlight/water for photosynthesis to take place. The green chlorophyll disappears be cause there isn't the sunlight to convert to chemical energy. Therefore, allows the bright colours that have been hidden all summer by the green colour to show through.
Just for your additional information, the red colour in the leaf occurs because there is food, carbohydrates, trapped in the leaf. The leaf that has a brown colour has waste trapped in it.

This shows what is occurring in the leaf during the process of photosynthesis. Where carbon dioxide + water + chlorophyll and sunlight -----> oxygen + sugar .

This shows what a leaf need to do to start the process of photosynthesis.

This is the picture of how photosynthesis is occurred.
By --Existence-- :D

Photosynthesis song

A song I stumbled upon...
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