PLANTS ARE FASCINATING!!

Introduction

Plants are the building blocks of the nature. They inhale Carbon-dioxide and exhale Oxygen, and provide fresh air for the living beings such as humans to live. They resemeble a factory that takes in the raw material and produces fresh food for others to eat. 

Task

The plants are called autotrophs, as they produce their own food. The students will experiment with Elodea to see the production of oxygen by the change of the color. 

In this task, students will be using a lot of vocabulary and the scientific terms. 

Process

Students will be completing their lab with Elodea.

  1. Add 1-2 drops of bromothymol blue to 15mL of water in a 25 ml graduated cylinder. Gently blow into the tube using a straw until it changes color to yellow. Have the students discuss the change. [The change occurs because CO2 , has been added to the solution, making it more acidic therefore causing a color change. Remember, humans produce carbon dioxide and utilize oxygen whereas plants utilize carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
  2. Place a piece of elodea in the 25mL graduated cylinder with the yellow solution and insert a cork stopper in the beak of the cylinder. Expose the cylinder to sunlight for 20 minutes. [The yellow solution will change back to blue because the plant will utilize the carbon dioxide, making the solution less acidic, converting the color back to blue. 
  3. In another cylinder, add 1-2 drops of bromothymol blue to water and gently blow with a straw until the solution changes color. Plug the top of the cylinder with a stopper and place it in the sunlight for 20 minutes without elodea. [No change will occur because the carbon dioxide remains in solution and the acidity of the solution does not change.
  4. Prepare another cylinder in the same manner as the previous one, but do not expose it to sunlight, wait 20 minutes. [Again, no change will occur because no plant is present and photosynthesis is not occurring therefore the acidity of the solution remains the same.
  5. A final cylinder containing an elodea plant bromothymol blue and water should have been prepared before this activity and left in a dark place for 24 hours. [No change will occur because sunlight is required for photosynthesis to occur.] Ask the students to describe what they observe.

Evaluation

Students will be assessed on the basis of their understanding of the subject.

How well they completed their experiment?

How well they presented the PowerPoint?

What did they learn from the experiment?

Conclusion

At the end, my students will be able to understand the basic chemical equations involved in the process of Photosynthesis. 

They will be able to demonstrate the process involved in the plants for making food.

 

Credits

Teacher Page

I have designed this webquest for the students of 7th grade. 

Students will be able to refer to this page for all their assignments and the rubrics for the classroom.

I will also upload interesting videos and photos that students can refer for their homework.