Meeting #1

Today all four of us met at the library to brainstorm potential project topics. After looking on the internet for ideas and talking with the group we came up with the idea to test how light color affects the mass of CO2 produced in daisy flowers. The flowers are the biology side of the experiment and the CO2 is the chemistry side of the experiment.

We met for 2 hours today and came up with the experiment design. Then we agreed to each go home and individually do 2 hours of research each and each create a blog post explaining what we learned.

Here's what we decided on today:

Research question- How does light color affect the mass of CO2 emitted by daisies?

Hypothesis- We predict, based upon our knowledge of color absorption and reflection, that the black light will produce the least mass of CO2.

Independent variable- different light colors (red, blue, yellow, white, black)

Dependent variable- mass of CO2

Controlled variables- type of plant, type of soil, light, temperature, light level of flash lights

Procedures- 1. Put on goggles and lab aprons
2. gather together all the materials on the material list
3. Cut holes into the tops of the cardboard boxes
4. Tape shrink wrap over the cut holes
5. Cut out 6 x 6 squares of colored transparent plastic
6. Tape the squares of plastic over the flashlight bulbs
7. Test the light emissions of the flashlights with the light probe. Record
8. Tape the flashlights to the top of the fume hood (in the chemistry or biology classroom
9. Label the plants as R#1-#5, B#1-#5, Y#1-#5, W#1-#5, Black#1-#5
10. Place R1, B1, Y1, W1, Black 1 underneath their respective flashlights
11. Place the 5 greenhouses over the plants. Record initial CO2 mass
12. Turn on flashlights. Let sit 30 minutes
13. Turn off flashlights. Record CO2 mass
14. Repeat steps 1-13 four additional times

List of materials and equipment- 25 generic plants (possibly daisies), temperature probe, red filter, blue filter, yellow filter, white filter, black filter, light probe, pH probe, batteries, 5 plastic greenhouses (shrink + cardboard boxes), CO2 probe, 5 flashlights, tape, 2-3 pounds of soil, 4 iPads