Brassica Rapa Lab Report

Biology Lab

Oakland University

The Results of Densities in Brassica Rapa

Introduction
Brassica Rapa is a a type of flower that comes from the mustard family. It is grown through the United States and Canada. Now
High density , Low-density. In either case, photosynthesis will be key. Photosynthesis is “The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct” . The main job of photosynthesis is to convert CO2, H20, and light into sugar, or food, and oxygen. Now, to create these products, two processes have to occur: light reactions and the Calvin cycle. Light reactions occur in the thylakoid, C4 plants and C3 plants also exist.

Methods For the experiment, a Biology class was gathered at Oakland University for the summer term of
2012. In the first week, the students were instructed to go to an adjacent room to take seeds that were labeled as Brassica Rapa and place them in two different containers in which soil was provided. Once the seeds were placed, they would be kept underneath a fluorescent light for 24 hours. The progress of the plants would be shown on a weekly basis. Moreover, as time went on, it could be easily seen that the growth was shown in both containers. The hypothesis is that the container containing the low density plants will grow faster than the high-density plants
Results
The results that were gathered were quite remarkable, but several flaws could have intervened with them.
For instance, one of the students that watered the plants could have over-poured or under-poured water for the plant and as a result, it could slow down its development. Moreover, the plants that were provided were genetically engineered by a professor at Oakland University. Therefore, the results that were gathered could not be related to normal Brassica Rapa plants. Now, although the genetic modifications may affect the outcome of the experiment, it showed results under a certain amount of time for a class in the university. It did provide students with quick results, but the reality is that it would be difficult to compare this experiment with other studies. Also, several other experiments may use natural sunlight which comes at specific times during the day, and therefore, the experiment created may not reach a level of authenticity; with the aid of 24/7 sunlight, it increases the plants’ growth, but the span of time is incomparable with other
experiments. On a different note, the results that would calculated backed the hypothesis and it is for a several reasons. First, it could be easily justified that with having such a low amount of competition, the seeds that were in the low-density plants of Brassica Rapa would have the advantages of gaining more resources than the high-density plants. Some of the advantages include gaining more water which will aid in photosynthesis, specifically the production of ATP. ATP helps the plants with its daily processes of converting food into energy; with such an abundant amount coming from the source, water, the plant’s growth would surely increase. Moreover, the other sources that it gains are the nutrients from the soil..... Also, with less competition, the plants can also focus on the light that is provided. The light given to the plant can created

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=BRRA
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/photosynthesis