How Does Light Intensity Affect Oxygen Production?

How does a plant grow? Plants undergo a photosynthesis process where the light received from the Sun is converted into chemical energy. It is converted to produce more oxygen and organic compounds. This is an important concept in Science for kindergarten and elementary school kids. How does light intensity affect oxygen production? To know more about this concept, you can conduct a science experiment for kids. With this experiment, children will understand how an increase in the intensity of light enables plants to produce more oxygen under the process of photosynthesis. 

Contents

• What is Photosynthesis?
• Fun Facts about Photosynthesis
• Easy Science Project: How Does Light Intensity Affect Oxygen Production?
• Aim of the Project
• Materials Required
• Procedure
• Result
• Benefits of Learning about Photosynthesis
• Frequently Asked Questions on How Does Light Intensity Affect Oxygen Production?

The higher the rate of photosynthesis, the higher is the production of oxygen. How does light intensity affect oxygen production? To answer this question, you must ask children to do a DIY science project in order to learn and understand the concept easily. When the intensity of light increases on the plant, the volume of oxygen increases. If the flow of oxygen is higher, then the rate of photosynthesis will increase. 

What is Photosynthesis?

It is the process of converting light energy into chemical energy by the plants. In this process, plants take carbon dioxide and water from the atmosphere and soil, respectively. The plants use sunlight to produce oxygen. The more intensity of light, the more oxygen is profusely produced. There are three factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis such as temperature, light intensity and carbon dioxide. The water molecules in the plants are converted into oxygen and glucose, where the former is released, and the latter is stored in the form of energy in the plants. The reason behind the high intensity of light is due to the less distance between the plant and the sunlight. 

Fun Facts about Photosynthesis

Some of the facts about photosynthesis for kids are mentioned below:

• Chlorophyll also traps light energy from the Sun. 
• It is a process that converts light energy into chemical energy. 
• Plants need more minerals from the soil for their growth. 
• Plants take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen in return. 
• The chloroplast organelle is responsible for performing photosynthesis in plants. 
• The plant uses light energy to break water molecules into oxygen and glucose. 
• Glucose molecules stored in the form of energy in the plants are building blocks of starch and cellulose. 
• Plants are not the only organisms that use photosynthesis. 
• In photosynthesis, carbon dioxide + water + sunlight = sugar + oxygen. 
• Oxygen is the waste byproduct of photosynthesis that is utilized by other living organisms to survive. 
• The photosynthesis process intakes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

Easy Science Project: How Does Light Intensity Affect Oxygen Production?

To help your children understand how light intensity affects oxygen production in plants, you can make them perform simple experiments for kids at home. With this experiment, they will observe the amount of oxygen produced as and when the light intensity is increased. You can use affordable materials available at home to perform this experiment. Children will understand the concept of photosynthesis and oxygen production by conducting experiments under the supervision of parents and teachers. 

Aim of the Project

To experiment and observe the production of oxygen when the intensity of light is increased to the plants. Record and observe the rate at which the oxygen is produced due to increased light intensity. 

Materials Required

• A beaker
• A test tube 
• A funnel 
• Pondweed 
• Water 
• A scale
• Table lamp
• Stopwatch
• A paper and a pen

Procedure

• Take a funnel with a little pondweed inside and place it inside the beaker in an inverted position. 
• Take a test tube, fill it with water and place it on top of the funnel. 
• Fill the beaker with water and keep it aside. 
• Take a scale and mark the distance 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm away from the beaker consisting of pondweed. 
• Take the lamp and place it 5 cm away from the beaker. Observe the air bubble after a minute using a stopwatch and count the number of bubbles formed inside the test tube for 6 minutes. 
• Then, take the lamp and place it 10 cm away from the beaker. Repeat the observation and record the number of bubbles formed inside the test tube. 
• Finally, take the lamp and place it 15 cm away from the beaker. Repeat the steps and record the observations.
• Record the observations on a sheet of paper that includes the number of bubbles in 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm. 

Result 

It was observed that the lamp kept at a 5 cm distance away from the beaker showed more oxygen production compared to the 10 and 15 cm. The higher the intensity of light, the more will be the production of oxygen in the form of bubbles by the plants under the process of photosynthesis. Therefore, when you reduce the distance between the light and the plant, there are more oxygen bubbles produced by the plants. 

Benefits of Learning about Photosynthesis

Some of the benefits of learning about photosynthesis are mentioned below:

• Develops knowledge about photosynthesis and how light energy is converted into chemical energy. 
• Helps in developing observational and analytical skills in children by conducting science experiments on photosynthesis. 
• Enables children to understand the chemical reactions of photosynthesis.
• Helps in gaining information on interesting facts about photosynthesis.
• Develops interest to conduct experiments on how light intensity affects oxygen production in the photosynthesis process. 

To know more information, explore science games for kids, STEM activities for kids in the kids learning section at Osmo.

Frequently Asked Questions on How Does Light Intensity Affect Oxygen Production?