Leaf - Lab Report Example

Download file to see previous pages Leaves in plants, are the photosynthetic sites. They absorb the requirements for photosynthesis among them sunlight. Since light is a key requirement for photosynthesis, plant leaves will tend to trap more or maximum sunlight they can access (Collinveaux, 1986). As such, most plants with develop leaf modification depending on their habitat and ecological niche hence broad, narrow and spiky leaves appear to various plants in various habitats. The oak leaves are not any different and so will portray different surface areas and sinus for those in shade and sun.
In this experiment, graph paper, Glant press and weighing machine with an accuracy of 0.1g were used. Leaf samples were obtained from the Oak plant with emphasis laid on the relative position of each leaf. Thus 45 leaves were picked from the shade while another 45 from the light. Using the graph, the leaf surface areas were obtained and with the Glant press, polygon was traced on each leaf to determine the sinusoidal surface of each leaf. The procedure was repeated for each leaf and enough data obtained for analysis using computer software for the t-test.
From the experimental results, it is established that sun leaves are narrow while shade leaves are wide. However, the sun leaves are thicker than the shade leaves based on the average sinuosity. This, points to the general requirement of light by the two types of leaves. Consequently, the results of this experiment confirm the hypothesis that leaves in the dark will grow larger and thinner to facilitate trapping and absorption of maximum sunlight (Horn, ...Download file to see next pagesRead More