Botany lab twelve photosynthesis

Using the Neulog equipment, Centella asiatica, a lamp, and Centella asiatica

There was an anomaly in the carbon dioxide data where the values collapsed to the probe minimum of 350 ppm. The chamber was being warmed by the lamp, I was left wondering if perhaps the experiment should proceed using only ambient light in the classroom. 


Data values at 11:41. Carbon dioxide is up around 426 pp at Mauna Kea at present, so the 422 reading seemed quite reasonable. 


This is the data that was gathered with the time in minutes.


As seen in a pilot run at home, the carbon dioxide spiked before falling steadily, collapsing just after 27 minutes. Resetting the probe did not help. 

Oxygen levels also behaved oddly at first, dropping for eight minutes before increasing. Again, unclear the cause of the anomaly. The directions on offsetting the probe were followed, as they were for the carbon dioxide probe. I hope to obtain the USB module so I can connect the probes to a laptop and to obtain another carbon dioxide monitor in the hope I might get a better reading. I have yet to locate an affordable oxygen replacement monitor with a remote probe for use in the chamber. 


I started off by saying the plant was a special plant brought in from China, Ji Xue Cao. My Agriculture and Natural Resources students believed me. I then noted that in the states the plant could be found in some Asian supermarkets under the Singhalese name gotu cola, scientific name Centella asiatica. When I asked if the plant also had a name here on Pohnpei I got blank looks. From ANR majors. Once again I exhorted them to change majors to nursing - their classes are right next door to the lab. Then I scolded them by telling them the local name, liwadawad marer. I used this to explain that if they cannot name their own native plants, they will not be taken seriously as being a knowledgeable ANR graduate. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plotting polar coordinates in Desmos and a vector addition demonstrator

Image
In an earlier post I noted that Desmos did not directly plot polar coordinates. Not only was I incorrect, but Desmos responded to my blog to correct me! Although I had at some point seen that one could define a function f(x)=3x+5 and then have Desmos calculate f(6), I had not absorbed how this might be used to plot polar coordinates. The above works beautifully . Realizing that I could effectively program Desmos, I applied this thinking to demonstrating how to add two vectors when given the magnitudes m and the direction angles theta. The graph calculates the i and j components for the two vectors and then adds the vectors, graphically displaying the result while also providing information on the magnitude and direction of the vector sum. m1 and theta1 are the magnitude and direction angle for one of the two vectors, m2 and theta2 are the magnitude and direction for the other vector. All four are dynamically interactive and can be changed. The diagram purports to illustra
Read more

Setting up a boxplot chart in Google Sheets with multiple boxplots on a single chart

Image
The  Google Statistics  add-on for Google Sheets can display multiple boxplots in a single chart. The key is the layout of the data. One column should be the variable by which the data is to be grouped, the other column should be the data to be box plotted. Set up the Statistics add-on with the data to be plotted as the variable, and the grouping column as the "by" variable. In this image I had deselected all but the boxplot option, the result was the appearance of the Moment, Standard errors, and Confidence intervals options. The default is apparently a 95% confidence interval for the mean. The result is multiple boxplots on a single chart with a common scale. The new tab that is created also quotes 95% confidence intervals for the mean. Note that as of 2018 the Google Statistics add-on cannot be found by search in the add-ons. In addition, as of May 2018 the add-on no longer verifies, possibly due to the add-on not having been updated since August 2017. One may ha
Read more

Traditional food dishes of Micronesia

Image
Clara, Jennette, and Joanie presented ground hard taro cooked in an umw, effectively a hot rock oven. Pohnpeian: rotama. Pingelapese: sero. Mwoakillese: rodma. Mortlockese: Amahd. Kosrae: rodoma. After cooking in an umw the rotama is pounded with the petiole of a palm frond. Rotama is made from hard or swamp taro, known as mwahng on Pohnpei, mweian on Pingalap, pula in Mortlockese, and pahsruhk on Kosrae. In traditional times on the outer islands the women had primary responsibility for tending the taro while the men handled fishing and climbing tasks. Joesen and Noeleen presented fermented breadfruit from the outer islands of Yap such as Woleai and Eauripik. The raw ingredients were actually brought in from Yap, Noeleen prepared the maare.  The leaf wrap is ti leaf - Cordyline fruticosa. Pauleen, Barnson, Trisha, Verginia, Con-ray, and Maylanda from Kitti, Pohnpei brought in mahi umw, koahpnoair koakihr, and uht sukusuk. Above is breadfruit umw, mahi umw, one o
Read more