Quintin Salas/B2 Mrs. Petri Ap Environmental Science/Lab Report 30 October 2017 Measuring Primary Productivity – Grass Plants I. Title: “Measuring Primary Productivity – Grass Plants” II. Name: Quintin Salas III. Date: October 30th, 2017 IV. Purpose: To grow grass plants over a one-week period in order to calculate productivity rates using two methods of collection. And to understand the concepts of net productivity, respiration rates, gross productivity, and standing biomass. V. Hypothesis: The three pots with the sand and dirt mixture (experiment 1) and the three pots with the clay and dirt mixture (experiment 2) will not grow exponentially compared to the three pots with the plain soil. This is due to the fact that the sand and clay might …show more content…
Uncovered Measurement #2 (g) = 35g + Uncovered Measurement #1 (g) = 9.6g Net Primary Productivity (g) = 25.4g X. Conclusions: The data supported the hypothesis because the grass grown in the sand and clay mixtures did not grow as much as the grass grown in the soil pot. The grass grown in the soil weighs 36.2 grams while the grass grown in the clay weighs 26.7 grams and the grass grown in the sand weighs 35 grams. XI. Questions: 1. Why in part A was one set of plots harvested and the weight of the grass taken at the beginning of the experiment? It is the starting biomass of the grass plants. 2. What do the plots with the foil covering represent? Nonphotosynthesizing plants, they are only respiring. 3. Compare the difference in appearance between the foil-covered and the noncovered grass. If there is a difference in appearance, explain the difference. Grass that is covered has become yellowed due to loss or lack of continued production of chlorophyll. 4. If there was growth in the covered plots in part B, account for why that growth might have taken place even though there was no sunlight reaching the