Reflection and Discussion
During the investigation there were many difficulties which may have affected the results of this investigation. As the plants transpire only very little per hour, even after five hours it was difficult to exactly measure how much water had been emitted as most of the water stuck to the insides of the bottles. However gently turning the bottle generally worked as the water droplets would form together inside the bottle until they were able to be poured out. Besides only transpiring only very little, the weather of the testing days had made the transpiring rates even slower. The temperature of the days were ranging from 15-18 degrees, which caused the stomata of the plants to close and transpire less. In order to counter this problem the plants were placed in an area where sunlight would reach them best.
To improve this experiment, choosing hotter days and measuring the transpiration during longer time periods would give a better result. Also, choosing do test more than two plants as well as testing a larger range of plants such as cacti or water plants would have made the investigation more valid. From my results I have found that plants transpire the most during the afternoon. These results would help people who leave in dry/desert areas, as they would know the best time to collect transpiration would be during the afternoon. They would also know not to collect it during the night as transpiration only occurs during the day when the stomata are open, while at night the stomata are closed. |