Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Okay so I had this crazy idea about common plants being able to be genetically altered into producing more oxygen. This, of course, involves global warming. I've done some research and concluded that maybe if there was more oxygen in the air, it can cool down the Earth possibly hold off global warming. Trees produce a lot of oxygen since it has a bigger structure and size. But trees take awhile to fully grow. So if common plants (like household ones) were able to produce just as much oxygen as trees, that can be really helpful.

Now what I'm looking for is a good experiment in the amount of time I have. I know I started late (shame on me :/), but I really want to do a good job.
If I could, I would make an experiment where I'd have to compare a regular plant to an altered plant, but there is no such thing as an altered plant :/

So what would be good experiment to show my research and idea about this? Like maybe if I could, I would do an experiment that would have to do with the structure and size of the plant leaves, since the bigger they are, the more oxygen the can produce. Idk what to do >.<

And I know my idea sounds crazy :/ But I'm just very curious about this.

Hi,

I think you could develop this idea into a really good science project. Plants produce oxygen during photosynthesis and sequester carbon dioxide in the process, so an experiment on plant growth would meet your science fair project goals. If plants grew faster, they would produce more oxygen. Here are some ideas you could consider:

1. Fertilizing the ocean with iron has been used to increase algae growth. Here's a website that gives some background information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization

2. Fertilizer helps plants grow faster. Here's a website with a suggestion for an experiment. You would probably want to do something to make it more advanced for your grade level:

http://www.flowerpossibilities.com/fac/ ... nt_two.pdf

3. Here is a website that reports the genetic engineering of plants to make them grow faster. I have not found the original reference, but I think this is what you were thinking about doing.

http://www.netlink.de/gen/Zeitung/2000/000601a.html

4. Here is a scientific reference that studies the effect of plant height on plant growth.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_o ... a64a6a8dab

5. Here are other plant projects on the science buddies website:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... Search#892


Your topic is very vast, so you need to concentrate and develop a carefully controlled experiment that you can complete with the time and resources that you have available. With the limited time, you will probably want to select algae, as they grow quickly and you will be able to get measurable results within a couple of weeks.

Be sure and do as much background reading as you can before you do your experiment. Let us know if you have any other questions.

Donna Hardy

Thanks! These sites are really helpful!
I'll let you all know if I have any further questions.

Just to add to this discussion, there are plants that fix much less carbon (and thus produce less oxygen) than other plants--plants that use the CAM pathway instead of the C3 o C4 pathway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis). You might be able to take advantage of this by comparing a CAM plant with a C3 plant.