Transpiration Lab
Inquiry Version
Objectives:
• To understand how water moves from roots to leaves in terms of
the physical and chemical
properties of water and the forces provided by differences in
water potential.
• To understand the role of transpiration in the transport of water
within a plant.
• To understand the structures used by plants to transport water
and regulate water movement.
• To test the effects of environmental variables on rates of
transpiration using a controlled
experiment.
Introduction:
Cells and organisms must exchange matter with the environment
to grow, reproduce, and maintain organization, and the
availability of resources influences responses and activities. For
example, water and macronutrients are used to synthesize new
molecules, and, in plants, water is essential for photosynthesis.
Organisms have evolved various mechanisms for accumulating
sufficient quantities of water, ions, and other nutrients and for
keeping them properly balanced to maintain homeostasis.
In general, animals possess one or more mechanisms, such as
those involved in excretion, that let them ingest solutions of
nutrients and transport and/or eliminate any excess ions or water. However, plants take a
