Start a new document for the journal assignments that you will complete in the remainder of this course. Be sure to clearly label each assignment.
For this assignment, label the journal page, “Spinach Lab.” Remember to keep up with your journal assignments, as they will be handed in for a grade.
Plant cells are well-adapted to hold large amounts of water. This is what helps the leaves stay upright to face the sun. It is called being turgid. When plants lose water, it exits their cells and they wilt.
For this experiment, you will need one pound of fresh spinach, a baking dish that is large enough to hold all of the spinach, and a kitchen scale.
- Weigh the spinach on the scale to get an accurate weight. Record this weight in your journal.
- Place the spinach in the uncovered baking dish in the oven.
- Place the oven thermostat on “warm” or on the lowest setting that you can.
- Remove the dish after two hours.
- Let the dish cool and, when it can be handled safely, remove the spinach and weigh it again. Record the new weight.
- In your journal, describe the change in the appearance of the spinach. Explain the reason for the changes and compute the weight of the water in the fresh spinach by subtracting the ending weight from the beginning weight. What percentage of water did the fresh spinach contain compared to the cooked spinach?