Modern biology is increasingly dependent on sophisticated instrumentation and on the interface of this equipment with computers. Due to the expense of this equipment and the sophisticated training required to operate it, undergraduate students receive limited exposure to it. The Reed College Biology Department proposes to add new instrumentation for measurement of photosynthesis in undergraduate teaching laboratories. The equipment has been designed specifically as a teaching aid for undergraduates. It will be used by students in both lower and upper level courses that include Introductory Biology, Plant Physiology, Independent Study, and Senior Thesis. The equipment utilizes an infra red gas analyzer to measures CO2 content of a gas stream passing through a leaf cuvette. Humidity and light are also measured and all data is fed into an attached computer and displayed on a monitor. The computing equipment is already available. Exercises will be designed to demonstrate the fundamental properties of photosynthesis particularly with regards to the effects of environmental variables such as light and temperature. Students, many of whom will be majors from outside of the sciences, will gain familiarity with technology in which computers are used to gather and process data in scientific studies. Upper-level students will make extensive use of the equipment in independent research activities (especially senior thesis projects) that are the hallmark of Reed. Thus the equipment will enhance the ability of Reed to continue to produce students that are eager and competent to advance into graduate school and ultimately careers as professional biologists.
