Worksheet Agriculture c01-01 - Teacher Instructions

Pigments in Leaves

Subjects:

Physics, Biology, Science

Objectives:

• Plotting of leaf reflectance on graph paper, based on the pigments present.
• Identify pigments present based on leaf reflectance

Materials:

• Colour photographs of leaves
• Empty graph charts

Time needed:

1/2 school lesson

Procedure:

• Use the empty graph charts to plot the spectral reflectance of leaves containing chlorophylls, xanthophylls, carotenoids and anthocyanins, knowing the percentage of reflectance of each pigment and the pigments present in each leaf.
• Look at the colour photographs highlighting particular areas on a leaf. From the colour of the leaf determine the reflectance in each of the blue, green and red band and, knowing the reflectance percentage of each pigment, calculate whether each pigment is present