Rapid environmental change and advances in data-driven analysis highlight the need not only to use computational tools, but also to foster understanding of the natural world and inspire creativity. Photosynthesis, the process that fuels nearly all life on Earth, provides a compelling context for such learning, particularly in understanding how plants alter their photosynthetic strategies in response to environmental changes. However, existing tools for studying photosynthesis are often inaccessible or limited to demonstrating its presence, rather than capturing its temporal dynamics. We present PhytoBits, a frugal in situ gas-exchange sensing toolkit for distinguishing and teaching photosynthetic strategies. PhytoBits combines leaf enclosure with accessible materials, an off-the-shelf CO\textsubscript{2} sensor, and a low-cost microcontroller, to support multi-day monitoring of plant gas-exchange in educational and research contexts. We validated PhytoBits against research-grade gas-exchange systems, confirming that it identifies C\textsubscript{3} and CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) photosynthetic pathways. In addition to obligate CAM, PhytoBits also resolves facultative CAM and developmental CAM dynamics in plants. This work presents an early-stage hardware validation; user deployment studies, open-source code dissemination, and automated pathway classification are planned as future work.

翻译：快速的环境变化与数据驱动分析的进步，不仅突显了使用计算工具的必要性，更强调了培养对自然世界的理解和激发创造力的重要性。光合作用作为支撑地球上几乎所有生命的过程，为这类学习提供了引人入胜的背景，特别是在理解植物如何改变光合策略以响应环境变化方面。然而，现有的光合作用研究工具往往难以获取，或仅限于证明其存在，而非捕捉其时间动态。我们提出了PhytoBits，一种低成本的现场气体交换传感工具包，用于区分和教授光合策略。PhytoBits结合了叶片封闭室、易获取的材料、现成的CO₂传感器以及低成本的微控制器，支持在教育与科研环境中对植物气体交换进行多日监测。我们通过研究级气体交换系统验证了PhytoBits，确认其能够识别C₃和CAM（景天酸代谢）光合途径。除了专性CAM外，PhytoBits还能解析植物的兼性CAM和发育性CAM动态。本工作展示了初期硬件验证；用户部署研究、开源代码发布以及自动化途径分类计划作为未来工作。