Final answer:
The student's confusion arises from a misinterpretation; it's not cameras but scientific processes like selective breeding, genetic engineering, and environmental influence that can change flower colors. Hydrangeas, for example, show different colors based on soil pH, while biotechnology has led to flowers that change color with different absorbent liquids.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cameras do not produce flowers, but the manipulation of flower colors can be explained through biological processes such as selective breeding, genetic modification, and the influence of environmental factors. Selective breeding involves choosing plants with desired traits to breed, aiming for offspring with those traits. In genetic engineering, scientists can introduce genes into a plant to produce desired flower colors. For instance, inserting genes that influence pigmentation can transform a white flower into another color. Environmental factors can also play a role; for example, hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) can have different flower colors depending on the soil pH levels. Acidic soils tend to produce blue flowers, while alkaline soils lead to red or pink flowers due to the availability of aluminum ions and the influence on anthocyanin pigments. Innovations in biotechnology, such as those presented humorously by a startup company, can lead to flowers changing color based on the type of liquid they absorb, illustrating the concept of applied bioengineering in horticulture.