AP Biology

November 2, 2012

RELATING THE RATE OF OXYGEN CONSUMPTION PRODUCED BY TWO
DIFFERENT TYPES OF ORGANISMS DURING CELLULAR RESPIRATION

Research

C
6
H
12
O
6
+ 6O
2
6CO
2
+ 6 H
2
O + 36 to 38 ATP
Cellular respiration is a catabolic pathway in which the mitochondrion is used as
the host for the breakdown of sugar and oxygen as raw materials to produce carbon
dioxide, water and energy in the form of ATP. There are three main cycles: glycolysis,
Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. ATP is a nucleotide which is the major
source of energy for cellular reactions. It is of absolute necessity since living systems
require free energy to maintain order, grow, and to reproduce.
There are three ways cellular respiration could be measured: the consumption of
O
2
, the production of CO
2
and the release of energy during cellular respiration. This
experiment will be conducted through the first method by measuring the position of fluid
in the respirometer.
A respirometer is a device used to measure the rate of respiration of a living
organism by calculating the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. This device
consists of a sealed container with the organism, and a substance to absorb the CO
2
such as cotton soaked in potassium hydroxide. First, the CO
2
that is produced
combines with KOH to form a solid precipitate, K
2
CO
3
. As the gas volume on the inside
decreases, the pressure on the surrounding forces water to enter the capillary, and
because the amount of water that enters is directly proportional to the amount of oxygen
consumed, measuring the water distance in the capillary tube allows calculating the rate
of respiration.
This experiment includes the active participation of isopods. These are relatively
small crustaceans that live in moist environment because of the constant need for water
that their gills require for gas exchange. They breathe using specialized lamellar gill-like
pleopods on the posterior section of the body. In many terrestrial isopods, the pleopods
bear respiratory structures similar to lungs.
The other organisms participating in the experiment are germinated seeds.
These carry out the process of germination which means the switch from seeds or
spores into the initial growth. Under proper conditions, the seed begins to germinate
and the embryonic tissues resume growth, developing towards a seedling. The first sign
of germination is the absorption of water. This activates an enzyme, respiration
increases and plant cells are duplicated. Soon the embryo becomes very large causing
the seed coat to burst open and the growing plant emerges.
Objective
Understand cellular respiration rate by observing oxygen consumption under different
organisms that have specific properties influential to respiration.
Hypothesis
If an isopod is tested against a germinating seed under average water temperatures,
then the plant organism will have a faster cellular respiration rate because it is in the
middle of a process of growth that requires more cellular respiration.
Procedure
1. Plug in the hot-glue gun and allow it to heat up.
2. Take a syringe (without a needle) and make sure that the plunger is pushed all
the way in
3. Carefully insert a 40-l plastic capillary into the syringe where the needle
normally would be.
4. While holding the capillary tube straight up, add a small amount of hot glue
around its base. Let it dry.
5. Prepare three syringes each with 0.5 mL of absorbent cotton, 4 drops of KOH,
0.5mL of non-absorbent cotton. Then for one syringe insert 0.5 mL of isopods, for
the other 0.5 mL of germinating seeds and for the other 0.5 ml of dead seeds.
6. Put water in a container (19 degrees Celsius)
7. Place the syringes on the water with the capillary tube on the outside. Wait 5
minutes for them to equalize
8. Put a drop of manometer fluid (soap) on the tip of the capillary tube
9. Submerge the syringes with metal washers for it not to move around
10. Record data each five minutes for 25 minutes

Materials
1 big container
Water (19 degrees)
3 syringes with the capillary tubes
glued to them
1.5 ml of absorbent cotton
1.5 ml of non-absorbent cotton
12 drops of KOH
Ruler
9 Metal washers
3 40-l plastic capillary
Hot glue gun
Time recorder
Thermometer
0.5 mL of isopods
0.5 mL of germinating seeds
0.5 mL of baked seeds









Experimental design
Manipulated Responding Control Constants
Type of organism
performing cellular
respiration
- isopod
- Germinating
seeds
Cellular respiration
rate measured by
oxygen
consumption
through the
position of the
manometer fluid in
the capillary tube.
Respirometer with
baked seeds.
0.5 ml of
absorbent cotton
0.5 ml of non-
absorbent cotton
4 drops of KOH
Water
temperature (19
degrees Celsius)
Volume of
syringes (1.5 ml)
Pressure
Oxygen
availability
Time of the day
Person recording
the data
Time for the
syringes to
equalize the
manometer fluid

# of trials: 1



Results and analysis
Rate of respiration of germinated seeds vs. control

Average of three groups
Position (cm)
time (minutes) germinated seeds baked seeds
0 0 0
5 0.3 0
10 0.5 0
15 0.8 0
20 1.1 0
25 1.4 0


The graph and table above displays the relationship between rate of cellular respiration
of germinated and baked seeds as time increases. The blue line represents the
germinated seeds. As time increases, the rate of oxygen consumption also increases in
a linear-like pattern. On minute 0 it started with no change in position while 25 minutes
later, it had around 1.4 cm change in a positive way. On the other hand, we can
observe that the red line maintains a constant rate of 0 throughout the whole time. This
states that the baked seed didnt have any changes in position of the manometer fluid
on the capillary tube.
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
0 10 20 30
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time in minutes
comparison of the rate of oxygen consumption
from germinating and baked seeds
germinating seeds
baked seeds
Rate of oxygen consumption of germinated seeds vs. isopods along with the control
position (cm)
time
(minutes)
germinated seeds isopods baked seeds
(control)
0 0 0 0
5 1.6 1.15 0
10 2.05 1.45 0
15 2.6 1.6 0
20 2.75 1.8 0
25 3.3 1.8 0


The graph and table above shows the comparisons of cellular respiration rate of
germinated seeds, isopods and the control (baked seeds). As mentioned in the previous
data the control has no change during the 25 minutes. In this graph we can observe that
the germinated seeds have the higher increase in the rate. It starts in minute 0 with a 0
change in position and at minute 25 it has around 3.3 cm of increase in position.
Meanwhile, the isopods that are depicted by the red line have also a positive increase
only that in smaller amounts. On minute0 it has no change in position while in minute 25
it has around 1.8 cm of positive increase. The first five minutes both of these organisms
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
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time (minutes)
The rate of oxygen consumption as time
increases in three types of organism
germinated seeds
isopods
control
have a rapid rise and form that point the rate of oxygen consumption slows down with
smaller increases. In isopods, the last two measurements are the same (1.8 cm, no
change), while in germinated seeds it has a steep rise of 0.55 cm of change in position.

Conclusion
The purpose of this experiment was to observe and analyze the rate of cellular
respiration under different situations. In our specific case, the variable with
discrepancies was the type of organism performing the cellular work. This lab consisted
on the creation of a respirometer that read the distance of the manometer fluid in the
capillary tube meaning the oxygen being consumed. We divided the work in two main
parts; the first one tested a germinating versus a baked seed which gave us a general
idea about cellular respiration and the way to measure it. It also served to collect data
for the control. The second part consisted on testing the germinating again versus an
isopod organism and recording the results. At the end we compared the growing seed
with the crustacean by a model control which was the baked in order to understand the
differences.
Throughout this experiment we found interesting results about the organisms and
the rate of respiration. Our most important finding was that the isopod organism had an
inferior cellular respiration rate than the germinated seeds by about 1.5 cm of difference
in minute 25. Also, as we expected the baked seeds were all in 0 meaning that no
cellular respiration happened.
Our hypothesis was If an isopod is tested against a germinating seed under
average water temperatures, then the plant organism will have a faster cellular
respiration rate because it is in the middle of a process of growth that requires more
cellular respiration and our results does support it. As analyzed in the tables and
graphs, the germinated seeds got higher rates than the isopods. On the second graph,
we can observe how the blue line representing the isopod increased on a steeper
pattern and got higher results than the red one (isopod) for each of the 25 minutes.
Our findings similarly compare to the ones of our classmates. On the first
procedure which was germinated seeds vs. baked ones almost all of the class got a
straight unaffected line for the dead seeds while the germinated had an increasing
steep line. On the other hand, for procedure two which was germinated seeds vs.
isopods, Joaquins group got similar results. We both concluded that the isopods had
lower rates than the plant seeds. While doing research I found myself with different
investigations done by other students in different parts of the world. We all got that
germinated should have a rapid rate of cellular respiration because of their growth. I
mostly found labs done with flies or crickets in which the results where the opposite
because of their difference in metabolism with isopods. Still, in my opinion our results
arrived to the same conclusion as them; the rate of cellular respiration depends on the
metabolism of the organism.
Possible explanations for our findings are clearly stated with the analysis of each
of the organisms metabolism. The germinated seeds should have a higher rate of
respiration because they are in the middle of growth in which cellular respiration work
increases as well as other processes such as cell division. Likewise, isopods got lower
rates because these are crustaceans that need water in order to start gas exchange
through their gills. These organisms are usually located in moist environment and the
stressed compartment as well as the dry environment in which they were put for the lab
influenced on their results.
This experiment contained a large amount of human errors. First of all, the
manometer fluids distance was difficult to read because it had to remain underwater
challenging the human eye. Also, another error was that there were different amount of
germinated seeds than of isopods which contributes to the amount of cellular respiration
done.
I recommend that for future experiments, people should prepare correctly the
respirometer because it is a fragile device that constantly breaks or damages ruining the
whole lab. Also, I will endorse that in a future time the person doing the experiment
should wait 5 minutes or even more for the manometer fluid to equalize because that is
a big error that disrupts the measurement of the oxygen consumed.
It will be interesting to observe the changes in respiration rate when the
organisms are placed on high temperatures. This is difficult to attain because the
change in temperature makes the manometer fluid to immediately get out of the
capillary tube as it hits the water making it impossible to complete the lab. Also, it would
be interesting to test the rate pursuing a different method such as the production of CO
2.







Bibliography

Marylan, P. k. (2011). About respirometry. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from
Sthrakelvin instruments:
http://www.strathkelvin.com/waste_water/respirometry.asp
Pearson Eductaion. (2012). Lab bench activity. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from How
the respirometer works?:
http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/lab5/respwork.html
The College Board of New York. (2001). Enzyme Activity. In t. C. York, AP Biology:
Investigative labs (pp. 171-178). New York: College Board.