Temperature's Effect on Respiration of Zophobas Morio and Pea Seeds

ABSTRACT

This experiment examined how much O2 was consumed by germinated pea seeds and Zophobus morio Larvae under different temperature conditions. Four different temperature conditions were tested. Those temperature conditions were at 10 degrees Celsius, 20 degrees Celsius, 30 degrees Celsius, and 40 degrees Celsius. An oxygen sensor and a data logger were used to measure this consumption. The germinated pea seeds and Zophobus morio Larvae were put into test tubes. The test tubes were inserted into water baths at the four different temperatures. The tubes were left in the different temperatures for five minutes. During the five minutes the oxygen sensor and the data logger recorded the amount of oxygen consumption. The results from this experiment showed that for both the germinated pea seeds and the Zophobus morio Larvae, as the temperature rose, oxygen consumption increased. However, the germinated pea seeds showed more consumption at 30 degrees Celsius than at 40 degrees Celsius. There should have been more oxygen consumption at 40 degrees than at 30 degrees. Possible reasoning for this is that one of the groups could have recorded their data wrong. Another reason for this is that one of the groups could have not had their water baths at the right temperature. These results show that oxygen consumption increases when temperature rises.

INTRODUCTION

Cellular respiration refers to the biochemical pathway by which cells release energy from food molecules which provide energy that is essential for life. Any living cell must carry out cellular respiration. The respiration can be aerobic which requires oxygen or anerobic which doesn’t require oxygen. Aerobic respiration uses the product of glycolysis to produce energy in the form of ATP. Eukaryotic cells use aerobic respiration when they have enough oxygen and it takes place in the mitochondria (N.D, hyperphysics). Cellular respiration is vital for the survival of all organisms. This is because energy from food cannot be used by a cell until it is converted to ATP. Aerobic respiration plays an important role in the production of ATP, where glucose and oxygen are needed elements. Aerobic respiration only takes place if oxygen is available (Pillai, 2018). During aerobic cellular respiration, glucose reacts with oxygen to form ATP that can be used by the cell as energy. Aerobic cellular respiration also produces carbon dioxide and water as byproducts. The three stages of aerobic cellular respiration are glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation (Cellular respiration review, N.D). I expect the germinated pea seeds to consume more oxygen as the temperature increases. I also expect the Zophobus morio Larvae to consume more oxygen as the temperature increases. I think this because at a warmer temperature, an organism would need more oxygen. This study investigated how much O2 was consumed at four different temperatures for germinated pea seeds and the Zophobus morio Larvae.

Save your time!
We can take care of your essay

• Proper editing and formatting
• Free revision, title page, and bibliography
• Flexible prices and money-back guarantee

Place an order

METHODS

For the Zophobus morio Larvae the first thing we did was 5 larvae. After we recorded the weight of the larvae, we placed them into a test tube. We placed the tube with the larvae in a Styrofoam cooler filled with ice for 5 minutes. While the tube was in the ice, we filled a water bath with 10 degrees Celsius tap water. We added small amounts of ice to get the temperature down to exactly 10 degrees. Next, we took the tube out of the ice and put it through the hole in the water bath cover. Then we inserted the O2 sensor which is connected to the logger program into the opening of the test tube. We tightly sealed the tube and O2 sensor with Parafilm. We then let the tube sit in the water bath for five minutes so that the apparatus could equilibrate. After the five minutes passed, we hit the respiration button on the logger program. The logger program automatically stopped collecting data after 5 minutes passed. Then from the Table window of the logger program we recorded the initial and final ppm O2 values. Once we wrote down the data, we hit the Data menu and selected the Clear All Data option. Next, we took the test tube still connected to the O2 sensor out of the water bath. We then changed the water bath temperature to 20 degrees Celsius. Then we inserted the tube back into the water. We let it sit for five minutes again so the apparatus could equilibrate. After the five minutes passed, we hit the respiration button on the logger program. The logger program automatically stopped collecting data after 5 minutes passed. Then from the Table window of the logger program we recorded the initial and final ppm O2 values. Once we wrote down the data, we hit the Data menu and selected the Clear All Data option. Next, we took the test tube still connected to the O2 sensor out of the water bath. We then followed these same steps for the 30 degrees Celsius water bath and for the 40 degrees Celsius water bath. After data was collected from all four temperatures, we calculated the ppm O2 consumed / five minutes by taking the initial minus the final. Then we found the ppm O2 consumed / minute by taking the number we just found divided by five. We finally calculated the ppm O2 consumed / minute / g of tissue by dividing the amount / minute divided by the mass of the larvae. Next, we collected the ppm O2 consumed / minute / g of tissue from the other two groups doing the larvae experiment. We took the three numbers, added them up, and divided by three to find the mean ppm O2 consumed / minute / g of tissue for each of the four temperature groups.

For the germinated pea seeds the first thing we did was obtain 30 germinated pea seeds. We then removed the seed coat from the seeds. Next, we weighed the peas. After we weighed the peas, we placed them in a beaker. We soaked the peas in 10 degrees Celsius water for 5 minutes. While the peas were soaking, we prepared a 10 degrees Celsius water bath. We placed an empty test tube through the hole in the water bath cover. Once the five minutes passed, we dried the peas off and transferred them to the test tube in the water bath. We then inserted the oxygen sensor which is connected to the logger program into the test tube. We tightly sealed the tube and O2 sensor with Parafilm. We then let the tube sit in the water bath for five minutes so that the apparatus could equilibrate. After the five minutes passed, we hit the respiration button on the logger program. The logger program automatically stopped collecting data after 5 minutes passed. Then from the Table window of the logger program we recorded the initial and final ppm O2 values. Once we wrote down the data, we hit the Data menu and selected the Clear All Data option. Next, we transferred the peas from the test tube into a beaker with 20 degrees Celsius water. We soaked the peas in the 20 degrees Celsius water for 5 minutes. While the peas were soaking, we prepared a 20 degrees Celsius water bath. We placed an empty test tube through the hole in the water bath cover. Once the five minutes passed, we dried the peas off and transferred them to the test tube in the water bath. We then inserted the oxygen sensor which is still connected to the logger program into the test tube. We then let the tube sit in the water bath for five minutes so that the apparatus could equilibrate. After the five minutes passed, we hit the respiration button on the logger program. The logger program automatically stopped collecting data after 5 minutes passed. Then from the Table window of the logger program we recorded the initial and final ppm O2 values. Once we wrote down the data, we hit the Data menu and selected the Clear All Data option. We repeated the steps of soaking the peas, drying them off and transferring them to the test tube in the water bath for the both the 30 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius. After data was collected from all four temperatures, we calculated the ppm O2 consumed / five minutes by taking the initial minus the final. Then we found the ppm O2 consumed / minute by taking the number we just found divided by five. We finally calculated the ppm O2 consumed / minute / g of tissue by dividing the amount / minute divided by the mass of the peas. Next, we collected the ppm O2 consumed / minute / g of tissue from the other two groups doing the peas experiment. We took the three numbers, added them up, and divided by three to find the mean ppm O2 consumed / minute / g of tissue for each of the four temperature groups.

DISCUSSION

From this experiment we found that as the temperature increased, the amount of oxygen consumed for both the Zophobus morio Larvae and germinated pea seeds increased as well. My hypothesis was correct according to the data collected in this experiment. As the temperature increased, the amount of O2 consumed also increased. However, one piece of data was incorrect. The germinated peas consumed a mean of 650.11 ppm / minute / g of oxygen at 30 degrees Celsius and at 40 degrees Celsius they consumed 638.25 ppm / minute / g of oxygen. The germinated peas should have consumed more oxygen at 40 degrees Celsius than at 30 degrees Celsius. A reason that in this experiment they consumed more at 30 degrees than 40 degrees is that one group could have recorded their data wrong. Another reason that the data didn’t come out like it was supposed to is that one group could have not had their water baths at the correct temperature.

The findings from this experiment are important because they help you to better understand why more oxygen is consumed by organisms at higher temperatures. Aerobic respiration only occurs if oxygen is present. From this experiment we found out that less oxygen is consumed at lower temperatures, and more oxygen is consumed at higher temperatures. Since the germinated pea seeds and the Zophobus morio Larvae both consumed oxygen, you would assume that aerobic respiration is occurring within those organisms.

To further test this experiment, one thing we could change is to have one group test all of the trials. The data will be more accurate with less flaws if the same group is doing the tests rather than multiple people doing it. For example, if one group makes an error but the other two don’t, the data found will still be altered for each group. If one group does each test themselves, it is more likely that less errors will be made. Another thing we could od to further test this experiment is to add more temperatures to the experiment. We could add 50 and 60 degrees Celsius to the experiment to be sure that as temperature increase, the amount of O2 consumption does as well. A third thing we could do to further test this experiment is to change the subjects being tested. We could use a different type of larvae.

In conclusion, this experiment showed us that oxygen consumption for germinated pea seeds and for the Zophobus morio Larvae increases when they are placed in an environment with a higher temperature. The amount of O2 consumed at each temperature showed us how the organisms react in each scenario. Aerobic respiration requires oxygen to be present for it to occur. Because of this, we know that the germinated pea seeds and the Zophobus morio Larvae use aerobic respiration because they consumed oxygen at each different temperature level.

REFERENCES

1. Cellular respiration review. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-energy-and-transport/hs-cellular-respiration/a/hs-cellular-respiration-review.
2. Mbuthia, K. W. (7th Edition) Concepts in Biology II Laboratory Manual. Cincinnati, OH: Van-Greiner Learning (n.d.). Retrieved from http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Biology/celres.html.
3. Pillai, M. (2018, April 13). A Beginner's Guide to Aerobic Cellular Respiration and Its Stages. Retrieved from https://biologywise.com/aerobic-cellular-respiration.