Biology Lab: Effect of Temperature on Rate of Respiration in Yeast

Yeast are unicellular fungi, and like almost all living things carry out the process of cellular respiration to make ATP the molecule that powers most cell processes. We will use these simple organisms to help investigate how temperature affects the rate of respiration. We will measure the rate directly by using a respirometer (see the diagram below) that enables us to observe the formation of carbon dioxide (CO2). Recall that CO2 is a waste product of respiration. The faster the rate of respiration, the more CO2 is released. As the CO2 produced by the yeast cells diffuses out of the solution, it will push the droplet of water up the pipet, enabling us to measure the amount of gas produced in a given amount of time.

Hypothesis Read all the procedures below, then write a hypothesis statement below that includes a supporting
explanation.

Pipet

Water Droplet

Yeast Solution

Syringe Procedures
1) With your lab partner(s), collect two syringes and two pipets. Using pieces of tape, label your syringes room and cold. Your teacher will also construct a control set-up that contains sugar solution WITHOUT yeast. 2) With the plungers of the syringes all the way in, dip the tip into the room temperature sugar solution containing live yeast. Then, draw back the plunger until you have pulled 20 ml of the solution in. 3) Remove the tip of the plunger from the yeast solution, then pull back the plunger a bit more until 5 ml of air has been introduced into the syringe. 4) Push the pipet over the tip of the syringe. 5) Get a drop of soapy water on your fingertip, hold it to the end of the pipet, and they pull the plunger back slowly to draw the water into the pipet. Pull it in until the water is at the 1.0 ml mark. 6) Place the syringe into the room temperature water bath. 7) Repeat steps 2-5 with the other syringe. This time add cold yeast solution. After getting the water droplet near the 1.0 ml mark on the pipet, immediately place it into the ice water bath. 8) Allow the syringes to sit in the water baths for 2 minutes to ensure that the solution they contain are equal to the temperature in the beaker. Record the temperature of the water in both beakers. 9) Check the position of the water droplets in the pipets. If they have moved up past the 1.5 ml mark, quickly remove the syringe from the bath and carefully pull the plunger back until the droplet is near the 1.0 ml mark. 10) Record the positions (in ml) of the water droplets in both your treatment pipets, plus the pipet the teacher made containing no yeast. 11) Record the positions of the water droplets every minute for five minutes in all three pipets.

Analysis/Conclusions
a) Write the chemical equation that summarizes cell respiration [1] b) Why was sucrose added? [1] c) Explain why detecting changes in the position of the water droplet was evidence for the rate at which respiration was occurring. [3]

d) Explain, using data you collected as evidence, which of the treatments promoted the fastest rate of cell respiration in
e) f) the yeast. [4] Were the results expected? Explain why or why not? [4] What might the effect be on the rate of cell respiration if acid was added to the sugar + yeast solution? What if the sugar + yeast solution was boiled first? Explain. [4] On the back of this sheet, make a graph by hand to display your data in a clear and meaningful way. [4]

g)

Data: Change in Volume in Respirometers over Time.

Treatment Groups Position of Water Droplet in Pipets At Different Times Initi 1 2 3 4 5 min total vol al min min min min change

Yeast, at room temp ___oC Yeast in ice-water ___oC No yeast, room temp. ___oC

Graph Title