Core practical 9 Teacher sheet

EDEXCEL Biology B Teacher Resource Pack 2 Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic respiration
using a respirometer

Core practical 9: Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic

respiration using a respirometer

Objectives
● To understand how to use a respirometer
● To be able to interpret and evaluate respirometer data
Safety Specification links
● Soda lime is corrosive. Wear eye protection. ● Practical techniques 1, 2, 3, 8, 12
Do not touch the soda lime; use a spatula to ● CPAC 1a, 2a, 2b, 4a, 4b
position in the respirometer. Do not inhale
any dust.
● Wash your hands after handling organisms.
Procedure Notes on procedure
1. Assemble the respirometer (see fig A). ● If three-way taps are used, it will be
Check that you know how to use it, necessary to demonstrate their use. It
especially the operation of the three-way would be of benefit to demonstrate other
tap. Clamp the syringe and respirometer in respirometers including U-tube
position when in use. (Dixon–Barcroft) types.
2. Place a known mass of one type of ● This investigation has been organised to
organism into the boiling tube, and replace minimise the number of respirometers that
the bung. Record the mass. Handle live are required. If respirometers are not in
animals with care to avoid harming them. short supply, students could set up and run
3. Place a drop of coloured fluid at the open a suitable control respirometer alongside
end of the glass tube using a dropping the test and use the results to control for
pipette. Open the connection between the any changes in air temperature or pressure.
syringe and the respirometer. Use the ● Using the same mass of different organisms
syringe to draw the fluid onto the scale at may be not be possible because of the very
the end furthest from the respirometer. different relative masses of, for example,
4. Mark the starting position of the fluid on the woodlice and peas. Students should realise
glass tube or note the reading. that as long as the mass is recorded,
comparisons per gram can be made.
5. Close the tap to isolate the respirometer
from the atmosphere and the syringe and ● The time (5 minutes) for the experiment
start the stop clock immediately. may need to be adjusted if respiration rates
are very fast or very slow. If the fluid does
6. Note the position of the fluid at 1 minute not move, check that all seals are airtight; a
intervals for 5 minutes. little petroleum jelly may help to seal them.
7. Work out the distance travelled by the liquid Equipment should be sealed firmly but
during each minute. Record your results in over-tightening can cause breakages and
a suitable table. Include columns for the injury.
mean rate of oxygen uptake during the 5 ● Point out to students that NaOH or KOH
minutes and the mean rate per gram of solution could be used instead of the soda
organism. lime. While these are more reliable in terms
8. At the end of 5 minutes, open the of CO2 absorption, they are also more
connection to the outside air. If time is difficult and less safe to work with.
available, repeat the process for a different
organism.

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 Core practical 9 Teacher sheet
EDEXCEL Biology B Teacher Resource Pack 2 Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic respiration
using a respirometer

Answers to questions
1. Both plants and animals respire to produce ATP for cellular processes but animals also move
around and require additional ATP for muscle contraction. Respiration rates are therefore
usually higher in animals.
2. Some variables may not have been effectively controlled, such as temperature, amount of
movement, age or stage of development of organisms. The low resolution of the manometer
scale will also cause some uncertainty in readings.
3. Temperature could be controlled using a water bath. Organisms could be matched between
groups for size or stage of development.
4.
(a) A decrease in temperature or an increase in atmospheric pressure would cause movement
towards the respirometer. An increase in temperature or a decrease in atmospheric
pressure would cause movement in the opposite direction.
(b) Movement towards the control respirometer would be subtracted from results; movement
away from the control respirometer would be added to results.
5. Soda lime is used to absorb any carbon dioxide produced by the respiring organisms. The gas
volume will reduce as oxygen is removed for respiration.
6. A reduction in gas volume will reduce the pressure inside the tube. As it becomes lower than
atmospheric pressure, the fluid bubble will move towards the respirometer chamber.
Sample data

Distance moved by manometer fluid in 1 minute/mm

Replicate Woodlice Woodlice
Peas (5 g) Peas control
(1 g) control
1 5 −1 7 0
2 4 0 5 0
3 6 1 9 1
4 4 0 7 0
5 5 0 7 0
table A Results from a respirometer with capillary tubing of 1 mm internal diameter. Movements in
the direction expected from oxygen uptake are positive, while movement in the opposite direction
(away from the respirometer) is shown as negative figures.

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 Core practical 9 Student sheet
EDEXCEL Biology B Teacher Resource Pack 2 Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic respiration
using a respirometer

Core practical 9: Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic

respiration using a respirometer

Objectives
● To understand how to use a respirometer
● To be able to interpret and evaluate respirometer data
Safety All the maths you need
● Soda lime is corrosive. Wear eye protection. ● Recognise and make use of appropriate
Do not touch the soda lime; use a spatula to units in calculations.
position it in the respirometer. Do not inhale ● Use an appropriate number of significant
any dust. figures.
● Wash your hands after handling organisms. ● Find arithmetic means.
● Plot two variables from experimental or
other data.
● Calculate the circumferences, surface areas
and volumes of regular shapes.
Equipment
● respirometer ● stop clock
● live animals such as woodlice or maggots ● clamp and stand
● actively respiring germinating seeds such ● dropping pipette
as mung beans, peas or other seeds ● mass balance
● soda lime in muslin ● eye protection
● coloured manometer fluid ● fine marker pen or chinagraph pencil
● spatula
Diagram

fig A Simple respirometer.

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 Core practical 9 Student sheet
EDEXCEL Biology B Teacher Resource Pack 2 Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic respiration
using a respirometer

Procedure
1. Assemble the respirometer (see fig A). Check that you know how to use it, especially the
operation of the three-way tap. Clamp the syringe and respirometer in position when in use.
2. Place a known mass of one type of organism into the boiling tube, and replace the bung.
Record the mass. Handle live animals with care to avoid harming them.
3. Place a drop of coloured fluid at the open end of the glass tube using a dropping pipette. Open
the connection between the syringe and the respirometer. Use the syringe to draw the fluid
onto the scale at the end furthest from the respirometer.
4. Mark the starting position of the fluid on the glass tube or note the reading.
5. Close the tap to isolate the respirometer from the atmosphere and the syringe and start the
stop clock immediately.
6. Note the position of the fluid at 1 minute intervals for 5 minutes.
7. Work out the distance travelled by the liquid during each minute. Record your results in a
suitable table. Include columns for the mean rate of oxygen uptake during the 5 minutes and
the mean rate per gram of organism.
8. At the end of 5 minutes, open the connection to the outside air. If time is available, repeat the
process for a different organism.
Analysis of results
1. If your respirometer does not have volumes marked onto it, convert the distance moved by the
liquid into the volume of oxygen used. Use the formula for the volume of a cylinder:
volume = π r 2 h where r is the radius of the hole in the glass tube and h is the distance moved.
2. Calculate the mean rate of oxygen uptake during the 5 minutes, then divide by the mass of
3 −1 −1
organisms used to find the mean rate per gram of organism (mm  min  g ).
3. Collect mean results for the rate of oxygen uptake per gram from other groups in the class. You
could collect the results in a spreadsheet. Calculate the overall mean for each organism. If
there are sufficient data, calculate the standard deviation.
4. Plot a suitable graph of the class results. Use the range or standard deviation to indicate the
precision of the data.
5. Comment on your results and the variability of the data.
Learning tip
● A respirometer measures oxygen uptake by respiring organisms. Any CO2 produced is
absorbed in the apparatus, so any change in gas volume is due to removal of oxygen by the
organisms through aerobic respiration. Hence oxygen uptake is used as an indication of
respiration rate.
Questions
1. Consider your results and any differences in rates of oxygen uptake between different types of
organism. Animals usually have a higher respiration rate per gram than plants. Explain this
difference.
2. Suggest what factors may have caused any variability seen in class results.
3. How could this variability be reduced and the precision of the results improved?
4. It would have been better to have used a control respirometer alongside the experimental
set-up. In the control the equipment is the same but the organisms are replaced by non-living
material such as glass beads.
(a) Explain what may cause the liquid in the control tube to move towards and away from the
respirometer.
(b) Explain how you would use the control results to correct your experimental data.
5. What is the importance of using soda lime in the respirometer? How does this affect the volume
of gas in the apparatus?
6. How does this influence the movement of the liquid in the capillary tube?

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Users may need to adapt the risk assessment information to local circumstances. This document may have been altered from the original 2
 Core practical 9 Technician sheet
EDEXCEL Biology B Teacher Resource Pack 2 Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic respiration
using a respirometer

Core practical 9: Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic

respiration using a respirometer

Objectives
● To understand how to use a respirometer
● To be able to interpret and evaluate respirometer data
Safety
● Soda lime is corrosive. Wear eye protection. Avoid skin contact; wear protective gloves. Avoid
inhaling dust. Make up the muslin bags in a fume cupboard or a well-ventilated area.
● Wash your hands after handling organisms.
Equipment per student/group Notes on equipment
respirometer There are many designs of respirometer. Fig A
on the Student sheet shows a relatively simple
one. A three-way tap allows easy positioning of
manometer fluid but can be replaced with a clip
and rubber tube if not available. A U-tube
(Dixon–Barcroft) respirometer would be useful,
even if only used for demonstration. The metal
gauze should sit snugly in the tube but should
not fit too tightly. The bore of the glass tubing
should be known; 1 mm tubing works well.
live animals such as woodlice or maggots Approximately 5 g per group. Maggots can be
sourced from a fishing shop or bought online.
They can be kept in the fridge for a couple of
weeks. Weighing the animals out into tubes in
advance can help prevent escapes in the
classroom but students should be able to record
the mass of organism in each tube.
actively respiring germinating seeds such as 5 g per group. These must be soaked for 12–24
mung beans, peas or other seeds hours before the investigation to allow
germination to begin.
The mass of organisms may need to be
adjusted depending on respirometer size and
the density of the organism.
soda lime in muslin Approximately 20 g per group. Place the soda
lime onto the centre of a piece of muslin and tie
with cotton or a small cable tie. Soda lime can
be placed directly into the bottom of the
respirometer, but wrapping it in muslin reduces
the likelihood of organisms coming into contact
with the dust and reduces the risk to students
when handling it.
3
coloured manometer fluid Provide about 2 cm per group. Use food dye in
water. Add a drop of washing up liquid to reduce
adherence to the glass tubing.
spatula One per group
stop clock One per group
clamp and stand One per group
dropping pipette One per group

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 Core practical 9 Technician sheet
EDEXCEL Biology B Teacher Resource Pack 2 Investigate factors affecting the rate of aerobic respiration
using a respirometer

mass balance These are needed if students are to weigh their

own organisms.
eye protection One per group
fine marker pen or chinagraph pencil One per group
Notes

Practical activities have been safety checked but not trialled by CLEAPSS. © Pearson Education Ltd 2016
Users may need to adapt the risk assessment information to local circumstances. This document may have been altered from the original
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