UNIT 1: The Scientific Method

Daysheet 18: Is Yeast Alive Laboratory & Grade Analysis

Biology I

Bellringer:
Rashawn wanted to see if he could improve the gas mileage in his Porsche. He decided the best way to
test this was to try different types of fuels. He completed 5 different trials that are outlined in the
following table:
Type of Fuel

Miles per Gallon

(mpg)
28 mpg
1 mpg
11 mpg
17 mpg
3 mpg

Gasoline
Water
Kool-Aid
Vinegar
Cat Urine

1. What is the independent variable in this experiment? ______________________________________

2. What is the dependent variable in this experiment? _______________________________________
3. What is the control group in this experiment? ____________________________________________
4. What type of data did RaShawn collect? Qualitative or Quantitative? _________________________
5. What conclusion can RaShawn draw from this experiment? ________________________________
6. If you were to graph this data, what type of graph would you need to generate? ________________
7. On what axis would you place type of fuel? _________________________
8. On what axis would you place miles per gallon (mpg)? _________________________________

Todays Objective: I can determine whether an unknown substance contains a living organism
through experimentation

Homework: HW 18 is due next class!

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Activity 1: Grade Analysis

1. What is your current grade in biology? ______________
2. Are you missing any assignments? __________________
If so, list the assignments you are missing below:
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3. What are some things you feel you have been doing well in biology class?
(Example: Ive been participating a lot; Ive been completing my homework every night; Ive been
coming after school for help; Ive been doing well on quizzes, etc.)
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4. What are some ways you can continue to improve in biology?
(Even if your grade is over 100% there are always ways we can continue to improve!)
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5. How does your grade in biology compare to your grades in other classes? Are you doing better in
this class, worse, or about the same? Why do you think this is?
___________________________________________________________________________________
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Activity 2: Is Yeast Alive?

Brainstorm:
1. Humans use yeast every day. What is yeast, and what are some common uses of yeast?

2. You can buy yeast to make bread in the grocery store. This yeast consists of little brown grains. Do
you think that these little brown grains of yeast are alive? Why or why not?

3. To find out whether yeast is alive, we first need to think about what makes something alive. What
are some characteristics of living organisms?
Background Information:
To begin to answer the question, "Is yeast alive? you will test whether the grains of yeast have a
characteristics of living things -- the ability to use energy (referred to as metabolism).
We will carry out an indirect test for metabolism. In other words, we will be indirectly testing whether
yeast can use energy, which is one of the characteristics of living organisms.
When yeast, humans, and other living organisms use energy, they break down high-energy molecules
like sugar to get the energy they need and give off a gas called carbon dioxide as a by-product of this
reaction.
We will test whether yeast can metabolize sugar and produce a gas which we will presume is carbon
dioxide. Specifically, we will test whether yeast produces a gas when it has sugar available as a food
vs. when no sugar is available.
Pre-Lab Questions:
1. What is the research question or problem?____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the independent variable? __________________________________________
3. What is the dependent variable? ___________________________________________
4. What is your hypothesis? If _______________________________________________
then ____________________________________________________________________
Teachers Initials:________________
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Procedure to Test Your Predictions:

1. Set up four test tubes in a test tube rack.
2. Label each tube with a number, 1-4. Test tubes 1 and 2 will both have yeast, sugar and water.

Test tubes 3 and 4 will both have only yeast and water, with no sugar.
3. Fill test tube #1 full with warm tap water. Add one packet of dry yeast a little bit at a time,

mixing the yeast in thoroughly before adding more. Mix by using a popsicle stick and/or putting
your hand or thumb over the top of the test tube and shaking.
4. Pour the yeast solution so that there is an equal amount in each of the four test tubes.
5. Add packet of sugar to test tube 1 and the other half to test tube 2. These tubes will be your

experimental group. Do not add sugar to tubes 3 and 4.

6. Add warm tap water to each test tube, filling each test tube of the way to the top.
7. Cover the opening of each test tube with a balloon to catch any gas that is formed. Using the

balloon to seal the end of the tests tube, hold a finger over the end of each test tube and shake it
vigorously to thoroughly mix the contents.
8. Observe the test tubes and record your observations carefully in the table on the next page under

0 minutes.
9. Using a timer to keep time, every 5 minutes for 20 minutes, observe what occurs in the test tubes

and any changes in the balloons which cover each test tube, and record your observations.
10. While you are waiting to make observations, you should be finishing your lab from last class,

working on make-up work, or completing your extra credit assignment.

Draw a picture of your experimental set-up in the space below:

Teachers Initials: ___________________

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Observations of Yeast Test Tubes

0 minutes

5 minutes

10 minutes

15 minutes

20 minutes

Test tube 1
(with
sugar)
Test tube 2
(with
sugar)
Test tube 3
(water)
Test tube 4
(water)

1. Can you accept your hypothesis? How do you know?

_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Why is it better to have two test tubes with yeast, sugar, and water and two test tubes with just
yeast and water, instead of only one test tube with each type of mixture?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. When you make bread, if you just mix flour, sugar and water, the dough does not rise, and the
bread will be flat and hard. If you include yeast in the bread dough, then the dough rises and the
bread is bigger and fluffier. Explain how the yeast helps the bread dough to rise!
_____________________________________________________________________________
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4. Can we know for sure that yeast is alive after this experiment? Why or why not?
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HW 17: More Graphing Practice

Biology I

Name: ________________________

Date: _________________________

Hookworms in the Intestines

Hookworms live in the human intestine drinking the blood it sucks from the intestine wall. It is
estimated that a single hookworm can drink .5mL of blood per day. The chart above contains
data on the number of hookworms and the amount of blood lost caused by that number of
worms.
A group of scientists decided to study the effect of hookworms on blood loss. They measured
how much blood was lost per day in patients with different numbers of hookworms in their
body. The data they collected is shown below:
Number of Hookworms (hookworms)
24
45
80
88
63

Amount of Blood Lost (mL)

6
25
40
44
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1. What type of symbiotic relationship exists between hookworks and humans (mutualism,
commensalism, parasitism, predation, or competition)? ___________________________
2. What is the independent variable? _________________________________
3. What is the dependent variable? ___________________________________
4. On the back of this page, create a graph of the data.
CONTINUE ON BACK TO CREATE GRAPH!
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