Lab #

Name

Laboratory Investigations
Part 1: Identifying the Variables Breathing Rate in Fish The amount of oxygen required by animals is directly related to their metabolism, or energy needs. The more energy required, the more oxygen required. Therefore it can also be said that the faster the breathing rate, the faster the metabolism. Since breathing rate is a direct measurement of oxygen input, we could count the number of breaths an animals takes in a set amount of time and calculate the rate of breathing/metabolism. We could investigate numerous variables and their effects on metabolism: The effect of activity on breathing rate; the effect of temperature on breathing rate, etc. On the next page is an experiment that tests the effect of temperature on the breathing rate of fish. Read through the experimental procedure and answer the following questions.
1. In the Breathing fish lab, what is the variable that is purposefully

changed?
2. Which variable responds to that change? 3. Which variable is the independent variable?

the

dependent variable?
4. How can you be sure that changes in the gill-cover movement

result from changes in water temperature and not the influence of something else?

5.

What is the use of a control in an experiment? Does this experiment have a control? Explain.

6. What constants are applied to this experiment? What factors

remained the same?

Approval

Breathing Fish
Purpose To observe the effects of water temperature on the breathing rate of fish. Materials Goldfish Aquarium water 250 ml beaker Net Ice Thermometer Watch/clock Procedure 1. Fill the beaker with warm water from the aquarium. 2. Use the net to carefully transfer a goldfish to your beaker. 3. Find the fishs gill cover. Observe how it opens and closes, showing how often the fish is breathing. 4. Use the thermometer to measure the water temperature in the beaker. Copy the table and record this temperature. 5. Count the number of times the fish opens its gill cover during one minute. Record this number in the data table. 6. Add a small piece of ice to the beaker to slowly drop the water temperature. Continue to add ice until the water temperature is 5 degrees colder than the original temperature. Repeat step 5. 7. Slowly add more ice to the beaker until the water is 10 degrees lower than the original water temperature. Repeat Step 5. 8. After the experiment, place the fish and approximately 75 mL of the water in a plastic bag. Float the bag in an aquarium for about an hour to allow the fish to adjust to the new temperature, then release the fish into the aquarium.

Results Table 1. Group Data Title? Water Temperature (oC) Starting temperature 5 degrees colder 10 degrees colder # of gill-cover movements

Data Table 2. Class Average Title? Water Temperature (C) # of gill-cover movement

Discussion and Conclusions 1. What was being measured by counting the gill-cover movements? 2. How were the gill-cover movements affected by colder water? 3. Explain why fish in cold water breathe more slowly than fish in warm water? 4. What might happen to fish if the water became too warm? 5. How does water temperature affect the breathing rate of fish? Suggestions for Improvement 1. How could you improve this experiment?

Lab #

Name Lab Partner:

Title:
Date Performed Day(s) Absent Date Due Date Submitted (Late penalty: 10 pts/ school day)

Results:

Discussion and Conclusions:

Suggestions for Improvement: