Exercises 2 & 3. Measuring oxygen consumption in cockroaches Since most metabolic activity in animals is aerobic (i.e.

, it requires oxygen), metabolism can be studied by recording oxygen consumption. In this exercise, you will study metabolism in the Madagascar hissing cockroach by using a special sensor that records oxygen content in a sealed respiration chamber. Activity. Work in pairs. Put a cockroach in the respiration chamber and securely place the oxygen sensor in the opening. Wait 1 minute for the system to stabilize and then begin measuring oxygen levels by clicking on the Collect button at the top of the screen. Te computer will collect and store data for 3 minutes, and then stop. When data collection is completed, click on the Linear Fit button to calculate the slope of the line of oxygen concentration in the chamber over time. The computer provides a value known as m. Enter this in the following table. You must convert m to decimal units and express it in terms of change per minute. To make this conversion, multiply m by 0.6 and enter the result in the column labeled adjusted slope. Then, to obtain a volume, multiply your adjusted slope by 300 ml (the volume of the chamber)and record this value as the Oxygen consumption rate, in ml/min. Repeat this process 3 times and then calculate your average oxygen consumption rate. Temperature: ________ Computer Slope (m) _________ _________ _________

Adjusted Oxygen slope (m X 0.6) consumption rate ___________ ___________ ml/min ___________ ___________ ml/min ___________ ___________ ml/min Average: ___________ ml/min

To change the temperature of the roach, take the oxygen sensor out of the camber while and add a small amount of ice to your water bath and let it set for 2-3 minutes to achieve a stable temperature. Then, put the oxygen sensor again in the chamber and wait 1 minute, then repeat the process of data collection. Temperature: ________ Computer Slope (m) _________ _________ _________ Adjusted slope (m X 0.6) ___________ ___________ ___________ Oxygen consumption rate ___________ ml/min ___________ ml/min ___________ ml/min

Average: Note any behavior on the roach (it is moving, resting, etc.)

___________ ml/min