2021/03/02

TITLE: RESPIRATION

OBSERVATION:
John and Tim are having a heated argument in their form 4 Biology class.
John believes that plants can respire both in the day and the night but Tim
insists that plants can only respire in the nighttime while they focus on
photosynthesis during the daytime. Who is correct? Help John design a
hypothesis about this and help him create a simple experiment to prove his
hypothesis.

HYPOTHESIS: Plants respire both during the day and night, not only in the night-time.

AIM: To determine if plants respire both during the day and at night or only at night.

APPARATUS AND MATERIALS:

1. 1000ml of Potassium hydroxide solution (KOH (aq))
2. 1000ml of limewater (Ca(OH)2)
3. 3 saplings of similar size
4. 1 plastic plant of similar size to the saplings
5. 5 jars with airtight covers
6. 3 glass delivery tubes
7. Rubber bungs/stoppers
8. Stopwatch
9. Glass pencil
DIAGRAM:
PROCEDURE:
1. The apparatus was set up as shown in the diagram on page #2 during the day-time
(around 10 am).
2. Using a glass pencil, the jars were labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively.
3. The 4th and 5th jars were swapped, ensuring the apparatus remained airtight
afterwards.
4. The stopper was removed from the 1st jar and a stopwatch was immediately started for
thirty (30) minutes.
5. The colour of the solution in the last jar (jar #5) was observed and recorded into table
one (1).
6. The contents of the jars were discarded and the apparatus was thoroughly cleaned.
7. After one (1) hour intervals, steps 1 – 6 were repeated twice more with the two other
saplings, and a third time with a plastic plant.
8. At night-time (around 8pm), steps 1 – 7 were repeated.

CONTROL OF THE EXPERIMENT:

This experiment was repeated with a plastic plant instead of a sapling as a control. The plastic
plant was of similar size to the saplings. While occupying approximately the same volume in
the 3rd jar, the plastic plant will not engage in respiration and produce any carbon dioxide.
Thus, the solution of lime water in the last jar is expected to remain colourless.

VARIABLES:
Controlled Variables:
1. The length of time in which the experiment is carried out.
2. The volumes and concentrations of solutions used.
3. The absence of carbon dioxide gas in the air allowed into the 3rd jar.
Manipulated Variables:
1. The time of day in which the experiment is conducted.
Responding Variables:
1. The visible clouding of the limewater in the last jar (colourless to milky white) due to
the production of carbon dioxide gas.
EXPECTED RESULTS:
TABLE 1: TABLE SHOWING THE OBSERVED COLOURS OF THE LIMEWATER
SOLUTION IN THE LAST JAR AFTER PLANTS WERE ALLOWED TO RESPIRE FOR
TEN MINUTES DURING THE DAY AND NIGHT AND INFERENCES

TIME OF DAY COLOUR OF LIMEWATER SOLUTION OBSERVED IN LAST JAR

IN WHICH AFTER TEN MINUTES
EXPERIMENT SAPLING SAPLING SAPLING PLASTIC
WAS ONE TWO THREE PLANT
PERFORMED (control)
Limewater Limewater Limewater Limewater
DAYTIME became a became a became a remained
cloudy white cloudy white cloudy white colourless with
mixture after mixture after mixture after no visible
the formation of the formation of the formation of observations
a white a white a white
precipitate precipitate precipitate
The plant The plant The plant No respiration
INFERENCE respired since respired since respired since occurred and no
CO2 was CO2 was CO2 was CO2 was
produced produced produced produced
Limewater Limewater Limewater Limewater
NIGHTTIME became a became a became a remained
cloudy white cloudy white cloudy white colourless with
mixture after mixture after mixture after no visible
the formation of the formation of the formation of observations
a white a white a white
precipitate precipitate precipitate
The plant The plant The plant No respiration
INFERENCE respired since respired since respired since occurred and no
CO2 was CO2 was CO2 was CO2 was
produced produced produced produced
INTERPRETATION:
All living organisms require energy to carry out the metabolic processes they need to survive.
This energy is obtained from the food they consume/produce via respiration. Respiration can
occur aerobically (in the presence of oxygen) or anaerobically (in the complete absence of
oxygen). Aerobic respiration produces around 38 ATP per glucose molecule while anaerobic
respiration only produces 2 ATP per glucose molecule. Anaerobic respiration produces the
waste product lactic acid which builds up in the muscles and causes soreness; lactic acid is
only broken down after aerobic respiration begins.
Aerobic respiration occurs in most cells and occurs in the mitochondria. It can be defined as
an oxidation reaction whereby energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is released
from glucose via the equation:
C6H12O6 + 6O2 = 6H2O + 6CO2 + ATP
Glucose + oxygen = water + carbon dioxide + energy
Plants, like all other organisms, require energy. Plants are autotrophs ie. they produce their
own food via the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis involves the use of the reagents
water and carbon dioxide in the presence of sunlight to produce glucose and oxygen. This
reaction requires the energy produced from respiration. Additionally, plants require energy to
manufacture biologically important molecules such as proteins and DNA for cell division,
growth and repair. Plants may also need to engage in active transport; the movement of
molecules against a concentration gradient. Hence, this process also requires energy.
In this experiment, solutions of potassium hydroxide (KOH(aq)) and limewater
(Ca(OH)2 (aq)) were used. KOH absorbs CO2, thus it was placed in the first and fourth jars.
The KOH in the first jar absorbed all CO2 from the incoming air, ensuring that all the CO2
within the apparatus would have been produced by the respiration of the plant. KOH was also
placed in the fourth jar to filter out any CO2 produced by the plant before the 4th and 5th jars
were switched and the timer was started. Limewater is used to test the presence of CO2 as
CO2 reacts with limewater to produce a white insoluble precipitate that forms a cloudy white
mixture. Limewater was placed in the 2nd jar (as a precautionary measure) to ensure no CO2
entered the apparatus from the incoming air; hence the colour of the solution in the 2nd jar was
noted for each repetition of the experiment. Limewater was also placed in the last jar to test if
the plant had produced CO2 after respiring.
It is expected that during the day and night, the solution in the last jar will become milky
white/clouded because plants respire at all times. Unlike photosynthesis, respiration is not
light dependent as it occurs within cellular mitochondria. Respiration relies on the enzymes
present within mitochondria as opposed to sunlight to carry out a reaction. Therefore,
although the amount of CO2 that plants emit varies at different times of the day, respiration
occurs during both the day and night.
This experiment was a form of qualitative analysis as it proved non-numerical information
about the respiration of plants. The experiment simply answered a “yes or no” hypothesis as
opposed to using obtained values to determine mathematical properties about the respiration
of plants (eg. rate of respiration).
CONCLUSION:
It was determined that plants respire during both the day and night.

REFLECTION:
This project allowed me to practice useful lab skills such as using a stopwatch and keeping
apparatus airtight. Additionally, this project allowed me to learn about the biological process
of respiration and how it occurs within plants. Through research, I gained knowledge about
respiration, photosynthesis and understood their differences and co-dependencies. A real-life
applications of respiration is the use of anaerobic respiration in yeast to manufacture alcohol.