EXPERIMENT NO.

6
Blow up a Balloon with Cellular Respiration

BLOW UP A BALLOON WITH CELLULAR

RESPIRATION
INTRODUCTION:

Yeasts are unicellular microorganisms of the fungi kingdom. They are facultative anaerobes, which
means that they can respire or ferment depending on environmental conditions. In the presence of oxygen,
respiration takes place (aerobic respiration). Without oxygen present, fermentation occurs (anaerobic
respiration). Both processes require sugar to produce cellular energy. Here is the chemical reaction of
fermentation, which produces ethanol and carbon dioxide as metabolic waste products.

C 6 H 12 O6 → 2C 2 H 5 OH + 2CO 2

Objective: In this lab, students will use the respiration powers of yeast to blow balloons. This activity will
reinforce the basic principles of respiration as a fundamental metabolic process for living organisms using
yeast as a model. It will also explore how humans use this biological knowledge in everyday life.

Materials:
 5 pcs. 100 mL-Erlenmeyer Flask  White sugar (c/o student)
 Hot plate  Powdered yeast (c/o student)
 Distilled water (c/o student)  Funnel
 Spatula  Balloon (c/o student)
 10 pcs. watch glass  Cold water (c/o student)

Procedure:
1. Set up 5 Erlenmeyer flask. Label each with a number, 1 to 5.
Erlenmeyer #1: 50 mL of warm water + 2 g of yeast
Erlenmeyer #2: 50 mL of warm water + 2 g of yeast + 1 g of sugar
Erlenmeyer #3: 50 mL of warm water + 2 g of yeast + 3 g of sugar
Erlenmeyer #4: 50 mL of hot water + 2 g of yeast + 1 g of sugar
Erlenmeyer #5: 50 mL of cold water + 2 g of yeast + 1 g of sugar
2. Fill each Erlenmeyer Flask with the amount of water needed per setup. Add the dry yeast after.
3. Add the sugar to each flask except on flask #1.

General Biology 1- Laboratory

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
 EXPERIMENT NO. 6
Blow up a Balloon with Cellular Respiration

4. Immediately cover the opening of each flask with a balloon after adding the sugar to catch any gas
that is formed. Use the balloon to seal the end of the test tube, hold a finger over the end of each test
tube, and shake it vigorously to thoroughly mix the contents.
5. Observe the flasks and record your observations carefully. Wait for an hour to see the results.

Group name: _______________________ Date: __________________________

Member’s name: Task:

DATA and RESULTS

FLASK CONTENTS HYPOTHESIS RESULT EXPLANATION

Erlenmeyer Flask #1

Erlenmeyer Flask #2

Erlenmeyer Flask #3

Erlenmeyer Flask #4

Erlenmeyer Flask #5

Guide Questions:

General Biology 1- Laboratory

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
 EXPERIMENT NO. 6
Blow up a Balloon with Cellular Respiration

1. Which flask is the negative control? Which ones are the positive controls? Explain.
__________________________________________________________________________________
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2. Which flasks showed the greatest yeast growth, i.e., most production of CO2 gas?
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3. Did the contents of the flasks look the same at the end of the test time? Why or why not?
__________________________________________________________________________________
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4. Which was the best condition

for the yeast growth, room
temperature or boiling
condition?
5. Why?
6. Which was the best condition
for the yeast growth, room
temperature or boiling
condition?
7. Why?

General Biology 1- Laboratory

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
 EXPERIMENT NO. 6
Blow up a Balloon with Cellular Respiration

8. Which was the best condition

for the yeast growth, room
temperature or boiling
condition?
9. Why?
4. Which was the best condition for yeast growth, warm temperature, boiling, or cold condition?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

5. If this experiment were to be repeated, name two variables that can be manipulated to change the rate
of alcoholic fermentation.
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6. Explain how the experiment may have produced data that was incorrect (sources of errors).
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7. When oxygen is not available, yeast cells can still do glycolysis to produce ATP. Under these
conditions, why would yeast cells also need to do fermentation?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

8. Why was the fermentation

rate different in the flask with

General Biology 1- Laboratory

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
 EXPERIMENT NO. 6
Blow up a Balloon with Cellular Respiration

flour in comparison with the

flask that
9. contained sucrose? Explain.

DOCUMENTATION:
Direction: Include pictures of your group while doing the activity. Make sure that your faces are included. Put
a short label also for descriptions.

General Biology 1- Laboratory

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
 EXPERIMENT NO. 6
Blow up a Balloon with Cellular Respiration

SESSION REFLECTION:
Topic: ___________________________________________________

Direction: Please answer the question in this template based on your learning experience in this session.

General Biology 1- Laboratory

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
 EXPERIMENT NO. 6
Blow up a Balloon with Cellular Respiration

1. What did you do in this session? (Give a summary of your learning activities).
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2. What did you learn from this session?

__________________________________________________________________________________
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3. How will you apply what you learned?

__________________________________________________________________________________
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4. What did you like the least in this session?

__________________________________________________________________________________
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5. What did you like the most in this session?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

6. What do you think can be done to improve this session or learning activities?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

7. What have you discovered about yourself from this session’s learning experiences? What will you do
about it?

General Biology 1- Laboratory

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
 EXPERIMENT NO. 6
Blow up a Balloon with Cellular Respiration

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
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General Biology 1- Laboratory

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics