Exercise 11

Respiration
Introduction
• Organisms require a constant input of energy
• Metabolism: sum of all chemical reactions in a living system
• Anabolic: Larger molecules built from smaller ones (chapter 7)
• Catabolic: smaller molecules from larger molecules (chapter 7)
• Biochemical Pathway: Series of chemical reactions starting with one
molecule which is converted to another molecule often requiring
multiple steps:
• Photosynthesis: CO2 + H2O +sunlight -> Glucose + O2 (chapter 10)
• Respiration: Glucose + O2 -> CO2 + H2O + ATP
 ATP: Adenosine Triphosphate
• During respiration energy is extracted from glucose and
transferred to ATP
• Energy stored between 2nd and 3rd phosphate of ATP
• ADP + Pi -> ATP (Pi = phosphate)

• ATP: Carries usable energy which powers many chemical

reactions
• Often used to fuel reactions which build
larger molecules.
Ex: DNA synthesis, protein synthesis

catabolic or anabolic?
Pathways Of Respiration
• Respiration consists of a series of biochemical pathways
• 3 major pathways in series (pg167):

Digestion: Ingested molecules broken down

into smaller ones (Glucose)

Conversion to acetyl CoA: Ex - glycolysis

Oxidative phosphorylation: uses oxygen to

generate ATP
How Can We Monitor Respiration?
• Respiration:
• C6H12O6 + 6O2 + ADP +Pi  6CO2 + 6H2O + 36ATP

• In Exercise 9 (enzymatic reactions) how did we monitor our

enzymatic reaction?
• Monitor product formation or substrate depletion?
• What can we monitor in respiration?

• In this lab we will monitor CO2 formation

 Monitoring Respiration Positive Control: Shows you what the
experimental result looks like when
the target molecule is detected.

Negative Control: Shows you what the

experimental result looks like when
the target molecule is not present.

Monitoring Carbon Dioxide Production In Germination Peas And

Positive and Negative Controls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-dWv4V4VcI&feature=youtu.be

Monitoring Carbon Dioxide Production In Germination Peas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWJdDB73jvU&feature=youtu.be
 Monitoring CO2 Production
• We will use carbon dioxide sensors to track the build up of carbon dioxide
from living things in a respiration chamber
• We can graph carbon dioxide vs time
• Carbon dioxide units measured in PPM (parts per million)
• PPM is used to measure very dilute solutes in a solvent (air is a gaseous solution)
• PPM is milligrams per kilograms (mg/kg)
• 1mg = 0.001g 1kg = 1000g thus (0.001g/1000g) = 0.000001 (one millionth)
 Activity 1
• Respiration in garden peas
• Non-germination (dormant) vs germinating peas (growing first leaves and
roots from the seed – new protein, new DNA new cells)
• Which of the above would you think requires more energy?
• Obviously germinating peas require more energy (ATP)
• But what about non-germinating peas?
• SCIENTIFIC QUESTION:
• Do non-germinating peas carry out respiration?
• Develop a hypothesis
• What could a possible hypothesis be?
• Predict what your experiment will look like based on your hypothesis in
terms of CO2 production
 Experimental Set Up
• Follow instructions on pg. 171: Steps 1-8 are done for you
• Test germinating peas first
• Step 9-11 Obtain 25 peas and place into the respiration chamber
• The computer will make the graph for you
• Follow instructions in steps 12-16 to collect respiration data and calculate
rate of respiration (“linear fit” icon – see 16b)
• How does the computer calculate rate? What are the units of rate in this exercise?
• Repeat with non-germinating peas
• Enter data on pg 175 of the skill check
Activity 2: Design Your Own Experiment
• Possible questions for you to answer:
• What effect does temperature have on respiration in peas?
• How does respiration in peas compare to animals? (should use equal
weights for these samples)
• What is the effect of temperature on respiration in animals?
• Pick one of the above questions to answer
• Develop a hypothesis, design an experiment make a prediction for
how your experiment will look in terms of CO2 production
Finishing The Lab
• When you are done with Act 2, I will sign your skill checks
• Homework: Final questions on page 177
• For #4 (pg 177) include the actual rates of carbon dioxide formation
as a part of your write up when explaining your data
• NEXT WEEK:
• Turn in completed skill check (pgs 175-177)next week
• Include graphs printed out from todays lab (Act. 1 and Act2)