Metabolic Rate Of Gold Fish Lab Report

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The ability to carry out metabolic processes, or the chemical activity that occurs in all living organisms, is essential to maintaining life. The total metabolism of an organism is made up of anabolic and catabolic pathways. Anabolic pathways expend energy to build important molecules. On the other hand, catabolic pathways release energy to break down important molecules. The energy found in in these pathways is from respiration. Respiration is the process by which organisms consume oxygen to create energy. By measuring oxygen consumption, the metabolic rate can be determined because of its correlation to respiration. In this experiment, the rate of oxygen consumption is measured in water using the poikilotherm goldfish. Unlike the body temperature …show more content…

Previous studies on nicotine and metabolic rates indicate that resting metabolic rates of those exposed to nicotine (smokers) and those not exposed to nicotine (nonsmokers) are similar and any differences are insignificant (Perkins). In this experiment, the metabolic rate and oxygen consumption of goldfish will be analyzed in the presence and absence of nicotine. The null hypothesis is that there will be no significant difference in the metabolic rate of goldfish in the presence of nicotine and in the absence of nicotine. The hypothesis is that there will be a significant difference in metabolic rates between goldfish exposed to nicotine and goldfish not exposed to nicotine. Materials and Methods For this experiment, the materials needed include an …show more content…

First of all, improper use of the equipment may have skewed the data. For example, not allowing the probe to warm up or not lowering the plunger lid all the way may affect the experiment. If the plunger is not lowered all the way, oxygen can continue to enter or escape the metabolic chamber. While the data was being collected, it was also noted that the oxygen consumption levels recorded would fluctuate between increasing and decreasing. This may be due to the probe used in this metabolic chamber. Because the probe can only measure oxygen in one spot of the chamber at rather small volumes, the rate of oxygen consumption measured is heavily dependent on where the fish are. Therefore, the data collected for the rate of oxygen consumption may not be accurate. To offset this inaccuracy, a different type of probe can be used and placed on the entire bottom of the chamber rather than the

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