Cellular respiration was showed by using ice cold water to be able to show the amount of respiration. The experiment was used to test the difference in respiration between germinating peas and non-germinating peas. The non-germinating peas will respire more since they do not have as mush water retained within them already like the germinating peas do. Glass beads and the germinating or non-germinating peas were set into beakers to find the same amount of volume. The usage of glass tubes, glass beads, germinating peas, non-germinating peas, along with KOH (Potassium Hydroxide), ice cold water in a large 3 inch tall bucket, stoppers, long thin tubes for the respirators, masking tape, cotton balls, and washers to be as weights to weigh the tubes down from floating.
First the germinating peas, non-germinating peas, and non-germinating and glass beads were set into the beakers to find the right volume. Then they were each set into the three tubes with the cotton ball of KOH and a small barrier of cotton between them and the peas and beads. The water was regulated at 4 degrees Celsius with the ice and all. After the stoppers were placed with the respirator pipes, they were set into the ice cold water solution to be tested.
The data collected over the allotted time of 12 minutes showed that the one with the most respiration was the one with the germinating peas. They respired more than the non-germinating peas.
Above is the data collected throughout the experiment.
The lab helped explain the process of cellular respiration by showing that using certain things like the KOH, the water temperature, and germinating or non-germinating peas can help vary the amount of respiration for each. The fact of if the peas were germinating or not can change the outcome from the fact that they already retain water from being in the germinating process.
