Name:__________________________

Class:__________________________
Date___________________________

Jumping Jack Lab

Essential Questions:
What is the relationship between exercise and
the amount of CO that a person exhales after
cellular respiration?
How does increasing heart rate affect carbon
dioxide production and the rate of cellular
respiration?
Purpose: To study the effect of exercise on the rate of cellular respiration and CO
production
Introduction:
Photosynthetic plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make glucose. The
glucose made by plants during photosynthesis is used by the plants or animals who
consume the plants (or by the animals that consume animals who eat plants) as a
source of energy. To release the energy contained in the bonds of glucose, the
glucose must be converted to ATP. The process by which ATP is made from glucose
is called cellular respiration. Respiration also produces waste products including
carbon dioxide and water, which are the same substances that served as raw
materials for photosynthesis.
You may not be aware that simply by breathing out, you can make water acidic.
The water vapor that comes out when you exhale after cellular respiration, plus the
carbon dioxide, creates carbonic acid. Bromthymol Blue (BTB) is a chemical
indicator for weak acids and bases. It is commonly used to manage the pH of pools
or fishtanks, or for measuring anything that ought to have a relatively neutral pH.
In the presence of an acid, a solution with BTB in it will turn from blue/green to
yellow.
Pre Lab Questions:
1. What are the reactants of cellular respiration? (Hint: They are the products of
photosynthesis).
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. What are the products of cellular respiration once the ATP is made? (Hint: They
are the reactants of
photosynthesis).____________________________________________________________________
__
3. If we take a straw and blow into a solution of BTB and water, what color would
you expect the solution to turn? Why?
__________________________________________________________________

Name:__________________________
Class:__________________________
Date___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Materials:
Larger beaker
Graduated cylinder
Bromthymol Blue
Straw
Stopwatch
A brave teammate willing to do a healthy number of jumping jacks!
Procedure: Part I
1. Use a graduated cylinder to measure out 20 ml of cool tap water, and pour it into
a large beaker
2. Use a dropper to add 8 drops of BTB to the water
3. Using a straw, exhale into the BTB solution.
4. Time how long it takes for the blue solution to turn yellow. Record your time in
Table 1.
Procedure: Part II
1. Use a graduated cylinder to measure out 20 ml of cool tap water, and pour it into
a large beaker
2. Use a dropper to add 8 drops of BTB to the water
3. Have your Jumping Jack or Jumping Jill do 30 seconds of lively jumping jacks.
4. Using a straw, have that person exhale into the BTB solution.
5. Time how long it takes for the blue solution to turn yellow. Record your time in
Table 1.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 using 60 sec, 90 sec, and 120 sec. Record your times in Table
1.
**Remember to rinse your beaker each time and put in fresh water and
BTB. (Your partner can kindly do this for you if you're the one doing all the jumping
jacks!)
Prediction: Write a prediction about what you expect to happen to the amount of
carbon dioxide exhaled through cellular respiration as the amount of exercise you
do increases. ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Hypothesis: Make a hypothesis statement about the amount of time it takes for
your BTB solution to turn yellow as you increase the amount of exercise.
___________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
__
Table 1:
Activity

0 (resting)

30

60

90

120

Name:__________________________
Class:__________________________
Date___________________________
Level
(seconds of
exercise)
Time it
took for
the BTB
solution to
turn
yellow
(in seconds)
Graph: Using graph paper, create a line graph that shows your data. Make the xaxis activity level, and the y-axis the time it took for the BTB solution to turn yellow.

Post-Lab Conclusion Questions:

1. Does increasing your exercise affect the amount of CO you create through
cellular respiration? How could you tell in this lab?

2. Was your hypothesis correct? Why or why not?

3. Your Jumping Jack or Jill has just produced quite a bit of CO. What other things
did they produce more of with increasing the amount of exercise? (Hint: 2 things)

4. Mitochondria are the powerhouses that create the ATP that fuels the cell. Some
cells have more mitochondria than others, and the cell can make more as needed.

Name:__________________________
Class:__________________________
Date___________________________
Would you predict that muscles cells would have more or less mitochondria than
other cells?

5. How do you think daily exercise would affect the number of mitochondria you
have in your muscle cells?