CORMS WRITEUPS

Plan an investigation to show the effect of light intensity on photosynthesis

Equipment: lamp, beaker of water, thermometer, test tube, water, elodea pondweed, boiling tube, timer

Method: Measure and cut 5 samples of pondweed each with a length of 5 cm. Place the boiling tube filled with
water in the beaker. Also put the thermometer is the beaker so as to ensure that the temperature remains the
same (so there is only 1 dependant variable, for a fair test). Start with the lamp 10 cm away from the beaker. Set
the timer to 2 minutes. Put the pondweed into the boiling tube and start the timer. Count the number of bubbles
of oxygen produced by the pondweed, during the time period of 2 minutes. When the time is over, stop
counting, and note down your results. Using a fresh piece of pondweed, do the experiment again but this time
with the lamp 15 cm, followed by 20cm, 25cm, and 30 cm. After recording all the results, redo the entire
experiment 2 more times and calculate the average number of bubbles. This is to ensure reliability. When
replacing the water, ensure the source of water is from the same place, so as to make sure the pH of the water is
the same. Also ensure that the light of the room stays the same so as not to affect the experiment. If this is a
problem, the experiment can be carried out in a darker place.

Plan an investigation to show the effect of caffeine on heart rate

Equipment: Microscope, pipette, shrimp, glass slide, daphnia, water from the daphnia’s habitat, pipette,
caffeine, timer

Method: Mix 3 different amounts of caffeine with water from the daphnia’s habitat to make caffeine
concentrations 0.5mg/ml,1mg/ml, 2mg/ml- mix them in different test tubes using a glass rod. Label these test
tubes 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Keep a pure sample of water from the daphnia’s habitat too and label this test
tube 4. For 1 minute, put the daphnia in test tube 1 and then take a few drops of the solution and put it on a glass
slide. Set up a microscope and put the glass slide on it. Set the timer to 30 seconds. Then as soon as you put the
daphnia on the glass slide start the timer. Using the microscope count the number of heartbeats in this period of
30 seconds. Repeat this 2 more times. Then take the average and double it to know the heart rate for minute.
Repeat these steps with solutions from test tubes 2, 3, and 4. Test tube 4’s result will be used as a control. The
only variable should be the concentration of caffeine. For more reliable results, repeat the experiment with other
daphnia. The daphnia should all be from the same culture.

Plan an investigation to show the effect of temperature on enzyme activity

Equipment: water bath, pepsin, test tube, HCl, stopwatch, albumen (egg white), test tube rack, weighing scale,
measuring cylinder, thermometer

Method: Draw a cross on a piece of paper and place it under the test tube. Set the water bath to 20 degrees
Celsius. After placing the test tube into the test tube rack, add 5 ml of 1mol/dm3 hydrochloric acid to the test
tube. Use a syringe to add 3ml pepsin. Measure out 2g of albumen and add to the test tube. Immediately start
the timer. Time how long it takes to see the cross on the paper through the bottom of the test tube. Tabulate your
result then repeat the test with the test tube in 30 degrees, 40 degrees, 50 degrees and 60 degrees. After this add
ice to the water bath and use a thermometer to measure lower temperatures. For reliability use 3 test tubes at
each temperature and find the average time.