An investigation to find out how temperature affects the rate of wriggle of a maggot.

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An investigation to find out how temperature affects the rate of wriggle of a maggot

Planning

Prediction

I think that the rate of wriggle of the maggot will increase as the temperature increases, up until the temperature reaches around 40°C and the rate of wriggle will stay constant. As the temperature reaches 60°C the rate of wriggle will be almost zero.

Scientific knowledge

        The rate of wriggle will depend on the amount of chemical reactions taking place in the maggot. Most or all of these reactions depend on enzymes. These are biological catalysts. Enzymes are large proteins that speed up chemical reactions. In their globular structure, one or more polypeptide chains twist and fold, bringing together a small number of amino acids to form the active site. This is the location on the enzyme where the substrate binds and the reaction takes place. Enzyme and substrate fail to bind if the shape is not an exact match. This is often known as the lock and key theory as it is specific to one and only one substrate.  This ensures that the enzyme does not participate in the wrong reaction. The enzyme itself is unaffected by the reaction. When the products have been realized, the enzyme is ready to bind with a new substrate.  Temperature is one of the main factors along with pH that affect the working of enzymes. An increase in temperature would mean that the substrates were moving around faster, and therefor, more collisions will occur with the correct substrates. This is called the collision theory.   This would involve a faster rate of reaction. When this occurs in the maggot, if affects the rate of respiration which is where the maggot gets a lot of its energy from. The chemical and word equations for this reaction are below:

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Oxygen         +        Glucose        ➔                Carbon                +        Water

                                                        Dioxide

602                 +         C6H12O6         ➔                6CO2                +         6H2O

If the temperature is too cold, the enzyme shape is altered slightly and the reaction does not happen, as the substrate no longer fits in. This does not have a long-term effect on it as if the enzyme is warmed up; it will return to its original shape.  
If it's too hot (say above about 38
°C), the enzyme shape is again altered and so the reactions once more do not happen. This is bad news though as the higher temperatures actually permanently destroy the enzyme. If boiled, for example, ...

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