Testing the effect of water temperature on the respiration rate of goldfish

• Experimental/ Independent Variable – Temperature of water
• Dependent Variable – Amount of breaths taken by the fish
• Control – First trial, Breaths taken: 89 Initial temperature: 25 ® C

Constants:

• The fish
• 1000 mL Beaker
• Aquarium water
• Amount of time taken to record number of breaths
• Thermometer

Materials:

• Thermometer
• Goldfish
• 1000 mL Beaker
• Distilled water
• Ice
• Hot plate
• Timer

Procedure:

1. Fill 1000 mL Beaker half way with distilled water, and then record the initial temperature of water.
2. Pick out a goldfish, and put it in the beaker. (Let it have a couple of minutes to settle into the new surrounding).
3. Record the amount of times the fish opens it’s mouth in a period of 60 seconds.
4. Insert thermometer into the beaker, slowly add ice to the beaker until it reaches 3® C, count the number of times the fish opens it’s mouth within a 60 second time period. Record data.
5. Place the beaker on the hot plate and carefully raise the temperature to 6® C and count the breaths the fish takes, record the data.
6. Repeat step 5, raising the degree by 3® each time until you reach 30 ® C. After every 3® increase, count number of breaths for 60 seconds. Record data

Data:

Analysis:

• As the temperature of the water decreases, the goldfish’s amounts of breaths taken decreases because the body of a goldfish is wired so that when cold weather comes it will not die, simply keep the major organs working and shut down the rest. As you heat the water back up the number of breaths taken increase/ stay the same as the initial because it has all of its organs working.

Conclusion:

• If you change the water temperature, then the amount of breaths the fish will take will adjust. My results do support my hypothesis. As all experiments have, there were a few errors. The number of breaths taken could fluctuate depending on how accurate the reading of the temperature was, and due to human error of not counting fast enough. If we were to do the experiment over again, I believe we should video tape the fish, that way you can slow down the video and get an accurate reading of how many times it opens its mouth. You could as make sure all the temperatures of the water were the exact same.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

"Goldfish Water Temperature." The  Place. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://thefishtankplace.com/goldfish-water-temperature/>.

"Information on Goldfish and Koi , including Their Types, Care, Diseases , Pictures, Facts." Information on Goldfish and Koi , including Their Types, Care, Diseases , Pictures, Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://www.petgoldfish.net/>.