Alejandra Ventura

AP Environmental Science
Period 1
The Effect of Temperature on Dissolved Oxygen Amounts

Topic Introduction
Just like in terrestrial ecosystems, an aquatic ecosystems levels of dissolved oxygen are a large
factor in the biodiversity and amount of living plants and animals. The measure of organic matter
in water is called biochemical oxygen demand. Changes in these oxygen levels affect living
organisms. A few factors that can affect concentrations of dissolved oxygen are salt, temperature,
altitude, and organic wastes. There are others, but these are a few basic ones. Living organisms
and natural decomposition both use oxygen within a reasonable amount, but it is not until surplus
sewage waste enters the water that oxygen levels lower.

Pre-Lab Questions

What are two sources of dissolved organic matter in runoff from urban areas?
a. One source of dissolved organic matter in runoff from urban areas is waste from domestic
pets that is not properly disposed of.
b. Another source of dissolved organic matter in runoff from urban areas is nutrient-rich
fertilizers used for lawns.

What are two sources of dissolved organic matter in runoff from agricultural areas?
a. One source of dissolved organic matter in runoff from agricultural areas is nutrient-rich
agricultural fertilizers.
b. A second source of dissolved organic matter in runoff from urban areas is eroded soil
from the fields of a farm.

Experimental Question
We are trying to find out the effects of sewage waste on dissolved oxygen concentrations. We
are doing this by using yeast, powdered milk, and methylene blue. The yeast is meant to
represent decomposers, the powdered milk contains sugars, which act in place of sewage waste,
and the methylene blue is a dye that is blue when oxygen is present, and has no color when there
is no oxygen.

Hypothesis
If we add yeast to powdered milk, the yeast will use the oxygen in the solution until there is no
more oxygen available.

Protocol
First, we added 50 mL of tap water to a beaker, added 1 tsp of powdered milk, and mixed it.
Next, we added 50 mL of tap water to a separate beaker, added 1 tsp of yeast, and mixed it.
Then, we used a pipette to add 5 mL of the powdered milk to a test tube. With two more pipettes,
we added 1 mL of yeast and one drop of methylene blue to the same test tube. After, we put the
test tube on the test tube rack and observed the solution in 5 minute intervals for a total of 10
minutes.
The dependent variable was the amount of oxygen in the solution, which was indicated by the
methylene blue.
The independent variables were the volumes of milk, yeast, and methylene blue, and the
temperature.
The constants were the volumes of milk, yeast, and methylene blue.
Data Table
Methylene Blue Hue in 5 Minute Intervals
0 Minutes 5 Minutes 10 Minutes
Room Temperature
Solution (control)
Turquoise Lighter blue Very little blue at the top
Heated Solution
(experimental)
Blue Completely white White (no oxygen)
Cold Solution
(experimental)
Light blue Light blue Light blue (no change)

Graph: The numbers represent approximately what the color (blue) would look like on a
numbered chart.

Conclusion
Yes, my initial hypothesis was correct. The yeast used the oxygen in the solution until there was
none left. The yeast decomposed the sugar in the milk, a process that used oxygen. As the
methylene blue indicated, the longer the yeast spent decomposing the sugar in the milk, the less
oxygen there was available in the solution. Temperature is an important factor in dissolved
oxygen, which was shown during the experiment as well. The cold milk held oxygen much
longer than both the room temperature and the hot milk. Our cold milk had a consistent amount
of oxygen within the 10 minutes we recorded, whereas the hot milk had very little oxygen after
only 5 minutes of yeast exposure. During this experiment, I learned the importance of oxygen in
aquatic environments, in a small scale and very hands-on way. Marine organisms require
oxygen, and when humans pollute the environments they live in with excess nutrients, we affect
their population and lifestyle. This, of course, comes back to affect humans because this can
cause eutrophication and hypoxia, leading to a decline in fisheries and tourism, as well as many
other negative environmental and economic effects.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 min 5 min 10 min
Room Temp
Hot
Cold
Post Lab Questions
1. Which test tube contained the most food for the decay organisms (decomposers)? Which
tube had the least food? Explain.
All three test tubes contained the same amount of food for the decomposers, as the volumes of all
liquid solutions were the same.

2. Your test tubes may have had a ring of blue color at the surface even after the remainder
of the liquid had changed color. What might account for this?
One of our test tubes did have a ring if blue at the surface. I think this could be because the
oxygen reaches it from the top (between the surface of the solution and the air), and a little bit of
oxygen remains near the top.

3. In which tube did the change occur most rapidly? Is this what you expected? Why?
Develop an explanation that accounts for the differences in time needed for the change to occur
in each of the three tubes.
The most rapid change was in the heated solution. I did expect this, because I knew that higher
temperatures could not hold oxygen as well as lower temperatures. This can be explained
because water has a tendency to hold more oxygen when it is at a lower temperature than at a
higher temperature.

4. What effect would an increase in temperature have on these mini-systems? How could
you find out?
An increase in temperature would lower the ability to hold oxygen in these mini-systems, and
nothing would be able to live in it, as an anoxic environment. We could find this out by heating
up the solution of powdered milk and yeast.
5. How would your systems have been affected if more decomposers (yeast) had been
present at the beginning of your experiment?
If more decomposers (yeast) had been present at the beginning of the experiment, the oxygen
levels would have lowered more quickly, because the decomposers would have done their job
more quickly, and their job uses oxygen.
6. Decay organisms often reproduce rapidly when conditions are favorable and nutrients are
plentiful. What do you think would happen to the supply of dissolved oxygen in a river if
the decay organisms began to multiply?
If the decay organisms began to multiply, I believe they would have decomposed the sugar in the
milk until there was nothing left to decompose.