Plant Transpiration

On the internet (fancy), we did this lab called Plant Transpiration.
Basically, we were given 9 different plants (English Ivy, Devil's Ivy, Arrowhead, Coleus, Weeping Fig, Geranium, Rubber Plant, Zebra Plant, and Dieffenbachia) and asked to measure (sorta) the amount of water that was transpired from each plant. We were then given three appliances (a fan, heater, and lamp) that replicate environmental factors (wind, temperature, and light), and were asked to measure the new amount of water transpired under each new condition.

Below is the data table taken from our (the internet's) lab.

Plant	Water transpired (mL)	With the fan (mL)		With the heater * (mL)	With the lamp (mL)
English Ivy	1.8	5.1		3.2	2.1
Arrowhead	3.6	7.5		6.6	4.0
Coleus	0.9	6.0		3.9	3.0
Devil’s Ivy	2.9	4.9		4.1	3.0
Weeping fig	3.3	6.1		4.9	2.5
Geranium	1.2	4.7		5.8	2.4
Rubber Plant	4.9	8.4		6.8	4.3
Zebra Plant	4.2		7.6	6.1		3.2
Dieffenbachia	4.1		7.7	6.0		3.9

*All measurements were taken at 21 degrees Celsius, except for with the heater, where the temperature was 27 degrees Celsius.  

From the data we can see a constant increase in transpiration with the fan and heater. This will be explained later. However, we see a difference in the change in transpiration when looking at the effect of light on the plants. 

Analysis Questions

1. Describe the process of transpiration in vascular plants. 

a. A vascular plant can be defined as a land plant with xylem, for transporting water, and phloem, which transports nutrients and sugars, like sucrose, throughout the plant. In vascular plants, water is absorbed through the roots and up the stem through capillary action, which involved 3 parts: Osmosis, cohesion, and adhesion. First, because there is more water located in the soil then in the roots, the water moves from the higher water potential soil into the lower water potential roots. Here the water is attracted to the stem through adhesion, and then attracts to each other through cohesion and hydrogen bonds. Because carbon dioxide is needed for photosynthesis, a plant will open its stomata, tiny pores that open and close located on the bottom of the leaves of plants, and exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide. Because the pores are open for a long time, the water located in the plant begins to evaporate. This is the process of transpiration. Because the water is connected together through cohesion, as one molecule of water is evaporated, another is absorbed through the roots to take it's place. 

2. Describe any experimental controls used in the investigation. 

a. The experimental control in this investigation are the first experiments done with all 9 plants without any change in the variables. So the experiments without the heater, fan, or lamp are our experimental controls. These experiments do not change any of our independent variables.

3. What environmental factors that you tested increased the rate of transpiration? Was the rate of transpiration increased for all plants tested?

a. All environmental factors, the fan, heater, and lamp, showed an increase in rate of transpiration. However, only the experiments with the heater and fan showed a constant increase in rate of transpiration for all experiments. The lamp only increased the rate in 5 out of the 9 experiments.

4. Did any of the environmental factors increase the rate more than others? Why?

a. The Fan showed the greatest increase in transpiration rate. Because in transpiration, the water evaporates into the air through the stomata. If the area around the openings of the stomata were highly condensed with water vapor, then the water would be equal potential inside the plant and outside. If we introduced a fan, that kept blowing the water vapor away from the areas of the plant, then the air surrounding the plant would constantly be at a lower water potential. The heater, though it also increases transpiration, can not always control humidity, and relies on evaporation, which may take longer than simply blowing.

5. Which species that you tested had the highest transpiration rates? Why do you think different plants had different transpiration rates?

a. The Rubber plant had the highest transpiration rates. When compared to the rates of the Coleus plant, which were much smaller, one can infer that Plant size is directly proportional to rate of transpiration. The bigger a plant's leaves are the greater the amount of stomata on the leaf's surface there are, so there are more chances for transpiration.

6. Suppose you coated the plant with petroleum jelly. How would the plants rate of transpiration be affected?

a. If you coated the plant with petroleum jelly, a high oily substance, the plant's stomata would be blocked. Water may not be able to escape, nor would gases be able to be exchanged. The rate of transpiration for all plants would drop dramatically.

7. Of what value to the plant is the ability to lose water through transpiration?

a. If a plant were not able to lose water through transpiration, then the plant would eventually be "flooded" and die from over watering. 

The Estuary ft. Mangrove Forests

Hey Everyone.

Today we will be focusing on a type of biome known as the Estuary. (pronounced ES-chu-airy)
Even more specifically, we will be focusing on Estuaries that are home to Mangrove Forests.

http://estuaries.noaa.gov/Teachers/images/estuaries/world-estuaries-map-960.png

Located above is a map of the main estuaries loacted around the world. When compared to the map below, which shows the amount of estuaries that house mangrove forests, only half of the estuaries shown above contain mangroves.

http://estuarymangrove.wikispaces.com/Estuaries+and+Mangroves

As you can see from above, Estuaries with Mangrove forests are rare in todays world. A majority of today's mangrove forests are located in the Americas (both north and south), Africa, and Asia/Oceania. Few Mangrove forests can survive up north due to the low temperatures that hinder their growth.

Before we focus on Mangroves, and why they are so important. Let us begin by explaining some facts about Estuaries.

http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/elwha/estuary.html
An image of the Elwha river estuary

Estuaries are partially enclosed bodies of water where the fresh water from rivers and streams flow in to meet the salty sea water of the ocean. Most estuaries are shallow regions of water and mange to collect a lot of mud and sediment from the tides constantly pulling in and out. The soil in most estuaries is muddy, and are often low on oxygen. Temperatures of the air and water can vary due to the high number of places that estuaries are located in. Like temperatures, weather patterns and precipitation vary greatly depending on the location of which the estuary is located in.

Estuaries are home to hundreds of species of animals and plants. In fact, Estuaries are the most productive biome in the whole world, for they have the highest % of life per square inch. Estuaries have many types of birds who walk through the shallow waters in search of pray, fish who take refuge in these calmer areas in order to reproduce, and many tiny creatures that like to burrow through the mud.
A list of animals in estuaries can be found here: http://excitingfacts.weebly.com/estuary-animals.html

http://excitingfacts.weebly.com/estuary-animals.html
Mud Shrimp, an example of the tiny creatures that burrow through the mud

Estuaries are home to smooth cordgrass, which is a type of marsh plantlife (estuaries have both fresh water and salt water marshes), large lands of sea grass, and other underwater aquatic plant life. Most of these plants are able to adapt to living under water due to Aerenchyma which allows oxygen to travel from the shoots to the roots even under water.
A list of plant life in estuaries can be found here: http://excitingfacts.weebly.com/estuary-plants.html

Mangrove forests, like the other above mentioned estuary plant life have been adapted to the harsh living conditions of Estuaries: varying salinity and oxygen deprived soils.
But before we get into all of that, Mangroves are actually more specific in where they can be then estuaries are.

http://blog.africageographic.com/africa-geographic-blog/files/2014/02/Mangroves-1.jpg

On average, mangroves tend to lie withing the latitudes of 25 degrees North and 25 degrees South. They prefer warm tropical and subtropical weathers usually averaging to around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Mangrove forests usually receive around 1000-1500 mm of precipitation each year, and can be subject to extreme conditions like tsunamis, long droughts, and heavy rains.

The soil around mangrove forests are usually muddy, waterlogged, and low in oxygen. The reason for the constant muddiness is due to the tides that constantly flow in and out, moving sediment on and off the coast along with it. In many Mangrove forests, the soil releases a strong "rotten eggs" odor due to anerobic sulfur reducing bacteria like the Desuifovibrio. Mangroves have adapted to this through aerial roots called pneumatophore, which have special pores that allow in air.

Mangroves are also able to deal with varying levels of salinity in the water through a special adaptation. Mangroves are able to store the salt that is absorbed into its leaves, and as the salt levels rise in the plant, its leaves begin to turn yellow. Then, when levels reach a high, the mangrove simply releases the leaf, and allows it to decompose back into nature. Mangrove forests have been found in areas where salinity is between 40-90 ppt.

http://wondercreation.blogspot.com/2013/12/in-mid-december-i-was-out-with-naked.html
an example of the symbiotic relationship between mangroves and crabs. Mangroves provide leaves which the crabs eat, thus eventually allowing the nutrients to be returned back into the soil.

These leaves are also special because they are a main part to the food web in Mangrove forests. After these leaves drop, they are often decomposed by bacteria and filter feeders, which are given nutrients from the fresh water that flows into estuaries. These leaves are also food to many crabs that like to burrow in the mud. In turn, these crabs and prawn feed the numerous birds and fish that live in the area, and the fish are then captured by many fisherman.

Mangrove forests although not common knowledge, are extremely important in society. Many villages form around mangrove forests because of the wide variety of animals and plants that it houses. The bark and roots of mangrove trees have been used as wood material, and even medicine in some cases. Mangroves also offer protection from strong storms and waves, because the roots of the mangroves trap sediment that would otherwise be washed away by the waves.

Pill Bugs

Abstract: In this lab, my partner, Daniel, and I decided to set up two different experiments in order to study the different reactions and behaviors that pill bugs produce after being put into different environments. In our first test, we placed 12 pill bugs into a double chambered environment, and watched as they began to migrate between the dry environment and the moist environment. In our second test, we played with the pH of our two chambers, one dampened with ammonia, and the other kept neutral with water. From our experiments we found that pillbugs prefer dry and basic environments. However, with more time, this may be disproved.
Introduction:

Question: How do pillbugs react to changes in their environment? Does it prefer a moist environment or a dry one? a slightly basic one or a neutral one?

Background: Ethology is the objective and scientific study of animal behavior, or the way an animal responds to internal and/or external stimuli. Behavior can be any action of an organism that disturbs its relationship to its environment. Behaviors are either learned or innate.

            There are usually two ways to ask questions about behaviors: a proximate question, which asks how the behavior occurs, and an ultimate question, which asks why the behavior occurs. In the case of a bird song, one may ask “How is the bird able to produce sound?” as a proximate question, while asking “What purpose does a bird have to sing?” is an example of an ultimate question.

            As mentioned earlier, behaviors can either be learned or innate. An example of an innate behavior is a fixed action pattern. Fixed action patterns can be explained as instinct. They occur when an organism respond to identifiable stimuli, and instinctively perform an action. An example of a FAP in animals would be the egg rolling behavior of a Graylag Goose. When an egg in the goose’s nest is displaced, the goose begins to roll the displaced egg back to its nest. Even if the egg is taken away, the animal still continues with the behavior, and pulls back its head as if there is an imaginary egg. Sometimes, it will even roll objects like a golf ball, door knob, or a foreign egg. In humans, an FAP is the action of yawning. None of us learned how to yawn, yet when someone around us yawns, we have a tendency to follow.

            An example of a learned behavior is imprinting, which is very important to wolves. Imprinting can be defined as rapid learning that happens in a brief period of time, usually after birth. When a mother gives birth to wolf pups, she will begin to take care of them. These pups will eventually open their eyes which begins the imprinting. The mother is not able to imprint her pups until they open their eyes because that is when they are most sensitive to outside influence. In many wolf breeding programs, when a captive wolf is about to give birth. They try to find a wild wolf that is also about to give birth. Within the first few days, these programs switch a pup from both families in order to ensure diversity in the wild. As long as a wolf keeps its eyes closed, and opens them with the new mother, it is able to imprint with that mother wolf, and is thus adopted into the family. In the case of geese, a proximate cause of why they imprint may be the mother goose calling out to its babies to follow its example. An ultimate cause may be the fact that the young geese are able to learn survival skills by following their mother.

            Another type of instinctive behavior is kinesis and taxis movements. Kinesis movements are indirect motions in response to a stimulus. An example would be cockroaches scattering in every direction after being exposed to light. Taxis movements are more specific movements in response to stimuli. An example of taxis movements may be a male moth’s attraction to the release of pheromones from a female moth.

            There are also ways to alter these types of behaviors, through classical conditioning or operant conditioning. Classical conditioning focuses on linking a natural reaction to a neutral stimulus, so the neutral stimulus can trigger the natural reaction. Operant conditioning focuses on connecting the reaction through rewarding or punishing.  

Hypothesis: If pill bugs are able to choose between a moist or dry environment, then they will choose the moist environment, because they have gills like other crustaceans and may be able to survive in moist conditions. If pill bugs are able to choose between a neutral or basic environemnet, then they will choose the neutral environment, because soils in Southern California tend to be slightly acidic. In the first experiment the independent variable is the dampness of the environments, and in the second, the independent variable is the acidity of the environments. In both experiments the dependent variable is the amount of pillbugs that end up on each environment.

Methodology:

Materials:

1.      12 Pillbugs

2.      Chamber with two separate portions

3.      Water

4.      Cover for Chamber

5.      Ph level 9 ammonia

6.      Clock

7.      4 Petri Dish papers

Procedure:

1.      Place two petri dish papers in each portion of the chamber.

2.      Part 1: on one chamber keep dry

In other chamber, add water until the whole paper is moist. Make sure to keep other one dry.

Part 2: in one chamber add water until the whole paper is evenly moist

In other chamber add ammonia until the whole paper is evenly covered.

Add 6 pillbugs to each chamber and cover with a separate empty chamber.

Record the number of pillbugs on each side for 7 minutes every 30 seconds.

Data:

Part 1:

Time (min)	# In Wet	# In Dry
0	6	6
.5	3	9
1	5	7
1..5	5	7
2	5	7
2.5	3	9
3	5	7
3.5	6	6
4	6	6
4.5	7	5
5	5	7
5.5	6	6
6	6	6
6.5	7	5
7	7	5

Part 2:

Time (min)	# In Water (ph 7)	# In Ammonia (ph 9)
0	6	6
.5	4	8
1	2	10
1..5	4	8
2	4	8
2.5	4	8
3	5	7
3.5	5	7
4	4	8
4.5	5	7
5	5	7
5.5	5	7
6	6	6
6.5	7	5
7	6	6

Conclusion:

            In part one, on average, more pillbugs preferred the dry side as opposed to the moist environment. In part two, more pillbugs preferred the basic side as opposed to the acidic environment. Both cases did not prove my hypothesis correct; however in both cases, a trend can be seen. In both cases as time moved on, more pillbugs began to move to the side that was less preferred in the beginning. If I could do this lab again, I would like to increase the amount of time that the pillbugs are kept in the chambers to examine if they would continue to follow the trend. During our experiment, we noticed that the pillbugs usually only got up and moved after being stimulated by the light from us uncovering the cover. It could also be possible that this is a form of instinctive behavior that may have affected our experiments. 

Immune System Quiz

An important defense against disease in vertebrate animals is the ability to eliminate, inactivate, or destroy foreign substances and organisms. Explain how the immune system achieves all of the following.

1. Provides an immediate nonspecific immune response
2. Activates T and B cells in response to an infection
3. Responds to a later exposure to the same infectious agent
4. Distinguishes self from nonself

 The immune system is a system of organs that perform function to protect the host from pathogens a.k.a anything that can cause diseases. The immune system can be separated into two parts, the innate immune system, and the adaptive immune system. 

1. The easiest way to tell the difference between the two parts of the immune system is to think of them as lines of defenses. The Innate immune system, the first line of defense, acts like an overall defense. It usually provide immediate nonspecific immune responses. Example of these responses and where they take place are: the skin, which protects our body from most infectious agents, tears and saliva, which flush infections away from our eyes and mouth respectively,  and mucous membranes in our mouth and nose that release mucous that traps pathogens. Below is a chart from Wikipedia that gives examples of other places in your body that act as the first line of defense.

Anatomical barrier	Additional defense mechanisms
Skin	Sweat, desquamation, flushing,[4] organic acids[4]
Gastrointestinal tract	Peristalsis, gastric acid, bile acids, digestive enzyme, flushing, thiocyanate,[4] defensins,[4] gut flora[4]
Respiratory airways and lungs	Mucociliary elevator, surfactant,[4] defensins[4]
Nasopharynx	Mucus, saliva, lysozyme[4]
Eyes	Tears[4]

2 and 3.  When the first line of defense is not enough, for it often happens, the second line of defense known as the adaptive immune system. This system is composed largely of white blood cells: Neutrophils, Lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. 

 

Neutrophils engulf bacteria and destroy them with special chemicals. 
Eosinophils and monocytes swallow foreign particles in the body. 
Basophils help to intensify inflammation (swelling). 

Lymphocytes attack pathogens and create antibodies that help destroy bacteria. 
They are separated into T cells and B cells. B cells mature in the bone marrow whereas T cells mature in the thymus, and are both responsible for developing immunity to specific diseases. 
This second line of defense is more specific and also adds diseases into the body's memory for future notice. 

B Cells produce antibodies and are able to detect antigens, anything capable of triggering an immune response, man-made, or foreign. When a foreign cell infects the body, the B cell is able to recognize it. It binds to the antigen on the surface of the cell, turns into a plasma cell, and is then able to create antibodies against that cell. This encourages other cells to "eat" that pathogen. The B cells that don't become plasma cells become memory cells and are able to recognize that type of foreign cell easier later. 

T Cells directly attack foreign invaders, but cannot detect them like B cells. T cells bind to these foreigners with the help of other cells, but need a signal to activate them. Once they get the signal, they multiply and continue to attack the pathogen. Like B cells, T cells can also become memory cells. 

4. 
In the body, almost all cells have molecules that determine that cell as "Self."
Immune cells and body cells that are "self" co-exist in self-tolerance.
When immune cells come across cells that do not have these molecule, these cells are marked as foreign, or "noself"

An antigen can be told its foreign by the epitopes on its surface, which distinguishes its shape.
Sometimes the immune system can wrongly determine self or noself, because of autoimmune diseases.

In Cancer, the immune system is very important before, during, and after treatments. Cancer cells can sometimes affect our immune systems, while the cancer treatments can also affect our immune system. Cancer can spread into our bone marrow, which is where many of our blood cells that help fight diseases are created. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can cause a significant drop in the creation of white blood cells.Because cancer cells, and normal cells have fewer differences than pathogens and normal cells, our body has a harder time detecting cancer cells.

Oxytocin the "Hug Hormone"

Transcript-

You know that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you hug that special someone? Well, that feeling is generally caused by the neurohormone Oxytocin a.k.a the “Cuddle Chemical” a.k.a the “Hug Hormone” a.k.a the “Moral Molecule”.  

Best known for its role in sexual reproduction, Oxytocin helps stimulate uterine contractions for cervical dilation during the 2^nd and 3^rd stages of labor, and also stimulates mammary glands in order to produce milk after childbirth.  This water soluble molecule with plasma membrane receptors is released into the blood stream by neurosecretory cells located in the pituitary gland which are controlled by the hypothalamus a.k.a the control center. During lactation, which is regulated by a positive feedback loop, a baby will suck on its mother’s nipple. This stimulates sensory nerve cells in the breast that then send a signal to the hypothalamus to tell the pituitary gland to secrete oxytocin.  The oxytocin causes the mammary glands to produce milk. The production of milk then prompts the baby to continue sucking, thus continuing the loop.

 This “Moral Molecule” is also thought to increase feelings of trust, empathy, monogamy between relationships, and sexual arousal. This “Hug Hormone” is responsible for the intense pleasure felt during sexual intercourse. Basically, it’s what gets you in “mood.” Studies have shown that during the orgasmic process, high spikes of Oxytocin are released in both males and females. Because these levels don’t drop right away, many couples mistake the positive feelings after sex as love. Sorry. Well that’s it for this show, thanks for listening. 

pH and Yeast. uh oh

Abstract: 

In this experiment, my partner, Chris Jung, and I explored the effects that pH had on the cell respiration of yeast. We altered the pH of 3 different yeast/water/glucose solutions, while keeping a control solution. Thus, we ended up with one acidic solution with a pH of 1-2, our control at a pH of 7, and two basic solutions with a pH of 8 and 9. We measured the rate of cell respiration by the amount of CO₂ created. The results showed that the optimum pH for the cellular respiration of yeast is more acidic than basic, and is closer to 7 than 1 or 2.

Background:

            Cellular Respiration is a process that is essential to all life. Through cell respiration, ATP is captured from the chemical energy released after digesting foods like carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

The process of Cellular Respiration uses the fuel of glucose/fructose/galactose and oxygen to create carbon dioxide, water, and 36-38 ATP, which is then used to normal bodily functions. This can be seen in the chemical formula, C6H12O6 +6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + 36-38 ATP.

            There are three parts to Cellular Respiration: Glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation. In glycolysis, which occurs in the cytosol of the cell, the 6 carbon (glucose/fructose/galactose) is broken down, through the investment of 2 ATP, into 2 three carbon chains a.k.a pyruvate. The pyruvate molecules are then oxidized and both lose one Carbon in the form of Carbon Dioxide. These 2 two carbon chains, acetyl coA, are then taken into the matrix of the mitochondria to participate in the krebs cycle. Here, NADH and FADH₂ are formed and carry electrons off to the Christae and Electron Transport Chain. In this last phase of Cellular respiration, the electrons are transferred through carriers from one protein to another, with oxygen being the final acceptor. Each time, hydrogen is attracted and led out the membrane. Eventually, a higher concentration of Hydrogen is formed on the outside compared the inside. This group of protons goes through chemiosmosis, and is pumped through the membrane by the ATP synthase. Once pumped through, the hydrogen join oxygen to create water. The energy released during this process is used to form ATP.

            However, we know that because yeast is unable to go through aerobic respiration, it goes through fermentation a form of anaerobic respiration. In fermentation,

C6H12O6 (glucose) → 2 C2H5OH (ethanol) + 2 CO2 (carbon dioxide),

Glucose is changed into energy, with ethanol and carbon dioxide as the waste products. In yeast, there the enzyme zymase is responsible for breaking glucose anaerobically to ethanol and CO2.

Hypothesis: 

Because yeast is able to go through cellular respiration in solutions with plain water, the farther away the pH in a yeast solution is from 7 the slower the rate of cellular respiration will be. Out of all our experiments, our control will have the best results.

Materials:

·         4 test tubes

·         Salt

·         Glucose

·         Yeast

·         Warm water

·         4 test tube stoppers with holes and pipes in them

·         4 syringes that connect to the test tubes pipes

·         Timer

·         Test tube rack

·         HCL

·         NaOH

Procedure:

1.      Before you start, collect the 3 solutions that your teacher so kindly created for you, because you were too slow. These solutions should then be labeled with their appropriate pH levels: 1-2, 8, and 9. These solutions were created by a mixture of water and HCL or NaOH.

2.      Collect 4 test tubes and label them, 1, 2, 3, and 4.

3.      Fill each test tube with 1 gram of yeast and 1 gram of salt each.

4.      Fill test tube # 1 with 35 mL of warm water

5.      Fill test tube #2, with 35 ml of the solution with a pH of 1-2, test tube #3 with 35mL of the solution with a pH of 8, and test tube 4 with 35 mL of the solution with a pH of 9.

6.      Connect each test tube with a stopper, tube, and a syringe.

7.      Make sure each syringe is starting around 2.0 ml

8.      Wait 5 minutes for the process of cell respiration/fermentation to begin.

9.      After the 5 minutes, every minute measure the amount of CO2 produced.

a.       To measure how much CO2 is being released, push down the syringe, then wait for it to rise, and read the new number.

10.  Do this for 10 minutes, or as long as you can to get some clear results.

Results:

Time (min) \ pH	7 (control)	1-2	8	9
1	2.3	2.4	2.0	2.1
2	2.4	2.2	2.2	2.4
3	2.4	2.0	2.4	2.4
4	2.5	1.9	2.5	2.4
5	2.6	1.2	2.6	2.4
6	2.8	0	2.6	2.4
7	2.9	0	2.8	2.6

All four lines should have started 2.0 and should have continued to 7 minutes. There were some technical difficulties.
The Title of this chart is effects of pH on production of CO2

Conclusion:

            In this experiment, the pH of the environment of the yeast was changed. The results matched my hypothesis. Because of fact that yeast can release carbon dioxide normally with simple tap water already, it was hypothesized that the amount of co2 produced would be greatest the closer to the pH of 7, like our control.

            The results show that our control, the yeast solution made with only water (pH of 7), had the greatest amount of carbon dioxide emission. Solution 3 and 4 had the next greatest amounts of CO2 emission, in that order. This makes sense seeing as how solution 3 (pH of 8), which is closer to solution 1 in terms of pH instead of solution 4, had a greater emission than solution 4. Solution 2, with a pH of 1, had the lowest amount of emission; in fact, there was absorption of CO2 apparently. This, however, may have been a result of a leak. Still, if it was intentional, it makes sense, for the enzymes in the yeast, zymase, was denatured, and forced into a habitat  far from its optimal level.

            After some research, I found that the optimal pH level for zymase is 6 (5-7), proving the results of my experiment. Though there were many small errors in my lab report, like not capping the test tubes immediately, the results were still able to be conclusive, and accurate.

            For future experiments, I would hope to use more solutions, one for the pH levels of 1-14. I would also like to take measurements every 10 minutes, for I had run out of time during this experiment.