Metabolic Rates of Germinating Seeds

Metabolic Rates          June 15th, 2017

Part 1: The Effect of Germination on Metabolic Activity of Seeds

• Research Question: How does germination affect the metabolic activity in seeds?
• Hypothesis: If seeds are germinating, then they will have a greater oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production.
• Prediction: If the hypothesis is true, then the amount of oxygen will decrease and the amount of carbon dioxide will increase.

Part 2: The Effect of Temperature on the Rate of Cellular Respiration in Germinating Seeds

• Research Question: How does temperature affect the production and consumption of carbon dioxide and oxygen in seeds?
• Hypothesis: If seeds are cold, then their production and consumption of carbon dioxide and oxygen will decrease.
• Prediction: If the hypothesis is true, then the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide will stay the same in a cold seed.

Table 1
Condition	Temperature (Degrees Celsius)
Room	22.5

Table 2
Peas	C02 Respiration Rate (ppt/min)	O2 Respiration Rate (ppt/min)
Germinating, Room Temp	103.74	-0.00876877
Non-germinating, Room Temp	0.29304	0
Germinating, Cold	45.142	-0.035596

Conclusion: The results of this experiment show that temperature does have an effect on cellular respiration. Colder temperatures decreased the production of carbon dioxide and decreased the consumption of oxygen. Both hypotheses were supported, as shown in the results in Table 2.