Sugar Metabolism with Yeast
Recommended for grades 10–16.
Introduction
Yeast are able to metabolize some foods, but not others. In order for an organism to make use of a potential source of food, it must be capable of transporting the food into its cells. It must also have the proper enzymes capable of breaking the food’s chemical bonds in a useful way. Sugars are vital to all living organisms. Yeast are capable of using some, but not all sugars as a food source. Yeast can metabolize sugar in two ways, aerobically, with the aid of oxygen, or anaerobically, without oxygen. In both cases, carbon dioxide, CO2, is produced. The rate that this gas is produced is referred to as the rate of respiration.
Objectives
In the Preliminary Activity, you will use a CO2 Gas Sensor to determine the rate of respiration of glucose by yeast.
After completing the Preliminary Activity, you will first use reference sources to find out more about sugars, respiration, and yeast before you choose and investigate a researchable question dealing with the respiration of sugars by yeast. Some topics to consider in your reference search are:
- sugars
- carbohydrates
- monosaccharides
- disaccharides
- polysaccharides
- yeast
- glycolysis
- metabolism
- aerobic respiration
- anaerobic respiration
Sensors and Equipment
This investigation requires each of the following Vernier sensors and equipment (unless otherwise noted):
Additional Requirements
You may also need an interface and software for data collection. What do I need for data collection?
Download Experiment Preview
The student-version preview includes:
- Step-by-step instructions for the Preliminary Activity
- List of materials and equipment
Note: The experiment preview of the Preliminary Activity does not include essential teacher information, safety tips, or sample data. Instructions for Logger Pro and other software (such as LabQuest App or TI handheld software, where available) are on the CD that accompanies the book. We strongly recommend that you purchase the book before performing experiments.
Standards Correlations
No standards correlations for this experiment.
Included in the Lab Book
Vernier lab books include a CD with word-processing files of the student instructions, essential teacher information, suggested answers, sample data and graphs, and more.