Temperature Affecting Respiration Rate In Goldfish

The point of this lab was to analyze the relationship that respiration has to temperature of the environment.

Originally, since I had relatively no back information on this topic, my hypothesis was that the amount of breaths would go up when the temperature went down and the number of breaths would go up when the temperature went up.

It was a fairly simple lab. First, we put the fish into a container that was filled with was that was room temperature. We used Logger Pro to measure the temperature of the water. We counted the amount of breaths that our fish took while at room temperature. Then, we added ice cubes to the water. When the water was at 10-14 degrees Celsius, we counted the amount of breaths that the fish took. We repeated the same thing when the water was 5-10 degrees Celsius. Finally, we recorded our data and made conclusions.

Below I have included my data:

Table reflecting the effects that temperature has to respiration rate.

Graph describing the effects that temperature has on respiration ratr

My personal hypothesis was wrong. It turns out that when the temperature goes down the respiration rate goes down too. When the temperature goes up, the respiration rate goes up. This did not surprise me because when I thought about it, I do the exact same thing.


Analysis Questions:

1. Describe how the fish's respiration rate is affected by temperature. Be detailed.

As the temperature goes up, the respiration rate goes up. As the temperature goes down, the respiration goes down. Specifically, in our experiment this can be shown when our fish breathed 104 times in a minute at room temperature. Although, our fish breathed 53 times in a minute when the water was ten degrees colder.


2. What other factors may have affected the breathing rate?

Some other factors that may have affected the breathing rate are the amount of oxygen in the water, how much the water was moving, the density of the water, and the water pressure.


3. How did your fish compare to the average?

My fish was extremely close to the average, almost the exact same.


4. Why do scientists often take lots of data and look at the average? Why do you think you did that in this experiment?

Scientists take tons of data so that they can understand what the outliers are and make an accurate conclusion. By taking an average, you are seeing what all of the data looks like in a couple numbers that answer the question. We did that in this experiment for that reason.


5. Design an experiment that will test how a fish's respiration rate is affected by light. Explain your design below.

I would put the fish in an environment where there is a constant light. Then, I would use objects that lessen the amount of light, like a paper towel or paper, and use them to cove the fish. I would then count the amount of breaths and analyze.


6. Was your prediction at the beginning of the lab correct or incorrect?

My prediction was incorrect.


7. Propose an explanation for your experimental results. Why do you think fish react this way as their environmental temperature changes?

I think that it happened this way because oxygen is harder to obtain in the environment when the temperature gets hotter, making the fish breath more. I think that when it gets colder, oxygen gets easier to obtain for the fish, and it is able to breath less since it can get it easier.