Search words: lab lesson plan, characteristics of life, indicators, respiration

Introduction: A fundamental question to be answered as you begin your study of biology concerns the differences between living and nonliving things. Determining if something is living or nonliving can be very difficult. It is generally accepted that living things are made of one or more cells, all reproduce, grow and develop, obtain and use energy, and respond to the environment.

In this lab lesson plan , you will work with Bromothymol Blue, an indicator used to determine the presence of carbon dioxide. When living organisms convert their food to energy during respiration, they give off carbon dioxide as a waste product. You will be using yeast in this lab to observe the characteristics that indicate that they are living.

Problem: What characteristics of life can you observe that indicate yeast are living organisms?

Your 8 page download will include Title, Purpose, Introduction, Materials, Safety Precautions, Procedure, Analysis Questions, Student Data Pages, Answers to all Questions, and Teacher Preparation Notes.

Materials: Bromothymol Blue, 3 large test tubes, 3 small test tubes, 3 one hole stoppers with glass tubing inserts, Slides, Coverslips, Test tube racks, Microscopes, Yeast/molasses mixture, Yeast/water mixture, Water/molasses mixture, Plastic tubing, Graduated cylinder, Medicine Droppers

You can choose to have students write their own lab reports or you can use the included "student data sheets".

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