Dedicated to Mrs. Rosell and Ms. Jacobs

Introduction

One summer, some families decided to go camping. They all stayed at the same campground in Michigan around the same time. Some time after the families left the camp, people started to fall sick and five people passed away. After further examination, we narrowed the cause down to water contamination. When we tested the water samples from the camp for irregularities, we found suspicious circles in the stream water and the south toilet water.

As the brave-hearten, kind and generous human beings we are, we decided to investigate and solve the mystery, ONCE AND FOR ALL

Taking a Closer Look

As we started our research, the first thing we looked at were similarities between the symptoms of poor victims.

They all had nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, exhaustion, fever and stomach cramps. These symptoms all suggested that the problem had something to do with the digestive system. After taking some water samples from the scene of the crime and observing them, we found some irregularities- small circles in the water. The water in the stream had similarities to the water in the south toilet at the camp.

Now, we will have to find out what REALLY killed these poor people. This is a problem to look into. The big picture problem is to find out if these circles are living or not. Our group specifically must find out if these circles eat, which will help answer the bigger problem above.

To find out if these circles eat, it's useful to learn the term CELLULAR RESPIRATION. This is the set of metabolic reaction and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert biochemical energy from nutrients to ATP, and then release waste products.

Hypothesis

 The circles in the circle water are living, and they eat.

For our first test to see if this culprit eats, we mixed some glucose water(GW) and circle water(CW) together. We used diastixs to find the level of glucose before and after a 24 hour period. Our control was just a bit of plain glucose water. This was to make sure glucose doesn't just disappear after sometime and that it was getting eaten.

Test 1

MATERIALS

-8 diastixs

- well

-30 drops of glucose water

-30 drops of circle water

-1 camera (phone)

-Dropper

Before Diastix color Results

After Diastix color (24 hours) Results

ANALYSIS

At then end of this experiment, we can conclude that these circles are living. The Diastix showed the lowered glucose levels after the 24 hours in the circle water. We know this because of the change in color. The label on the diastix box also tells us what the colors mean. The control (glucose) stayed the same. This shows glucose doesn't just disappear. Therefore the glucose was eaten by the organisms in the circle water, and this proves that they are alive.

Test Two

For our second test, we took two petri dishes and put a sample of the circle water in each. Both of the petri dishes had agar but only one contained food. The purpose of this was to see if the circles would eat the food and grow, indicating that they are alive as all living things need food. The control was the water put in the petri dish w/o food to see if they could grow. Because we know to grow, you have to eat.