Dedicated to Ian Kim, who did all of the work and carried his group during the experiments. We appreciate all of your hard work and we couldn't have done this without you.

:) Jerry and Joanna

"A sense of humor is a major defense against minor troubles"

Mignon McLaughlin

Introduction

We are trying to see if the circles are alive or not. We will do this by investigating whether it is breathing. Breathing is the act of taking in oxygen, which is a reactant of cellular respiration, and exchanging the gas to CO2 through cellular respiration to release it as CO2, which is a product of cellular respiration. In addition to oxygen, glucose is also a reactant and a carbon compound for cellular respiration and water is another product. Cellular respiration is the process of organisms breaking down the chemical bonds in food to get energy from it and the equation for cellular respiration is C6H12O6+6O2~~>6O2+6H2O+ energy. Oxygen is important to this because it's what enables an organism to obtain that energy.

Another important thing that relates to cellular respiration is ATP. ATP is the energy harvested from the electrons of carbon compounds and relates to cellular respiration because it is produced from the function of cellular respiration itself and provides energy for cells to do work. Breathing is one of the characteristics of life meaning that living things have to breath. We believe that the circles are able to breathe. If they are able to breathe, then they are alive.

Experiment #1

BTB Lab:

In this lab we wanted to see if the circles gave off carbon dioxide through the use of the chemical, bromothymol blue (BTB).

Materials

• 3 drops of BTB
• 6 test tubes
• 3 connecting tubes
• 6 clumps of clay (1 inch diameter each)
• 2 test tube stands
• 3 inches of filtered water
• 2 inches of circle water
• 2 inches of glucose water

• beaker full of circle water
• beaker full of glucose water
• camera
• digital document
• timer
• pipette
• masking tape
• sharpie

To create a data table we started off with making 4 rows labeled from top to bottom: Type of Water, Circle Water and BTB Water, Glucose Water and BTB water, and Glucose Circle Water and BTB Water. Then we made 4 columns starting with the previous Type of Water, then from left to right: Picture Before 24 Hours, Picture After 24 Hours, and Observations

Making the Data Table

BTB Test Tubes

After making your data table put 1 inch of water into 3 test tubes each. Then, in each of these test tubes using a pipette drop one drop of BTB into each test tube. These will be known as your BTB test tubes. Place these all in one test tube stand.

Using a pipette, stir the beaker of circle water and drop one inch of it into a test tube. Then, place one end of a connecting tube so that it is in the circle water test tube but not touching the liquid. This is so the circle water will *possibly* be able to release carbon dioxide. Then secure this with clay, ensuring that there are no empty spaces. With the other end of the test tube place it inside one of the BTB test tubes so that it is in the liquid, to give the possible carbon dioxide the closest contact with the BTB water. Again, secure this end with clay and make sure that there are no empty spaces. Label both test tubes with the masking tape and sharpie and take a picture each test tube separately and both of them together. Once you've done this place these pictures into the appropriate column of the data table and place the test tubes into two separate test tube stands.

Circle Water Test Tube

Glucose Water Test Tube

Using a pipette, stir the beaker of glucose water and drop 1 inch of it into a test tube. Then, place one end of a connecting tube so that it is in the glucose water test tube but not touching the liquid. This is so the glucose water will *possibly* be able to release carbon dioxide. Then secure this with clay, ensuring that there are no empty spaces. With the other end of the connecting tube place it inside one of the BTB test tubes so that it is in the liquid, to give the possible carbon dioxide the closest contact with the BTB water. Again, secure this end with clay and make sure that there are no empty spaces. This will be the control for this experiment. Since the circle water is the subject, and is being mixed with the glucose water, you need to know which one is producing the data. Label both test tubes with the masking tape and sharpie then take a picture of each test tube separately and both of them together, place these pictures in the appropriate column of the data table. Once you have done this place the test tubes into two separate test tube stands.

Glucose-Circle Water

Using a pipette, stir the beaker of circle water and drop one inch of it into a test tube. Then using a different pipette stir the beaker of glucose water and drop one inch of it into the same test tube. Place your thumb over the top of the test tube and shake it to mix the contents. Then, place one end of a connecting tube so that it is in the glucose-circle water test tube but not touching the liquid. This is so the glucose-circle water will *possibly* be able to release carbon dioxide. Then secure this with clay, ensuring that there are no empty spaces. With the other end of the test tube place it inside one of the BTB test tubes so that it is in the liquid, to give the possible carbon dioxide the closest contact with the BTB water. Again, secure this end with clay and make sure that there are no empty spaces. Label both test tubes with the masking tape and sharpie and take a picture of each test tube separately and both of them together, place these pictures in the appropriate column of the data table. Once you've done this place the test tubes into two separate test tube stands.

After Preparing Lab

Once you have finished the procedure, you will need to leave everything alone for 24 hours. This is in order to allow the circle water to have enough time to give off enough carbon dioxide and possibly change the BTB water's color.

Experiment #2

Balloon Lab:

In this lab we wanted to see if the circle water gave off carbon dioxide through visually seeing if it inflated a balloon.

Materials

• 1 test tube stand
• 3 test tubes
• 2 inches of circle water
• 2 inches of glucose water
• 3 balloons (size small water balloons)
• pipette
• 1 beaker of circle water
• 1 beaker of glucose water

• camera
• digital document
• masking tape
• sharpie

Make the Data Table

For the data table you will need 4 rows labeled top to bottom: Type of Water, Circle Water, Glucose Water, and Circle-Glucose Water. Then you need to make the columns. There will be four, starting with Type of Water from before then left to right: Picture Before 24 Hours, Picture After 24 Hours, and Observations.

Circle Water

Take a pipette and stir the beaker of circle water, then take 1 inch of this and place it in a test tube. Place a balloon over the top of the test tube. Label this with the masking tape and sharpie then take a picture of it. Place this picture in the appropriate column of the data table and put the test tube in the test tube stand.