The Effect of Varying Amounts of Yeast on CO2 levels
IA1
Isobel Woodfin
Third Period
October 14th, 2015
Paul Ogle-Sporer, Davis O’Shea
SECTION 1: PLANNING
Research Question:
This lab was designed in order to answer the question: How do increased/varying amounts of yeast affect the CO2 levels of decomposing apple?
Introduction: This experiment tests the effect of varying amounts of a decomposer on CO2 outputs of compost. Atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing at an exponential rate, and have been past the upper safety limit of 350 parts per million since 1988 (3). This September the ppm was 397.64, continuing on the upward …show more content…
Allow container to air out for 1 minute
Place the plastic wrap and rubber band back onto the container and create a hole big enough to allow the CO2 Probe to go through
Using the CO2 Probe record the initial CO2 levels at the beginning of the 1 minute and the CO2 levels after 1 minute. Make sure the CO2 Probe does not touch the contents of the container
Record all measurements in a data table
Repeat steps 10-13 for each of the three cups in all four groups (0g, 1g, 1.25g, …show more content…
This is shown in the graph above as the containers with 0 grams of yeast on average produced 447.33 ppm during the 1 minute period. The containers with 1 gram yielded 2843.33 ppm, 1.25 grams produced 3915.67 ppm, and the containers with 2 grams produced 1744.67 ppm during the one minute. With the exception of the results from the containers with 2 grams of yeast, there proved to be a positive trend of increased CO2 release as the amount of yeast used also increased.
http://appliedmythology.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-shocking-carbon-footprint-of-compost.html (1)
http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/coastal/trash/documents/marine_debris.pdf (2)
http://co2now.org/ (3)
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/one-giant-landfill.htm (4) http://homeguides.sfgate.com/composting-brewers-yeast-30789.html ^"the addition of brewer's yeast increases the growth of worms and the quantity and quality of worm castings produced. Snails love beer, and the yeast in the compost will attract them to the pile. Snail activity helps accelerate compost decomposition." Integrate