What Happens When You Run Out of Oxygen?

A Yeast Experiment
By now, you should know that organisms use oxygen to help break down glucose to get energy
in the form of ATP. Remember that this process starts in the cytoplasm, where glucose is split
into half to make two pyruvate molecules. The pyruvate moves into the mitochondria where it
is further broken down and eventually makes ATP for the cell. This process is great, especially
when you have enough oxygen in your bloodstream to handle the energy demands your body is
using. But what happens when you run out of energy?
Lab Part 1: Lactic Acid Fermentation
With the other people at your table, perform the following task: which person can withstand
the most physical activity? Have everyone stand on their tippy toes around your table. Take
turns timing each other to see who can stay on their toes the longest! You can hang on to a
chair or the table for stability if you need. Record your data on the table below.

Student name

Time

Tatiana Kouvatsos

17 minutes 27 seconds

Dejan Lojanica

12 minutes and 2 seconds

Alisha Blanc

17 minutes 27 seconds

Cloie Hermann

15 minutes 09 seconds

Madi MacDonald

17 minutes 27 seconds

Ethan Bryan

17 minutes 27 seconds

1. What happened?
By standing on our toes, the muscles in our body began to want more energy and produced
energy by any means necessary
2. What did you feel?
Cramping, possible bone and intense muscle pain
Animals, when their bodies can't get enough oxygen, break apart glucose less efficiently using a
process called lactic acid fermentation. The lactic acid is poisonous and hurts when it builds up,
especially in your muscles. Less ATP is produced overall in the process.
Lab Part 2: Alcoholic Fermentation
Other organisms use a similar process in the absence of oxygen to get ATP. Called alcoholic
fermentation, the name is exactly what you think.
3. What kind of businesses use this process to make money? Brainstorm a list with your
teammates below.
alcohol companies use this process

One of the most important organisms of some of the companies you probably listed above is
yeast. A single-celled fungus, yeast gets most of its energy through eating sugar and then
turning it into ATP, creating alcohol and carbon dioxide in the process.
Check out some fun recipes you can make at home using this process!
Cinnamon rolls
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/old-fashioned-cinnamon-rolls/988d41dd-c0f6-4fe4-a012
-b42c770f95f7
Ginger Ale
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ginger-ale-recipe.html
Testing for Alcoholic Fermentation in Yeast Cells
4. One way to test for alcoholic fermentation in yeast cells is to evaluate whether CO
2 is

produced by yeast in water with sugar vs. water without sugar. If yeast cells carry out alcoholic
fermentation, would you expect CO
to be produced by:
2
yeast cells in sugar water?
yes
yeast cells in plain water (without sugar)? no
Explain your reasoning.
yeast cells in sugar water, because sugar activates yeast.

Your group will see what happens to yeast in the following situations:
Yeast + room temperature water
Yeast + hot water
Yeast + sugar + room temperature water
Yeast + sugar + hot water
Place a small amount of water, yeast and sugar if needed into a beaker. Cut a small square of
Parafilm and stretch it over the top of the beaker. Watch what happens! Record your results
below.
Beaker

Results

Explanation

yeast in room temp

it rose

The yeast was releasing

carbon dioxide and didn't
have anywhere else to go

yeast in warm

it rose quicker

the yeast is more active and

releases more carbon
dioxide.

yeast with sugar in room

temp

Rose fairly quick

the sugar activated the yeast

and made it rise

yeast with sugar in warm

Rose very quickly

Both the heat and the sugar

helped the yeast activate
quicker

5.
Were the results similar for all the cups with living yeast in sugar water? If not, what could be the
reasons for any differences in results?
yes they were , because they were both in a closed environment.

6. If you were going to repeat your experiment, how could you improve your methods to get more
reliable and valid results?
I would make sure that the stretchy material is on tight and sealed.