Biology II ____, Lab Group ____, Names: ______________________, __________________________

______________________, ___________________________.
Group Omosis Experiment
Background: Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules through a selectively permeable membrane from a
weak(low concentration) to a strong (highly concentrated) solution.
Membranes of living cells are selectively permeable. Due to this property living systems absorb and transport
water in the body by osmosis. Most aquatic microorganisms, for example amoeba and paramecium take in water
by osmosis. When water enters a plant cell, the volume of the cytoplasm increases.
Due to the limited space in the cells, entry of water creates an outwardly directed pressure called turgor
pressure. At the same time, the plasma membrane and the cell wall exert an equal but inwardly directed pressure
against the cytoplasm called wall pressure.
The cell is said to be turgid when the turgor pressure is equal to the wall pressure. Thus, when plant cells are
surrounded by water, they absorb water by osmosis until they become fully turgid.
When a plant cell is surrounded with a concentrated solution, water from the cells moves into the concentrated
solution by osmosis. When a cell loses water, it is plasmolysed, that means, its cytoplasm shrinks away from the
cell wall. A plasmolysed cell feels soft rather that rigid.
Question:
How does an egg cell membrane function as a selectively permeable membrane in two different solutions? We will
experiment with a chicken egg membrane with the shell removed by placing it in vinegar for 1 day, We will compare the
size (width and length) of an egg before being placed in two different solutions and after. One solution is tap water and one
solution is a salt solution.
Hypothesis:
Write what your team thinks will happen to the size of the egg after sitting in the two different solutions over a period of
two days.

Procedure:
We will start with a chicken egg membrane with the shell removed We will compare the size (width and length in mm) of
an egg before being placed in two different solutions and after. One solution is tap water and one solution is a salt solution.
The egg will be totally covered with the solution.
Observation/Data Collection:Make a data table to collect the width and length of the egg before removing the shell, after it has
soaked in water and after it has soaked in a concentrated salt solution.
Leave a space for any other qualitative observations such as color, texture and smell.
Table: Osmosis observations of egg membrane in different solutions
Egg Width length Qualitative observations such as color, texture, smell. etc.
mm mm
Egg membrane in
shell

Egg membrane in
tap water

Egg membrane in
concentrated salt
solution
Interpretation:
An interpretation is to state your claim based on your evidence in the data collected. What do you claim to be true and how can you
support each claim with evidence? Use the table below to develop your interpretation then write a paragraph describing what you
have found out. For example: “I know this to be true because I have observed…..” or “ I claim that when …….is done, then
……….happens.”
Claims Evidence
The Egg in tap water….

The Egg in salt solution …

Conclusion:
 Restate the focus question as a topic sentence.
o In this investigation…
o I (we) learned…
 Use data from your claims and evidence chart to answer the focus question. Every claim must be supported!
 Refer back to your hypothesis:
o My hypothesis was correct/incorrect because…
o I (we) liked/didn’t like…. because
o This reminds me (us) of because….
o I (we) discovered that ….
o Now I (we) think that …. because…
 What were your thoughts after the experiment? (understandings, likes, related thoughts, connections?)