THE EFFECT OF VARIOUS PH LEVELS ON THE SURVIVAL OF PARAMECIUM MULTIMICRO NUCLEATUM

B Y M A H M O O D S A B O U N G I

WHAT IS PARAMECIUM MULTIMICRO NUCLEATUM?• Pa r a m e c i u m i s a s i n g l e - c e l l e u k a r y o t i c

o r g a n i s m .• I t i s a g e n u s o f P r o t o z o a , a l s o r e l a t e d t o

a m o e b a , a n d fl a g e l l a t e s .• I t i s a l s o a m e m b e r o f t h e p h y l u m c i l i o p h o r a .• Pa r a m e c i u m a r e h e t e r o t r o p h s w h i c h m e a n s

t h e i r c o m m o n f o r m o f p r e y i s b a c t e r i a . A s i n g l e p a r a m e c i u m h a s t h e a b i l i t y t o c o n s u m e 5 , 0 0 0 b a c t e r i u m a d ay, t h e y a l s o f e e d o n y e a s t , a l g a e , a n d o t h e r s m a l l p r o t o z o a .

• Pa r a m e c i u m l i v e i n w a r m f r e s h w a t e r e n v i r o n m e n t s s u c h a s r i v e r s a n d l a ke s .

PURPOSE• T h e p u r p o s e o f t h i s p r o j e c t i s t o d e t e r m i n e

w h i c h l e v e l o f p H i n d i s t i l l e d w a t e r w i l l a ff e c t t h e s u r v i v a l r a t e o f Pa r a m e c i u m . I n o t h e r w o r d s fi n d i n g a r a n g e o f p H l e v e l s t h a t p a r a m e c i u m c a n s u r v i v e i n .

• V i n e g a r w i l l b e a d d e d t o t h e d i s t i l l e d w a t e r t o m a ke t h e w a t e r a l k a l i n e ( b a s i c ) .

• S i n c e p a r a m e c i u m c a n b e f o u n d r a r e l y i n t h e h u m a n b o d y, i n t h e g a s t r o i n t e s t i n a l t r a c t , i n t e r e s t i n p a r a m e c i u m a n d t h i s s u b j e c t w a s t h e r e a s o n f o r t h i s t o p i c , a l o n g w i t h m y i n t e r e s t i n a n y t y p e o f o r g a n i s m s .

EXPERIMENT

• 11 petri dishes• One jar paramecium

(Carolina issued)• 4 pipettes• A pH tester• A Microscope• Laptop Computer

with Motic Images Plus 2.0 Software

• One gallon distilled water

• One bottle distilled white vinegar

• One box baking soda• A few microscope

slides (with dimples)• Metric measuring

units

MATERIALS:

EXPERIMENT CONTINUATIONPROCEDURE

1 . O b t a i n a l l m a t e r i a l s .2 . I n o r d e r t o d e t e r m i n e h o w

m u c h v i n e g a r a n d h o w m u c h b a k i n g s o d a i s n e e d e d t o c h a n g e t h e p H l e v e l , t e s t t h e p H l e v e l o f d i s t i l l e d w a t e r w i t h e a c h v a r y i n g q u a n t i t y o f v i n e g a r a n d b a k i n g s o d a a p p l i e d i n t h e d i s t i l l e d w a t e r .

3 . M a k e a d a t a t a b l e o f t h e a m o u n t o f v i n e g a r a n d b a k i n g s o d a a n d t h e i r s p e c i fi c o u t c o m e s o f p H l e v e l s b y h o w m a n y d r o p s a n d s q u i r t s f r o m e v e r y s u b s t a n c e .

4 . S e t u p t h e m i c r o s c o p e a n d t h e l a p t o p c o m p u t e r .

5 . S t a r t b y a d d i n g 4 5 m i l l i l i t e r s o f d i s t i l l e d w a t e r i n t h e fi r s t p e t r i d i s h .

6 . T h e n a d d . 0 2 5 o f a m i l l i l i t e r ( o n e d r o p ) o f v i n e g a r t o t h e p e t r i d i s h .

7 . S t i r t h e c o n t e n t s i n t h e w a t e r u n t i l t h e v i n e g a r i s f u l l y d i s s o l v e d .

8 . P l a c e . 0 5 m i l l i l i t e r s ( 2 d r o p s ) o f t h e s o l u t i o n o n t h e m i c r o s c o p e s l i d e , t h e n a d d . 0 2 5 m i l l i l i t e r s o f t h e p a r a m e c i u m f r o m t h e j a r o n t o t h e m i c r o s c o p e w i t h t h e s o l u t i o n , i t s h o u l d b e e a s y t o c o u n t 1 5 p a r a m e c i u m w i t h y o u r n a k e d e y e ( t h e a m o u n t o f p a r a m e c i u m y o u s h o u l d p u t o n t h e s l i d e ) .

9 . O b s e r v e w h a t y o u s e e i n t h e m i c r o s c o p e e y e , a n d o n t h e l a p t o p .

1 0 . R e c o r d a n d a v e r a g e t h e d a t a .1 1 . T a k e a p i c t u r e o f t h e

p a r a m e c i u m .1 2 . R e p e a t t h i s p r o c e s s 2 m o r e

t i m e s .1 3 . C l e a n p i p e t t e f o r t h e v i n e g a r

t o r e m o v e a l l t h e e x c e s s v i n e g a r .

PROCEDURE CONTINUATION 14. Repeat steps

5-10 but adding 2 drops, or .05 milliliters of vinegar this time, and then 3 drops of vinegar, and so on until 5 drops (use a different petri dish for every solution, or every time your adding another drop of the substance).

15. Repeat steps 4-13 but this time use baking soda for every thing that was vinegar.

16. If needed, keep adding squirts of baking soda to the solution until the paramecium dies.

17. Record and average the data.

18. Make a data table of all observations.

19. Graph the averages of the final productivity on the survival rate of paramecium.

PRE-EXPERIMENTFor my pre-experiment, I will have to identify how much vinegar and baking soda is needed to reach a desired pH level.

TEST 1st trial 2nd trial 3rd trial Average CONTROLDistilled Water5.6 pH 5.6 pH 5.9 pH 5.70 pH ACIDIC.025 mL vinegar3.8 pH 3.9 pH 4.2 pH 3.97 pH.050 mL vinegar3.6 pH 3.7 pH 3.8 pH 3.70 pH.075 mL vinegar3.5 pH 3.6 pH 3.7 pH 3.60 pH.10 mL vinegar3.4 pH 3.5 pH 3.6 pH 3.50 pH.125 mL vinegar3.4 pH 3.5 pH 3.5 pH 3.47 pH ALKALINE.025g Baking Soda 7.0 pH 7.1 pH 7.0 pH 7.03 pH.050g Baking Soda 7.7 pH 7.7 pH 7.8 pH 7.73 pH.075g Baking Soda 7.9 pH 7.8 pH 7.9 pH 7.87 pH.10 g Baking Soda 8.0 pH 8.0 pH 8.1 pH 8.03 pH.125g Baking Soda 8.1 pH 8.1 pH 8.2 pH 8.13 pH.25 g Baking Soda 9.0 pH 9.0 pH 9.2 pH 9.07 pH.375g Baking Soda 9.9 pH 10.0 pH 10.2 pH 10.03 pH

PICTURES

The control that was utilized in this

experiment was distilled water

without added substances.

This experiment was to

identify the range of pH level

that paramecium could

survive in. Five pH levels for vinegar and seven pH l levels for baking soda

were reached. The

paramecium died when placed in

the 1 drop vinegar, along

with all the other drops of

vinegar. In the control,

the paramecium were very

hyper and stayed alivefor the entire 20

minute duration viewing time.

In the baking soda until 5 squirts, the

paramecium were overly and exceedingly hyper.

When placed in the water

with 10 squirts, they became sluggish and slow but remained alive for the entire duration

viewing time. When placed in

the water with 15 squirts,

they died after 4 minutes.

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONThe hypothesis of this experiment was the Paramecium Multimicro nucleatum will not survive in water at pH levels lower than 4 nor higher than 8. The paramecium died instantly when placed in the water that had a pH level of 3.97 and lower, The paramecium thrived in water that had a pH level up to 8.13. The paramecium was sluggish when placed in the water that had a pH level of 9.07 but remained alive for the entire duration of viewing them. However, when placed in the water that had a pH level of 10.03 the paramecium was very slow moving and died within 4 minutes. This concluded the paramecium does not survive in water of 4 pH level or lower, nor in water of 10 pH level or higher. The hypothesis therefore was partially proved because the paramecium did not survive in water with pH level less than 4. However, the hypothesis was also partially disproved because the paramecium did survive in water with pH level greater than 8 but only up to 10.

APPLICATIONEvery person in the world distastes and fears bacteria.

Bacteria make you ill, they may carry diseases, and they are contagious.

Humans always think of ways to eradicate bacteria. Paramecia apply

to this real world because they can terminate any sort of insalubrious

and harmful bacteria. A single paramecium can consume 5,000 bacterium

a day. This proves how important it is to assure the paramecia

thrive in order to wipe out a great deal of bacteria from the face of this Earth.

Regrettably, a paramecium’s life is always at risk. There are some areas of

freshwater that may be highly malignant to their sort. Polluted water is

considered exceedingly acidic. Paramecia do not have the ability to

survive in acidic water. The purpose of this experiment was to find the range

of the pH level of water that paramecium can survive in. As pollution is

acidic, there is a great need to control it from entering Earth’s eco-

system, in order to maintain ideal water conditions that paramecia can

survive in.

THANK YO

U VERY MUCH

FOR YO

UR TIME

I HO P E Y

O U EN J O

Y E D ! ! !