Introduction to the Scientific Method:
Formal Lab
Thermoregulation Lab
*Use this labsheet and have a good rough draft in your lab
notebook. This will help you as you write your first formal lab!
Question: How does the skin’s surface area affect a body’s
cooling rate?
This lab will investigate principles involved with regulation of
temperature. To do this, you will use a Vernier probe to
transmit temperature readings to the computer station. From this
experiment, you will be able to draw conclusions about surface
area and retention of heat.
Introduction: Before the lab, research how animals maintain
internal body temperature or “thermoregulate”. You may use your
textbook, and you should look at terms such as endotherm,
exotherm, metabolism, behavioral adaptation.
Hypothesis:
Answer the question with a reasoned argument.
Should be stated as If…then…because…
Methods:
o Summarize the procedure sheets found at the lab station.
You do not have to write each step involved with using the
probe, just identify: type of probe, computer program
used, and type of data collected by the probe.
o You will be given two rubber gloves and a beaker with ice
water. You want to compare the heat loss between a glove
with a greater surface area/volume ratio to a glove with a
smaller surface area/volume ratio.
o One way you can do this is compare a glove with
fingers, to a glove with the fingers tied off. If you
keep the volume the same, which has a greater surface
area/volume ratio? Explain in your group.
o In your lab notebook, list:
o Control Group: what did you start with, list all
pieces!
o Experimental Group: what was your comparison, list
all pieces!
o Independent Variable: what ONE variable did you
change?
o Dependent Variable: how did you measure the result of
the change
Data and Analysis:
o
In your lab notebook create a data table to compare the
temperature of the glove with tied fingers to the glove
with untied fingers. You should make sure to record each
30 second time point (the computer records every
second…that is too much for your data table!
Ex.
Time (min: sec)
Temperature of Glove
with fingers tied
(oC)
Temperature of Glove
with fingers untied
(oC)
0
0:30
o
o
On your computer, follow the directions to have the
computer calculate the slope of the line.
Sketch each graph in your lab notebook, labeling the axes.
Record the slope on each graph. Under the graph, describe
the TREND you see (eg. What does the slope represent and
what is the difference between the two slopes?)
*You may print the actual graph for your formal lab, or you
can use the data you have in your notebook to remake the graph
on Excel or another graphing program using the data found in
your data table.
Conclusions:
o
o
o
o
o
Accept or reject your hypothesis giving numerical data
collected in the experiment.
Draw a conclusion about how surface are affects rate of
temperature change. (Optional: you could estimate the
surface area of each glove)
Connections to science:
o How does this phenomenon affect animals in extremely
cold or hot environments? Why don’t whales, seals,
and penguins have long legs or necks?
o Why is it important to take a child’s temperature at
the mouth, ear, armpit and not at the tips of their
fingers?
o What adaptations do endotherms have to keep their core
body temperature constant?
o What organism have a bigger metabolism, a mouse or an
elephant? Why?
~Challenge~
What are some design errors associated with this
experiment? How could these have affected the outcome?
What are modifications or extensions you would make if you
were to repeat a similar experiment, and why (you may want
to connect to some of the information in your introduction)