The Effect of Various pH levels on the Survival of Paramecium multimicro nucleatum By Mahmood Saboungi

What is paramecium multimicro nucleatum? Paramecium is a single-cell eukaryotic organism. It is a genus of Protozoa, also related to amoeba, and flagellates. It is also a member of the phylum ciliophora. Paramecium are heterotrophs which means their common form of prey is bacteria. A single paramecium has the ability to consume 5,000 bacterium a day, they also feed on yeast, algae, and other small protozoa. Paramecium live in warm fresh water environments such as rivers and lakes.

Purpose The purpose of this project is to determine which level of pH in distilled water will affect the survival rate of Paramecium. In other words finding a range of pH levels that paramecium can survive in. Vinegar will be added to the distilled water to make the water alkaline (basic). Since paramecium can be found rarely in the human body, in the gastrointestinal tract, interest in paramecium and this subject was the reason for this topic, along with my interest in any type of organisms.

Experiment Materials: 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

Experiment continuation Procedure 1. Obtain all materials. 2. In order to determine how much vinegar and how much baking soda is needed to change the pH level, test the pH level of distilled water with each varying quantity of vinegar and baking soda applied in the distilled water. 3. Make a data table of the amount of vinegar and baking soda and their specific outcomes of pH levels by how many drops and squirts from every substance. 4. Set up the microscope and the laptop computer. 5. Start by adding 45 milliliters of distilled water in the first petri dish. 6. Then add .025 of a milliliter (one drop) of vinegar to the petri dish. 7. Stir the contents in the water until the vinegar is fully dissolved. 8. Place .05 milliliters (2 drops) of the solution on the microscope slide, then add .025 milliliters of the paramecium from the jar onto the microscope with the solution, it should be easy to count 15 paramecium with your naked eye (the amount of paramecium you should put on the slide). 9. Observe what you see in the microscope eye, and on the laptop. 10. Record and average the data. 11. Take a picture of the paramecium. 12. Repeat this process 2 more times. 13. Clean pipette for the vinegar to remove all the excess vinegar.

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-Experiment TEST 1st trial 2nd trial 3rd trial Average CONTROL For 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 CONTROL Distilled Water 5.6 pH 5.6 pH 5.9 pH 5.70 pH ACIDIC .025 mL vinegar 3.8 pH 3.9 pH 4.2 pH 3.97 pH .050 mL vinegar 3.6 pH 3.7 pH 3.8 pH 3.70 pH .075 mL vinegar 3.5 pH 3.6 pH 3.7 pH 3.60 pH .10 mL vinegar 3.4 pH 3.5 pH 3.6 pH 3.50 pH .125 mL vinegar 3.4 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

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Results 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 alive for 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.

Conclusion The 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.

Application Every 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 you very much for your time I hope you enjoyed!!!