Science Paper

Nelson1 Mac Nelson Bio I Mrs. Pichette 14 November 2009

Title In my experiment, we changed the water temperature to see if it would have any effect on guppies. So we decided to try raising the water temperature by two degrees and lowering the water temperature by two degrees. My personal hypothesis was if the water got hotter the guppy’s heartbeat would slow down and vice versa. The reason behind this is that if you heat the water up the guppy’s blood will heat up as well and thin out and the heart won’t need to beat nearly as much to move the blood around. I also thought that the cold water would make the blood thicker and the guppy’s heart would have to beat more to move the blood.

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Guppies were discovered by a man named Robert John Lechmere Guppy in Trinidad in 1859 (Guppy). Trinidad is the larger of the two islands off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. Male guppies are typically a lot more colorful. When looking at male guppies, you will notice their coloring of splashes, spots, or stripes that can be yellow, orange, blue, red, black, or even purple, but the female guppies only have one typical color, which is grey (Wikipedia-Guppy). The only disadvatage that the male guppies have is that in the wild with all the bright colors on them they are more likely to get eaten by predators. Guppy’s can survive in many extreme climates such as a tank with salinity of up to 150% that of the ocean (Wikipedia-Guppy). The one thing that they cannot handle is extremely cold water such as that of Antarctica. Most wild guppy’s live in water with temperatures between 55105 degrees Fahrenheit (Guppy.com). Most guppies that are used for breeding live in water with temperatures between 78-82 degrees Fahrenheit (Guppy.com). The temperature of the water that they live in has a small affect on how long they live. Newborn guppies, called fry, you should raise them in water that is warmer so they grow faster. Their metabolism is faster therefore they process food faster and mature faster. It is not recommended to change the guppies’ water temperature unless it is absolutely necessary. When changing the temperature of the guppies’ water, it is important to change it at a rate of only two degrees per hour. If the temperature is raised any faster, the fish will have an anxiety attack usually resulting in death. Another thing that changes the life expectancy of a guppy is the quality of the water that you have them in. If you keep them in a warmer tank, it is necessary to change at least 20% of the water twice a week (Guppy.com). If you don’t, bacteria will grow and shorten your guppies’

Nelson3 life expectancy. A third thing that could affect your guppy’s life expectancy is the overall water temperature. If you grow guppies in warmer water, they will grow faster but will shorten their life expectancy. If you raise them in colder water, it will have the reverse effect and they will live a little bit longer. Most guppies are used for either one of two things: breeding and mosquito control. Guppies eat the mosquito’s larvae. By stopping the mosquito’s from breeding, it helps slow down but not stop the spread of malaria. They have been used to slow down the spread of malaria in Africa. The only down side of this whole thing is that the guppies have a negative impact on native fish in Africa.

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Materials Our group made three different Biomes: one was the control, one was the cold, and one was the hot biome. The materials that are needed are six clear two-liter pop bottles. You will need a hammer and a small nail. You will need a one-gallon zip-lock bag of soil. You will need a knife. You will also need some plants for all the biomes. The plants must be one brussel sprout, one red bell pepper, and two purslane and you must have the same amount of them in each biome. You need three female guppies for each biome to do the tests on. You will also need equipment to collect the data such as a stopwatch and a thermometer. Ice and a heat lamp will be needed as well. You will need water. Procedures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Get all the materials Cut the bottles in half Use a nail and hammer to put a small hole in the cap Put the top half with the cap first into the bottom half Fill the open part of the top half about half way up with soil 6. Pour water into the bottom half so that the cap is not touching the water 7. Plant your plants 8. Put a guppy in the water of each biome 9. Feed the guppy 10. Water the plants 11. Get a stop watch 12. For the control count the number of breaths the guppy takes for 30 sec and times your answer by two 13. Turn the heat lamp on pointing it at the hot water biome, put a thermometer in the water, and wait until the temperature. goes up two degrees then do step eleven ignore the control part 14. Set your biome in a bucket, fill the area around the biome with ice in the bucket, put a thermometer in the water, and wait until the temperature. goes down two degrees then do step eleven ignore the control part 15. Record all of your data 16. Turn the heat lamp off and throw the ice in the sink 17. Once your plants start to grow measure them and record the data 18. Repeat steps 9-18 every other day for three weeks starting on Monday

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Table 1: Guppies’ Heart Beats per Minute in Different Temperatures Days

Control 5-Oct 7-Oct 9-Oct 12-Oct 14-Oct 19-Oct 21-Oct 23-Oct 26-Oct Average

Warm 88 70 86 94 0 0 0 0 0 84.5

70 84 72 96 78

72 78 2/3

Cold 108 156 186 168 138 150 136 168 210 157.7

Figure 1: Guppies’ Heart Beats per Minute in Different Temperatures

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Table 2: Initial and Final Quantities of Living Things in the Control Biome Living Beings In My Biome Brussel Sprouts Red Bell Peppers Purslane Guppy

Starting Amount

Ending Amount 1 1 2 1

1 1 5 0

Figure 2: Initial and Final Quantities of Living Things in the Control Biome

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Discussion My data tables and graphs show that my number of brussel sprouts I started with is one. I also ended with one (Table2). No change occurred except it only grew about an inch and a half over the three weeks. My red bell peppers started and stayed at one as well, but it grew about a quarter of an inch (Table2). My purslane started with two and grew into five so it did very well, but my tallest purslane grew to be a whopping 6 inches. Sadly, my guppy started out as one but ended as a great big zero (Table2). This chart was supposed to show the growth in my biome. This data table and graph shows the guppies’ heart beats per minute. The controls average heartbeat was about 84.5 beats per minute (Table1). The hot water guppies’ average heartbeat was 78 2/3 beats per minute (Table1). a massive 157.7 beats per minute (Table1).

The cold-water guppies’ average heartbeat was

This chart shows all the guppies heartbeats over the

three weeks. Conclusion My personal hypothesis was if the water got hotter the guppy’s heartbeat would slow down and vice versa. I believe that my hypothesis was proven because the average heart rate changed with the temperature. As the water got warmer, the guppies average heart rate came down to 78 2/3 beats per minute (Table1).

As I predicted as the water got warmer so did the

guppy’s blood, so the warmer water caused the guppies blood to thin and this caused the heart to not need to beat nearly as much. The opposite happened in the cold-water biome. When we cooled down the water, the heart rate went way up. This happened because as the water-cooled, the guppy’s average heart rate went up to 157.7 beats per minute (Table1). By cooling the water, it caused the guppies blood to thicken. Since the blood thickened, the heart

Nelson8 then had to compensate for the thicker blood and so it pumped harder and faster than the control guppy’s heart rate. The control guppy’s average heart rate was about 84.5 beats per minute (Table1). There were a few things that I would have liked to change about this experiment. One thing that I would have changed is my guppy dying because it messed up my data table. I would have also changed the way that we heated the water. I would change this because it took so long to heat up that you would stop paying attention to it. The result was that we accidentally went over the desired temperature. The heat lamp also heated the water inconsistently. It would have been nice to have a way to have cleaned the guppies’ water somehow. My research explained that water quality changes the guppy’s life expectancy. I believe poor water quality was the reason my guppy died.

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Work Cited Gardner McBride. Guppies.com. 2009. 14 November 2009 Guppy Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guppy. 2009. 14 November 2009 Terry Watkins. Guppy. science.jrank.org/pages/3176/Guppy.html. 2009. 14 November 2009