Cell Homeostasis Virtual Lab

  1. Define homeostasis (this is one of the 8 characteristics of life):

  1. Step 1 of the Scientific Method: Identify a Problem.
  1. What is the problem we are trying to solve in this virtual lab?

  1. Step 2 of the Scientific Method: Develop a Hypothesis.
  1. Based on the information found on the page that begins with, “To answer this question,” write a hypothesis for this experiment.

  1. Step 3 of the Scientific Method: Design a Controlled Experiment.
  1. Follow the prompts to complete the lab and record the steps of your experiment below. There are a minimum of 20 steps that you follow in this experiment, you may need to come back to this step as you continue working through the lab.

  1. “Take a moment to sketch the beakers, including the labels, in your science journal or lab notebook.” To complete this step take a screenshot of the beakers and place the image below. To take a screenshot hit the prt sc button on the top right of your keyboard when you are looking at the lab website, then place your cursor in the space below and hit control v to paste your image.

  1. What is your control group?

  1. What is your independent variable?

  1. What is your dependent variable?

  1. Step 4 of the Scientific Method: Record and Analyze Data
  1. Complete the table below:

% Sugar Concentration

Dialysis Tube Initial Weight

Dialysis Tube Final Weight

Difference in Initial & Final Weights

Tube A

Tube B

Tube C

Tube D

Tube E

  1. Part of this step of the scientific method is to graph your data. Analyze the graph below.
  1. Title: Does the title refer to both the independent and dependent variables? If it does not, what should the title be?

  1. X-Axis: Is the x-axis labeled correctly and includes the type of variable? If it does not, what should the x-axis label be?

  1. Y-Axis: Is the y-axis labeled correctly and includes the type of variable? If it does not, what should the y-axis label be?

  1. Is this the correct graph type to represent this data? If not, what type of graph would you use?

  1. What are some controlled variables in this experiment?

  1. What type of data did you collect in this experiment, quantitative or qualitative. Explain your answer by including the definition of the data type.

  1. Step 5 of the Scientific Method: Write a Conclusion
  1. Which dialysis tube had little or no change?

  1. Why was pure water used as the control group?

  1. Why didn’t the mass of dialysis tube “A” & “D” change over the 24-hour time frame?

  1. Which statement best describes how a cell responds to its external environment?

  1. How does this lab demonstrate homeostasis?