Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration

Students will learn about the two types of respiration and will carry out a practical in order to find out what is produced in aerobic respiration. The lesson starts with the common misconception that respiration and breathing are the same thing and clarifies the differences. Students then move on to identifying what is produced by aerobic respiration in order to plan an investigation to find out which of two flasks of germinating peas is respiring. A planning template is provided for the students to follow. The experiment can be easily set up by having two sealed vacuum flasks, one with hot water peas and one with room temperature water and peas with thermometers. A delivery tube can also be attached to test for carbon dioxide using a bicarbonate indicator. You may need to “fudge” the set up in order to ensure that carbon dioxide is being produced by the correct flask.