Lesson 1: How Are the Temperature and the Amount of Oxygen in Water Related?

Just like humans, fish need to breathe oxygen in order to survive. However, most fish do not breathe oxygen from air. Fish get their needed oxygen from the water. Water can hold different amounts of oxygen. Does the temperature affect how much oxygen water can hold?

Here are some definitions to help you in your investigation.

Breathe - (fish) to take in water with dissolved oxygen and move the water out through their gills

Oxygen - a colorless gas that is critical for all living things

Temperature - a measure of the hotness or coldness of something

Celsius (°C)- a unit of measure of temperature

Dissolved - becomes part of a liquid system to make a solution

Concentration - the amount of something dissolved in a solution

ppm - a unit of measure of concentration

Solution - a mixture of two or more things with one thing evenly spread out in the other thing

Variable - something that can change Independent variable - a variable controlled by the experimenter

Dependent variable - a variable that changes because of the independent variable

Graph - a way to visually show two or more variables’ data

Doing the science

1. Open the Fish Experiment Simulation by clicking on the “Simulation” tab.
2. Move the “Temperature” lever on the bottom of the fish bowl to the far-left position
3. Note and record the temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration in Table 1.
4. Slide the “Temperature” lever to the right to about the middle position.
5. Note and record the temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration.
6. Slide the “Temperature” lever to the far-right position.
7. Note and record the temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration.