Daily Archives: March 11, 2010

Effect of Temperature on Plasma Membranes

beetroot prac large

Test Tube D (added later than others), Test tube C, test tube B and test tube A

The prac was aimed to show us the effect of different environmental temperatures on a plant plasma membranes.

Test tube A contains a beetroot core placed in 70 degree celcius water,

Test tube B contains a beetroot core placed in a 50 degree celcius water,

Test tube C contains a beetroot core placed in  room temperature water,

and test tube D contains a beetroot core, frozen overnight and then placed in water.

We found that treatments to Test tube A and D had the most  effect on the beetroot core. This is because the temperatures ruptured membranes allowing the red pigments inside the beetroot core to escape! The hotter or colder the temperatures were, the more membranes burst and more colour was released. The colour is contianed in plastids within the cell membranes of the beetroot.

Brilliantly written by Year 11 VCE biology students,

Chloe Wood the fantastic and Emily Huglin the awesome!