Shahani Jayesinghe

The Effect of Temperature on the Hatching Success of Brine Shrimp Procedure Apparatus Brine shrimp egg cysts 8g sea salt 400cm3 de-chlorinated water 40cm3 beaker Water baths at temperatures 5oC, 20oC, 30oC and 40oC Glass rod Magnifying glass Torch Pair of forceps Access to refrigerator Graph paper White paper pipette Method 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9.

Place 2g of sea salt into a 100cm3 beaker Add 100cm3 of de-chlorinated water and stir until salt is completely dissolved Label the beaker with 5oC Place a small amount of egg cysts onto a white sheet of paper Wet the piece of graph paper with a few drops of salt water, dab onto the white sheet of paper picking up approximately 40 eggs. Use a magnifying glass to count the eggs and cut the graph paper so there are exactly 40 eggs. Put the paper with the eggs into the beaker. After 3 mins gently remove the paper using forceps, making sure all the egg cysts have been washed off the paper. Repeat steps 1 to 6 for all four temperatures Place the beakers into the appropriate water baths, controlling exposure to light as much as possible. The next day shine a bright light into each of the beakers and see how many larvae swim towards the light. Using a pipette catch the brine shrimp larvae and place them into a small beaker of salt water. Repeat daily for 7 days.

Variables: Independent: the different temperatures at which the egg cysts are kept Dependant: the number of hatched egg cysts per day Controls: 1. The amount of salt used 2. The amount of de-chlorinated water used 3. The amount of egg cysts used 4. The amount of time they are left for 5. Exposure to light 6. pH of water Ethical Issues Using live organisms means that we have to handle them with a great deal of care in order to prevent any unnecessary harm. This practical does pose many ethical issues such as possibly damaging the egg cysts and brine shrimp by exposing them to temperatures beyond the optimum temperature that they can survive, this will potentially kill them. There is also the question of what to do with the brine shrimp once they have hatched and been counted as well as any un-hatched eggs.

Patterns in the Results pH- there were no shrimp between pH 5 and 6. However, as the pH went up to 7 the number of shrimp increased by 10 and increased by a further 40 as the pH went up to 8. There was then a

Shahani Jayesinghe
gradual decrease of 5 at pH 9 and a much larger decrease at pH 10 which decreased by a further 35. This shows that the optimum pH for the hatching of brine shrimp is 8. Salinity- at 0% salt there were no hatching, this then increased to 12 hatchings at 1% and 50 at 2%, however there was a steady decrease to 47 at 3%, 45 at 5% and a much steeper decrease to 32 at 10 %. This shows that the optimum salinity is at roughly 2.8%. Temperature- at 5oC there were 0 hatchings, this increased to 20 hatchings at 20oC and 50 at 30oC. Then a very steep decrease to 5 hatchings at 40oC, and it was found that the optimum temperature was 28oC. Up until 20oC the results do support Q10 which states that as you increase the temperature by 10oC the rate of reaction doubles; according to the graph at 10o C there were 10 hatching and at 20oC there were 20 hatching, beyond this temperature may cause enzymes to denature and therefore Q10 does not apply as hatchings are less likely to occur.

How to make results more reliable and valid Do repeats for each of the temperatures and average results. The bright light promotes the hatching of egg cysts so each of the temperatures should be exposed for the same amount of time. Use more accurate measuring equipment Count the number of shrimp more than once to ensure no miscounting To draw a stronger conclusion, a wider range of temperature might have helped, as then we might be able to see the pattern clearer and be able to draw a better curve of best fit.