Concluding Questions:
- In terms of maximizing diffusion, what was the most effective size cube that you tested?
In terms of maximizing diffusion, the most effective size cube that we tested was the smallest one
- Why was that size most effective at maximizing diffusion? What are the important factors that affect how materials diffuse into cells or tissues?
It was most effective because the size allowed the base to get into the entire cell much faster. The smaller it is, the easier it is to penetrate.
- If a large surface area is helpful to cells, why do cells not grow to be very large?
Cells need to be little because they rely on diffusion to allow nutrients to get in and waste to get out. If the cells were big it would take a lot of energy to get nutrients in to the entire cell, and waste fully extracted.
- You have three cubes, A, B, and C. They have surface to volume ratios of 3:1, 5:2, and 4:1 respectively. Which of these cubes is going to be the most effective at maximizing diffusion, how do you know this?
The cube with the ratio of 5:2 will be the most effective because the surface area is much larger than the volume which maximizes diffusion.
- How does your body adapt surface area-to-volume ratios to help exchange gases?
They adapt to surfaces area to volume ratios by dividing cells constantly to make them smaller
- Why can’t certain cells, like bacteria, get to be the size of a small fish?
This is due to the fact that they need to be little in order to have the nutrients be absorbed into each cell and waste taken out of each cell
- What are the advantages of large organisms being multicellular?
Having large organisms be multicellular means that cells are all able to get nutrients in and waste out of the body much quicker than if it were one giant cell. Gas exchange and your circulatory system, speed up and help the movement of beneficial materials into and out of organisms.
This is the Agar right as we put it into the base
This is the agar 5 minutes in the base
This is the agar once we took it out, and cut it in half to see how far the base had penetrated into each cube
