Metabolic rate is directly linked to the core temperature in an animal. An ectotherm, or cold blooded animal, warms its body mainly by absorbing heat from its surroundings. The amount of heat it derives from its metabolism is negligible. In contrast, endotherms derive most or all of its body heat from its own metabolism (Campbells,p899). Because ectotherms do not produce their own heat, they cannot actively ensure their ideal temperature for an ideal metabolic rate (aquacult.htp).

In the following experiment, we will attemp

Metabolic Rates of Mouse and Crayfish at Various Temperatures

Based on the results of this experiment, it was shown that as the temperature of the external environment rose, the metabolic rates of both organisms fell. It was also shown that the crayfish had a higher metabolic rate than the mouse. My hypothesis was completely incorrect in stating that the crayfish would have a lower metabolic rate than the mouse. The slope of the crayfish's linear regression was negative, while I had hypothesized that it would be positive. I was correct in guessing that the endotherm's metabolic rates would remain steady, which they did with only a slight bit of fluctuation. I believe that there was a significant amount of error in this experiment because many documented facts pertaining to this subject state that the metabolic rate of the crayfish should climb when exposed to higher external temperatures. 'a warm body temperature contributes to higher levels of metabolic activity' (Campbells,p899). 'when ectotherms increase their body temperature using the external environment, their metabolism increases as well' (Grolier,1996). Both these pieces of literature state that the metabolism rises as the body temperature rises. My results state that as temperature rises, metabolism drops. Possible reasons for this could be the size of the crayfish used. If each crayfish was a different size, then the larger crayfish would consume more oxygen from the same sized flask than a smaller crayfish might. Therefore, the initial metabolic results could have been from larger specime

Some common words found in the essay are:
Duncan Townsend, Grolier1996 Metabolic, C' Ectotherms, , Mouse Crayfish, Rate Crayfish, metabolic rate, metabolic rates, American Alligator, metabolic rate mouse, rate mouse, lower metabolic, Rate Mouse, lower metabolic rate, o2 levels, mouse crayfish, crayfish metabolic, rates mouse, body temperature, metabolic rates mouse, results experiment, Metabolic Rates, Metabolic Rate, metabolic rate crayfish, outside environment temperature,
Approximate Word count = 1053
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)