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Breathing in the Air : The Lungs

Reference chapter

Question 5
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The picture below shows the breathing hole of the edible snail as it crawls up a piece of glass. It is the black spot just to the left of the snail's foot. This breathing hole is connected to a simple lung underneath the shell of the snail.

Snail (photo by Paul Billiet)

If you observe the breathing hole carefully in a living snail you will see that it contracts and relaxes regularly as the snail breathes in and out.

Questions

1. Do you think that the snail will breathe faster or slower as the temperature of the air around it increases?

2. Design a simple experiment using a living snail to find out if the snail breathes faster or slower as the temperature around it changes.
(a) Describe how you would measure how fast the snail is breathing.
(b) Explain how you would make the snail warmer or colder.
(c) Show how you would present your results.

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