Yeast Exponential Growth Lab Report

In this lab, they will be experimenting with the population of the yeast and observe its growth pattern over the course of 6 days. They will be looking at the growth of yeast when giving an unlimited amount of food and no competition. They were seeing if the yeast shows an exponential growth or logistic growth under these circumstances.
Background Information
In this experiment, they will be testing the population growth of Yeast. Yeast is a single-celled fungus that ferments sugar to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide (Merriam-Webster, Yeast). Yeast is commonly used in baking to help dough rise. The yeast population over time in this experiment can show exponential growth or logistic growth. Exponential growth occurs when the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate. On a graph, the shape of the line looks like a “J”. Logistic growth occurs when a population's growth slows and then stops, following a period of exponential growth. On a graph, the shape of the line looks like an “S”. …show more content…
Time is an independent factor. The population of the yeast is a dependent variable. The controlled variables of the number of yeast in the initial population, the temperature/sunlight the yeast the yeast were in, the amount of space they gave the yeast the grow in, and the amount of food the yeast receive. As food for the yeast, they were using molasses. Molasses is the thick dark to light brown syrup that is separated from raw sugar in sugar manufacture (Merriam-Webster, Molasses). The yeast eats the molasses and uses it for energy and to