To investigate the effect of temperature on the permeability of plant cell membranes
Aim: To investigate the effect of temperature on the permeability of plant cell membranes. I shall be using beetroot as an example of a cell membrane during this investigation as it will be easily to identify when the beetroots cell membrane has been broken because it will leak dye. Background Info: Most eukaryotic plant cells have common structures eg, nucleus, chloroplast, vacuole etc (see fig 1). However the main structures I am most interested in are the cell wall, plasma membrane and the tonoplast. The cell wall is made out of cellulose, a polysaccharide. ... The plasma membrane is the most important of the membranes as it controls what passes in and out of cells. ... It is selectively permeable and regulates the movement of ions in a cell. ... • Measuring cylinder • Beetroot (of 5mm diameter) • Cork borer • Thermometer • Test tubes • Colorimeter • Cuvettes • Knife • Ruler • Stopwatch I will need the water baths to get the water in the test tubes to the correct temperature.