Homeostasis Glucose Levels ___ By Adam Rosenbaum, Hayden Shaffer, Nitin Mamidi, and Wilson Perry ____________________________________________________________ Introduction Using a glucose monitor, three participants measured their initial blood sugar levels. Two participants, participant 1 and 2, then consumed 43 grams of sugar. Then the glucose levels were measured every ten minutes until they returned to their initial level. The third participant, consumed 12 oz of water. The glucose was then recorded until they reached their initial homeostasis again. then the our data was analyzed and graphs were made.
The controlling of sugar levels in the body is extremely important and not many people know about its effect. In this lab, the goal was to find our blood sugar levels. This was tested in a unique way. Participants drank a can of crush soda and recorded the data. The reason this test was performed was to examine how our blood sugar levels would rise and drop after the consumption of the sugar. In the beginning of this project, our group researched about glucose and insulin and how the body produces it. the bodies of diabetic people and how they can’t produce insulin was researched.
Hypothesis The hypothesis was that 10 minutes after drinking the can of crush are blood sugar levels will rise and then after 10 more minutes they will fall and be normal. If you drink a lot of sugar then you blood sugar will rise, then eventually fall and return to maintain homeostasis. The more sugar you consume, the longer it will take to return to homeostasis.
Procedure
Obtain a glucose monitor
Record initial glucose level of 2 people from finger tips in data table
Two students consume 43g of sugar immediately
After ten minutes, record glucose levels of two students with sugar
After another ten minutes, record glucose levels of the two students
Now, record the glucose of one new student, after the other two have returned to homeostasis.
Now, the new student must drink 12 oz. of water
After ten minutes, record the glucose levels of the one student.
Wait another ten minutes and test glucose levels again of the same one student, recording in data table
Test every 10 minutes until return to homeostasis
Create a bar graph of glucose levels vs time
Create a line graph of glucose levels vs time
Create a bar graph of time of return to homeostasis
Materials
Truetrack Glucose Kit
1 Can of Crush Orange Soda (43 g of sugar)
Our Blood
Phone (timer)
Water
Results Participant Initial Glucose level (mg/dl) Glucose Level ten minutes after drink (mg/dl) Glucose level 20 minutes after drink (mg/dl) Glucose Level 30 minutes after Drink (mg/dl)
Participant 1 Sugar 115 155 126 105
Participant 2 Sugar 115 114 112 N/A
Participant 3 Water 127 123 125 N/A The N/A in this situation means that the participant reached homeostasis before the time allotted. Out of all three participants, participant 1 processed sugar the slowest while participant 3 processed water much faster. Participant 2 processed sugar almost as quickly as participant 3 processed water. This tells us that participant 2’s body processes sugar very quickly. Participant 1 processed sugar very slowly, and this prompted the group to time for an extra 10 minutes.
Observations Throughout this project it was observed that timing is difficult. The timing was messed up on multiple occasions which might of led to non accuracy. A big observation was that the lancing device was kind of scary and we’re hesitant to prick ourselves. One of our participants processed sugar very quickly which was a sight to see while the other processed it very slowly. This led us to observe that all bodies are different. Another thing that was noticed was that the warmer your finger is it will be easier to draw blood. A lot of time and strips will be wasted if your fingers are cold.
Discussion Participant 1 drank the soda. The subject blood sugar rapidly rose then fell back down to normal. Patient 2 was also drank the soda Their blood sugar actually fell in the 10 minute period which probably means they process sugars faster that the first participant. Participant 3 was are control and just drank water with no sugar added to it. Their blood sugar started and ended in about the same place, as would be expected to because they had no sugar added, so nothing should have really changed. The third figure, the bar graph, shows the time it took for each participant to return to homeostasis. The measure was by minutes after each participant drank. From this bar graph, it is possible to determine that the amount of sugar consumed increases the amount of time that is necessary to return to homeostasis. In the process of this lab a lot of things were discovered. Homeostasis is different for everyone and it all depends on the body type. From the two participants that drank soda, one returned to homeostasis significantly quicker than the other. This tells demonstrates that all body types vary and every person's homeostasis levels are different. This project was significantly easier and less complex than others so far, so it was mostly simplistic. After seeing how to correctly record glucose levels using the monitor the procedure became easier. The process of this was a well-oiled machine. Our use of the lancing device was exemplary and the placement of the blood on the strips was well executed. Our timing was mostly accurate and and the consumption of sugar was easy. Since it was our first time with these instruments. Perfection was off the table and made a few mistakes. Also the lancing device was especially scary since the only way to attain the blood sample was by stabbing ourselves with a needle. This led to us keeping the device on the lower settings. This did not benefit us because it led to insufficient amounts of blood which ended up wasting a lot of strips. Apparently cold hands also do not produce a sufficient amount of blood and that was another reason lots of strips were wasted. This caused us to have to go buy more therefore wasting half a work day. Our group also messed up quite a few times when it came to timing. According to our procedure, we were supposed to apply the blood on the strip as soon as the timer went off for the most accurate data, but half the time our group did it five minutes after due to not getting a sufficient amount of blood. Also a few interferences occurred during our work session that disrupted the accuracy of the data such as the fire alarm going off during our timing. Although this project was particularly easy there was still room for improvement. Our procedure was not planned out each specifically so that the amount of human error would be reduced and that affected our results. By pricking ourselves a minute or two earlier the amount of time wasted could be completely avoided. Cold hands was also another problem so if this project was to be done again, warmed up our hands would be pricked. Another idea that would’ve been nice to test would be the effects of eating sugary foods compared the results to drinking sugary liquids. If the materials were available, the group should have tested our blood sugar more often because person 3 drank sugar but returned to homeostasis after 10 minutes. This experiment can lead to further investigations in two ways. Either do the entire procedure the same except replace the independent variable with solid sugary food and compare the results or can entirely take out the concept of sugar and replace it with another substance such as sodium.
For this lab we mainly focused on one thing homeostasis which is the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes. Our bodies are always at homeostasis when nothing is happening to the body except for some people, such as diabetic people. we tested to see how long it will take our bodies to reach homeostasis after consuming sugar.
Reflection
For this lab getting the materials that we needed was pretty hard. We where not 100% sure what we where looking for and how to find the glucose monitor we needed. We also had trouble using the monitor at first. after the help from are teacher we eventually got it down. One other thing I personally could change or improve on is my attention span. Some days in class we would just take notes and by the end of class I could not pay attrition and was totally drained. Although I had trouble with that I really felt like are group had good communication skills and worked together really well. I also felt like my group was very supportive and every one did there part, and was happy to do it.