How Do Hypotonic, Hypertonic, and Isotonic Solutions

Affect the Water Movement of a Cell?
 

The purpose of this activity is to teach students about osmosis and the effects of hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic solutions on animal cells. This lab is designed for high school biology students but may be adapted for middle school students. The students will be able to describe osmosis and differentiate between the effects of hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic solutions on animal cells and determine the equilibrium point for a chicken egg in corn syrup. They will also be able to apply this knowledge to human colonic (large intestine) epithelium, and the effects and consequences hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic solutions would have on these cells.

Grade Level: High School

Contributed by:

Michael Halverson
Valhalla High School, El Cajon, CA

Frontiers in Physiology 1997 Summer Research Teacher

Research Host:  Kim E. Barrett, Ph.D.
University of California, San Diego, CA

What is Frontiers in Physiology? Frontiers is a nationwide outreach effort by the American Physiological Society, designed to develop working relationships between middle/high school science teachers and research physiologists.

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