Evaluation of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Levels for Mice in Relation to Cold Temperatures

Abstract

Animals, particularly endotherms, require a consistent internal body temperature to maintain homeostasis. To maintain this internal temperature, endotherms have metabolisms to create this heat which is influenced by external temperatures. To test this, we put lab mice into a respiration chamber to evaluate their oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide output when the chamber is cooled. From this, our data showed that from the two mice used at both room temperature and cooled temperature, oxygen consumption increased when exposed to cooler temperatures. These results suggest that when endotherms are cool for extended periods of time, they will require more food. This food consumption relates to this experiment because the energy derived from food is required to accommodate the fluctuating metabolic processes when endotherms thermoregulate under colder conditions.