Though we cannot see respiration, we can observe the result. This simple activity can be used to demonstrate the relative amount of microorganism activity in the soil. Water and a food source are added to the soil, and a balloon is placed on the bottle to collect the carbon dioxide released as the organisms decompose the food source.

View Lesson
Organization
Soil Science Society of America
Discipline
Earth and Space Sciences
Grade Level
6-8
9-12
Lesson Area
Soil Biology
Soil Chemistry
Lesson Type
Activity
Lab Experiment
Reading
Lesson Keywords
Respiration
Decomposition
Carbon Dioxide

Next Generation Science Standards

Grade Discipline Core Idea
6-8 ESS2.E: Biogeology

[Content found in LS4.A and LS4.D]
6-8 ESS3.C: Human impacts on Earth systems

Human activities have altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging it, although changes to environments can have different impacts for different living things. Activities and technologies can be engineered to reduce people's impacts on Earth.
6-8 LS2.B: Cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems

The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. Food webs model how matter and energy are transferred among producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem.
6-8 LS2.C: Ecosystem dynamics
9-12 ESS2.E: Biogeology

The biosphere and Earth's other systems have many interconnections that cause a continual co-evolution of Earth's surface and life on it.
9-12 ESS3.C: Human impacts on Earth systems

Sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources, including the development of technologies. 
9-12 LS2.B: Cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration provide most of the energy for life processes. Only a fraction of matter consumed at the lower level of a food web is transferred up, resulting in fewer organisms at higher levels. At each link in an ecosystem elements are combined in different ways and matter and energy are conserved. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are key components of the global carbon cycle.
9-12 LS2.C: Ecosystem dynamics