As long as there are no anaerobic processes, the rate of oxygen consumed is closely linked to metabolism. Metabolism is a term that describe the body's energy expenditure per unit of time. It includes all chemical reactions that provide energy in the living organism.
To understand what you will do in the lab you need to understand metabolism and knowledge of respirometry as method to measure oxygen consumption. Under prior knowledge, you find a list of topics you should be familiar with from BIO291 lectures.