The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of Pseudoephedrine, aspirin, and Benadryl on the heart rate of daphnia.
I became interested in this
idea when I learned about zooplankton that live in fresh and salt water. I
thought that daphnia were interesting, especially because I could see their
heart beating.
The information gained from
this experiment could help people understand about how important it is not to
dispose of wasteful product into our rivers and streams, because of the way it
affects the food chain. If the zooplankton ore harmed, everything above them in
the food chain will also be harmed.
My first hypothesis was that aspirin would increase the heart rate of daphnia. I based my hypothesis on an encyclopedia of medicines that said, “Aspirin can speed up the heart”.
My second
hypothesis was that Pseudoephedrine would increase the heart rate of daphnia. I
based my hypothesis on an encyclopedia of medicines that said, “Pseudoephedrine
is a drug that speeds the heart up slightly”.
My third
hypothesis was that Benadryl would decrease the heart rate of daphnia.I based
my hypothesis on the common known fact that Benadryl can
cause drowsiness.
cause drowsiness.
The constants in this study were:
- The amount of each medications given to the daphnia.
- The number of seconds that are recorded to find their
heart rate.
- The video camera I used to record their heart rate.
- The microscope I used to record their heart rate.
- The amount of time it takes to film.
- The place where I get the daphnia.
- The environment that the daphnia are stored.
- The type of the daphnia used.
- The age of the daphnia.
- The type of caffeine.
- The type of Pseudoephedrine.
- The type of aspirin.
- The type of Benadryl
The manipulated variable was the type of medication given to the daphnia.
The responding
variable was the heart rate of the daphnia after each chemical was given to
them.
To measure the
responding variable I used a microscope to see the daphnia’s heart beat and a
video camera to record the heart beats. I used the slow motion playback to
count the heartbeats for 10.0 seconds.
MATERIALS
QUANTITY
|
ITEM DESCRIPTION
|
1
|
Microscope
|
1
|
Video camera
|
1
|
Pseudoephedrine pill
|
1
|
Benadryl pill
|
1
|
Aspirin Pill
|
1
|
Video tape
|
3
|
Petri dishes
|
3
|
Beakers
|
1. Gather all of the materials.
2. Set up equipment.
A) Put the microscope on a table.
B) Connect the microscope camera to the microscope.
C) Connect the video recorder to the MC.
3. Fill three beakers with 500 ml of room temperature water (20∞C).
4. Label each beaker:
A) Benadryl
B) Pseudoephedrine
C) Aspirin
5. Crush each pill into powder using a clean hammer and aluminum foil, and let dissolve in correct beaker.
6. While waiting for the pills to dissolve start control group.
7. Get a Petri dish and fill it half way with water with a large bore dropper into a second dry Petri dish.
8. Put 11-12 daphnia in just in case some die.
9. Separate the first daphnia from the group.
10. Put the first daphnia under the microscope. Write down tape counter start point.
11. Start recording once there is a clear view of the heart.
12. Stop recording after about ten seconds. Write tape counter stop point.
13. Repeat steps 9-12 with exactly 10 of the daphnia in this group.
14. Once the pills have dissolved conduct trials with all of the different chemicals.
A) Start by filling Petri dish half full of chemical solution to be tested.
B) Place 11-12 “new” daphnia into the chemical solution.
C) Repeat steps 9-13.
15. Clean up the mess.
16. Watch the video in slow motion and count all of the heartbeats per daphnia. Use the time code to determine which daphnia is in each test group.
17. Record data.
18. Graph averages.
RESULTS
The results of the experiment was that the Pseudoephedrine sped the daphnia’s heart up, while the other two drugs slowed it down.
My first hypothesis was that aspirin would increase the heart rate of daphnia. This hypothesis has been rejected since the aspirin was 1.2% below the control group.
My second hypothesis was that Pseudoephedrine would increase the
heart rate of daphnia. My hypothesis was accepted since it was 0.8% higher then
the control group.
My third hypothesis was that Benadryl would decrease the heart rate of daphnia. My hypothesis was
accepted since it was 4.6% lower than the control group.
The results indicate that my first two hypotheses should be
accepted, but the third was rejected.
Because of the results of
this experiment, I wonder if the daphnia were subjected to household detergents
or cleaners if they would it have a big effect on them?
If I were to conduct this project again I would use more than ten
daphnia.
Researched by
- Whitney K
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