SIP Logbook

My SIP logbook documents my entire SIP journey, such as the variations to my ideas along the way and the thinking processes I had.

Safety Issues

There were not many safety issues involved in my experiment.

 I used a pair of gardening scissors to cut the roses and ensure they were of equal lengths. I also handled doses of paracetamol, which could have side effects if accidentally consumed in large doses.

Thought Processes

At first, I was stumped for ideas and did not have an idea of what to do. However, when I made a trip to my grandmother's house a few days later, I saw her putting crushed panadol into the vase of water where she put her cut roses. She told to me about how she had heard on the internet that the panadol would lengthen the life span of the roses, just like how it would cure humans of illnesses. I had my doubts about it, and therefore I decided to do my experiment on this.

Experimental Process

I cut four roses from my grandmother's rose bush of equal lengths. Then I brought them home where the weather was still sunny and set up my apparatus. I put the roses into the different beakers at the same time and took observations at two different times of the day; 3pm and 9pm.

Problems Faced and how I solved them

• At first, my science teacher would have many queries about the specifics of my proposal, such as where I would get the roses from and how the doses would be counted. I realised that my initial proposal had lacked the proper details and explanations of a professional scientific proposal. Therefore, I spent a few days improving on it and the next time I showed it to him it got accepted.
• There was a lack of advanced materials for the experiment, which might have affected the accuracy of the results. I was required to borrow a data logger from the school lab to record different abiotic factors such as the relative humidity and exposure to light, but it was expensive and thus I was not allowed to bring it home. However, if I was to do the experiment in the lab, there would be several more different variables which could affect the results compared to if I was to do it at home. For example, if classes were to use the lab and turn on the lights or air conditioner, this could affect the exposure to wind as well as the exposure to light. In the end, I conducted the experiment at home and used a lux measurer for measuring the exposure to light.
  

Results 

By the third day of the experiment at 9pm, the rose in beaker B wilted, which marked the end of my experiment. The roses wilted in order from the one exposed to highest doses of paracetamol to the least exposed; D - C - B - A.

The results were that of my predicted hypothesis; the paracetamol had a negative effect on the roses and increased doses of paracetamol shortened the life span of the roses.

Reflections

I was very delighted with my results as they had matched exactly to my instincts. I informed my grandmother about it, which gave me a good sense of enlightenment. I feel that through this experiment I have learned to be more precise in my descriptions, thus giving me more professionalism as well as language precision.

I also gained new scientific knowledge such as how to measure the exposure to light and what the "level of precision" means (it means the decimal point it can reach, for example 0.000?). I think this SIP was a good platform to explore my scientific interests and abilities. Overall, I enjoyed this SIP very much.

SIP Appendix

Day 1

3pm:

Plastic beakers A, B, C and D each filled with 250ml of tap water.

Paracetamol tablets are crushed respectively and poured into the beakers. As you can see, the water from beakers A to D are increasingly cloudy as a higher dosage of crushed paracetamol was poured in.

The roses are cut from the same bush and are cut at equal length to ensure fairness of the experiment. They are then placed into the beakers and observed at different times of the day: 3pm in the afternoon and 9pm at night.

9pm: 

Just 6 hours after setting up the apparatus, the roses in beakers B, C and D are already showing signs of wilting. Meanwhile, the rose in beaker A (the control experiment) still looks fresh and new.

Day 2

3pm:

The first petal drops off of the rose in beaker D, which has already wilted and turned brownish in colour. The roses in B and C are still showing signs of wilting.

The rose in A has not shown signs of wilting yet, but is starting to droop.

9pm:

Not much change observed. As you can see, the roses in B, C and D look much more wilted compared to the rose in A.

Day 3

3pm:

By the next day, the rose in beaker C has a petal sticking outwards. Soon afterwards, it drops off. 

9pm:

Three petals fell off the rose in beaker B. 

Upon both touch and sight, the petals of the rose in A have a smoother texture as compared to the roses in B, C and D, which feel rougher and more paper-like. This shows that they dried up more quickly compared to the rose in A, which was not provided with any dosage of paracetamol in its water.

SIP Report

APPENDIX B

Report Template

Name : Sophia Kim Seon Young ( 14 )            Class: 208

How do increased doses of crushed paracetamol affect life span of roses?

Introduction 

This study was performed because of an internet gardener's myth my grandmother told me about. It said that if you put crushed paracetamol into the water of cut flowers, the flowers would live longer. 
However, this study has not been proven, nor has it been specified.

For instance, the website did not specify how much longer the flowers would live or what kind of flowers it worked on. I wanted to test this because my grandmother had been buying extra paracetamol tablets just to use them for cut flowers and I wanted to prove if this myth is true so that she would not be swindled of her money.
My hypothesis is that the increased doses of paracetamol would shorten the life span of the roses.

Background information on Experiment

• On average, once freshly blooming roses are cut and put into vases filled with tap water, considering that the roses are not touched or the water is not changed, they live for about a week.
  
• Paracetamol is a commonly used pain reliever which can cure headaches, minor aches and pains. Paracetamol can even be used to cure post-surgical pain as well as provide palliative care in advanced cancer patients. Paracetamol is used mainly to cure pains in the human body and is not commonly used for flowers.

Apparatus and Materials

·       4 roses from the same bush of the same age

·       1000ml of tap water

·       4 plastic beakers reading up to 500ml

·       6 tablets of paracetamol

·       1 metal tablespoon

·       3 plastic plates about 50cm of diameter

Methodology

1.    Find an open area exposed to sunlight.

2.    Place the 4 plastic beakers side by side in the open area.

3.    Pour 250ml of tap water into each plastic beaker.

4.    Label the plastic beakers A, B, C and D.

5.    Label the 3 plastic plates B, C and D.

6.    In plastic plate B, put 1 paracetamol tablet in and crush it with the metal tablespoon. Do the same with 2 paracetamol tablets in plastic plate C and 3 in plastic plate D.

7.    When all the tablets are crushed, pour the contents of plastic plate B into plastic beaker B, contents of plastic plate C into plastic beaker C, and the same for D. You should have 1 crushed tablet in beaker B, 2 crushed tablets in beaker C, and 3 crushed tablets in beaker B.

8.    Put one rose into each of the four beakers.

9.    Leave apparatus in the open area and observe regulary to see which rose wilts first. 

Measures taken to ensure fairness of experiment: 

• Observations were made at regular intervals (namely at 3pm and 9pm every day)
• Average light exposure was recorded with a lux measurer (20 000 lux at 3pm, 15 lux at 9pm)
• All 4 beakers in the apparatus were not moved from their original locations at all

Limitations:

• Unable to measure humidity and other variables because of lack of materials such as dataloggers
• Unable to keep weather constant which affected temperature (e.g. on rainy days)

Results:

The roses wilted in order from the one exposed to highest doses of paracetamol to the least exposed; D - C - B - A. Thus, I can conclude that my hypothesis was correct and that the paracetamol had a negative effect on the roses and increased doses of paracetamol shortened the life span of the roses.

References

·       Pauline Gill, 2013: Can Aspirin Prolong the Life of Cut Flowers? http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4568471_aspirin-prolong-life-cut-flowers.html#page=3

·       Mary H. Meyer, Extension Horticulturist, University of Minnesota, 1998: Keeping Cut Flowers and Flowering Plants http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/dg7355.html