SIP Report

APPENDIX B

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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