The National Student Research Center

E-Journal of Student Research: Science

Volume 5, Number 6, June, 1997

John I. Swang, Ph.D.

Founder/Director

National Student Research Center

2024 Livingston Street

Mandeville, Louisiana 70448

U.S.A.

E-Mail: nsrcmms@communique.net

http://youth.net/nsrc/nsrc.html

1. How Much Does Polluted Water Affect Plant Growth?
2. Gender Equity in Science Textbooks
3. An Analysis of Electromagnetic Field Strengths
4. Louisiana Oysters: Are They Safe to Eat?
5. Does Temperature Affect the Viscosity Of a Liquid?
6. The Effect of Oil Spills on Clams
7. Does Learning Mode Affect Memory?
8. The Effect of Music on a Subject's Heart Rate

TITLE:  How Much Does Polluted Water Affect Plant Growth?

STUDENT RESEARCHER:  Amanda Senules
SCHOOL:  Mandeville Middle School
         Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE:  6
TEACHER:  John I. Swang, Ph.D.


I.  STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:

I want to know the effect of polluted water on plant growth.  
Water pollution is the pollution of water from the disposal of 
trash and wastes into an aquatic body.  This may affect plant 
growth because the polluted water contains toxic chemicals that 
harms plant life.  My first hypothesis states that seeds 
watered with clean water will germinate faster than seeds 
watered with polluted water.  My second hypothesis states that 
the plant watered with clean water will grow taller than those 
watered with polluted water.

II.  METHODOLOGY:

First, I wrote my statement of purpose and my review of 
literature.  My review of literature was on water pollution and 
plant growth.  Then I developed my hypothesis.  To test my 
hypothesis, I did the following:  I soaked 30 radish seeds in 
water overnight.  I then planted 15 seeds each in 2 pots of the 
same size.  Each pot contained the same amount of soil and I 
planted all of the seeds 1 millimeter deep into the soil.  I 
placed both pots in a window, so they both received the same 
amount of sunlight.  I watered the experimental pot with 1 
milliliter of polluted water from Lake Ponchartrain every day.  
I watered the control pot with 1 milliliter of clean water 
every day.  I did this for 2 weeks.  Every day, I recorded the 
average color, height, and number of leaves on all plant for 
each pot on my data collection sheet.

My variables held constant were the amount of water given to 
each plant, the amount of soil each seed was planted in, the 
amount of sunlight given, the amount of seeds planted, the 
amount of time each seed was given to grow, the size of the 
pots, and the depth each seed was planted in the soil.  My 
manipulated variables were that the experimental pot was 
watered with polluted water from Lake Ponchartrain and the 
control pot was watered with clean water.  My responding 
variables were the average color of the plants, the average 
height of the plants, and the average number of leaves on the 
plants.

After recording my observations, I analyzed my data using 
simple statistics, charts, and graphs.  Then I wrote my summary 
and conclusion where I accepted or rejected my hypothesis.  
Then I applied my findings to every day life.  Finally, I 
published my abstract in The Student Researcher. 

III.  ANALYSIS OF DATA:

On the first day, all of my seeds sprouted.  

On the last day of my experiment, the plants watered with clean 
water grew to an average height of 3 centimeters.  They had an 
average of 1 leaf per plant and all of the plants were green.

On the last day, the experimental plants watered with polluted 
Lake Ponchartrain water grew to an average height of .5 
centimeters.  There were no leaves on the plants and their 
color was green.

IV.  SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

After analyzing my data, I have come to the conclusion that 
plants watered with clean water grow taller, faster, and will 
have more leaves than plants watered with polluted water.  
Therefore, I accept my first hypothesis which stated that seeds 
watered with clean water will germinate faster than seeds 
watered with polluted water.  I also accept my second 
hypothesis which stated that plants watered with clean water 
will grow taller than plants watered with polluted water.
   
V.  APPLICATION:

I can apply my findings to every day life by not polluting, and 
I can encourage my neighbors not to pollute because it destroys 
plant and animal life.



TITLE:  Gender Equity in Science Textbooks

STUDENT RESEARCHER:  Kelly McGeever
SCHOOL:  Cardinal O'Hara High School
         Springfield, PA
GRADE:  11
TEACHER:  Kay Lansing


I.  STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:

I want to find out more about gender equity in science 
textbooks by examining the pictures in the textbooks.   My 
hypothesis is that, if science textbooks are tested for gender 
equity, there will be more pictures of males than of females.

II.  METHODOLOGY:

Materials:  15 assorted science textbooks, pen,  paper.

Variables:

A.  Manipulated:  assorted grade levels, publishers, science 
textbooks
B.  Responding: number of pictures of males and females
C.  Constant:  the experimental procedure

Step by step directions:

1.  Gather science textbooks.
2.  Look at every picture on every page.
3.  Determine how many people are represented in the picture.  
If there is a crowd, count the people who are the focused 
objects of the picture.
4.  Determine the number of males and females in each picture.
5.  Write a short description of the picture.
6.  Determine the totals of picture of male and females in the 
book.
7.  Repeat the procedure with each textbook.
8.  Determine the percentages of males and females pictured in 
the textbooks.

III.  ANALYSIS OF DATA:

In the fifteen science textbooks I tested for gender equity, 
there were no textbooks that were gender equal in the 
photographs.  In the fifteen  books  there were a total of 971 
pictures of humans.  There was a total of 1733 people in the 
971 pictures.  Of the 1733 people in the pictures there were a 
total of 1002 males and 731 females.  These totals were 
converted into percentages.  57.8% of the pictures depicted 
males and 42.2% of the pictures depicted females.

IV.  SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
 
I have concluded that there is gender inequity in science 
textbook illustrations.  I found that older publications were 
much more biased than those with newer copyrights.  Although 
it may not be possible to be completely equal in the pictures, 
the results found in this experiment show a wide gap that needs 
to be narrowed.  I accept my original hypothesis because more 
male photographs were used.  If I perform this experiment again 
I should expand my list of books, publishers and grade levels.

V. APPLICATION:

The inequities which I have discovered may influence girls to 
stay away from science professions.  Photographs can influence 
people and should be monitored.  Hopefully, there will be more 
studies on the subject of gender equity in school to provide 
males and females with a proper learning experience.  The 
editor,  publishers, and photographers should become more 
conscious of their work to provide equal opportunities for all.  
I will write to the publishers of the books used in the study 
to ask about their plans to provide more equitable gender 
representation in the future.



TITLE:  An Analysis of Electromagnetic Field Strengths

STUDENT RESEARCHER:  David Schwartz
SCHOOL:  Fairmont West School
         Fairmont, West Virginia
GRADE:  9th
TEACHER:  Terry Kerns


I.  STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESES:
 
The purpose of this project is to study the electromagnetic 
fields (EMFs) coming from common household appliances.  These 
are low frequency fields surrounding all items carrying AC 
current.  The strongest electro-magnetic fields are often found 
around items with large coils of wire, such as motors or 
transformers.  In this project I wish to discover what items 
have the strongest EMFs, and how those fields decrease with 
distance.

The following null hypotheses and research question were 
proposed:

1. The strengths of the EMFs will not vary with respect to the 
different items tested.

2. The strengths of the EMFs will not change with increasing 
distance.

Is it possible to design a model of an electromagnetic field in 
three dimensions? 

II.  METHODOLOGY:
  
1. I positioned the Gaussmeter on an object at a point that 
gave the highest reading, and recorded that data.

2. I then started at that position and took readings at 5 
centimeter intervals away from the object.

3. I created a grid of 2 centimeter squares and placed it on an 
AC adaptor.  I then measured the field strengths at each point 
on that grid.

4. I selected a specific Gauss reading and determined the 
location of that reading over each grid point in terms of x, y 
and z coordinates.

III.  ANALYSIS OF DATA:
  
In my study, I found that different items tested had various 
field strengths, and these strengths decreased as the distance 
from the item increased.  My tests showed that the field was 
strongest over the center of the object.  My data was used to 
create a graph depicting the shape of a specific field.  

           
             Maximum  
Item         Strength    5cm    10cm   15cm   20cm   25cm  30cm

AC adaptor 
(appliance off)>2000.0  332.0   98.1   36.3   16.5   8.8   5.0              
 AC adaptor 
(appliance on) >2000.0  390.0  103.0   38.5   17.4   9.7   5.5
Blender        >2000.0 
CD player         19.5    3.4    1.9    1.1    0.9   0.6   0.5
Digital clock    139.3   39.7   12.6    5.1    2.4   1.7   0.6
Electric clock >2000.0  615.0  222.0  109.2   56.4   3.6  19.8
Fluorescent light 
(center)         172.3   52.0   19.6   11.6    6.5   3.9   2.5
Fluorescent light 
(end)              8.3    1.2    0.8    0.8    0.7   0.7   0.6
Incandescent lamp 
(off)              1.4    1.4    1.4    1.4    1.4   1.4   1.4
Incandescent lamp 
(on, 100 W)        9.8
Incandescent lamp 
(on, 75 W)         3.6    3.6    3.5    3.5    3.5   3.5   3.4
Microwave oven  1270.0   593.0 355.0  241.0  148.2 103.0  68.3
TV (top)          28.4
VCR              311.4   148.5  47.7   19.8   10.0   5.6   3.5

IV.  CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY:

1. The strengths of the EMFs did vary with respect to the 
different items tested. For instance, one electric clock had a 
strength that was in excess of 2000 milliGauss while a VCR had 
only 300+.

2. The strengths of the EMFs decreased as the distance 
increased in the tests, but the decrease was not proportional 
to the increasing distance.  

3. From my tests, I discovered that it is possible to create a 
three-dimensional model of an electromagnetic field.  For 
instance, the graph of the field strengths in a plane shows 
that the strongest portion of the field was in the center of 
the grid, which is above the appliance.

The nature of electromagnetic fields is similar to other forms 
of radiation.  For example, they vary depending on the source 
and energy supplied to that source, and their strengths 
decrease with distance.  The shape of the field can also be 
measured and thus modeled easily.  My study has proved that it 
is possible to gain an understanding of EMFs with relatively 
simple instruments and procedures.

V.  APPLICATION:

Despite the recent controversy over the effects of 
electromagnetic fields in our daily environments, I see no 
reason for most people to be alarmed.  Only the strongest items 
have far-reaching fields, and of these, few give long-term 
exposure.  Most objects in our environment do not present a 
danger because we are not affected by their limited fields, nor 
are we exposed to them long enough. 



TITLE:  Louisiana Oysters:  Are They Safe to Eat?

STUDENT RESEARCHER:  Emily LaRose
SCHOOL:  St. Scholastica Academy
         Covington,  Louisiana
GRADE:  9
TEACHER:  David Arbo


I.  STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:

The purpose of my research is to try and find out if raw 
Louisiana oysters, that many people love, are safe to eat.  
Studies have been done on the oysters to find out if they are 
harmful to humans, and many of these studies contradict one 
another.  My hypothesis states that forms of salmonella and 
e.coli bacteria will be present in the oysters I test.

II.  METHODOLOGY:

I began my research by stating my hypothesis and doing a review 
of the literature about the diseases caused by the eating of 
raw oysters.  With this information, I developed a methodology 
and list of materials that would help me measure the amount of 
bacteria present in oysters, the amount of the bacteria that 
can be safely consumed, and the length of time needed to cook 
the oysters so that they are safe to eat.

For materials, I used twenty raw Louisiana oysters, boiling 
water for sterilization, a sterilized blender, an incubator, 
sterile swabs, four petri dishes, and tryptic soy agar with 5% 
sheep blood.

I began by sterilizing all equipment with boiling water for ten 
minutes.  I then took five of the raw oysters and placed them 
in the blender until they were ground up.  Then, using one of 
the sterile swabs, I smudged a small amount of the liquid from 
the oysters onto a petri dish.  I then steamed  five oysters 
for one minute, another five for three minutes, and another 
five for five minutes.  I then ground up each of these groups 
of oysters separately and smudged a small amount of the liquid 
from each onto three different petri dishes.  Next, I incubated 
all four of the petri dishes for about forty-eight hours.  Then 
I counted the colonies and identified the types of bacteria 
that were present in each petri dish.  I also determined what 
amount of each type of bacteria could be safely consumed.

III.  ANALYSIS OF DATA:

The bacteria count in the raw oysters was much greater than in 
the steamed oysters because the steaming did kill many of the 
bacteria.  However, the oysters that were steamed for three 
minutes contained less bacteria than the ones that were steamed 
for five minutes.  This may have been due to the fact that I 
had a random selection of unweighed oysters in each group of 
oysters.  Some of the oysters were larger than others and the 
heated steam may not have penetrated as deeply into them.  
Therefore the larger oysters may not have been as fully cooked 
and the bacteria in them not fully killed, causing this result.

In the five types of colonies found, one was a vibrio which is 
the worst bacteria and the second worst thing you could eat in 
an oyster.  Vibrio cause gastroenteritis that may lead to 
bacturimia if the bacteria moves into the blood.  The other 
four colony were types of pseudomonas that aren't harmful to 
humans unless you eat too many or have a health condition.  
Both vibrio types and the pseudomonas types are naturally found 
in the water that oysters are raised in, polluted or not.  

                                  Data Table

                        Number of           Number of
                      organism types        colonies

Raw Oysters               5 types           100.000 +
Steamed for 1 min         5 types           100,000 +
Steamed for 3 min         1 type                  1 
Steamed for 5 min         2 types                 6


IV.  SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

I conclude that cooking oysters substantially reduces the 
amount of bacteria present in oysters.  A person would have to 
cook oysters until they were shriveled and small if they wanted 
to destroy 99% of the bacteria present in oysters.  The only 
way to be sure you are not eating bacteria from oysters that 
may compromise your health is to not eat oysters at all because 
there are certain northeastern bacteria that aren't killed by 
cooking.  These are not a problem in Louisiana.  

I reject my hypothesis.  I did not find salmonella and e.coli 
bacteria in the oysters I tested.  I did find bacteria that 
could make anyone sick not just those with compromised health 
as well as forms of bacteria that are only harmful if ingested 
in large quantities.

V.  APPLICATION:

My project can be a source for people to turn to with questions 
about eating oysters in Louisiana.  For instance, during the 
warmer summer months of the year, bacteria that are found 
naturally in the waters of oysters beds reproduce at a greater 
rate.  Thus raw oysters eaten at these times will be more 
likely to contain high levels of bacteria which could harm 
healthy individuals if eaten in great quantity and individual 
with compromised health conditions.   My research indicates 
that some individuals may want to stop eating raw oysters at 
this time of the year or thoroughly cook them.  



TITLE:  Does Temperature Affect the Viscosity Of a Liquid? 

STUDENT RESEARCHER:  Amanda Senules
SCHOOL:  Mandeville Middle School
         Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE:  6
TEACHER:  John I. Swang, Ph.D.


I.  STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:

I would like to do a scientific research project to determine 
if temperature affects the viscosity of a liquid.  Viscosity is 
the measurement of how easily a liquid flows.  A liquid is a 
state of matter which it is more dense than a gas and less 
dense than a solid.  My hypothesis states that all of the 
liquids I test will have a lower viscosity when hot.
  
II.  METHODOLOGY:

First, I wrote my statement of purpose and did a review of 
literature on fluidity, viscosity, and density.  Next, I 
developed my hypothesis.  After that I developed my methodology 
to test my hypothesis.  Next, I gathered a funnel, a stop 
watch, a measuring cup, a Celsius thermometer, milk, water, 
syrup, and olive oil to use in my experiment.  Next, I plugged 
up the small end of the funnel with my finger and fill it with 
240 mL of hot (70 degrees Celsius) water.  I then removed my 
finger and let it flow freely out of the funnel into the 
measuring cup.  The funnel held straight upright the whole 
time.  I timed how long it took for the funnel to empty.  I 
started timing the moment the water first came out and stopped 
when the funnel was empty.  I did this three times and then 
averaged the times required to pour out 240 mL of hot water.  I 
also did this with 240 mL of cold (30 degrees Celsius) water.  
Then I repeated the entire process with milk, syrup, and olive 
oil.  Each liquid was heated to 70 degrees Celsius and cooled 
to 30 degrees Celsius.

My variables held constant were the size of the funnel, the 
angle I held the funnel at, the amount of liquid in the funnel 
before I started pouring, the temperature of all of the hot 
liquids, and the temperature of all of the cold liquids.

My manipulated variables were the different liquids and the 
temperatures of the liquids.

My responding variable was the amount of time it took to pour 
240 mL of each liquid.

After the experiment, I conducted my analysis of data, wrote my 
summary and conclusion, and applied my finding to everyday 
life.  Finally, I published my abstract in The Student 
Researcher Journal.  

III.  ANALYSIS OF DATA:

After my experiment, I found that the average time it took to 
pour 240 mL of hot water was 2.65 seconds.  The average time 
for cold water was 2.73 seconds.

With hot milk, the average time to pour 240 mL was 2.63 
seconds.  With cold milk, the time was 2.64 seconds.

With hot syrup, the average time to pour 240 mL was 4.35 
seconds.  With cold syrup, it was 11.03 seconds.

With hot olive oil, the average time to pour 240 mL was 2.86 
seconds.  With cold olive oil, it was 3.13 seconds.

IV.  SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, all four of the liquids I used, milk, water, 
syrup, and olive oil, had a higher viscosity when cold and 
poured at a slower rate.  Therefore, I accept my hypothesis 
which stated that the liquids would have a higher viscosity 
when cold.

V.  APPLICATION:

I can apply my findings to every day life by heating up liquids 
if I want them to pour quicker.



TITLE:  The Effect of Oil Spills on Clams

STUDENT RESEARCHER:  Kelly Kirkland
SCHOOL:  Cardinal O'Hara High School
         Springfield, PA
GRADE:  11
TEACHER:  Kay Lansing


I.  STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:

In this project I wand to find out how oil spills affect clams.  
My hypothesis is that oil will affect the physical conditions 
of clams.

II.  METHODOLOGY:

The following materials are needed to do this experiment: two 
ten gallon fish tanks labeled A and B, sand, ocean water, 
seaweed, two dozen clams, and crude oil.

Directions:

1. Create ocean-like environments  by putting 8 cm. of sand, 
five gallons of ocean water, seaweed, and twelve clams in each 
tank.
2.  Take an extra clam and open it up and observe.
3.  Observe daily the number of clams that remain above the 
sand, the number of clams that burrowed halfway under the sand, 
and the number of clam that completely burrowed under the sand. 
This shows the clams' activity.
4.  On day 4 add 25 drops of oil to tank A.
5.  On day 5 add another 25 drops of oil to tank A.
6.  On day 6 add another 25 drops of oil to tank A.
7.  On day 13 take one clam from each tank, cut each open and 
note any changes in them.
8.  On day 14 add one hundred and fifty more drops of oil to 
tank A.
9.  On day 19 take another clam from each tank and repeat the 
same procedure as day 13.
10.  On the final day, day 21, remove all the clams from both 
tanks and see if any of them have died.  When the clams are 
alive they are very tight and hard to open.

III.  ANALYSIS OF DATA:

Tank A which was polluted with oil had may physical changes.  
The clams' movements were slowed down, their shells turned dark 
black, and they had oil soots on them.  Looking at a graph of 
the mobility of the clams in tank A and tank B, I could see a 
significant difference.  Tank B's graph fluctuated, thus 
showing the clams had much more activity in tank B than in tank 
A.  None of the clams died in either tank. 
 
IV.  SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

In doing this experiment, I found that oil spills will affect 
clams' mobility and color, but will not kill them.  I accept my 
hypothesis because oil in the water does change the clams' 
physical conditions.  Another factor I could have considered in 
doing this experiment would be weight change in the clams.

V. APPLICATION:

I plan to write to oil companies to find out exactly how they 
ship oil and what precautions they take to avoid oil spills.  
Hopefully they will take my letter to mean that there are 
people who care what happens after oil spills and they will be 
more careful when shipping oil.



TITLE:  Does Learning Mode Affect Memory?

STUDENT RESEARCHERS:  Dr. Cole's 2nd Period Class
SCHOOL:  Martin Luther King Lab School
         2424 Lake Street
         Evanston, Illinois, 60201
GRADE:  7 and 8
TEACHER:  Charles Cole


I. Statement of Purpose and Hypothesis:

In the October 7th, 1994 issue of Science News, an article 
appeared telling of Dr. Tim Tulley's research on memory in 
fruit flies at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York 
(originally published in the October 8 issues of Cell). The 
article said that long term recall only occurs when learning 
happens in short stretches of time with rests in between.  Long 
term recall did not occur when learning happened in one 
stretch.  We wondered if human subjects would respond the same 
way.  Would humans learn better from having everything thrown 
at them all at once, what we called block learning, or if they 
were given information with rest periods in between - interval 
learning?  The hypothesis of most of the students in the class 
was that long term memory would be better in people who had 
received interval learning.

II. Methodology:
    
We began by sending out requests for volunteers for our 
experiment.  We wanted 36 ten year old students, half boys, and 
half girls.  With fewer than 36 volunteers, we narrowed it down 
to 32 subjects.  We divided them into two even groups, 7 boys 
and 9 girls in each group.  Group A got the block training, and 
group B got the interval training.  We scheduled a separate 
learning session for each group and three follow up assessment 
sessions with each group.  When the subjects arrived they found 
their names on manila folders at individual desks.  The 
students were told to sit at the table with their names.  A 
tape recorded set of instructions was played directing the 
subjects to look at the screen and then try to write down the 
numbers as best as they could.  Once the tape had finished, the 
overhead projector was turned on.  It projected a copy of 16 
randomly generated numerals in four rows of four onto a screen 
in the front of the room.  During the original block training 
session for group A (session A1) it was left on for 180 seconds 
and then turned off.  For the interval training group, (session 
B1) it was kept on the screen for six 30 second stretches, 
divided by five 15 second intervals during which the overhead 
was turned off, and the screen was blank.  After the 180 
seconds of viewing time had finished for both groups, the 
lights were turned on.  In the folders were a pencil and a 
blank piece of paper with four lines on it, indicating where 
the students should record their answers.  They were asked to 
return for three assessment sessions (A2 - A4 and B2 - B4) in 
which recorded directions told them to open their folders and 
record as best they could the original numbers.
   
Our independent variable was the learning mode and our 
dependent variable was the number of correct responses compared 
to the number of originally learned numerals.   We attempted to 
control the location, directions, lighting, seating 
arrangement, task, time of day, age and sex of the subjects.

III.  Analysis of Data:

A reduction of the data from all sessions leads to the 
following table, which shows how many numbers the group 
recalled at each session, on average.
  
Averages numbers recalled at each session

Session                  1         2         3         4
        
Group A  (block)        12.7      12.1      12.1      11.1

Group B  (interval)     12.1      12.4      10.6       9.2

The numbers above indicate the average number of numerals that 
they originally remembered right after the learning session 
(session 1) and the average number of numerals they remembered 
in the follow-up sessions.  The data appear to indicate that 
interval learning may lead to better recall in the short term, 
but that block learning leads to better recall over the long 
term.  Although we did not use the variable of sex in our 
primary research question, we are intrigued by the fact that of 
times that a student remembered all 16 numbers at any of the 
trials, 33 out of 37 times, it was a girl.

IV.  Summary and Conclusion:

Most of the researchers in this class must tentatively reject 
their original hypotheses that interval learning would result 
in better long term memory.  However, several factors cause us 
to question our results.  The most important variable that was 
not controlled was the fact that (we suspect) many of the 
subjects did discuss the experiment with each other outside of 
our classroom, even though we told them not to.  This may 
explain why some subjects reported remembering only 9 numbers 
right after the screening but then "remembered" 12 numbers the 
next day.  We also believe our results, while interesting, do 
not tell us enough since our sample size is so small.  We 
believe that using many more subjects would give us a better 
picture of the differences that might exist.  Another problem 
was that some subjects did not show up for every session, and 
that made data analysis difficult.  Also, we think that since 
boys mature physically at a different rate than girls, usually 
slower, that using boys and girls of the same age brings us 
subjects (boys) who are somewhat behind the other subjects 
(girls) in development of their brains, and that may explain 
the difference in the performances of boys and girls.  But, we 
do not know for sure, and suggest that further experiments be 
done with groups of all girls or all boys, or with groups that 
have the exact same number of girls and boys in the groups.

V.  Application:

If our results truly reflect the way people learn, then this 
could change the way children are taught in school.  It could 
change the educational system dramatically.   It may also teach 
us something about the age-old tradition of cramming for exams.  
Should we study differently if we wanted to remember the 
information longer?



TITLE:  The Effect of Music on a Subject's Heart Rate

STUDENT RESEARCHER:  Jonathan Landry
SCHOOL:  Mandeville Middle School
         Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE:  6
TEACHER:  Ellen Marino, M.Ed.


I.  STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:

I wanted to do a scientific research project to determine if 
music would affect a subject's heart rate.  My hypothesis 
stated that  "Heavy Metal" music will increase the pulse rate 
while "Classical" music will decrease the pulse rate when both 
are listened to at the same volume.

II.  METHODOLOGY:

First, I stated my purpose and did a review of literature.  
Next, I developed my hypothesis.  Following that, I gathered 
all my materials needed to test my hypothesis.  To begin my 
experiment, I selected three people who were willing to help.  
I recorded the pulse rate for each subject before listening to 
any music.  Then each of these three people were asked to 
listen to four types of music for a two minute period each.  
For each subject the same song was played at the same exact 
volume.  I then recorded the pulse rate for each subject 
following each two minute period for all four types of music on 
my data collection form.  Next, I analyzed my data from the 
data collection sheet and wrote a summary and conclusion.  
Following that, I wrote my application and published my whole 
report.
  
III.  ANALYSIS OF DATA:

Subject 1 had a resting pulse of 96.  After listening to "Heavy 
Metal" music subject 1 had a pulse of 102 which was an increase 
of 6.  After listening to "Rock n' Roll", subject 1 had the 
same pulse as their resting pulse rate.  After listening to 
"Country and Western", subject 1 had a pulse rate of 90, a 
decrease of 6.  After listening to "Classical", subject 1 had a 
pulse rate of 84, a decrease of 12. 

Subject 2 had a resting pulse rate of 84.  After listening to 
"Heavy Metal", subject 2 had a pulse of 90, an increase of 6.  
After listening to "Rock n' Roll", subject 2 had a pulse of 90 
also an increase of 6.  After listening to "Country and 
Western", subject 2 had a pulse of 78, a decrease of 6.  After 
listening to "Classical", subject 2 had a pulse of 78, a 
decrease of 6. 

Subject 3 had a resting pulse rate of 84.  After listening to 
"Heavy Metal", subject 3 had a pulse of 96, a increase of 12.  
After listening to "Rock n' Roll", subject 3 had a pulse of 90, 
an increase of 6.  After listening to "Country and Western", 
subject 3 had the same pulse as their resting pulse rate.  
After listening to "Classical", subject 3 had a pulse of 78, a 
decrease of 6.

IV.  SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

Heavy Metal increased the subjects' pulse rate an average of 8 
beats per minute.  Rock n' Roll increased the pulse rate an 
average of 4 beats per minute.  Country and Western decreased 
the pulse rate an average of 6.7 beats per minute.  Classical 
decreased a pulse rate an average of 13.3 beats per minute. 
Therefore I accept my hypothesis which stated that "Heavy 
Metal"would increase the pulse rate while "Classical" music 
would decrease the pulse rate when both were listened to at the 
same volume.

V.  APPLICATION:

Now that I have all my information, I can apply it to the real 
world outside the classroom.  I can play Classical music to 
help me go to sleep because it will slow down my pulse rate.

© 1997 John I. Swang, Ph.D.