Caffeine, Coffee and Tea oh My! Does that cup of coffee or black tea you drink in the morning really give you that wake up call? Corina Correa, Nina Valencia, Casandra Gomez Edison Computech Midle School Ms. Hubner Abstract Does caffeine really work? Which works better, coffee or black tea? We asked ourselves these questions and decided to test them out. We conducted many trials with the same methods. Our method consisted of dipping earth worms in coffee and black tea for 30 seconds. We compared how long it took them to dig themselves out before being put in the coffee vs. the time after being put in the coffee. So the question is, was there an effect? INTRODUCTION We asked ourselves, “Will caffeinated coffee and caffeinated black tea have an effect on a worm’s time/movement; if so which one will have a greater effect the coffee or the tea?” We decided to test this out! In the research we found out that both caffeinated coffee and black tea increases the blood pressure and pulse rate. We also learned that coffee consumption has been associated with elevated plasma cholesterol. We chose worms because both worms and humans have a heart and blood. Only the people who do not regularly drink coffee or black tea are effected by the caffeine. Caffeine blocks a chemical in your body that makes you drowsy. Caffeine is strongly addictive which makes coffee and black tea addictive too. This goes for any caffeine product, so beware! Question: Will caffeinated coffee and caffeinated black tea have an effect on a worm’s time/movement; if so which one will have a greater effect the coffee or the tea? Hypothesis: We believe that caffeinated coffee and caffeinated tea will have an effect, coffee will have a greater effect than the tea. RESULTS Yes! The worms dug themselves out at a faster rate. This we expected, but what we didn’t expect was the worms that were put in the black tea were effected more. The worms that were put in the black tea had an average change of 62.8 seconds. The worms put in the coffee had an average change of 61.5 seconds. This proved our hypothesis wrong. Here are a couple of tables and a graph to reinforce our information. All of the information we gained during the experiment is summarized in our graph and table. All in all we were very satisfied with our results. METHODS To take on this interesting experiment we used a couple of methods. First we put the earth worms in soil and timed how long it took to dig themselves out. Then we put an earth worm in a bowl filled with 1/3 cup of coffee for 30seconds. Finally we put them back in the soil and timed them on how long it took them to uncover themselves with the coffee in their system. We tested 15 worms with the coffee. We repeated this process exactly the same with 15 other worms but instead of coffee we used black tea. In the soil, coffee, and tea we added with 1/6 cup of water. DISCUSSION Once we had finished analyzing all our data we came to a conclusion that caffeinated coffee and caffeinated black tea did have an effect on the worms’ speed/ movement. The worms had an average time of 96 seconds to dig themselves out of the soil before being put in the coffee. After being put in the coffee their average time changed to 34 seconds. Before being put in the black tea, the earth worms had an average time of 87 seconds. After being put in the black tea they had an average of 24 seconds. The thing we found interesting was that the time it took for each worm to reach the surface was different, this shows that like humans, worms are different to one another too. Finally we discussed which worked better, the coffee or the black tea? We agreed on something that surprised us, tea worked better. We also agreed caffeine had an effect. Time Before TeaTime in TeaTime after TeaTime before CoffeeTime in CoffeeTime after Coffee Average: