1. Blackworm Toxin: Ibuprofen
Albion Central School, GCC Bio 100
Meghan Hurley and Alyce Miller
Pulse rate in low, medium, and high concentrations of Ibuprofen
Introduction: Ibuprofen is a NSAID, which means that it is a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug. NSAIDs reduce hormones that cause inflammation and blocks production of prostaglandin. Prostaglandins are substances our body releases in response to pain. Ibuprofen’s chemical formula is C13H18O2. Ibuprofen is the toxin we are testing on our blackworms. The Blackworms have transparent skin so their pulse rate can be easily recorded.
Objectives:
-Research the effects of Ibuprofen on the pulse rate of blackworms
-Demonstrate the ability to design a neat and organized experiment
-Count pulse rates
-Define relationship between dependent and independent variable
Hypothesis: If we add Ibuprofen to the water, that the blackworm is in, then the pulse rate of the blackworm will be lower than the pulse rate of the blackworm in spring water
Observations:We dissolved and warmed tablet but it did not fully dissolve. There was undissolved substance that we believe was the coating. It was pink.
Worm died at 100 mL of water.
Dependent Variable: Pulse rate of blackworms
Independent Variable: 1, 200mg tablet of Ibuprofen
Conclusion: The data we collected did not support our hypothesis. We thought the pulse rate would decrease, but it in fact did the exact opposite. The mean in spring water was and the mean in high Ibuprofen solution was The problems we faced consisted of us not being able to filter and dissolve the ibuprofen easily. So because of this we had to warm up the solution and when it still didn't filter, we had to use filter paper. We did not expect the heart rate to be higher in ibuprofen solution because after researching, it says that ibuprofen stops blood flow. What is the coating made out of? It does not dissolve in water.
Constants:Type of worm, Type of spring water, temperature, microscope, time exposure to ibuprofen
Procedure:
1) Crush one 200mg Ibuprofen tablet and dissolve in 200 mL of spring water.
2) Put the worm into container with 10 mL of Ibuprofen solution. (None, low, medium, high concentrations)
3) Leave worm in solution for 30 seconds.
4) Record pulse rate of worm for one minute.
5) Put worm in recovery dish.
6) Repeat 10 times (steps 2-5).
7) Repeat steps 2-6 in different solutions. (none,low, medium, high concentrations)
Materials:
-Ibuprofen
-Blackworms
-Microscope
-10 containers
-Well Slides
-Recovery dish
-Stopwatch
-Spring water
-Ibuprofen solution
Chemical Structure of Ibuprofen:
References: