Results and Conclusion from Trials
From our final trials, we were able to confidently conclude that ibuprofen does in fact have an effect on the growth of radish roots. It was, in our case, proven to increase the growth of the roots after one week of treatment. Our 240 trials went by smoothly with little error, and what error we did have was very minor. A two-sample t test was carried out in order to compare the data from the two experimental sample groups, and the test yielded a p-value of 0.0004. Because the test resulted in a p-value less than the alpha level of 0.05, the null hypothesis stating that there would be no significant difference between the mean root lengths of the two sample groups was rejected. Both the results of the trial data and the test of significance support the conclusion that ibuprofen significantly affects the growth of radish roots in the early growth period. Science Behind the Research At a molecular level, our results happened the way they did because radishes are scientifically known to have higher levels of potassium in their chemical makeup, which is one of the top essential elements in general plant growth. At the same time, ibuprofen is known to be a factor in increasing levels of potassium in the blood of people who take the drug. The radish roots in this experiment had an overall increase in growth due to the ibuprofen being added to the roots. From their chemical makeup, the radishes in the treatment group already had a surplus of potassium early on. There was then an additional amount of potassium in them from the ibuprofen, in turn increasing the overall growth of the radish roots. Improvements Although the data yielded the expected results for this experiment, a few errors were made that, if they had been avoided, may have resulted in more accurate results. One frequently occurring observation that was made in both the control and treatment group data sets was the presence of seeds that never germinated. Because some seeds never germinated, they had a root length of zero centimeters, which created low outliers for both data sets. When selecting seeds prior to soaking them, it is practically impossible to tell whether or not they will germinate, but if it was possible to preselect more promising seeds, the data sets would be free of low outliers that would skew the data. Another error that may have impacted the results of this research is the amount of ibuprofen that was used in the water samples. When designing an experiment that is meant to apply to real-life situation, it is best to replicate real-life occurrences as much as possible. In this experiment, though, it would have been difficult to replicate the amount of ibuprofen naturally found in water samples because the traces are so small. Instead of using the surface concentrations of ibuprofen that are expected in water samples, which is the miniscule amount of about 13 to 56 ng/L, 1 mg of ibuprofen was used in the 100 mL water concentration. The amount of ibuprofen that was used in this experiment still resulted in a significant increase in the length of the radish roots, but if an amount was used that more accurately represented the amount of ibuprofen naturally found in water samples, the results of this research could have applied more practically in a real-life setting. Advice We originally wanted to conduct our research using multiple types of drugs and plant seeds, so look at all different types of effects. However, due to time restrictions and the availability of resources, we could only stick to one plant and one drug. If someone were to replicate our experiment, we would recommend looking at more types of NSAIDs, such as aspirin and naproxen, and more types of plants, such as lettuce and corn. Further Research Further research can be conducted on the specific effects that commonly used pharmaceuticals, specifically NSAIDs, have on the health and wellness of animal and human populations. From this research, future generations will have increased knowledge on the effects of pharmaceutical drug use on the environment, in addition to the information they have gained from recent research done on the effects these drugs have on their bodies after long term use. This increased awareness of the dangerous effects of pharmaceutical drugs on both the environment and the human body creates the opportunity to start controlling the intake of commonly used pharmaceuticals, which in turn regulates the amount of chemicals getting flushed into crop soil through irrigation, sewage, and trash sources.
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What did you do?
For pre-trials, we conducted our experiment as originally planned. We started by soaking 80 seeds (40 in the control group and 40 in the treatment group) overnight in 100 mL of either plain water or “wastewater”, water that had ibuprofen added to it. We then prepared twenty petri-dishes with a paper towel floor and we poured water into them, making sure to dump out the excess water in the dishes. We put four radish seeds in each petri-dish and then left them to grow for one week. What worked? Our experimental setup went smoothly, and we were able to conduct our trials as planned. While we were originally unsure whether or not we were allowing the plants enough time to grow, one week turned out to be plenty of time for the radish roots to grow a decent amount. What didn’t work? One of the only issues we ran into was that after one week of sitting out, the paper towel lining each petri dish was very dry, and as a result many of the plants were small and dry. Another problem we encountered was that a few of the seeds in each experimental group didn’t germinate. What improvements are you going to make? In our normal trials, we are going to make sure to keep the excess water from the original application in the petri-dishes, so that the radish seeds can grow to their full ability over the course of one week. We are also going to make sure that we are more careful in the selection process of what seeds get put into the petri-dishes, so that there are not any seed-shells being mistaken for seeds alone in the future. How did we pick our topic?
We were inspired to work with this topic after reading a study conducted by the University of Exeter, “Drugs in the environment affect plant growth.” They concluded that the commonly used drugs that are flushed into the environment do have a significant effect on plant growth, and we were interested in conducting a similar experiment to see if our study would yield similar results. As people start to use more and more NSAIDs, such as commonly used pain-relief drugs like ibuprofen, more commonly known as Motrin or Advil, we become more immune to the effects. We were intrigued to find out if this effect is a cause of the food we’re eating, but first we need to conclude if the food itself is affected by the drugs at all. How did our sources shape our topic? Our best resource for finding helpful articles was Google Scholar. Through this site, we found many scientific studies, specifically apart of journals, that helped provide a basis for our research and insight into how to set up our experiment. Research Plans As far as planning for our research, we will gather all the materials we need including radish seeds, ibuprofen, and petri dishes. For a professional contact, we plan to get in touch with someone who works in wastewater treatment and management to get more insight into the practical application of this research. |
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