Sullivan+M

Sullivan M. 2011 - 2012
 * DETERMINING IF THE SOUND A PLANT HEARS AFFECTS ITS GROWTH **

The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether the different sounds a plant heard in its environment effected its growth. The three environments were normal, soundproof, and listening to music. It was hypothesized that the music environment would help the Wisconsin Fast plant grow the best. In the experiment, eight Wisconsin Fast plants were planted in each pot and were watered daily. The music plant had headphones attached to it, the normal plant was the control and listened to everyday sounds, and one set of plants was put in a plastic container that was used as the soundproof environment. The height of each plant was measured daily and recorded. At the very end the average of each was taken. The plant that was tallest, greenest, stood tallest, and felt strong was determined to be the one that grew best. At the end of the experiment, it was determined that the hypothesis was wrong and the Soundproof plant grew 88.25 mm. The Control came second with 59.75 mm and the Music plant came last with 47.5 mm. Also, the Soundproof plant looked and felt the strongest and therefore it was determined that a plant in a soundproof environment grows best.
 * ABSTRACT **

The experiment could be improved by doing the experiment for a longer amount of time. Also, different plants could be used. The most major thing though is performing and observing the experiment for a longer amount of time. Another addition that could be added is playing different types of music. Pop music and some rap music were played because it was listening to a basic radio station but it could be changed by listening to different music such as classical or even heavy metal. Future experiments could be that the plants could listen to music for different amounts of time per day or even per week to see how music on and off effects growth. Also, conducting an experiment like this on humans could see how music affects peoples’ everyday lives.
 * EXPERIMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS AND FUTURE EXPERIMENTS **