The effect of sucrose and aspartame on the growth of Planaria

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

10th Grade

Presentation Topic

Zoology

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Abstract

Obesity is a growing problem and has now reached epidemic proportions globally. Many people believe that an easy way to lose weight is by consuming diet foods and drinks. In reality, an ingredient, such as aspartame, does more harm to the body than good. The purpose of this experiment was to see how types of sugars can affect the regeneration of Planaria. It was hypothesized that if a concentration of 0.5 g/L of aspartame solution was fed to Planaria, then the regeneration growth of the Planaria would decrease. This experiment was conducted by placing Planaria into three different treatments: the control, sucrose, and aspartame groups. Two concentrations of 0.5 g/L solutions were created using water and either sucrose or aspartame. The Planaria were fed boiled egg yolks combined with the solutions. The next day, they were dissected and allowed to regenerate for two weeks. The lengths and widths were measured every other day. The resulting mean areas were 0.0748 cm2 for the control group, 0.0891 cm2 for the sucrose group, and 0.02175 cm2 for the aspartame group. The sucrose group had the greatest growth and area, followed by the control group, and then the aspartame group. The Kruskal-Wallis test results showed that the difference in the data were statistically insignificant because p>� (H(2)=2.69, p = 0.1585). The differences in the data were not significant, thus the hypothesis was not supported. However, the aspartame group did have a lower average area than the sucrose group. In conclusion, the effect of the different sugars had no significant differences on the growth of the Planaria.

Location

Wall 211

Start Date

3-25-2017 9:30 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 25th, 9:30 AM

The effect of sucrose and aspartame on the growth of Planaria

Wall 211

Obesity is a growing problem and has now reached epidemic proportions globally. Many people believe that an easy way to lose weight is by consuming diet foods and drinks. In reality, an ingredient, such as aspartame, does more harm to the body than good. The purpose of this experiment was to see how types of sugars can affect the regeneration of Planaria. It was hypothesized that if a concentration of 0.5 g/L of aspartame solution was fed to Planaria, then the regeneration growth of the Planaria would decrease. This experiment was conducted by placing Planaria into three different treatments: the control, sucrose, and aspartame groups. Two concentrations of 0.5 g/L solutions were created using water and either sucrose or aspartame. The Planaria were fed boiled egg yolks combined with the solutions. The next day, they were dissected and allowed to regenerate for two weeks. The lengths and widths were measured every other day. The resulting mean areas were 0.0748 cm2 for the control group, 0.0891 cm2 for the sucrose group, and 0.02175 cm2 for the aspartame group. The sucrose group had the greatest growth and area, followed by the control group, and then the aspartame group. The Kruskal-Wallis test results showed that the difference in the data were statistically insignificant because p>� (H(2)=2.69, p = 0.1585). The differences in the data were not significant, thus the hypothesis was not supported. However, the aspartame group did have a lower average area than the sucrose group. In conclusion, the effect of the different sugars had no significant differences on the growth of the Planaria.