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.
Recommended Citation
Meda, Rahithya, "The effect of sucrose and aspartame on the growth of Planaria" (2017). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 259.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2017/all/259
Location
Wall 211
Start Date
3-25-2017 9:30 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
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.
