Still not hatching

The torch did not have much effect on the hatching rate of the brine shrimp. It did not heat up the water much so I have left it in a heated room. However, even when the temperature of the water was around 25 degree Celsius, the brine shrimp eggs did not hatch so I am inclined to believe that Reason No. 2 or 4 could have been the cause of the problem.

Problem with experiment

I have encountered a problem with my experiment. The brine shrimp would not hatch!

I have repeated the experiment twice but the brine shrimp did not hatch even after 3 days.

There are a few possible reasons for this:

1. Not enough heat

Brine shrimp need an optimum temperature of 26-28 degrees Celsius to hatch

Solution: Place a torchlight near it (?)

2. Inadequate salt

I used table salt but after checking some websites, they recommended sea salt as table salt contained additives.

Solution: Buy sea salt

3. The eggs could have rotted

This is highly unlikely as I used eggs from the lab but it is still a possibility. Brine shrimp eggs usually rot after 2 years.

Solution: Buy new brine shrimp eggs

4. Baking soda

I read on some websites that baking soda should be added to table salt to increase the salt content.

Solution: Buy baking soda

I am going to test Reason Number 1,2 and 4 first as they seem the most likely.

Experimental procedure

This is the experimental procedure I came up with from my own research of websites on care and methods of successful hatching of brine shrimps. I visited many leisure websites to read up on how various brine shrimp hobbyists manage their brine shrimp and what conditions would best encourage the optimal hatching of brine shrimp.

Materials and apparatus

1. Artemia (Brine Shrimp) eggs
2. Music player
3. Hands lens
4. Round bottom trough
5. Air pump
6. 360g of sea salt
7. Water

Procedure

1. Place the trough in a semi-lit room
2. Pour 1000 ml of lukewarm tap water into the tank
3. Add in 20g of sea salt
4. Switch on the air pump
5. Place the music player directly above the mouth of the trough with its speaker directly over the water surface
6. Switch it on to rock music at the volume level of 80%
7. Add in half a tablespoon of Artemia (brine shrimp) eggs
8. Check the set-up with a hands lens every day to count the number of eggs that have hatched
9. Record on the piece of paper at what hour the eggs hatched
10. Repeat steps with pop, classical, metal, country and no (control) music

SIP Project Proposal

APPENDIX D

Science Investigative Project

Project Proposal Form

Name:

Chim Sher Ting ( 3 )

Sec 2/10

Topic of investigation :

Effect of different genres of music (rock, pop, classical, metal, jazz, country) on the time taken for Artemia (Brine shrimp) to hatch

A	Observations made
	My friend was doing a mini Science project on the effect of music on plant growth. She set out 3 different groups of plants with one group as the control (without music), the second group had classical music played to them for 2-3 hours a day while the third had rock music played to them for 2-3 hours a day. She ensured that all other variables were constant. After one week, the plant in the room with classical music showed the greatest growth, followed by the group in the room without music and the plants in the room with rock music fared poorly, showing that rock music is detrimental for plant growth. After seeing this, I wondered if such a concept would apply to animals too and decided to try it out on Artemia eggs.
B	Research Question
	Do different genres of music (rock, pop, classical, etc.) affect the time taken for Artemia (Brine shrimp) to hatch?
C	Hypothesis statement
	Different genres of music (rock, pop, classical, etc.) affect the time taken for Artemia (Brine shrimp) to hatch.
D	A short summary of research done on the area of investigation
	Artemia (Brine shrimp) are a food source for crustaceans and fish. Cultured brine shrimp feed on yeast, wheat flour, soybean powder or egg yolk. Sea, aquarium or kosher salt and pH of 8-9 is required for the eggs to hatch. Their young hatch out of cysts, which are metabolically-inactive, at the optimal temperature of 25 to 27 degrees Celsius (room temperature). Artemia eggs take about 24 to 48 hours to hatch. Sound waves propagating underwater are alternating compressions and rarefactions (decrease in density and pressure caused sound wave) of the water. They travel through the air and get refracted when they pass through a medium with gradually varying properties (e.g. water). Sound waves are transmitted through water as a pressure waves. High intensity sound is transmitted by high intensity pressure waves. These pressure waves cause vibrations in the water and hence, affect the hatching process of brine shrimp eggs. Hard materials, such as plastic, are dissimilar to the air that sound waves move through and hence, the walls reflect most of the sound waves and little is absorbed. This would cause a reverberation, prolonging the music and diffusing it to all parts of the tank. Therefore, plastic is an ideal material for the tank. Different genres produce different amounts of vibration or different frequencies and amplitudes of sound waves. Rock and metal has higher frequency and hence, causes more vibrations of the water.
E	Bibliography (Please refer to RS Students’ Handbook in RS Folder on Inet regarding APA Style Format)
	(n.d.). Reflection, Refraction, and Diffraction. Retrieved on May 26, 2011, from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/sound/u11l3d.cfm Bbyrd009. (2011). How to raise brine shrimp. Retrieved on May 26, 2011, from http://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Brine-Shrimp Caudill, S. (2010). How do frequencies have an effect on plants?. Retrieved on May 26, from http://www.ehow.com/about_6630375_do-frequencies-effect-plants_.html#ixzz1NSBOH1ij