Details of My SIP

I met Mr Lau (my Chemistry teacher in Secondary 1) on the last day of school and we had a very constructive discussion on my project. 

He suggests me to keep my project simple since it is SIP and not RS. Taking that into consideration, I have modified my topic of investigation to be how the acidity of the environment affects leeching of pigments in flowers.

I plan to use one type of acid and one type of alkaline to create the pH range by diluting/concentrating the acid/alkaline. In this way, there will be one more constant variable and the leeching of pigments can then be soley attributed to the different pH conditions instead of a different liquid.

After the pigments have been leeched, I will use a colorimeter to measure the amount of light that can pass through the liquid. If the sensor detects a high amount of light, it means that less pigments have been leeched, but if it detects a lower amount of light, it indicates that there are more pigments in the liquid.

Confirmation on Idea 3

3. Subjecting flower petals to different conditions, such as soaking in different types of liquids, blowing with hairdryer, freezing it etc. Perhaps I can observe the changes to the flower petal under a microscope.


Both Chin Ying and I are interested in this topic, so if we decide on this particular one, we will focus on different aspects while doing our experiments.


At first, I was keen on soaking flower petals in different liquids, such as oil, alcohol, vinegar and water. I think it will be interesting to track the changes of cells in the petals under the microscope. However, this experiment would be largely qualitative and we were unsure as to how to make it quantitative.

After speaking to Ms Tan about this, I have decided to conduct experiments on how the concentration of alcohol as well as the acidity affect leeching of pigments. (That will be two separate set-ups.) Ms Tan encourages me not to be limited to only flowers, but try on any biological material (e.g. leaves) that has pigments.

Expansion on Idea 2

2. Playing music to crystals: does it make them prettier? Research by Dr. Masaru Emoto shows that music does indeed have and effect on the growth of crystals. However, many details of Dr. Masaru Emoto's experiments are ambiguous. Perhaps I could build experiments around this topic to prove/disprove his hypothesis. 


This idea is originally Joyce's, so if she is doing this particular topic I will not. However, as Chin Ying (my partner) has mentioned in her blog, I am very interested in ice/crystals. For this experiment I will use water crystals, which basically is ice. There are many factors in this experiment, for example:


a. type of water used to form ice
b. type of music played
c. when the music is played
d. duration of music played
e. conditions in which water is frozen


Here is a link to Dr. Masaru Emoto's work: http://www.is-masaru-emoto-for-real.com/
While he has tested on feelings and words affecting the formation of crystals, I will focus on just music. I am unsure whether I should use both classical music and rock music as variables. Perhaps I should limit it to one variable: classical music. But it would be interesting to try two types of music...


Of course, all of this might turn out to be some pseudoscience (as many scientists say), but I think it is worth a try!

Some Ideas...

1. Pykrete: a composite material which is made of ice and sawdust/wood pulp, said to be much stronger and tougher than normal ice, with a slower melting rate too. Is this true? Unfortunately, I found out that MythBusters have done experiments on pykrete during my research.

2. Playing music to crystals: does it make them prettier? Research by Dr. Masaru Emoto shows that music does indeed have and effect on the growth of crystals. However, many details of Dr. Masaru Emoto's experiments are ambiguous. Perhaps I could build experiments around this topic to prove/disprove his hypothesis. 

3. Subjecting flower petals to different conditions, such as soaking in different types of liquids, blowing with hairdryer, freezing it etc. Perhaps I can observe the changes to the flower petal under a microscope.


4. Observing the effects of different environmental conditions to small insects (e.g. ants), as well as their behaviours and reactions. Environmental conditions refer to hot and cold, acidic and alkaline etc.


5. Static electricity: in China, it only occurs during winter. Why? Can we measure the amount of static electricity given off in different situations? From my own experience static electricity is very annoying and uncomfortable, so I want to think of ways to reduce it.