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Negative Noise Growth Lab

Logan Polanco,Trevor Dilley

Kihei Charter High School

9th Grade Biology

Paige Herrin

Sept 24 , 2021
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Introduction

This paper will explore the relationship between negative sounds and plants to find what happens

when you mix the 2. First of all we will be using a mung bean for our plant in the experiment.

The mung bean is a bean that’s origins come from india. For the materials we used 2 solo

cups,water,sunlight,and an electric device to play the sounds. Our independent variable is

whether we play negative noises to the plant, with our dependent variable being how much the

plants have grown. On an episode of the mythbusters, they played noises consisting of both

positive and negative talk to separate plants to see what effects it would have. The purpose of

this experiment is to track whether a plant will grow if it has negative noises played to it.

According to research conducted by The Mythbusters, the plant's growth was increased by the

sound of the recordings(Colleen Vanderlinden\The Spruce.com, 2021 ). Our goal is to push the

boundary to find the effect of negative sounds on a growing plant. A plant’s growth will be

stunted if negative noises are played to it.

Materials and Methods

For this experiment you will need the following materials to start 1 solo cup, Potting soil, Mung

Bean Seedling, Negative recording from youtube on phone, Water, sunlight. Now on to the

methods, First you fill a solo cup with dirt and put the mung bean seed on top of the dirt. Cover

the seed in more dirt and water it every 3 days. Then play negative noises to the plant for a

couple hours each day, and measure its growth. Repeat the process for the duration of the

experiment. The starting time of the noise does not matter as long as the duration is 2 hours.
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Results

Over the course of the 16 day experiment we continued with the process. In the end we found out

that the noise had no effect on the plants growth or possibly boosted the plants growth. It

followed a normal growth pattern over the 16 days the experiment lasted. So apparently the

noises did not work as intended and the growth was not stunted. If something else were to be

used as the video then maybe the results of this experiment would have ended up different. But

in the end it turns out plants don’t have ears to listen to their surroundings.

Tables and Figures

Day Plant 1 Plant 2 Time Observatio

Height Height Treated ns
1 18 cm 17 cm 2 hours(in a day) Plant 1 looks more
grown then Plant 2,
Plant 2 has a stem
that near breaking

4 21 cm 20 cm 5 hours 27 Both plants have 5

minutes(in 3 days) leaves now, with
plant 1 having a
brown tip on one of
them
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7 18 cm(leaves 18 cm(leaves 6 hours(in 3 days) The leaves droop

drooped down) drooped down) down, and plant 1
now 2 brown tipped
leaves

10 25 cm 24 cm 6 hours(in 3 days) One of plant 1’s

leaves are flaky,
also realized i was
giving the wrong
amount of water,
didn’t change it
though

13 24 cm 24 cm 6 hours(in 3 days) Plant 1 is starting to

grow a couple more
leaves

16 26 cm 25 cm 6 hours(in 3 days) Plant 2 is start to

grow more leaves
Table

Image 1/Day 5
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Image 2/Day 10
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Graph 1

Conclusion

So in the end the plants grew really well over the 16 days the experiment was running.

There were a few mishaps like they were watered a smaller amount then the control, who knows

if the mistake never happened the plants could of grew more. If the sounds/music were to be

changed to something different then the direction of this experiment could be drastically

different then how it turned out. But at least the plants grew (check graph 1 and table) and didn't

die immediately.

References
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It's True You Really Should Talk to Your Plants: https://www.thespruce.com/should-you-

talk-to-your-plants-3972298

DOES SPEAKING KINDLY TO PLANTS REALLY HELP THEM GROW?:

https://alkalineherbshop.com/blogs/posts/does-speaking-kindly-to-plants-really-

help-them-grow

Video:The Caretakers - Nowhere At The Millennium Of Space - Stage 5 (Remastered

Edition)