Lumbriculus Worm Lab Report

Stimulants and Depressants
How do stimulants and depressants affect a Lumbriculus worm? These questions are answered with the Lumbriculus worm lab. Stimulants and depressants affect the system in different ways. Stimulants make neurons fire faster, and depressants make neurons fire slower. The nervous system of a Lumbriculus worm is very exposed and visible, so different plants and herbs were tested to see how it would affect the heart rate of the Lumbriculus worm. This is important because before potentially harmful products are tested on humans, they should be tested on the worms.
First, a pre-test hypothesis (Pau D’Arco is a stimulant) is made about what a certain extract (Pau D 'Arco) will do to the worms heart rate. A worm was chosen and put into a cup of conditioned (unchlorinated) water to sit for ninety seconds. The worm was very squirmy and active during the ninety seconds. It was put on a slide, and three separate tests were taken to determine the control group heart rate. The same worm (for a control variable) was placed in a forty percent mixture of Pau D’Arco (independent variable) and water for ninety seconds. Then, the worm’s heart rate (dependant variable) was recorded as before on a slide with beats per thirty seconds.
As a result, the hypothesis

They either make hearts rates slower or faster depending on if it is a stimulant or depressant. As shown in the data below, Pau D’Arco has varying results. Upon further research, Pau D’Arco is actually a stimulant proving the hypothesis wrong. It also could have been due to the worm dying in between tests, but it is impossible to prove that theory right. The data collected may not be the most reliable since the two test had two different worms, and that might cause two different reactions to the chemicals. Some challenges in this experiment were getting the worm onto the slide, and recording data while conducting the