Watch that caffeine!

In 5/6 today many of the children were able to see first hand how caffeine can affect the heart rate.


We observed a Daphnia (water flea) under the digital microscope and counted its heartbeat in different solutions of water -with and without caffeine added.

Great care was taken to ensure the safety of the Daphnia (Mrs Avery had carefully researched the correct amount of caffeine to add which was comparable to a human having a glass of cola)

Although it was quite tricky to count the heartbeats, the children could quite clearly see the effect of caffeine - which was to significantly increase the heartbeat.