Running Head: Inquiry Final
1
Standard #8 Instructional Strategies
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage
learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills
to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.
Name of Artifact: Inquiry Final
Date: Spring 2012
Course: Introduction to Scientific Inquiry
Description: This is my final paper for Scientific Inquiry. It provides the steps needed to recreate
an experiment about the absorption rate of acetaminophen.
Rationale: This artifact shows my understanding of standard #8 by giving the reader an example
of and inquiry based research experiment. By following this format an educator can begin to
construct lessons that develop deep understanding in students and can be used for any
experiment.
INQUIRY FINAL
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Question #1: What version of acetaminophen will dissolve the fastest in 50ml of lemon juice?
Claim: The caplet will dissolve the fastest.
Procedure:
1. Fill two beakers with 50ml each of lemon juice.
2. Prepare stopwatch for timing 15 minute intervals.
3. Synchronize dropping in one tablet of acetaminophen and one caplet of
acetaminophen into the beakers.
4. Start stopwatch
5. Place a coffee filter on the opening of each beaker and secure with a rubber
band.
6. In 15 minutes turn over the beakers into a sink and allow the water to drain
out of the beakers
7. Set the caplet and tablet on a paper towel and allow them to dry for 15
minutes.
8. After drying weigh the caplet and tablet to test how much was dissolved off of
each.
9. Record data.
Caplet
Tablet
Original weight
.6g
.6g
Trial 1
.5g
.5g
Trial 2
.4g
.5g
Trial 3
.5g
.5g
Observations: The lemon juice seemed to do very little at dissolving the pills. They must need
some sort of catalyst to help the absorption rate speed up.
Research:
Absorption is the transport of drugs across the membranes of mucosal cells in the gastric
intestinal tract. The drug moves through the mouth and down the esophagus (Medicine, 2012).
Once in the stomach the drug dissolves.
Question #2: What version of acetaminophen will dissolve the fastest in a mixture of 500ml of
apple juice and 50ml of lemon juice?
Claim: The caplet will dissolve the fastest in the mixture.
Procedure:
1. Fill two beakers with both 50ml of lemon juice and 500ml of apple juice.
2. Prepare stopwatch for timing 15 minute intervals.
INQUIRY FINAL
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3. Synchronize dropping in one tablet of acetaminophen and one caplet of
acetaminophen into the beakers.
4. Start stopwatch.
5. Place a coffee filter on the opening of each beaker and secure with a rubber
band.
6. In 15 minutes turn over the beakers into a sink and allow the water to drain
out of the beakers.
7. Set the caplet and tablet on a paper towel and allow them to dry for 15
minutes.
8. After drying weigh the caplet and tablet to test how much was dissolved off of
each.
9. Record data.
Caplet
Tablet
Original Weight
.6
.6
T1
.6
.6
T2
.6
.4
T3
.6
.5
Observations: The apple juice affected the breaking down of the tablet but not the caplet. Perhaps
there is an ingredient in either one that hinders or speeds up the absorption rate of one of the
pills.
Research: After studying the list of ingredients in the coatings on the two pills we noticed
differences. The tablet is coated in substance called Carnuba Wax. This wax is made from the
leaves of the palm Copernica Prunifera (Anne Marie Helmenstine, 2012). This wax is used to
coat candy and medicines. Because of the sugary properties of this leaf, and the water soluble
properties of sugar, the tablet dissolves very easy in the apple juice.
Question #3: What version of acetaminophen will dissolve the fastest in a mixture of 1 table
spoon of regular table salt, 150ml of water, and 50ml of lemon juice?
Claim: The caplet will dissolve the fastest.
Procedure:
1. Fill two beakers with each with 1 table spoon of regular table salt, 150ml of
water (ph. of 8 and 65 degrees F.), and 50ml of lemon juice.
2. Prepare stopwatch for timing 15 minute intervals.
3. Synchronize dropping in one tablet of acetaminophen and one caplet of
acetaminophen into the beakers.
4. Start stopwatch.
5. Place a coffee filter on the opening of each beaker and secure with a rubber
band.
INQUIRY FINAL
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6. In 15 minutes turn over the beakers into a sink and allow the water to drain
out of the beakers.
7. Set the caplet and tablet on a paper towel and allow them to dry for 15
minutes.
8. After drying weigh the caplet and tablet to test how much was dissolved off of
each.
9. Record data.
Caplet
Tablet
Original Weight
.6
.6
T1
Dissolved
.6
T2
Dissolved
.6
T4
Dissolved
.6
Observations: The caplets dissolved at a stark contrast to the tablets that had only a slight visible
change. The caplet definitely contains or lacks an ingredient to help the absorption rate into the
blood stream of the person taking it.
Research: The ingredient that was found in the caplet that was not found in the tablet was
magnesium stearate. Also called magnesium salt, it is a white substance, solid at room
temperature, used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical and supplement tablets and capsules. It
is composed of magnesium and stearic acid, and oftentimes, palmitic acid as well (Ron, 2012).
Under normal circumstances this supplement is meant to prevent the breakdown of the caplet.
What we found was that when added to the salt water, the enzymes contained in the magnesium
bonded with the ones in the salt water mixture allowing break up to occur at a quicker rate than
that of the tablet.
INQUIRY FINAL
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References
Anne Marie Helmenstine, P. (2012). About.com. Retrieved November 2012, from What Is
Carnauba Wax?: http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodchemistryfaqs/f/carnauba-wax.htm
Kimball, P. (n.d.). Kimball's Biology Pages. Retrieved from The Human Gastrointestinal (GI)
Tract: http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/G/GITract.html
Medicine, N. W. (2012). DNA Tube. Retrieved November 2012, from Absorption:
http://www.dnatube.com/video/4815/Absorption-and-metabolism-of-orallyadministrated-drugs
PharmaciesCanada. (2010). Online pharmacies. Retrieved November 2012, from How does
tylenol work?: http://www.onlinepharmaciescanada.com/blog/2012/09/tylenol-work.html
Ron, D. (2012). Dr. Rons' Ultra-Pure. Retrieved November 2012, from Magnesium Stearate:
http://www.drrons.com/beware-of-additives-in-supplements.htm
Tracey, L. (2010). Health Guidance. Retrieved November 2012, from Competing Pain Relievers:
Aspirin, Acetaminophen, and Ibuprofen:
http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/9825/1/Competing-Pain-Relievers-AspirinAcetaminophen-and-Ibuprofen.html