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Title
Solve this!

Broad Question
Can music affect the way people think?

Specific Question
What genres of music can affect people academically?

Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that classical music will help the subjects do better on a online math addition test.

Dependent Variable: How much the music helps.
===Variables That Need To Be Controlled: Type of music, volume, where the music and test is tested, amount of subjects, the gender of subjects, how many computers, how long subjects are tested, artist and song.===

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

 * Music- A universal way to communicate through notes and chords.


 * iPod- A device that plays music through headphones or an internal speaker.

General Plan
  An experiment was conducted to determine if the type of music listened to effects how well a student does on a math test.The experiment consisted of kids of different genders ages 13 and 14 listening to music while playing a math game (addition). They will be in the conference together at the same time, listening to a different genre each day through a speaker. The grades were written down after playing a game. The kids listened to different types of music before playing. The songs stayed on for exactly 1 minutes. The genres of music changed. The experiment was conducted in the conference room at school.

Potential Problems And Solutions
Possible problems that could have happened were not having the conference room open to us, the iPods not working, kids being absent after being picked, the computers crashing, and music not being available. Ways to prevent these problems are having extra iPods, having a back up room, having back up kids, plugging in the computers, and having music set up before the experiment is conducted.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns
No safety or Enviromental concerns

Experimental Design
(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Time Line

 * Complete design and collection of all materials on 29th of February
 * Run a test of the set up, not collecting data on 28th of February
 * Conduct trials of experiment experiment March 6th-21st at 12 -12:35 (jbes)
 * Work and complete data analysis on wiki page, ( mean, median,range, graph) on April 9th (jbes, home)
 * Complete results and conclusion write ups on April 9th (jbes, home)
 * Work on display page, complete display page on April 27th (jbes,home)
 * Present on April 30th (jbes)

Background Research
 
 * Listening to music or playing an instrument can actually make you learn better. And research confirms this.
 * Music has the power to enhance some kinds of higher brain function:
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reading and literacy skills
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Spatial-temporal reasoning
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mathematical abilities - Even children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder benefit in mathematics tests from listening to music beforehand.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Emotional intelligence
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Improves Learning Abilities: Music affects the process of learning and thinking. Listening to quiet and soothing music while working helps you work faster and in a more efficient way. Music has the ability to make you positive and feel motivated. Research has shown that music brings about remarkable improvements in the academic skills of students, who are made to listen to certain kinds of music while studying or working in the lab. Listening to pleasant music, while doing a difficult task, can make it seem easier

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;">
 * Boosts Confidence: Music has a positive effect on the interpersonal skills of an individual. Lack of confidence and very less or no desire to learn is most often the reason behind a failure. It's not always inability. Students obtaining poor school grades do not necessarily lack intelligence. It's their disinterest in the subjects or the lack of motivation that leads to poor academic performance. Music lessons during school can help the students fight their mental block. Music proves helpful in encouraging young children to venture new fields. It increases their capacity to believe in themselves, that is, in boosting confidence.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Listening to music can reduce chronic pain from a range of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, by up to 21% and depression by up to 25%
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">According to research reported at the American Society of Hypertension meeting in New Orleans, listening to just 30 minutes of classical, Celtic or raga music every day may significantly reduce high blood pressure.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Whether or not a person liked the style of music did not matter. The tempo, or pace, of the music had the greatest effect on relaxation.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A daily dose of one's favorite pop melodies, classical music or jazz can speed recovery from debilitating strokes
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Music can boost the immune function. Scientists explain that a particular type of music can create a positive and profound emotional experience, which leads to secretion of immune-boosting hormones. This helps contribute to a reduction in the factors responsible for illness. Listening to music or singing can also decrease levels of stress-related hormone cortisol. Higher levels of cortisol can lead to a decreased immune response
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Listening to music or playing an instrument can actually make you learn better. And research confirms this.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Music has the power to enhance some kinds of higher brain function:
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reading and literacy skills
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Spatial-temporal reasoning
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mathematical abilities - Even children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder benefit in mathematics tests from listening to music beforehand.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Emotional intelligence
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mozart's music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, cause the brain to be more capable of processing information.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Easy listening music or relaxing classics improves the duration and intensity of concentration in all age groups and ability levels.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Music reduces muscle tension and improves body movement and coordination
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Relaxing music reduces sympathetic nervous system activity, decreases anxiety, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate and may have positive effects on sleep via muscle relaxation and distraction from thoughts.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Listening to slow, quiet classical music, is proven to reduce stress. Countless studies have shown that music's relaxing effects can be seen on anyone, including newborns.

Detailed Procedure
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. The materials of the experiment were gathered and the subjects were selected. 2. The experiment was conducted in the conference room, throughout the week of Mar. 4. 3. The laptops and music was set up ready to go for them, after we gave them a (paper) instructions on how the test will work. They were all sitting during the test, they did not have paper or pencil. 4. The music was set up on either iPods or on YouTube through the laptops, for the math test there was a math test set up already for them to take on the laptops. 5. The subjects entered the conference room one at a time. 6. A test will be given to the subjects with music (through speakers) and again without music. The subjects were not allowed to have a redo. 7. The subjects will be given a minute to listen to the song before we start, we will give them a signal after a minute and they will begin the test for two minutes until we give them a signal to stop. All together the process will take about 3 minutes. 8. The test scores will be recorded and placed into a data table.

Photo List

 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Two pictures of the rooms will we use
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Two pictures of the quiz the people will take
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Two pictures of the people taking the quiz
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One picture of the laptops
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One picture of the instructions

Results
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> An experiment was conducted to see the effects on music and academics. There was different genres such as Hard rock, Reggae, Hip-hop, Classical, Jazz, and the subjects were also tested with silence. All the genres were rather effective in a good way except for jazz. Jazz showed a decrease in scores and had an average of 90%. Which is a decrease of at least 4% compared to the other genres. The highest scoring genre was reggae with 99%. All the subjects had scored over 90% in reggae. Three out of the four subjects had scored 100% on the test.

All Raw Data
media type="custom" key="14118614"

Graphs




Conclusion
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> An experiment was conducted to see if music helped students ( seventh and eighth graders) with academics. The independent variable was the genre of the music. The dependent variable was the percentage ( or average) each genre had received. The experiment question was ‘ Which type of music genre helps subjects with academics and testing?’. The answer is yes, music seemed to help the subjects when it came to taking a math quiz for about two minutes. Reggae had an average of 99%, classical had 98%, hard rock had 97%, hiphop had 95%, silence had 94%, and finally jazz had 90%.

Discussion
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> An experiment was conducted to see if listening to music while working, increases academic performance. There were 24 trials conducted between two boys and two girls with five different genres of music and a silent test. The Hypothesis thought up was that music would help academic abilities, and Classical music would be the most successful. Though this is what was thought up, only about half of it was right. All the types of music helped besides Jazz, which dropped 4 percent. Reggae to surprise, was the most effective boosting scores up 5 percent. The relationship of the variables in the conducted experiment is a weak one, having the largest jump only being 5 percent. All of the averages in the experiment stayed in the 90’s, proving the experiment’s relationship to be weak. In the conducted experiment, there were multiple concerns that were fixed during the design process. There was the fact of if the conductors test all in one day the subjects would have warmed up to the problems given, and that would mess up the question trying to be answered. There was also the deciding of genres, making sure that the genres weren’t too close sounding like Hip Hop and Rap. Then there was the way to actually take the test without it being repetitive answers wise, that was resolved by a math game online which would mix up random addition problems and keep the scores the subjects received. In the future though, the experiment should promptly set up every time before the subjects come into the area of testing, that was another problem with the design.

**Benefit to Community and/or Science**
The knowledge gained through the experiment will help any person that likes to listen to music while they work. The results of the experiment could easily convince teachers, or bosses to allow music to be played while their students or employees are working. Scientists in the future should conduct the same experiment here, but with every genre of music to prove what is really the best genre of music. This experiment can really help some minor problems in communities and globally.