Aroma TherapyElise Maurides

Mrs. Rice8th grade

Does aroma therapy decrease someone’s heart rate?

Question

If I let someone smell lavender, which is said to relax you, for thirty seconds, then their heart rate will decrease.

Hypothesis

In my project, I wanted to see if aroma therapy really worked. I went to the store and found out that lavender is said to relax you. I decided that I would test people’s heart rate before smelling the lavender and after to see if it slowed the heart rate down.

Abstract

Lavender Q-tips Timer Pencil Paper

Materials List

Independent- The person smelling the lavender.

Controlled- The amount of time the person smells the lavender, how much lavender I applied to the Q-tip.

Dependent- The person’s heart rate.

Variables

Go to the store to buy the lavender Find people that will let you test them in the

experiment Gather any other materials you need before

testing Find the person’s heart rate Pour the lavender on a Q-tip Tell the person to close their eyes and let

them smell the lavender for 30 seconds.

Step by Step Procedures

Test the person’s heart rate after they smelled the lavender

Record the data Then repeat for however many people you

decide to test

Step by Step Procedures cont.

Heart rate before Heart rate after smelling scent for 30 seconds

Person 1 56 56

Person 2 64 56

Person 3 68 64

Person 4 80 72

Person 5 68 64

Person 6 80 76

Person 7 88 76

Person 8 72 68

Person 9 68 64

Data Table

Pers

on 1

Pers

on 2

Pers

on 3

Pers

on 4

Pers

on 5

Pers

on 6

Pers

on 7

Pers

on8

Pers

on9

0102030405060708090

100

Heart rate before Heart rate after smelling scent for 30 seconds

Graph

Claim: I claimed that after smelling lavender a person’s heart rate would slow down

Evidence: My evidence was the results in the data table from the experiment.

Results

My Hypothesis was correct. After testing each person their heart rate did slow down. Some heart rates slowed down a lot, while others only slowed down a little. There was only one person in my experiment whose heart rate did not slow down at all. This was my first test, so I made sure to test as many people as I could to get accurate results.

Conclusion

This experiment has proven that aroma therapy really does work. In real life you could use this many ways. If you are having trouble falling asleep you could mix in the lavender with some water. You would then put it in a spray bottle, and then spray it on your pillow to help relax you before bed.

Application

The End