home

=The Gatorade Experiment - By James, Anthony, Kaine and Jehad (5F) =  **__

Observation: __** Our class is participating in the MyScience program this year. Our class theme is "MythBusters". One myth our group observed was that the sports energy drink "Gatorade" will improve a persons sports performance.

=
The formula is laboratory-developed and has been proven in the sports field, it also tastes great. Gatorade delivers what your body requires to remain well hydrated, no matter what you're putting it through. Its a electrolyte rich fluids, as some athletes sweat up to 3.7L in an hour, it helps to replace lost fluid and electrolytes. Gatorade contains sodium and potassium in amounts that the body can rapidly absorb. It rehydrates, replenishes, and refuels better than water can (from [|www.gatorade.com]). ======

**__Gatorade fact from sports drink myth:__**
Question: __** Does Gatorade have an effect on a persons sport/fitness performance?
 * Water is a good thirst quencher, but not very good at rehydrating athletes during sports.
 * Not all sports drinks are the same. A proper formulation should rapidly re-hydrate, replenish and refuel the body.
 * Sports drinks are suitable for children as the flavours and electrolytes they contain encourage drinking and rehydration.
 * You lose electrolytes when you sweat; Gatorade replaces them.
 * Gatorade contains enough sodium, about the same as a glass of milk, to trigger thirst and to maintain fluid balance.
 * Gatorade contains the ideal carbohydrate balance to promote rapid fluid absorption and only half the amount of sugar as fruit juice.
 * Gatorade has been formulated to avoid stomach upset and bloating during stop-and-go sports. (From [|www.gatorade.com.au])
 * __

__ **Experiment:** __ Our group plans on getting a number of participants to take part in a modified beep test (12 metres). By taking part, our group hopes to test participants sport/fitness ability as they will be expected to run until they are tired and exhausted. A score will be recorded for each participant during a pre-test (without Gatorade). After the pre-test, the same participants at a later date (as this will give them time to rest and recover) will be expected to retake the beep test and achieve a score the same or higher than their previous score. In the second beep test, participants will be given 100mls of Gatorade. We will give them 100mls of Gatorade as our group was worried that participants might get a stitch if they consume too much Gatorade. Our group will then record the scores and check the results. We will be cheering and supporting our participants to help them achieve their best results during both tests. Our group has chosen the hall to better control the temperature.

__ **Materials/Equipment:** __ Our group will need the following equipment:
 * Markers
 * 12 metre modified Beep Test (available on IPod)
 * 11 participants.
 * Blue Gatorade (100 mLs per participant)
 * Tape measure
 * Plastic cups
 * Measuring cup

__ **Hypothesis:** __ That drinking Blue Gatorade will increase a persons sport/fitness performance.

__
 * __Method/Procedure:__**
 * 1) Setup the hall to begin experiment with markers, beep test on IPod.
 * 2) Organise to get a selection of 6S students to do the 12 metre modified beep test.
 * 3) Explain to participants how to complete the beep test and to do their very best to obtain their best score.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Make the students do the beep test the first time **__but do not give them Gatorade__**.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Record students scores for the beep test.
 * 6) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Allow participants time to recover - repeat the test the next day.
 * 7) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Make the same students repeat the beep test again but this time **__allow them to drink 100mLs of Gatorade__**.
 * 8) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tell students that they have just drunk some Gatorade.
 * 9) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Record participants scores for the beep test.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">James and Kaine are the people who record the scores and fill the Gatorade. Anthony is in charge of the setup of the hall. Jehad is the orther person who fills the cups with Gatorade and setting up the hall. Jehad and Anthony will also control the IPod. __ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our Group Roles: ** __
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Results: ** __

__ **Analysis:** __ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We thought that Gatorade would increase a persons sport performance and it did. Out of 11 students all except 3 did better after having Gatorade in the second beep test. However, our group feels that the results may not be accurate as participants may have not tried as hard in the first or second beep test. We were unable to control participants moods, behaviour and effort levels in this experiment and this may have had an effect on the results.

__ **Conclusion:** __ That Gatorade works in increasing performance as most students did better in the beep test after drinking Gatorade. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> __ **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Further Investigations: ** __ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We could test if drinking more Gatorade, more than 100 mls, would make you increase your performance further, although we think it might make it more likely that you could get a stitch. We are also interested to find out if certain colours produce a different result. We could also do another experiment using other sports drinks (for example, Powerade, V, Powerade Isotonic or other types of Gatorade).

__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Acknowledgements:** __ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A special thanks to Miss Greedy (our mentor), Mr Sunga (for letting us use his class), 6S (for being participants), Mrs Forbes, Mrs Alford all others involved to help us obtain our results!

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__ **Bibliography:** __ [|www.gatorade.com.au/]. [|www.gatorade.com/]