BUZZED: A

CAFFEINATED

EXPERIMENT

Team Caffeine

Aleena Jackson

Daniela Lin

Kristin Baker

PURPOSE (WHY?)

To test how caffeine affects consumers by having them ingest energy drinks.

Basically, we want to see if the energy drinks live up to the expectations promised to the consumers.

BACKGROUND INFO

Caffeine is one of the most popular drugs in the world.

The average American ingests 4 gallons of energy drinks a year.

Over eighty-five percent of Americans overuse doses of caffeine every day.

BACKGROUND INFO

Caffeine can be both helpful and harmful to the human body, depending on how much is ingested.

BACKROUND INFORMATION

Most energy drinks contain between 70 and 200 milligrams of caffeine. Common drinks, such as Monster Energy, RockStar Energy, and Red Bull, have around 160 milligrams.

QUESTION Do major energy

drinks actually increase overall performance and, if so, which drink is the most effective?

HYPOTHESIS

If the effects of Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar energy drinks on the performance of thirteen-year-old students

are compared to students without the beverages, then…

HYPOTHESIS

…students consuming the energy drinks, especially Red Bull, will have a significantly greater performance than students without the drinks, and students drinking Monster or Rockstar.

MATERIALS

(1) Focus Test (1) Laptop or computer with Internet (1) Performance Test: 30-Meter Run (5) 16 oz cans of Red Bull Energy

Drink (5) 16 oz cans of Monster Energy

Drink (5) 16 oz cans of Rockstar Energy

Drink

MATERIALS

- (10) Test Subjects [5 male, 5 female, age

13] - (40) 8 oz foam cups - (1) Stopwatch

PROCEDURES

Have each of the test subjects

take the Focus Test. Record their

percentage of the 6 Distraction

rating.

PROCEDURES

Have each of the test subjects run 30 meters. Record the time (in seconds) it takes for each of them to complete the run. 

PROCEDURES

Pour 8 oz of Red Bull Energy Drink into each of ten foam cups. Have each test subject drink one full cup.

PROCEDURES

Repeat Steps 1-3. Wait 24 hours before moving on to step 5.

PROCEDURES

Pour 8 oz of Monster Energy Drink into each of ten foam cups. Have each test subject drink one full cup.

PROCEDURES

Repeat Steps 1-3. Wait 24 hours before moving on to step 7.

PROCEDURES

Pour 8 oz of Rockstar Energy Drink into each of ten foam cups. Have each test subject drink one full cup. Repeat steps 1-3.

OBSERVATIONS

- At the beginning of the testing, the test subjects seemed tired and unenthusiastic. - Students seemed more excited by having the drinks than by actually drinking them.

OBSERVATIONS

-A few test subjects claimed to have been nauseous with bad vision after drinking their energy drink.-The student’s results for the second test were extremely close to one another.

OBSERVATIONS

The students drinking Rockstar had higher scores on the focus test. Students drinking energy drinks did better on the focus test than those without.

DATA

DATA

CONCLUSIONThe caffeine in the energy drinksonly affected the mental performanceof the test participants, and did impact their physical performance.The hypothesis was not supported bythe data.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Furgang, Adam. Carbonated Beverages: The

Incredibly Disgusting Story. New York: Rosen Central, 2011. Print.

  . Energy Fiend. Caffeine Database and Site. Web.

17 Jan 2013. <http://www.energyfiend.com/ >.   Brain, Marshall, Charles W. Bryant and Matt

Cunningham.  How Caffeine Works.  01 April 2000.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/caffeine.htm>  17 January 2013

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Tythan, Lily J.. "Recommended Caffeine Dosage." Livestrong.com:The Limitless Potential of You. Demand Media, 07 Aug 2011. Web. 17 Jan 2013. 

  . "Red Bull Energy Drink." Red Bull USA. Red

Bull,Inc. Web. 17 Jan 2013. <http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/001242989766321>.

  Owen , Daniel, and Alex Lopez-Ortiz. Coffee and

Caffeine FAQ. N.p., 15 Jan 2006. Web. 18 Jan 2013. <8)http://coffeefaq.com/site/node/25 >.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY . Wings When You Need Them. Red Bull GmbH. Web. 18

Jan 2013. http://energydrink.redbull.com/products/red-bull-energy-drink . 

Minerd, Jeff. "High Caffeine Pop from 'Energy Drinks' Revealed." medpage Today. N.p., 15 Mar 2006. Web. 18 Jan 2013. <http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/2865>. 

. "Caffeine: How much is too much?." Mayo Clinic. N.p.. Web. 18 Jan 2013. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/NU00600>

N.d. n.p. Web. 13 Feb 2013. <http://www.outofhoursadmin.ie/page/9/?author=0>.

N.d. n.p. Web. 13 Feb 2013. <http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/11/15/1194451/energy-drinks-dangerous/?mobile=nc>.