The music and the beans

About this video

Lina grew two bean plants for a month and played music to one of them every day. The one with music grew 4 centimetres taller. Her class decides to find out for themselves: each of ten children grows two bean plants the same way, with the same soil and water, and plays music to one. A month later their results show no pattern. In some pairs the plant with music grew taller, in others the plant without. Lina did nothing wrong, but a single result can come from many things besides the one being tested: luck, a small mistake in measuring, something special about her room.

When other people do the same test again, in the same way, to see if they get the same result, it is called replication. A result replicated many times, by different people in different places, can be trusted far more than one seen once. In March 1989 two chemists in the United States, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, announced "cold fusion": a lot of energy from a small jar of water and metal at room temperature. Within weeks laboratories around the world tried to replicate it, and nearly all failed. By the end of 1989 most scientists had concluded it hadn't been shown. Nobody had to prove anyone dishonest; the result simply didn't come again.

For others to replicate a test, they need to know exactly how it was done: the seeds, the soil, the music, how loud, for how long, how it was measured. That is why scientists write down their method in enough detail for anyone to follow. This video goes with the Do It Again lesson of Science Level 1 on Knaph.

Transcript

1. 0:00Lina played music to one bean plant. It grew four centimetres taller.
2. 0:05Ten classmates did it again, the same way. No pattern at all.
3. 0:11When other people get the same result again, a finding earns trust.
4. 0:17Cold fusion, 1989. Labs around the world tried. Nearly all failed.
5. 0:23To be repeated, a test has to say exactly how it was done.
6. 0:29A result earns trust when others get it again.