Problem Statement

Like every year this is the time for the science fair in most schools, motivated by that the exotic world of snakes caught my attention and I ask myself a question how does snake venom work victims blood?

I invite you to live this exciting adventure with the help of Ian Tyson, David Weathers, and Scott Cohen we all met at Native Village and then proceeded extract the venom from a cottonmouth snake and get a sample of blood and these are the results.

Hypothesis

If a sample of blood was injected an amount 
of hemotoxin, then the blood would coagulate.

Procedures

1. First extract blood. 

2. Milk a cottonmouth snake for its venom.

3. Put blood samples in test container and label them sample A, B.

4. On sample A inject a small amount of hemotoxin and observe and record data 
    on data pad and repeat this step for sample B.

Abstract

The reason i did this experiment was because  i have always had an interest 
in the exotic world of snakes and how they work. 

The problem or thing i was trying 
to investigate was what would happen if a small amount of hemotoxin was injected 
in a blood sample.

The investigation procedures were first the snake was milked and the venom extracted then came the blood extraction, after that the table was covered with 
a white sheet of plastic to prevent venom seeping through the table the test containers were placed on the table and the first experiment came the blood was placed in the container and the venom was injected, then the observation process happened the observations were recorded on the data pad then the second experiment was done the same way.

Some of the key points that help get the conclusion were the findings of the venom and blood contact experiment and the time period of the coagulation of the blood when it came in contact with the blood.

The conclusion was that the venom when it came in contact with the blood it coagulated and turned into jelly in a small amount of time some of the applications would be to help the Florida venom one team find and develop better and faster Anti-venoms to help people who have been bite and have been intoxicated.   


Note:
This experiment was supervised completely by snake experts: David Weathers, Ian Tyson in the Seminole Reservation at Native Village, Hollywood, FL. 

All safety precautions were taken and done completely through the whole experiment and back up was done by Scott Cohen from Gatorboys, TV Show on Animal Planet and the security team was present to supervise likewise my dad was present there too.

NO TIME OF THIS EXPERIMENTS WERE ANIMALS OR PEOPLE HURT OR PUT IN DANGER. CHILDREN CAN NOT CATCH, HANDLE OR WRANGLE SNAKE IN THE WILD BECAUSE IT MAY CAUSE DEATH OR INJURY!!!

Data

 

 

Variables

Independent variable:

   Blood samples.

 Dependent variable:

   The effects of the hemotoxin on the blood samples.

 Constant variable:

    Amount of blood, Amount of hemotoxin injected, container 
   in which the blood and venom are in.

Results

The results for this experiment were that when the blood samples were envenomated the blood coagulated in about 5-6 seconds  which is extremely fast.

Conclusion

In this investigation it was found that when  hemotoxin was injected in  blood samples they all coagulated in about 5-6 seconds my hypothesis was supported and was right. My major findings were that when blood is injected with a hemotoxin the blood coagulated in about 5-6 seconds another finding was that the blood turned into a type of liquid solid substance kinda like jelly. 

The explanation for the experiment is that when the blood comes in contact with hemotoxin it reacts and coagulates and when that happens the blood doesn't flow it just stops and is just a blob of blood. 

The recommendations i have for further study are that maybe a sample of blood and hemotoxin are increased more so that maybe the amount of blood affects the coagulation time an  maybe use another snake species that may have a different compound of the hemotoxin. Some applications for this might be that maybe this could help make better anti-venoms that work better and faster for a better and faster results.

Its very important to remember that NO ANIMALS OR PEOPLE WERE PUT IN DANGER OR HURT DO NOT ATTEMP TO RECREATE THIS EXPERIMENT AT HOME WITH OUT THE PROPER SUPERVISION OF AN EXPERT MAY CAUSE INJURY AND WILL CAUSE DEATH!!!

We give special thanks to Native Village, Ian Tyson, David Weathers, Scott Cohen and last but not least my science teacher and my dad for filling up with patience.