Summary of the Book:
Arthur discovers he has the hiccups, and he just can't seem to get rid of them.  He tries everything he and his friends can think of.  He attempts to drink a  glass of water, hold his breath, stand on
 his head, laugh, lick a lollipop upside down, and, finally, when he was not even trying, he was startled...and they disappeared!

Summary of the Book:
Arthur discovers he has the hiccups, and he just can't seem to get rid of them.  He tries everything he and his friends can think of.  He attempts to drink a  glass of water, hold his breath, stand on
 his head, laugh, lick a lollipop upside down, and, finally, when he was not even trying, he was startled...and they disappeared!

List of questions:
~Which of Arthur's ways of getting rid of the hiccups works the best?
~**What are some ways in which Arthur and people use to get rid of their hiccups?**
~Taking one of Arthur's methods of getting rid of the hiccups, try it numerous times to see if the outcome is always the same (long term investigation).
~Choose a method Arthur used to attempt to get rid of his hiccups, and research why that way may not have worked (older students).

Have you ever wondered how to get rid of those annoying hiccups you get when you have sucked in too much air?  Well, have no fear, because I have a few suggestions that may help you the next time you are in need of a hiccup cure!

Question to Investigate:
~What are some ways in which Arthur and people use to try and get rid of their hiccups?

Based on the children's book, Arthur's Hiccups, written by Marc Brown, I conducted an investigation of how to actually put an end to the hiccups-temporarily that is!

I set up a variety of methods that have been believed to actually get rid of the hiccups, but do they all really work?

I convinced all my suite mates to help me with my investigation.  They all agreed to tell me if they got the hiccups, and they would participate in my variety of ways to get rid of them.  I figured I was safe with this book, because there is always someone in my suite with the hiccups.  I was not too worried about finding someone, just a bit worried about people agreeing to the activities!

I went around the suite and asked everybody how they usually get rid of their hiccups, or a method they attempt to use.  Then, I took some of the methods Arthur used in the book, and I decided which ones to use in my investigation.

Techniques:
I want to use methods that are easy for a child to use, and also easy for me to pull together quickly when someone actually gets the hiccups.  The final results:
~stand on head for 5 minutes (Arthur)
~a spoonful of sugar and water (Me)
~drink water upside down (Gabe)
~suck on a lollipop upside down (Arthur)
~plugging ears and drinking water (Jessica)
~laughing (Arthur)
~holding breath (Joann and Arthur)
~having a person scare the person with the hiccups (Arthur)
 

Materials:
~Pillow
~Couch (or something to hang upside down from)
~Sugar
~Spoon
~Cup of water
~Lollipop
~Bottle of water (or cup to drink upside down from)
~Clock
~Arthur's Hiccups (optional)
 
 
 

Based on the different techniques I have listed, I have made some predictions.
 

Predictions:
~I do not think standing on the head for 5 minutes will do anything for the hiccups, because all of the blood rushing to the head.  If I were to stand on my head for that long, my head would start to hurt, and I would have a worse problem than the hiccups!
~As for the spoonful of sugar and water, this is a remedy my mom used to have me do as a child.  I don't ever remember it working, but it tasted really well!
~Gabe suggested drinking water upside down, so we will see how this goes.  I think this might work, because when a person drinks upside down, it feels like the water goes down rougher than the normal way.  I think the water will push the hiccups down, so they will kind of be swallowed...it may work.
~I don't think sucking on a lollipop, upside down or not, will work.  Hiccups are caused because a person swallows too much air, and every time you suck on a lollipop more air is being swallowed.
~Plugging the ears and drinking water, I have not tried this before.  I am thinking it may work because no air can get in if the ears are plugged and the person is drinking.  I am not sure, this will be interesting to see!
~As for laughing, I don't think it will work.  I think it may take your mind off having the hiccups, but considering all the air that is swallowed when a person laughs, I don't think it is a cure for the hiccups!
~Another method for getting rid of the hiccups is holding your breath.  I must say, I have used this technique before and have had success with it.  Although, it may not work for everyone.
~Finally, the last method I am going to try is having a person sneak up on the person with the hiccups.  Arthur got scared in his book, and then his hiccups disappeared.  I bet this may work because it makes a person suddenly not think of the hiccups anymore, and they get startled, causing them to jump and gasp, then holding their breath.  I will plan it out with someone to come up behind the person with the hiccups and drop a pile of books, creating a loud noise.

Overall Prediction:
Overall, I predict that drinking water upside down, drinking water with your ears plugged, holding your breath, and getting startled all have the potential of getting rid of the hiccups.

The true test is to see what methods have the possibility of working.  The methods mentioned by my friends have all got potential, because that is how they get rid of the hiccups, but some of those, I just don't think work.  I will have to wait and find out!  Everything is all set up, I just need a hiccup!
So, now all I have to do is wait...and wait...and hiccup!!!

10/29/01 Jenn was the lucky one to get the hiccups first, so my investigation began!
 

Investigation:
I started with techniques I did not think would work, because I did not want my investigation to be cut short!  If it was, then that was okay, but I really tried to get through all of my techniques!

I started by having Jenn stand on her head.  I had two pillows on the floor for her, and one of my other suite mates held her legs up against the wall.  Jenn was laughing so hard, and then she had to come down because she was feeling light-headed!  As she came down, after standing on her head for 47 seconds, she hiccupped, and we knew we had to try the next method.  Standing on her head, and laughing did not work.
Next, I tried the spoonful of sugar and water.  I was right, this did not work when I was little, and it did not work now.  But, she was willing to try that idea a couple of times!
Next, I tried Gabe's idea of drinking water upside down.  I thought this one may work, in which case the investigation would be over.  And I was right, Jenn drank a quarter of a bottle of spring water, and her hiccups were gone...or were they? As soon as Jenn sat up, exactly 7 seconds after she was done drinking the water, she hiccupped.  So, Gabe's idea may work sometimes, but this time it did not!
So, we tried having Jenn suck on a lollipop while hanging upside down off our couch.  This was unsuccessful.  Every time Jenn opened her mouth to put the lollipop in, a hiccup came out.  She sucked on the lollipop, upside down for 5 minutes, just like Arthur did in the book, and then we decided to try the next technique.
By now, Jenn had had the hiccups for exactly 8 minutes and 13 seconds.  She was getting mighty tired of having the hiccups, and probably pretty tired of trying my ideas.  But, she stuck with it, and we kept trying.
We tried Jessica's idea of drinking the water with her ears plugged. Jenn could not hold the cup this way long enough to take more than a sip from the cup, so this way did not work for Jenn's hiccups.
Though we established the fact laughter does not cure hiccups earlier, we can definitely say that laughing does not work, because Jenn was laughing during the entire investigation!
So finally, I tried the method of holding her breath.  Jenn held her breath for 9 seconds, with her cheeks puffed out, and all of the sudden she started laughing.  The hiccups were still there, and she could not stop laughing!
By this time, Jenn has had the hiccups for 9 minutes and 52 seconds.  She finally controlled her laughter and held her breath again.  This time, she left her cheeks in, and sat there for 20 seconds holding her breath.  When she finally let her breath out.  We waited...and waited...and...there was no hiccup!
Unfortunately, I was not able to test Arthur's technique of being scared.  Jenn's hiccups went away before I could attempt that technique!

Hooray!  Jenn's hiccups were gone!  The investigation proved that holding your breath, with your cheeks in, while you have the hiccups, may work!  Of course, this is not a definite remedy, some people just have to wait for their hiccups to go away on their own, but it is worth a try!  Jenn had the hiccups for a total of 10 minutes and 12 seconds.  This is actually a shorter amount of time for Jenn, she said.  She usually gets the hiccups and they last for a really long time!

My project: a poster with all my information onit, and then a cut out of a cupof water with all my picturesof proof on it

Conclusions:
After conducting my investigation, I found that my prediction of standing on the head to get rid of the hiccups was correct, it did not work.  I also found, that my childhood remedy of sugar and water did not work either.  Again, I my prediction was right.  As for the glass of water upside down, I was wrong.  I really thought this one may work because of the pressure pushing the hiccups down, but I was wrong, this technique did not work.  As I thought, sucking on a lollipop did not work for Jenn.  She just ended up taking in more air, causing more hiccups.  Similarly, plugging her ears and drinking did not work.  I actually thought this one had potential, but it did not.  I thought the air would not get in and the water would just push the hiccups down, but it was unsuccessful.    I was right about laughter not working.  Jenn laughed during the whole investigation, probably making matters worse for herself.  She kept taking in air every time she laughed.  Finally, the only other method we got to was holding her breath.  Jenn held her breath for 20 seconds, and when she stopped, her hiccups were gone.  I was right about this one, I figured her hiccups would disappear!  As for the startling, we did not get to that because Jenn's hiccups had already gone away.
My overall conclusion is that some of these methods may have worked a couple of times, but I am convinced that holding your breath for a short amount of time does get rid of the hiccups.  I believe this because my investigation proved it this time, and I have done this in the past and it has worked.

Me presenting my project to my classmates.