INTRODUCTION

A. Background Study In this year 2012, the Philippines ranks 12th most populated country in the world. According to the Central Intelligence Agency or the CIA, the country’s population is 103, 775, 002 and we all know that a part of this estimated number of 104 million, is occupied by or goes to the people who engage themselves to educational institutions, in other words, the students, who spend their weekdays in schools, learning new things and discovering different breakthroughs, the students like us. Of course, it is essential to provide ourselves the needed tools and materials, such as ballpens. Ballpens are the most crucial and prenominal things we should have. They are used to write, draw, print, and sketch on papers. One thing we notice about the students, in which we also find ourselves guilty, is the fact of throwing the ballpens to the trash bins once they ran out of ink. This observation is what led us to design our Investigatory Project this way. What if we make our own ink the fill the cartridges when they become empty? Wouldn’t it be helpful? We bet it will be. Our desired ink will be made up of materials that are convenient and easy to find, those that are not scarce in the society, just like dried leaves which can be found in the streets. Also, we will make use of candles and used plates instead of lamp black. We target to promote an environmental-friendly product which can minimize our trashes and help solve ecological problems. Hopefully, by the end of this Investigatory Project, we will be able to come up with a versatile ink that can influence students to save and use our natural resources wisely.

B. Statement of the Problem This study aims to identify how dried leaves can be produced as a calligraphy ink. Aside from this, we tend to find the answers to the following questions: 1. Is it possible to come up with the desired product from the ingredients given? 2. What components do the leaves have which can be made as an ink? 3. How would the finished product appeal in terms of: * Color * Viscosity * Texture * Scent * Mechanism 4. How long will the finished product last?

C. Hypothesis Our BLOTS ink has no difference with the commercialized ones except in terms of quality.

D. Significance of the Study The study is intended to test the capability of pounded dried leaves as a major component of ink. This would be a help to ink manufacturers acquiring the knowledge of using such available materials as ingredients and also, this aids in the prevention of environmental destruction by minimizing and lessening the use of chemicals. Aside from this, it could help in the cleanliness of the surroundings because scattered leaves would be gathered and used. Lastly, it could provide an impression among the audience that we can still make something from things we thought have no more worth.

E. Scope and Limitations This Investigatory Project includes the review of information about the materials we will be using for our desired product, specifically, the dried leaves, and the product itself. We will study and examine the characteristics of each of the ingredients, so that we can easily perform this project and somehow predict what the result is. The study will last in no more than a year and targets to be finished in the given period of time although some things might not work out well because we are just students and not professionals.

F. Definition of Terms * Pounding – to pulverize or crush * Mixing – to combine or blend into one mass or mixture

REVIEW CONCEPT AND RELATED LITERATURE A. Conceptual Literature Dried leaves are abundant source of organic matter that can be used for several purposes in a garden, lawn and elsewhere. They can be shredded into fine pieces and used as mulch around plants. They can be added to compost bins to compliment nitrogen-rich materials. They also can be used to make decorative arrangements. When dried leaves are burnt, they become black in color. While burning is the combination of things with oxygen, often there is not enough oxygen for complete combustion, leaving it black. As for the ceramic plate, according to the researches we conducted, holding a metal plate over a lit candle can produce lamp black, an ingredient of ink. Lamp black serves as pigment in inks. Chalks, another component of our designed product, can be used as a thickener to control viscosity of fluids. Chalks are talc and talc is a superior thickener. It bulks resin to about double volume, sands easily, and is mildly thixotropic. B. Related Literature * Ink from Berries and Cherries Berries and cherries, with their high juice content, are ideal for ink making. Unlike other juicy fruits such as watermelon, citrus fruits or peaches, berry and cherry juice are dark enough to show on writing paper. * Ink from Flower Petals Flower petals have been used as a dye for centuries. Ink can also be made from flower petals with a few key ingredients that are available in most hardware stores. The ink can be used to draw with, or you can use it as pigment for painting on canvas and wood. * Ink from Charcoal People have been making and using charcoal since about 3,500 B.C. because it burns clearly and efficiently. Charcoal has many uses, from smelting copper to making an ink. Although ink is cheap and universally available today, you can make your own out of charcoal to experience one way people used to make it.

METHODOLOGY Research Design Our study focused in making black ink with the use of dried leaves. The factors involved in the study were set to state the problem and test the hypothesis. This is in a pre-test post-test design, wherein the former will determine the functionality of the product and the latter will determine how long the ink will last.

A. Materials & Ingredients We, the researchers, prepared the following set of materials: * 1/4 kg - dried leaves * 5 sticks of candle * 1/3 cup of chalk dust * 1 spoons of honey * 1 used ceramic plate * 1/5 cup of water * Syringe * Gel * Empty ballpen ink container B. Procedure 1. Gather the needed materials. 2. Pound the dried leaves until it becomes powdery. 3. Light a candle and hold the ceramic plate over it for atleast 5 minutes. 4. Gather the black substance that formed on the surface of the plate and place it on a container. 5. Repeat Procedure #3 and #4 until you have collected 2 spoons of the substance being formed. 6. Add 1/5 cup of water. 7. Include the powdered leaves and 1/3 cup of chalk dust. 8. Add 2 spoons of honey to improve viscosity. 9. Mix well and get a syringe. 10. Take some of the mixture and inject on the empty ballpen ink container. 11. Put gel on the end of the container to avoid the spilling out of ink. Respondents We had eight respondents in all. The testing was done March 6-10, 2013. Data Gathering Instrument We designed a table for the respondents to answer so that they can be able to rate our product according to color, texture, viscosity, scent, and mechanism, 5 as the highest, and 1 as the lowest. Data Gathering Procedures The respondents were asked to try out the product and rate it through the instrument. The data were collected and averaged.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A. Findings Trial | Observation | #1 | The color of the fluid is somewhat brown. There are solid particles left by the leaves. It has a foul smell. The ink does not dry immediately. | #2 | The color of the fluid turned to black. There are still solid particles left. It still leaves a foul smell and the ink still doesn’t dry immediately. | #3 | There are fewer solid particles. It still has an unpleasant odor and the ink doesn’t dry immediately. | #4 | There are even fewer solid particles. It still has an unpleasant odor and the ink still doesn’t dry immediately. |

1. On our First Trial, the fluid colored brown, and not black. The texture of the ink is not that refined and there are still solid particles. It also does not dry immediately after used in writing, and it leaves a foul smell as days pass. 2. On our Second Trial, we burnt the leaves and this made the fluid turn to black. Since the burnt leaves turned to black already, we decided not to use ceramic plates as substitute for lamp black anymore. The other observations remained. 3. On our Third Trial, The texture improved a little and there are fewer particles. The other observations remained. 4. On our Fourth Trial, we used a piece of cloth to filter the solid particles. This resulted to the disappearance of the particles in the ink. The rest of the observations remained. Foremost, this is the best output we had.

B. Analysis of Data * Color – The ink is black, as what we desired it to be. * Viscosity – The viscosity of our product is somehow similar to that of the commercialized ones. * Texture – There are very few particles in the fluid. * Scent – It has a foul smell, but, we believe, it is the real odor of common inks. * Mechanism – It did not work out well because we are not able to put it on an empty ballpen ink cartridge.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

A. Summary
Although there are still matters to improve, the study was able to confirm that leaves can be used in making an ink. We had a total of four trials, and we believe that things got better in each attempt. Although we felt guilty, not being able to follow some of the procedures we have given and constructing news ones on the latter trials, we are able to come up with a good product. We disregarded some of what we’ve wrote earlier and adapted new objectives. The testing and gathering of data were our favorite parts since these were the time to reap and see the result of our 10-month study. It showed how far we’ve been through and reflected our efforts in trying to make this Investigatory Project a successful one. B. Conclusion In the end of the study, we were able to prove the possibility of making an ink through our main ingredient, dried leaves, burnt in particular. Since leaves are carbon, they leave carbon based residue behind when burnt, as the burning is incomplete. This simply means the carbon did not get oxidized and burned into ash. As carbon, the unburned residue appears black. Thus, this acted as the main pigment in the fluid, substituting lamp black in the common ink.

C. Recommendations The researchers recommend to follow the points below when making the same study, ink from burnt dried leaves, to create improvements on the product: Leaves should be pounded very well. If possible, filter them through a piece of cloth. Another thing is the amount of water. Pour only a small amount.
Foremost, make sure to follow the procedures and the amount of materials given.

BIBLIOGRAPHY * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_black * http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbies/how-to-make-ink * http://chemistry.about.com/b/2012/07/17/how-to-make-ink-easy-ink-recipes.htm * http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?19182-epoxy-thickener * http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/make-recycled-ink-fruits-2572.html * http://www.ehow.com/how_4867724_make-ink-using-petals.html * http://www.ehow.com/ink-making/ * http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-uses-of-dried-leaves.htm * http://joshberer.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/lamp-black-calligraphy-ink/ * http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=32482.0 * http://www.studymode.com/essays/Research-1399712.html