This article contains information and ideas for biology science projects including Botany, Ecology, Genetics, Forensic Science, and Zoology. Keep reading for more on biology science projects or for use in science fairs.
This group of biology science projects can be adapted for different purposes. Suggested extensions, which you may include, ignore, or reshape to fit your purposes, allow you to continue the projects in more depth. These projects can be undertaken in a homeschool, as projects for private or public school science classes, or for presentation in a science fair. In addition, you will see that each of the suggested projects can be modified to be made easier for younger, less-experienced students, or more complex and challenging for students who are older, better versed in the subject area, and more competent in researching. The projects are in the area of Botany, Ecology, Genetics, Forensic Science, and Zoology.
Botany
• Explore the experiments being done in genetically modified food to discover what the gains and losses in terms of production and nutrition are to date.
• Are genetically modified plant products clearly marked when they reach the market?
• How do consumers react to genetically modified food products?
• What alternatives are available to consumers who wish to avoid genetically modified foods?
• How is the development and testing of genetically modified foods controlled?
Ecology
• Recent research reported in this article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/science/02obskin.html?ref=science has revealed human skin as an ecosystem hosting dozens of strains of bacteria. Report on this recent research.
• What factors influence the different amounts and kinds of bacteria typically found on, say, the forearm as opposed to behind the ear?
• How do their findings differ from what you find on your own skin?
• Design an experiment to determine if changes in the bacteria found on an individual's skin could signal other health issues.
Genetics
• Read about the Genographic Project https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html and develop a series of research questions that it could potentially answer.
• What questions might this research answer that cannot be answered in any other way?
• What are the arguments for testing mitochondrial DNA versus Y chromosome?
• Now formulate a set of questions that would be answered by a genealogical study.
• Finally, formulate questions that can be answered by observations of you and your immediate and extended family, and pursue one or more of them.
Forensic Science
• Evidence left at a crime scene can be analyzed for DNA. Do a project demonstrating the range of information crime scene evidence can reveal about the person who left it.
• How does DNA evidence fit into the entire body of evidence that is used in the prosecution of criminals?
• How often is DNA evidence the most crucial evidence in a case?
• How do advances in DNA analysis change the scene in the world of the criminal justice system?
• Explore how the analysis of evidence in a real lab compares and contrasts with the handling of evidence shown on procedurals on television.
• Trace the path of a piece of evidence from the crime scene to court.
• How does crime scene evidence fit into other factors that go into prosecuting a criminal case?
Zoology
• Trace the pedigree of a dog or horse (your own, or someone else's). What does the pedigree reveal?
• Examine the influence of the American Kennel Club in decisions about dog breeding.
• Examine Rachel Alexandra's lineage and compare it to other winning horses.
• Examine the role of camouflage in at least two different classes of animals, for example, mammals and insects. Do both classes gain the same things from camouflage? How do the camouflage techniques compare and contrast?
• Is there a human parallel to animal camouflage?
• How does an animal's camouflage abilities relate to its other available ways to protect/defend itself?