Science Investigatory Projects Topics
An investigative science project is focused on learning one specific thing. The scientist poses a question, a hypothesis, a method for determine whether her hypothesis is right and then analyzes the results. Just like with any investigation, the scientist must approach his question with a trained and careful eye, recognizing controls and variables that were planned or accidental. With this in mind, the topics are endless for an investigative science project.
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Anatomy
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Investigate the effects of exercise on a person who has never lifted weights before versus a person who has been lifting weights for five or more years. Before the experiment begins, hypothesize whether juvenile muscle growth will exceed, match or be less than the muscle growth of the veteran lifters. To compare these two sample types, you will need a relatively large amount of people in each category. For a school science project, 20 amateur lifters and 20 veteran lifters should suffice and produce measurable results. Design a training program targeted toward maximum muscle hypertrophy, or muscle growth. Use a professional textbook such as that from the National Academy of Sports Medicine to gauge whether your exercise program has potential to produce muscle hypertrophy, or growth. Outline basic dietary guidelines that give a minimum and maximum calorie intake and macronutrient requirements for protein, fat and carbohydrates. Have the sample groups track how carefully they follow the diet and training plan. Take measurements of all participants at the biceps, shoulders, chest, waist and upper thighs before beginning the training program, halfway through and once the program is complete. For this project, allow three months minimum to see measurable growth. To eliminate influence of outside factors, it is best that your sample group be of the same gender, height and weight class when possible. If not, make sure to track these differences and make conclusions on how they might have affected results.
Biology
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When you listen to a piece of music, you may go from feeling indifferent to sad, happy or anxious depending on the tone, speed and melodies in the music. Investigate whether music effects the heart rate and whether different types of music have different effects on the heart rate. Get seven to 10 people to participate in this experiment. Have each person sit down and relax and locate each person's pulse point at the wrist, directly under the thumb. Here, you can feel the heart beating. Press with a moderate pressure at this point and count how many beats you feel for 60 seconds. Play a piece of music for at least 60 seconds, and record the heart rate again immediately. If you played a piece of classical music first, switch to heavy metal and repeat the experiment. Do the same with hip hop, or another genre, and repeat the experiment. Follow these steps with every participant. See if there is a pattern in the changes in heart rate based on the type of music. It may be helpful to collect some preparatory data, such as the types of music each participant likes to listen to. This may change which songs produce which effects to the participant's heart rate.
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Chemistry
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Chemistry is a base science that affects many other branches of science, such as forensics. Perform a chemical analysis just as a forensic scientist would with a potentially dangerous substance at a crime scene. To prepare, crush up aspirin to make a powder. Then collect other powders that resemble crushed up aspirin, such as sugar, salt and cornstarch or flour, so that you have four powders total. Mix these four powders into four different bowls of the same food, such as a macaroni or chili dish. Your goal is to determine which bowl has the aspirin powder inside of it. To do this, you must find substances that react with your four different powders and determine other ways to observe and differentiate between the powders. Methods of distinguishing between the four powders include appearance, smell, how the powders react to water and how the powders react to iron nitrate. You must investigate each substance to see how they react with other substances and develop a way to prove which is aspirin powder.
Physics
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Investigate one of many physics phenomena by asking how and why people can lift objects heavier than themselves. We see this all over the place as construction workers, builders and other professionals lift extremely heavy materials high up into the air. To prove to yourself this is possible, you will investigate the physics and mechanics of a lever and build a small tabletop lever. The lever must be built with correct parts and proportions to work, including the fulcrum, load arm and effort arm. When your lever is built, weigh an object such as an unopened soda can. Place the soda can on the effort arm of the lever. One by one, place pennies on the load arm until the pennies appear to "outweigh" and lift the soda can into the air. Once you reach the right amount of pennies to lift the soda can, weigh the pennies and the can to see which is heavier. You can also try this with your own body and the body of a friend on a see-saw.
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References
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