Project Ideas

Controlled Investigations:
• Plan and implement an experiment to determine the effect of a substance, such as road salt or seawater, or
the effects of sodium chloride and calcium chloride salts on the growth of a specific plant.
• Plan and implement an experiment to determine the effect of various coatings on the corrosion of a metal.
• Plan and implement an experiment to determine the effect of energy, such as light or heat, on the growth
of aquatic or land plants.
• Plan and implement an experiment to mimic the effects of acid rain on the environment, students explore
how liquids of varying pH affect the growth of plants.
• Plan and implement an experiment to study the effect of soil/sand/clay composition on the drainage and
retention of water.
• Plan and implement an experiment using different soil samples from various areas of your neighborhood
to determine their effect on plant growth.
• Plan and implement an experiment to determine how population density within the classroom affects air
quality.
• Plan and implement an experiment to determine the effectiveness of at least 2 different home/commercial
water filter systems.
• Plan and implement an experiment to determine the impact of nitrogenous fish tank water on the growth
of plants.

Field Investigations:
• Identify variables that affect tree growth in the neighborhood around the school and correlate the
variables with observable tree characteristics.
• Observe the behavior of animal(s) at a zoo or an aquarium, from the local area, from the classroom, or
house.
• Test different water sources (such as tap water, bottled water and rainwater) for contamination.
• Observing and recording evidence of glacial events.
• Observe and record, and then compare and contrast the behaviors of a male and female animal.
• Observe and record the amount of pollutants in varying forms of precipitation.
• Observe and record the location within a fish tank or a habitat of the animal and form a hypothesis, based
upon this collected data, as to why that animal might frequent that area of the habitat as opposed to
another area.
• Observe and record the frequency of proximity of a newborn animal to its mother.
• Using air quality kits, collect and record air particulate samples from various outdoor locations around
(for example, school yard, entrance, alcove, courtyard, garden, parking lot) or rooms within the school
(for example, classroom, art room, shop room, computer room, library, boiler room and kitchen).

Secondary Research Projects:

• Determine long term trends and patterns from weather data.
• Determine trends in hurricane occurrences from records of hurricanes.
• Determine the trends of earthquake magnitudes and frequencies from earthquake records.
• How has the rise in global temperature affected sea levels for the past 70 years?
• How has the number of automobiles sold affected the air quality index in your area over the past 20
years?
• How has the rise in the number of “green” buildings affected the energy consumption in an area?
• How has the average yearly temperature affected the trout population in a local stream?
• How has the amount of snowfall impacted the use of roadway salt and how has that affected the salinity
of local groundwater?
• How has recent improvements in technology within solar panels affected the energy collection rate and
what is its financial benefit over the past 20 years?
 • How has the rise in tolls affected the air quality index in New York City?

Design Project Investigations:

• Design and construct a hydroponics greenhouse for growing vegetables without soil.
• Design and construct a plant growth chamber, based upon modifying existing greenhouse/growth
environments.
• Design a pet toy and hypothesize on its frequency of use, based upon observations of an animal with an
existing pet toy. Remember even here, we do not experiment on vertebrates.
• Design and construct a gravity powered racing car that can travel the greatest possible distance on a level
floor after rolling down a standardized ramp.
• Design a zoo or an aquarium animal enclosure. (Students can use an existing design and modify a single
component of the enclosure...i.e. how food is delivered or how information is displayed)
• Design and construct a miniature green roof model to maximize the amount of collected rainwater.
• Design and construct a particulate water filter.
• Design and create a school-wide campaign that will inform the public about the risks and dangers of
carbon monoxide poisoning. The effectiveness of the campaign would be assessed and supported by data
collected by survey of the members of the school community.
• Design and create a school-wide recycling program which will include the data collection of recyclable
and non-recyclable waste.
• Design and implement a green school campaign which will demonstrate its effectiveness on the energy
consumption of the school building