Mammalian Biology Project Ideas

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Did you know that our brains are split into two parts, right inside our head? One half is the left brain and the other half is the right brain. Each side of your brain controls different parts of your body and most people are more dominant controlling one side than the other. Which side do you use the most? Will it affect how you use different parts of your body? Planning on getting a new puppy soon? Why not use some of your play time with puppy to study growth rates and puppy development? You can easily chart a young puppy's weekly weight and growth over several months to compare how quickly body dimensions and bone lengths change. While this project may take some time, it's well worth the effort. You might be amazed at the dramatic growth of your "canine kid," and what other project combines science with as much fun, or a more adorable subject? The great majority of people have a distinct hand preference. How about animals like dogs or cats? Do they show a paw preference? If you like animals, this project might be for you. Got a pampered pooch in your household? Then you know how much most dogs love their toys. And not just any toy. It has to be that particular beat up ball, gnawed frisbee, or ratty not-so-plush-anymore bunny with only one eye and partial ear remaining. Seems that dogs, like people, have definite preferences for their play things. This fun project investigates what makes a toy interesting to a dog. In these experiments, you and your dog can have some fun while you learn about canine behavior and why toys are an important part of a healthy dog's life. Everyone thinks their dog's the best, but in the case of smelling ability, all dogs possess super powers. In fact, a dog's nose can be over a 1,000 times more sensitive than a human's! In this project, learn about smell from a dog's unique perspective. There will be a whole lot of sniffing going on when you set up these fun experiments to find out what scents your dog and other canine friends find most interesting or appealing.

Have you ever wondered what goes on in your dog's mind? Even though humans have the benefit of language, trying to understand another person's thoughts can be hard enough sometimes. Your dog can't talk, so how can you find out what its brain is capable of? The obvious answer is to study its behavior. This project will show you some behavioral tests you can use to measure canine I.Q.

How quickly does heart rate recover after exercise? Is recovery time faster for people who get regular exercise? Cats are great house pets, but as every cat observer knows, they are also instinctive hunters. This experiment provides an interesting way to learn about cat behavior. You'll play bird call recordings for pet cats, and watch to see if the cat pays attention to the sound (by turning towards it) or ignores it. Will a pet cat distinguish between the calls of local birds vs. non-local birds? As your mom and dad always tell you, a healthy diet is important to good health. This project is designed to see what happens to mice when they are allowed to load up on sugary snacks. Do you think that they will gain excess weight? Do you think that the mice will regulate their own intake and maintain a 'healthy' diet? You can try this project and find out for yourself. How much air do you think you breathe in when you take a deep breath? Can you increase your lung capacity by exercising regularly? Do athletes have greater lung capacity than non-athletes? This project shows you how you can find out. Physical activity is needed for maintaining normal bone strength and mass. Can physical stress on finger bones during development lead to an increase in finger length? Check out this project to see how violin players are an example of a "natural experiment" that you can use to answer this question. You have probably heard about left-brain and right-brain differences in people. The left brain is supposed to be better at language, and organizing sequential actions, the right brain is supposed to be better at visualizing orientations in space, making and listening to music, and deciphering the emotions of others. Is there evidence for left/right brain specialization in other animals? This project examines tail-wagging in dogs. Does tail-wagging show any evidence of left/right brain differences in man's best friend?