Middle School, Human Behavior Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 3)

Human Perception of the Anomalous Mirror Symmetry Illusion

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The Science Buddies project Design Your Own 3D Printed Optical Illusion shows you how to make your own 3D printed "anomalous mirror symmetry" illusions (Figure 1). The illusions are based on the work of Dr. Kokichi Sugihara. You can read his original paper about the illusions in the Bibliography. Figure 1. Two versions of the "impossible arrow" shape that appears to point to the right while its reflection in the mirror appears to point to the left. Which version of… Read more

Is Smiling Contagious?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

You've probably observed from your own personal experiences that some actions are contagious. Yawning is a great example. When one person in a room yawns, several other people usually do, too. Coughing, clearing your throat, these are other actions that often seem contagious. But what about smiling? Have you ever walked down the street and had a random stranger smile at you? Did it make you happy? Did you smile back? In this science fair project, you'll investigate whether smiling is… Read more

It's Written All Over Your Face: The Science of Facial Expressions

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Okay, now you've done it. You goofed off, didn't study for your math test, and didn't do well. Mom and Dad are not going to be happy. In fact, they might even be angry. They don't say anything when they see your test, but you can tell from their faces that they are angry. But how can you tell? How can you tell if someone is angry, or happy, or sad? The answer is that you have learned how to tell someone's emotional state from his or her facial expressions. Are facial expressions of happiness or… Read more

Make a Mood Tracker

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

How do you feel right now? Do you remember how you felt a few hours ago? How about yesterday or last Wednesday? What if you could track your emotions throughout the day and use this information to help improve your mood and well-being? In this science project, you will program a simple, pocket-sized device that you can carry around with you to log your feelings whenever you want or on a specific schedule. Read more

Racial and Gender Bias in AI-Generated Images

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If someone asks you to draw a picture of a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, what first pops into your mind? The race and gender of the person you imagine might be shaped by your personal life experiences, such as whether you have family members in those professions, or what representations of them you have seen on TV or online. What do you think will happen if you ask an artificial intelligence (AI) program to generate the picture instead? Will pictures generated by AI reflect the true real-world… Read more

Shaping Your Thoughts?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This is an interesting experiment that explores certain aspects of how your brain pays attention. In this project, you'll have to recruit a bunch of volunteers to take a simple test: naming a list of printed shapes. What makes the test tricky is that words will be printed on top of the shapes. The word/shape combination creates the potential for the brain to get conflicting information. Which information is more likely to grab your attention: the shape you are supposed to name or the word just… Read more

Testing for Bias in a Photo Lineup

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

You may have read about criminal cases where innocent people have been wrongly convicted of a crime. Sometimes, modern DNA analysis techniques have provided the evidence to exonerate these innocent people. In many cases, mistaken identification by eyewitnesses provided strong evidence for the original conviction. How can prosecutors and defense attorneys make sure that photo lineup procedures used to identify criminal suspects are unbiased? This project shows you how to conduct an objective… Read more

That's a Pretty Tough Baby! A Study of Gender Stereotypes in Children

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever seen a baby in the park and wondered if it was a boy or a girl? Maybe once you found out the gender, you thought how sweet, mischievous, or cute the baby was. But wait…do you think that the words you used to describe the baby might be based on your own gender stereotypes? A gender stereotype is when you expect someone to act a certain way simply because he or she is a boy or a girl. In this human behavior science project, you will investigate whether young children use gender… Read more

Warped Words and the Stroop Effect

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The Stroop effect describes an experiment about the time it takes to name the color of printed words. When you try to name the color in which color words are printed, it takes longer when the color word differs from the ink color than when the color word is the same as the ink color. This project is an interesting variation: what happens if you 'warp' the words into a curved shape that is harder to recognize as a word? Will the Stroop effect still happen? How 'warped' do the words have to be in… Read more

Are Childproof Containers Really Childproof?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night just not feeling well? Maybe your mom or dad gave you some medicine and you felt better after taking it. Medicine is a great tool in the fight against an illness, but medicine can be a poison if too much is taken. Similarly, household products can clean your home and make it smell great, but if eaten, can be poisonous. That is why most medicines and household products are stored in childproof containers. But are childproof containers really… Read more

Middle School, Human Behavior Projects, Lessons, Activities (43 results)

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