Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

i need help doing my science project its based on is caffeine a good pesticid for plants i wanna know how do i set up this project what materials will i need

Hello, shay1998!

Glad to see you're starting a science project already! Have you checked out the project guide (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml) and the review of the scientific method (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... thod.shtml) here at Science Buddies? They can be excellent resources in helping you to set up any science project, such as this one. They might also help you to brainstorm what you'll need for the experiment.

Seeing as how caffeine is a natural pesticide for plants, it's definitely a good choice and an interesting topic! In order to learn more about caffeine chemistry, you could do a simple Google search and read up on the structure of caffeine, specific effects, etc. You'll surely need a certain type of plant, the "pest" (slugs were used in one experiment: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic ... h_Caffeine), and the actual pesticide. Think of what could be the control, independent/dependent variables, etc. Make sure to carefully plan out how you want to do the experiment.

If you have any more questions, please ask!

As you search for ideas don't focus too tightly on "caffeine" or "pesticide" at first. A more general search works better until you are ready to learn details about a specific project idea. Testing a drug is like testing a pesticide in the sense that in both cases you are applying a chemical to an organism and observing the effects. For example, a search of Project Ideas for the phrase "drug test" turns up a lot of hits that should be interesting to read.