High School Science Projects (Page 24)

Antioxidants

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Antioxidants have become very popular in the news lately for their potential health and anti-aging properties. Antioxidants work by preventing oxidation reactions that produce free-radicals which can cause harm to the body. Try testing different vitamins for antioxidant activity. How do vitamins A, B, C, and E compare? Do some vitamins have more antioxidant activity than others? What are some other sources of antioxidants? Try testing extracts from proposed sources of antioxidants like coffee,… Read more

Sound Localization

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

How accurately can people identify the location of a sound source when blindfolded? Imagine the hemisphere of space that extends above your shoulders at arm's length. Divide that hemisphere up into regular sectors and test the ability of blindfolded test subjects to point to a remembered sound source. For example, you could use the beep from a timer held at each test location, and then have the test subject point to where they think the timer was located. Record the magnitude and direction of… Read more

A Prescription for Success: Drugs & Your Genetics

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever known someone who had a bad reaction to a prescription drug? Although pharmaceutical companies test new drugs on a large number of people to make sure the drug works the way it is supposed to, often a small percentage of people respond differently to the drug. A person's genetics plays a large role in determining his or her response to a given drug. Our genes are made up of hundreds to millions of nucleotides of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the genetic code. If just a single… Read more

Program to Check (or Solve) Sudoku Puzzles

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Sudoku is an extremely popular puzzle game. You start with a 9x9 grid of squares, which contains three smaller 3x3 subgrids. Some of the squares are filled in with numbers 1 through 9. Your goal is to fill in the remaining blank squares such that each column, each row, and each 3x3 subgrid contains the numbers 1-9. No number can appear more than once in any column, row, or subgrid. For a given starting puzzle, can you write a program to check if a Sudoku solution is valid using a programming… Read more

Purification Strategies

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

In order to study individual biochemical compounds like proteins, DNA, or RNA, biochemists need to know how to purify these components from a complex mixture. This is especially important for biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, which sell purified biochemicals as reagents or drugs to consumers. Do an experiment to purify DNA, RNA, or protein from a complex mixture (for purifying DNA, see the Science Buddies project Extracting Onion DNA). The source of the material can be a cell… Read more

What Electric Bills Can Tell You About Energy Use

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This project is a great way to "bring home" the concept of energy use. All you need to get started is a good-sized sample of monthly electric bills from households in your area. Building from this simple beginning, you can ask questions that can take you in many different directions. For example: How much electricity does the "average" person in your area use per month? How much does electricity use vary among different families? Read more

Only If They Think They Can Get Away with It?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

How many times have you seen a car without the appropriate permit (either a license plate or placard that hangs from the rearview mirror) parked in an accessible parking space reserved for people with disabilities? If you find this behavior upsetting, you might be interested in figuring out how to discourage "cheaters" who use these spaces to make a quick trip into the store. Is it enough to let them know someone might be watching? Read more

Tee Time: How Does Tee Height Affect Driving Distance?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you're an avid golfer, this might be a fun project for you. When you're setting up to tee off out on the course, how much attention do you pay to putting the tee in the ground? The height of the tee can affect both where in the swing the club makes contact and where on the clubface the ball makes contact. Are you placing your tees at the right height to get the most distance from your swing? Read more

Pluck Out & Pick New String Materials for Your Guitar

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Walk into any music store and you'll find a dizzying array of string choices for your classical guitar, including rectified nylon, clear nylon, carbon fluoride, bronze wound, phosphor bronze wound, silver-plated copper wire, Polytetra-flouro-ethylene (PTFE), each in a range of tensions from low to high. There is no single best brand or best material. All have their advantages and disadvantages. A set of strings that sounds "sparkling" on one guitar might sound dull on another, primarily because… Read more

Skeleton Building

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you like skeletons? One of the more interesting jobs at a natural history museum is the creation and care of the skeletons and bones. How do the curators clean and put together the skeletons? Many curators use the carrion beetle, Dermestes vulpinus, to quickly clean off the dead animal tissue from a corpse to reveal the skeleton. These insects do such a good job that sometimes the skeleton remains intact! Another method is to slow cook the carcass until the meat falls off. You can use… Read more

High School Science Projects (254 results)

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