High School, Microbiology Science Projects (21 results)
Microorganisms are all around us, with an amazing diversity of adaptations. They were the first life on Earth, and their relatively recent discovery in extreme environments—like hot springs, ocean vents, and polar ice—illustrates how tenaciously they've evolved and survived. Microbiology gives us insights into evolution, disease, and even the mechanisms of our own cells.
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Try the annual Engineering Challenge from Science Buddies! Open to all students worldwide, a new challenge and prizes are announced every January. Explore the current challenge as well as ones from past years!
Antibiotics work by destabilizing the metabolism or cellular structure of bacteria, preventing growth, and causing bacteria to die. Some strains of bacteria have mutated and found a way to resist the actions of antibiotics. These are called resistant strains because they resist the actions of available antibiotic treatments. There are many different types of antibiotics that are continually being developed to combat new strains of resistant bacteria. Some antibiotics work better on different…
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In this engineering challenge, you will build a car powered by nothing but a rubber band. The farther the car goes, and the fewer materials you use to build it, the higher your score. Enter your score in the 2024 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge for a chance to win prizes! Teachers, lesson plan versions of this challenge are also available.
Do you love the look and feel of leather? Many luxury items like handbags, belts, wallets, and coats are made from leather. What if you could make your own vegan leather in a few weeks? Could it be a greener, more sustainable option than cowhide leather? In this science project, you will grow your own vegan leather from kombucha and see how different growing conditions affect the resulting leather.
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Does your home have any pet doors or gates for dogs, cats, or other animals? Some automatic pet doors can be set up to allow only certain animals through. These doors can help you control which pets are able to go outside alone or which ones have access to specific food, litter boxes, or toys. But why buy such a door when you can make one? In this project you will build your own automatic pet door that works with a magnetic collar tag. Exactly how you use it is up to you!
Have you ever thought about how fortunate you are to have safe and clean water coming out of your faucet? Many people in undeveloped nations don't have this luxury. But does that mean they can't have clean water at all? Is there an inexpensive way they could use to make their own clean water? In this microbiology science fair project, you will investigate whether or not sunlight can disinfect contaminated water.
Have you ever wondered where acne comes from and how you can treat it? One major cause of acne is the colonization and infection of clogged pores with bacteria. In this science project, you'll test different acne medications and treatments to determine their effectiveness at killing bacteria.
Ultraviolet light can damage DNA molecules. If a cell's DNA repair mechanisms can't keep up with the damage, mutations are the result. As harmful mutations accumulate, the cell eventually dies. How much ultraviolet light is too much for a bacterial cell?
There are thousands of bacteria in your gut that help you digest your food, recover important nutrients, and maintain your health. What happens to those bacteria when you take antibiotics? In this science project you will find out by accessing and analyzing a real data set of the gut microbiome (bacteria and other microbes) from healthy adults before and after they are given antibiotics.
This is a straightforward project on glucose metabolism in yeast. You will grow yeast under aerobic and anaerobic conditions and measure carbon dioxide output to assess metabolic efficiency.
Most people are not aware that the soil around them is a battle scene. The combatants are very small—bacteria on one side and bacteriophage on the other. The bacteriophage (or phage for short) try to pierce the outer coats of the bacteria and inject them with phage DNA. If successful, the DNA will take over the inner machinery of the bacterial cells and force them to make many copies of the phage. After the copies are made, the bacterial cells break apart, releasing new phage that start…
Have you ever wondered if a piece of jewelry is real gold or if it's just some ordinary metal alloy? It turns out that some metals have a unique property; even in small amounts, they can be toxic to some organisms, including algae, molds, fungi, and bacteria, although it often takes many hours to see an effect. Can this phenomena, called the oligodynamic effect be used to tell whether or not the gold or silver in a piece of jewelry is real? Do bacteria react differently to pure, plated, and…
Have you heard that garlic powder is supposed to inhibit the growth of bacteria? Which do you think would make a better disinfectant: a solution of garlic powder or a solution of bleach? This project shows you a straightforward way to compare the effectiveness of different disinfectants (or other antimicrobial agents), by measuring zones of inhibition on a culture plate.
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