If your teacher assigns you a science project you may feel worried about how you will execute an A-plus project. Science projects require purchasing materials, hours of time conducting experiments, recording data, writing a paper and creating a live demonstration model for your class. Before you jump into an idea, consider how you will prove your hypothesis and what it will take to perform the experiment for the class.
Vitamin C in Orange Juice
Base your science experiment on whether all brands of orange juice have the same amount of vitamin C. Compare different compounds of orange juice to determine the effect of vitamin C concentration in each. Report on which compound has the most vitamin C per 15 milliliters.
Use a blender, 3 disposable pipettes, 1 10-milliliter graduated cylinder, 3 50-milliliter flasks or medicine cups, 1 stirring rod, graph paper, distilled water and cheesecloth for the experiment.
You will also need vitamin C indicator solution. Combine 2 grams of cornstarch in 200 milliliters of cold, distilled water. Bring mixture to a boil. Add 8 milliliters of this solution to 1 liter of water and add 1 milliliter of tincture of iodine. The color will turn royal blue.
Select freshly squeezed orange juice, bottled orange juice, frozen orange juice and canned orange juice as your subjects.
Pour 15 milliliters of the vitamin C indicator into a 50-milliliter cup. Add 1 drop from 1 orange juice sample to this concoction and gently mix. Continue adding from the same sample of orange juice until the vitamin indicator blue mixture turns colorless. Count the number of drops you added and record the data. Repeat with each orange juice sample.
Blood Pressure Readings after Caffeine Intake
Find out if drinking caffeinated beverages raises your blood pressure. Gather a group of friends to conduct the experiment and be sure it's OK with their parents.
Measure blood pressure using a sphygmomanometer, an instrument that measures blood pressure. Ask the school nurse if you can borrow if for your experiment.
You will need 26 cans of Diet Pepsi, 13 straws, 13 middle school friends and a chart to complete the experiment.
Take and record participants' blood pressure first thing in the morning and be sure no one has had anything to drink or eat. Have participants drink 1 can of Diet Pepsi immediately after taking the readings. Wait 45 to 55 minutes then re-take and record everyone's blood pressure.
Compare blood pressure readings without caffeine versus 1 can of Diet Pepsi and the difference between no caffeine versus 2 cans of Diet Pepsi.
Which Mouthwash Kills Bacteria
Report on which mouthwash kills bacteria the best. Select four popular brands of mouthwash, four petri dishes, mouth swabs and four friends.
Mark each petri dish with each friend's name. Have friends rinse their mouths with water two hours after they've eaten. Clean their mouths with a cotton swab then swab a small area on each of their individual petri dishes with the cotton swab.
Ask each friend to gargle with one of the mouthwashes and swab the inside of their mouths and then apply the swabbed area to another area of their same petri dish. Tape each dish closed and observe whether the bacteria decreased, stayed the same or grew after four days.
Tags: orange juice, blood pressure, Diet Pepsi, their mouths, vitamin indicator, caffeine versus, cans Diet
