Biology Science Fair Projects

Biology science fair projects can be some of the most exciting for those who enjoy this category. It's interesting to find out how the body works and what happens when certain conditions are applied. This article will deal with biology science fair projects that involve human hair.

Students can base a project on studies that cosmetic companies do when they are trying to sell shampoo. Students can ask their friends to try different types and brands of shampoo (one friend would try one brand over the course of two weeks or so.) They can ask the users what their impression of the shampoo was while they were using it. The student doing the project can then create scales to test shine, manageability, how the application rated, and what the user felt the quality was. This is not a difficult experiment but it can be a good base for lots of statistical analysis.

This experiment also needs to be strictly standardized as hair is unique to each individual. Strict guidelines need to be set in place such as how many times the hair is washed during a day, and how long the liquid is left on the hair and scalp. Other factors can be brought into the experiment such as: Is the hair treated with chemicals for perming or coloring? How often does the user comb their hair?

A student can also look at the difference between treated and untreated hair to test hair fibre strength. This can be done by collecting a few strands of hair from someone who hasn't had anything done to their hair and then collecting the same amount of strands from someone who has treated their hair (with perms, permanent color, etc.) The collection of the hair should be done within twenty-four hours of treatment.

One could also look at the properties of wet and dry hair. Immerse a sample of hair in water for an hour and see what happens to it. Does it expand? Does it shrink? This can be tested with different types of hair and with different temperatures of water. Test the strength of the hair by again putting it through a number of tests to determine how strong it is.

Hair growth rate can also be a great science project. To determine this, one can ask an adult male to shave his beard after growing it for two or three days. If he wets shaves, the water, soap and stubble can be placed in a coffee filter. Pour water through the coffee filter to get all the soap out.

The hair then has to be allowed to dry. The hair then needs to be set on slides. This can be done either by tweezers or by picking up the hair with clear sticky tape and placing the sticky tape on the slides. Adding up all the hair lengths measured and dividing by the number of hairs measured can then determine the rate of hair growth. More advanced students can determine the deviation and error of the data and make assumptions based on that.

These are just a few of the many biology science fair projects available to students. Use the biology science fair projects listed above or some up with a variation of your own. The fun is in the creativity.

Note: See the Disclaimer before starting this project.