Science Fair Projects

This science fair project recently caught my attention. Whether it won a prize or not, it made me think about the food we eat and how it affects us in so many different ways. The project was titled “Fuzzy Brained Mice.”

Note: Many science fairs prohibit experiments using live animals, so please check the rules first to be sure.

The student built a wooden maze and trained four mice to run through it.  At first, all of the mice were treated the same, given the same food and water, and after a few weeks were all able to run the maze in about 20 seconds. The mice were then divided into two groups; the control group continued on the same diet, while the test group received Yellow Dye #5 in their water.

The results of this experiment? The test mice that drank the dyed water had trouble navigating the maze, and increased their time to over 100 seconds after only 1 day! Over the next few days, they became more confused and their performance worsened until they needed over 200 seconds.  The good news was that when the dye was removed from their water, the test mice improved their performance back to the previous level.

What are the implications of this for people? Many researchers have found a link between food additives and behavioral problems.  And recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics published an article acknowledging there is “accumulating evidence that neurobehavioral toxicity may characterize a variety of widely distributed chemicals.”  In other words, many common food additives may cause ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or other behavioral problems in some individuals.  For more information visit the Feingold association at feingold.org 

Here are a few science fair projects dealing with food that won prizes in their local contests. 

- Which gender has more sensitive taste buds? (elementary school) The student set up an experimental taste test using several different flavors of a popular brand of jelly beans. Her hypothesis was that girls would be better able to distinguish the different tastes. 

- Will people change their choice of meal at a fast food restaurant when given nutrition facts? (middle school) The hypothesis was that knowing how many calories and how much fat was in a meal would lead people to change their minds and buy healthier food. 

- Do conventionally grown fruits have higher levels of toxins than organically grown fruit? (high school) The student investigated whether there were higher levels of toxins in the conventionally grown produce, even after washing. The experiment looked at whether there was a difference in the life spans of fruit flies fed organic versus conventional fruit.   

 These examples were creative and interesting ideas for science projects. However, keep in mind that simply having a good science fair project idea is not enough. You must also know how to state your hypothesis, design and perform your experiment using the scientific method, and analyze and present the results. Learn more about doing science fair projects.