Debate the Curriculum for Excellence and all aspects of the Scottish curriculum in this Group. This is also the place to get advice from your peers on the most effective way to implement the curriculum
Just a few ideas of projects we have run at advanced higher
1) The effect of different coloured lights on seed germination
2) The effect of asprin on daphina
3) The effect of different anti-micobial substances on microbial growth
Hope this gets you started
Hi!
Anti microbial ones are ok if they are done well i.e. use a more complex method of measuring growth (like pour plates or spectrophotometer).
Try looking at the higher practicals - quite a few have possible extension work - good for investigations.
A couple of wesites to look at are;
http://www.practicalbiology.org/
http://www.saps.org.uk/
Also have a look at the marking instructions and teacher/student guide and external assessment report - particularly 2008, which has a big section on investigations. I also got a copy of Practical Skills in Biology by Allan Jones et al second hand from Amazon, which gives ideas of experimental procedures that are a bit more advanced.
Hope this helps!
One daughter did something to do with sea monkeys (I think!). The other did something to do with fat content in milk. If you want more details, let me know and I will ask them exactly what they involved. Lichen seems to ring a bell too.
I'd be reluctant to have anything to do with Daphnia - it's an easy an reliable experiment but "the effect of chemical X on dahnia heart rate" was raised at the markers' meeting a few years ago as an example of an investigation with no justification; we already know what the answer will be and who cares anyway? (Daphnia don't drink coffee/beer or take non-prescription drugs like aspirin)
Antimicrobial ones are fine but should move on from measuring the diameter of a clear zone - surely a bigger clear zone just indicates faster diffusion throught the agar so the results and therefore conclusion is not valid.
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