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Fifth Grade Science Fair Projects for Left or Right Hand

An experiment involving handedness at a science fair is a way for children to learn about genetic theories and the way the brain works. According to Clare Porac, a professor of psychology at Pennsylvania State University, about 85 percent of the population is right-handed, while the others favor the left. Recent breakthroughs in genetics have actually found the gene for this difference. Before fifth graders attempt to conduct experiments involving handedness it's a good idea to teach them about genetics and brain anatomy. Students can then recreate what they know from the classroom in a science fair demonstration.

Mirror Writing
- One science fair project involves students at a science fair being given a mirror writing test. Mirror writing is the act of writing text as it would appear when held to a mirror. Take 10 left-handed students and 10 right-handed students and use a sample piece of text. Test each person, one at a time, and use a stopwatch to record how fast the participants can write the words and evaluate the accuracy. This determines how the quality and speed of mirror writing is affected by handedness. Most often left-handed people will write mirror text more quickly and accurately.
Hand Sensitivity
- This experiment uses light sensation and a drawn grid to determine the sensitivity of hands and if there is any correlation to handedness. Take several students and determine if they are left-handed or right-handed. Outline the shape of their hands on pieces of grid paper. Lightly poke one student's face-up hand with different pressures. Tell her to pinpoint where the most sensation occurred on the grid paper that has her hand outlined on it. Repeat the process with her other hand and check the results. Repeat with the other students. This demonstrates which hand may be more sensitive to stimulation. Often it is the dominant hand that feels more sensitively.
Mental Process of Handedness
- In this experiment, children can learn how the brain works in regard to handedness. The left side of the brain is dominant in right-handed people and known to give an advantage in memory and language, while the left side is known for creativity and philosophical concepts. Take seven right-handed and seven left-handed students. Put a single number on 12 separate index cards and shuffle them. Show the students each index card for ten seconds, making sure to cover up each card after it is seen. Then tell them to write down the numbers in order they came up. Score the responses and determine if left-handed or right-handed people answered more correctly. This experiment may determine which side of the brain is dominant for recalling numbers.
Handedness and Gender
- For this experiment the statement "Pink is for girls and blue is for boys" is tested. It also tests whether the location of an object closest to a person's dominant hand influences the selection of an object. Take two cupcakes and set them in front of a boy. Put a pink cupcake near the boy's dominant hand and blue cupcake by the other hand. Repeat the process for girls, but put the blue cupcake near their dominant hands. This experiment determines if gendered colors influence boys and girls and if handedness or color is dominant.

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