Hobbies And Interests
Chromatography Project
You can see a green leaf's spectrum of colors through chromatography. Collect several types of large green leaves from different trees, sort them by type, chop into small pieces and contain them in labeled jars. Add enough rubbing alcohol to the jars to cover all the leaves and press the leaves into the alcohol. Loosely cover the jars and place on a tray of hot tap water for about half an hour until the alcohol has darkened. Tape long, thin strips of coffee filter paper to the rim of the jar, dipping the ends into the alcohol. The alcohol will travel up the papers, and after about an hour and a half it will bring with it the color spectrum of the leaves. Dry and label the papers.
Insect Repellant Projects
Make an all-purpose insect spray by mixing 1 cup of rubbing alcohol with 1 quart of water. Alcohol sprays, according to W.S. Cranshaw of the Colorado State University Extension, work to fight insects such as mealy bugs. Test your concoction on a small leaf before spraying to make sure it does not burn the leaf; the spray needs to be diluted if leaf burns appear. Test the homemade spray's insecticide properties against a store-bought brand, or test natural insecticides versus homemade insecticides by misting the leaves of some contained aphid infested plants with rubbing alcohol and introducing ladybugs to another set of contained aphid infested plants.
Make Your Own Fungicide
Hydrogen peroxide can be used as an organic fungicide in the garden, according to researchers at the University of Kentucky. Test the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide against different types of plant fungus by misting it over the leaves of several contained plants. Organic fungicide can be tested against a store-bought non-organic pesticide for effectiveness by spraying one type of fungicide on several fungi-infected plants and the other fungicide on several of the same type of fungi-infected plants. Record the results, and take daily pictures.
Make Your Own Mouthwash
Hydrogen peroxide acts as a mouthwash when swished around in your mouth for 10 minutes each day, according to Carolyn Washburn of the Utah State University Extension, who explains that hydrogen peroxide kills germs by oxidation. Test hydrogen peroxide against store-bought brands of mouthwash, which typically use alcohol to kill germs, by having several people rinse their mouths with the hydrogen peroxide two hours after eating and then swabbing their mouths with cotton swabs. Wipe the cotton swabs onto sanitized petri dishes. Have the same people rinse their mouths with mouthwashes for a controlled period of time, spit and rinse with water. Take another swab and wipe into new petri dishes. Four days after the experiment, look at the petri dishes under a school microscope to discover which mouthwash killed the most bacteria.