Who said that science fair projects always have to be about chemistry, physics and biology? Observing and experimenting with the behavior of people, men and women, young and old, can also be a fascinating and rewarding pursuit.
There are many ideas and experiments that elementary and high school students can do for their science fair projects on the subject of how people act and respond under different circumstances.
You will not need much at all in the way of expensive materials or hard to find testing equipment to do these projects on how people behave.
For example, have your student visit one or more local supermarkets to observe the behavior of the people shopping. You may want to divide the shoppers into four different groups for your experiment for science fair. You will observe boys and girls, men and women.
All you require other than a keen sense of observation, is a pad and a pencil. Of course taking photos of what you observe is also a good idea, because judges like to see photos on science fair project displays. But be sure to get permission from your subjects before using their photo!
You want to observe behavior, for example, on the checkout line. Here are some questions to ask:
- Do people wait their turn, or are they line-crashers?
- Are men more observant of the rules of getting on line than women? Are girls better behaved than boys?
- When it comes time to pay the bill, do people fuss for several minutes trying to find their checkbooks, or their money or their credit cards? Or are they ready to pay without making everyone wait interminably while they check out?
- Do people handle a dozen pieces of fruit before they pick the one or two that they want to buy?
- Do parents take care of their youngsters or let them run up down the aisles?
You can certainly think of many more interesting questions to ask for your science project.