What Not to Eat
Poison Safety for Elementary School Students
Topic Selection Process
The subject that I was interested in was environmental science and botany. This is, of course, a very broad spectrum and so I was able to come up with several ideas for possibe research topics.
As of the second week I narrowed down my topics to only poisonous plants and invasive species.
My finalized research question: How can the number of accidental poisoning deaths in elementary school children best be decreased through an educational program?
Poisonous Plants
For this topic my idea was to create an app with a dichotomous key for the quick identification of poisonous plants and treatments in case of ingestion. The difficulties of this are that I have no prior knowledge on creating an app, but another product may be possible if it is too difficult.
Invasive Species
For this topic my idea for a product was to create a plan to curb the spread of an invasive species in Texas or even find an environmentally safe way to eliminate the speices. Either an invasive plant or animal species would work but further research should be done especially on the consequences of removing these species.
Hybridized Fruit
I know little to nothing about hybrid fruits like pomelos and grapples, but the process and even possible benefits of hybrdizing fruit sounds very interesting. One question I would like to research would be is it is possible to create a more nutritious fruit that contains a diverse set of minerals and vitamins through hybridization.
Endangered Animals
My 8th grade TPSP project was a documentary on the Gulf Coast Jaguarundi, an endangered wildcat in Central America. This year I could build on my project and develop a reserve in Texas for Jaguarundis or find another endangered Texas animal to raise awareness about.