Test different insect repellents to see what works best.
Insects, especially mosquitos, pose a pesky problem. Not only are they annoying while swarming around your face, their resulting bites can be itchy and unsightly. Conduct an experiment for a science project, or just for fun, that tests different insect repellents. One of the hardest parts of this project will be trying to gather some volunteers who don't mind the possibility of getting bitten by insects, and finding a location with plenty of insects. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Purchase several types of insect repellents. Look at the ingredient labels for the active ingredients and their percentages. Some products will use natural ingredients, while others use chemicals.
2. Apply the repellents to your volunteers, following manufacturer's instructions. Depending upon the number of volunteers you have and the number of repellents, you purchased, you might be able to use one repellent per volunteer, or you may need to apply a different repellent to each arm.
3. Expose the volunteers to the insects, and time them. Observe how the insects react to the repellents and the volunteers. You may find that some insects stay away from the volunteers altogether. Other repellents may cause the insect to land, but not bite the volunteer.
4. Record your findings, including the time that the volunteers were exposed to the insects, and draw your conclusions as to which insect repellent worked the best. Take photos of bites, especially on volunteers who suffered lots of bug bites.
5. Retest the repellents at a different time of the day or location to see if the results are the same.
Tags: insect repellents, different insect, different insect repellents