Stuck for ideas for your project? Interested in plants? Here are some ideas. Get into the habit of asking yourself some simple questions about your observations of the biology of the plants around you. It is quite likely that, sooner or later, one of your questions will turn into a good project.

Duckweeds look like simple plants: small, green, and with no flowers. But this simplicity makes them ideal experimental organisms for labs, or for your own investigations. Using duckweeds, you can investigate a variety of environmental topics, including pollution, competition, and many more.

What are the mechanisms behind bruising and browning of fruit, and how does it protect damaged plants against both bacterial and fungal disease? In this project starter, you’ll investigate the enzyme activity in plant tissues.

Have you cut open a freshly picked apple (or newly dug potato) and seen how quickly it goes brown? Then compare this with an apple or potato stored for several weeks. Which do you think goes brown more quickly? In the process of ripening, followed by senescence or spoilage, the activity of a range of different enzymes may change and indeed may be different in different fruits or vegetables. This offers possibilities for a wide range of enzyme-based investigations.

Fruits evolved as a means of dispersing the offspring of the plant (the seeds) well away from the parent plant, by tempting animals to eat the fruit. Sweetness and sourness is key to making sure that the fruit is eaten by the animals only when the seeds are ripe. In this project starter, you’ll think about how you can investigate the levels of sweetness and sourness in fruit.

Yeasts are versatile micro-organisms, used for centuries to produce bread and alcoholic drinks. The yeast goes through a series of different treatments to develop the huge variety of different end products. In this investigation, you will investigate the process of autolysis.

Have you thought about respiratory activity in fruits and vegetables after they have been harvested? This project starter looks at a variety of ways in which you can study the metabolic rate of plant tissues such as fruit and vegetables.

How many times do you see a product claiming to be antibacterial, antifungal or both? This project starter explains how to go about testing the validity of these claims, and suggests some possible project titles.

What makes unripe fruit green? And what health benefits might yellow fruit have compared to green fruit? In this project starter, you'll look at the the changes in pigments present during the ripening process, and consider the benefits of these pigments in the diet.

An extract from the bark of Yew trees is used in the treatment of cancer as it has an inhibitory effect on cancer cell growth. Other conifers contain nti-bacterial agents which may be effective against MRSA. In this project starter, you’ll look at the inhibitory effects of conifer extracts on plant and microbial growth.