BE
AN EXPERT 
BE
AN EXPERT
Last Updated: 11 Oct 2008
Be an Expert was created for my science students who want to enhance what we are studying or learn about a topic that interests them. These are not overnight assignments. Visit our Life Science Web, SmithLifeScience.
You may complete individual projects and turn
them in for extra credit attached to any assignment.
You may also choose projects tha equal 100 points. Turn them all in when you are
finished.
Archaeology
Be an archaeologist. Learn about the past! What does an archaeologist do? What tools
do they use? Investigate an archaeological site of your choice. Create a time capsule or
study garbage. Study Native Americans, build a teepee, explore past civilizations
and the Wonders of the World. Make your own list of "Wonders." Who was the
Kennewick Man? Investigate artifacts.
Astronomy
Just Started.
Birds
Be an ornithologist. Identify birds by sight and sound while learning about the birds that
inhabit your area. Discover interesting facts about birding while you make a bird
feeder and make a bird population count. Send your data to the Cornell University
Bird Watch.
Coin Collecting
Be a numasist. Want to try a new hobby? Learn about collecting coins.
Where are they made. Collect state quarters. Coins from the year you were
born. Whose face is that on a $100 bill? Collect foreign money.
Collections
Do you have a hobby? Do you collect anything? Baseball cards, rocks,
postcards, dolls, basketball cards, Yugioh cards. Become an expert of your
collection. How did you get started collecting? How do you take care of your
collection? What is your collection worth? How is your collection organized?
Dogs
Do you have a dog? Become an expert on dogs. Learn about there diseases and
parasites. Take care of a dog for one month. Find out how much it costs to
keep a dog for a year or for its whole life.
Endangered
Species
Just started.
Environmental
Science
Be an Environmental Scientist. Environmental History, experiment with habitats, create a
terrarium, world population, crickets, birds, cycles, energy, biomes, and endangered
species are the topics you will learn about.
Fish
Become an ichthyologist! Draw a goldfish. Find out about tunafish. Make your own
aquarium. Find out what is happening to fish populations.
Geology
Just Started
Human Body
Just Started
Inquiry
Investigation
Be a scientist. Design and conduct your own scientific investigation.
Insect Study
Be an Entomologist. Start an Insect Collection, raise a praying mantis, identify insect
orders, make a butterfly model, investigate the death of bee hives, build an ant farm.
Watch a caterpillar build a cocoon and emerge as an adult.
Invertebrate
Study
Be a Zoologist. Research sponges, stinging-celled animals, worms, shelled animals, and
animals with jointed legs. Snails, squids, earthworms, crabs, and millipedes all
have one thing in common..no backbone.
Mammals
Be a Mammalogist. Learn about mammal characteristics, groups, orders, classification, food
chains, farm animals, breeds horses and animal diseases. Diagram horses, cows, pigs,
sheep, and rabbits.
Marine
Biology
Be a Marine Biologist! Collect living organisms from the classroom aquarium.
Identify species in the Plankton, Nekton, Benthos areas of the oceans.
Identify plankton. Create your own plankton. Research oil spills. Identify
marine reptiles. Draw marine food chains. Study whales. Experiment with
salt water.
Microbiolgy
Just started
Mississippi
River
Map the river and its tributaries. Learn about the Mississippi Hall of Fame people.
What is the "Dead Zone"? Write river poetry. Choose food from a
Cajun menu. Identify Mississippi River fish. Research your own questions. Write an
environmental report. Record and average data on your water usage.
Nature
Be an Ecologist. Explore plants, food chains, birds, mammals, snakes, reptiles,
amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, and geology. Make a terrarium or a bird feeder.
Identify plants and seeds. Make an insect or rock collection.
Oceanography
Be an Oceanographer. Map the oceans, experiment with salinity, make an ocean diorama,
explore hydrothermal vents, map the sea floor, identify ocean life.
Paleontology
Just started.
Pets
Dogs, fish, cats, snakes, ferrets......what pet do you want to become the expert of.
Want a new pet? Write a proposal to convince your parents. How much
does a pet really cost? Identify pet species.
Plant Science
Be a Botanist. Diagram a flower, propagate a plant, identify trees and leaves, experiment
with plants, make a seed book, map your school yard.
Rainforests
Be an ecologist, an environmentalist, or a botanist. Locate rainforests on a map.
Experiment with rainforest soils. Research a rain forest animal. Do a weather comparison
study. Identify rainforest products you use. Experiment with plants. Do a
field study of One Square Foot of ground.
Reptiles
& Amphibians
Be a Herpotologist. Identify amphibian and reptile species, observe the development of
frog eggs and tadpoles, raise a reptile.
Sharks
Be an ichthyologist. Identify dangerous sharks and research shark myths and facts.
Determine how much a shark eats and what does it cost to feed a shark.
Identify shark orders and their members. Learn about physical
characteristics. Design and create Shark Cards and design an experiment.
Stamp
Collecting
Be a Philatelist. Learn the stamp terms. Use the tools of stamp collecting. How much did
it cost in the past to mail a letter? Choose a collection topic that interests you.
Collect USA, World, or topical stamps. Design your own stamp. Go on a
scavenger hunt.
Trees
Identify the national trees of foreign countries. Identify the state trees. Identify
leaves. Be a landscape architect.
Volcanoes
Coming Soon!
Weather
Be a Meteorologist. Make a Cloud Wheel, learn about weather records, make a barometer,
keep a weather log, read a weather map, research tornadoes.