Ideas Worth Investigating - IB Biology - Scientific Investigation (first assessment 2025)

Ideas!

11th grade IBDP student in IB Biology class Check out the links on this page to get ideas for your scientific investigation.

Citizen Science Projects
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Science Fair Project Ideas
Vernier Probes and Sensors
Yeast Experiments
Zooniverse: People-Powered Research

Citizen Science Projects

What Is Citizen Science?

Research often involves teams of scientists collaborating across continents. Now, using the power of the Internet, non-specialists are participating, too. Citizen scientists can view videos taken by scientists of animals in the wild or listen to audio files of whale songs and then act as volunteer classifiers. Citizen scientists can also join with others to make specific observations of the natural world, such as summer fireflies in New England or birds on Christmas Day.

The following are Citizen Science Projects that collect data. You may be able to access their data or get ideas for good research topics.

Arizona's Ornate Box Turtle Watch
Ornate box turtles in Arizona are difficult to find, and, unfortunately, they may be declining. Concerned about their populations, the Arizona Game and Fish Department developed the Ornate Box Turtle Watch so that citizen scientists can be their "eyes" in the field by reporting any observations of wild box turtles. This approach relies on data gathered from chance encounters by people driving, hiking, birding, or pursuing other watchable wildlife activities in box turtle habitat in southeastern Arizona. The project is now hosted by iNaturalist.org.

Audubon Christmas Bird Count
A hemispheric community science program with a century of history behind it. The nation's longest-running community science bird project fuels Audubon's work throughout the year. The Christmas Bird Count occurs December 14 to January 5 every season.

Box Turtle Connection
The Box Turtle Connection is a long-term study on Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina) in North Carolina. Our purpose is to learn more about the status and trends in Box Turtle populations, identify threats, and develop strategies for long term conservation of the species. Volunteer lay-scientists are trained in data collection The Box Turtle Connection aims to: study how box turtle populations differ across the state, determine the status of box turtles in North Carolina, and determine factors that limit box turtle populations.

Budburst
Budburst citizen scientists work together with research scientists, educators, and horticulturists to answer specific, timely, and critical ecological research questions by making careful observations of the timing of plant life cycle events. These life events differ depending upon the type of plant, but usually include leafing, flowering, and fruiting phases of plants as well as leaf color and senescence.These observations are used to better understand how plant species and ecosystems respond to changes in climate locally, regionally, and nationally.

Bumble Bee Watch
Bumble Bee Watch is a collaborative effort to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. This community science project allows individuals to: Upload photos of bumble bees to start a virtual bumble bee collection; Identify the bumble bees in their photos and have your identifications verified by experts; Help researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees; Help locate rare or endangered populations of bumble bees; Learn about bumble bees, their ecology, and ongoing conservation efforts; and Connect with other community scientists.

Chimp & See
In Chimp & See, visitors to the website watch videos taken by various camera traps in Africa. As they mark the behavior of chimpanzees and other animals, they help researchers learn more about both the environment and human evolution.

COASST (Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team)
Volunteers identify birds by their feet. COASST is a collaboration of citizens of coastal communities, natural resource management agencies and environmental organizations; University of Washington researchers translate individual data into baselines against which any impact—from human or natural origins—can be assessed.

GLOBE Observer: Clouds
GLOBE Observer: Clouds is an app-based tool that helps citizen scientists document what they see in the sky. Once users have downloaded the app and created an account, the Clouds tool guides them through the observation process. Clouds are a major component of the Earth’s system that reflect, absorb, and scatter sunlight and infrared emissions from Earth. This affects how energy passes through the atmosphere. Different types of clouds have different effects, and the amount of cloud cover is also important. Clouds can change rapidly, so frequent observations are useful to track these changes. Such observations are able to see change over time and help with interpretation of satellite cloud data.

GLOBE Observer: Land Cover
GLOBE Observer: Land Cover is an app-based tool that can help citizen scientists document what is on the land (land cover). Once they have downloaded the app and created accounts, the Land Cover tool guides them through the observation process. Land cover is the base dataset for many areas of critical science, including hazard analysis for floods, fires and landslides, mapping wildlife habitat, and tracking the impacts of climate change. Even though land cover is familiar to everyone on the planet, the most detailed satellite-based maps of global land cover are still on the order of hundreds of meters [about 330 feet] per pixel. That means that a park in a city may be too small to show up on the global map. GLOBE Observer: Land Cover can fill in local gaps and contribute to consistent, detailed global maps.

GLOBE Observer: Mosquito Habitat Mapper
GLOBE Observer: Mosquito Habitat Mapper is an app-based tool that can help citizen scientists document mosquito habitats and identify mosquito types. Once users have downloaded the app and created accounts, the Mosquito Habitat Mapper tool will guide them through the observation process. Mosquitoes are a serious health risk: millions of people die each year from mosquito-borne disease. While climate and weather conditions can suggest to scientists where to expect spikes in mosquito populations during the year, we don’t know for sure what is happening unless we make observations on the ground. By reporting possible mosquito habitats through the app, GLOBE Observers are able to augment broad scale satellite-based research with highly targeted local ground-based observations.

GLOBE Observer: Trees
GLOBE Observer: Trees is NOAA's app-based tool that will helps citizen scientists to estimate tree height. The Trees tool guides them through the observation process. Observing tree height allows NASA scientists to understand the gain or loss of biomass which can inform calculations of the carbon that trees and forests either take in from or release into the atmosphere. Tracking how trees are changing over time can help scientists estimate the number of trees that make up an area.

Lost Ladybug Project
Across North America ladybug species composition is changing. Over the past twenty years native ladybugs that were once very common have become extremely rare. During this same time ladybugs from other parts of the world have greatly increased both their numbers and range. This is happening very quickly and we don’t know how, or why, or what impact it will have on ladybug diversity or the role that ladybugs play in keeping plant-feeding insect populations low. We're asking you to join us in finding out where all the ladybugs have gone so we can try to prevent more native species from becoming so rare. The public can help scientists by taking inventory, finding, identifying, and photographing them.

NASA Citizen Science Projects
Links to NASA’s current citizen science projects: collaborations between scientists and interested members of the public. Through these projects, volunteers and amateurs have helped make thousands of important scientific discoveries. The 29 projects are open to everyone around the world (no citizenship required). One caution: not all of the NASA projects have an accessible dataset.

Notes From Nature
This collection of thousands of specimen images, labels and ledgers from museum collections contain information about the where and when a species was found in the past. Visitors to the site help biologist transcribe that data and make it available for further use in biodiversity and conservation research.

Project Noah
Project Noah is a software platform designed to help people connect with the natural world and learn about wildlife. It enables amateurs and professionals alike to create and share multimedia nature journals. Our community is harnessing the power of new mobile technologies to collect important ecological data and help preserve global biodiversity. The Project Noah community includes 350,000+ nature journals, 825,000+ wildlife spottings and 1.5 million+ geotagged wildlife photographs.

SciStarter
SciStarter is an online community dedicated to improving the citizen science experience for project managers and participants. Over 1,400 projects and events are searchable by location, scientific topic, and age level, and by joining SciStarter, members can track their contributions and provide valuable feedback. SciStarter also supports researchers in managing projects, including best practices for engaging participant partners.

USA National Phenology Network
USA National Phenology Network sponsors Nature’s Notebook, a national phenology program in which professional and citizen scientists, non-profit groups, educators, and students of all ages record long-term observations of plant and animal life stages. The goal of this program is to monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the United States. You can explore phenology models and maps and download observed data on their website.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a leader in the study, appreciation, and conservation of birds. Through their programs they aim to advance the understanding of nature and to engage people of all ages in learning about birds and protecting the planet. They host the eBird database in collaboration with organizations, regional experts, and users ("eBirders") all over the world.

eBird is the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year by eBirders around the world. eBird data document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends through checklist data collected within a simple, scientific framework. Birders enter when, where, and how they went birding, and then fill out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. Access this database by creating an account with a username and password. eBird includes population data from The Great Backyard Bird Count, maps of citizen-created bird habitat from Habitat Network. bird songs and calls from Macaulay Library, nest camera data from NestWatch, and sightings at bird feeders from Project FeederWatch. These citizen science projects at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provide a way for people to learn about birds, habitats, science, and conservation while contributing to real scientific studies.

Great Backyard Bird Count
Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share.Citizen scientists count for as little as 15 minutes in their own backyards to help Audubon expand their understanding of birds

Macaulay Library
An extensive scientific archive of natural history audio, video, and photographs. Although the Macaulay Library is best known for its collection of bird songs and calls, the collection also includes amphibians, fishes, and mammals, and the library preserves recordings of each species’ behavior and natural history.

NestWatch
Volunteers help scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology by collecting data on the successes and failures of nesting birds by tracking nests, clutches, broods, and fledglings. NestWatch is a nationwide monitoring program designed to track status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds, including when nesting occurs, number of eggs laid, how many eggs hatch, and how many hatchlings survive.

Project FeederWatch
Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. This data helps scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology track broad-scale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.

Another resource available on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website:

Students as Scientists: Nature-Based Inquiry
Students as Scientists: Nature-Based Inquiry is the K-12 education program of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It is differentiated into two age groups: Grades K-5 and Grades 6-12. They take an inquiry-based approach to science curriculum that engages kids in scientific study and real data collection through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s citizen-science projects. Look through the Students as Scientists curriculum resources for teachers for Grades 6-12 for ideas for your scientific investigation.

Science Fair Project Ideas

Algae Research Supply
A collection of curated activities, lesson plans, and project ideas for studying algae, organized by educational level, including high school and college/university. The Algae Research Supply website also has other resources for understanding and studying algae.
All Science Fair Projects
Hundreds of science fair projects in organized by subject area and grade level. Look for projects in biology, microbiology, biochemistry, and medicine.
Practical Biology
A collection of experiments that demonstrate a wide range of biological concepts and processes. Experiments are placed within real-life contexts, and have links to carefully selected further reading. Each experiment also includes information and guidance for technicians. Presented by the Royal Society of Biology and the Nuffield Foundation.
Science Buddies
An online library of over 1300 project ideas, which are detailed scientist-authored outlines that help students create a project in any of 30 different fields of science and engineering. Presented by Science Buddies, a 501c3 public charity.

Vernier Probes and Sensors

WSA's probes and sensors come from Vernier, an Oregon company that specializes in equipment and books that help students collect, analyze, and interpret scientific data.

Your instructor (Karen Mattick) owns three Vernier lab books with full write-ups for experiments in biology using Vernier equipment. Each book has instructions for more than 30 experiments on various topics in biology, with tips for successful completion, reagent preparation information, sample data, and more. Karen will be glad to let you look through her books to get ideas for your scientific investigation.

WSA owns these Vermier sensors, meters, and probes:

oxygen gas sensor
carbon dioxide gas sensor
temperature probe
pH probe
gas pressure sensor
salinity probe
light meter

Yeast Experiments

A Classroom Guide to Yeast Experiments
The articles in this guide describe genetics and radiation experiments using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), a popular eukaryotic microbe for genetics and molecular biology research. They include student experiments and techniques, teacher tips, background material, integrated applications to environmental science, math, and physics, and sources of supplies. Presented by the Genetics Education Network (the GENE Project) of Kansas State University.

Zooniverse: People-Powered Research

What is the Zooniverse?

The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for citizen scientist research across many fields in the sciences, humanities, and more. Disciplines related to IB Biology include biology, climate science, medicine, and nature. More than a million people around the world work with professional researchers, resulting in new discoveries, datasets useful to the wider research community, and many publications. Zooniverse is a collaboration between Oxford University, The Adler Planetarium, The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and many other institutions around the world.

Zooniverse Projects
Provides links to all of the Zooniverse research projects - active, paused, and finished - more than 250 in total! Filter by discipline to narrow down choices. Discipline options include Art, Biology, Climate Science, History, Language, Literature, Medicine, Nature, Physics, Social Science, and Space. Or use the drop-down menu on the left side to filter by 'Most Recently Launched,' 'Most Active Help Needed,' 'Most Popular,' 'or 'Most Recently Updated.'

IB Biology - Scientific Investigation (first assessment 2025): Ideas Worth Investigating