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APPLIED SCIENCE (FORENSIC SCIENCE)

Introduction

As part of the course, students are tasked with undertaking an independent research project in an area that interests them.

From here, the students have carried out a scientific literature search and review, considered the project’s aims and objectives, produced a realistic plan and safely carried out the project using their scientific investigation skills and project management skills.

As a result, they've prepared an evaluative report that they a proud to share with employers, fellow students and aspiring forensic scientists.

BLAKE SMITH

I chose to do this project because I enjoyed the Hooke’s law experiment.

After the spring was permanently deformed, I compressed it in my hands and noticed how it looked the same as it did before. From this, I considered the possibility of compressing the spring with enough force and time to be able to reverse the effect of the spring being permanently deformed. If this were possible, the outcome would allow the college to save money by being able to reuse existing springs for future experiments.

I decided to use heat as part of the experiment as I had read a paper that suggested heat and force might have a greater effect.

I enjoy doing research and after college, I would be interested in working as a laboratory technician.

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CHLOE MARRIOTT

For my project, I wanted to test the effect that alcohol has on the heart rate of a daphnia, as if alcohol decreases its heart rate dramatically, then I can make an educated assumption that it will do the same or similar to a human.

Changes in heart rate can cause a variety of heart diseases that can have life-changing symptoms and effects and can also lead to death in extreme cases. Therefore, by conducting this experiment I want to provide evidence as to why frequent drinkers should lower the frequency and quantity of the alcohol they drink because it can have devastating effects on health.

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ELISHA MORLEY

My unit 6 investigation project was about the effect of pH on bones.

I de-fleshed the lamb bones, cut them to remove the marrow, and then submerged them in three different pH solutions. The effects on these bones were then shown through a titration to see how the calcium was affected.

This was remarkably interesting to me because I want to become a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist and this project involved the study of bones and ancient artefacts. Furthermore, it has given me an insight into texture appearance and the way bones react to different atmospheres, which will benefit me in university whilst I study these subjects.

In the future, I hope to open my own laboratory purely around this and to be able to study what happened to people and the artefacts that came with them.

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HOPE BUTTERWORTH

I chose to conduct an experiment associated with smoking because i wanted to have an insight into the potential risks associated with nicotine and smoking, as I'm a smoker myself.

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JACK FAIRBANK

The effects of electricity on plants have been studied for over 200 years. Electricity was often tested on plants in Britain between the first and second world wars (The Gardens Trust L.1, 04/09/2021).

There are many theories as to why electricity has an effect on plants and why some plants react differently to electricity.

I was interested in performing this experiment because research has been conducted over a long period of time (Electroculture | The Gardens Trust) and produced varying results based on the plant type used and the amount of electrical charge flowing through the plant. I wanted to see what result I would get with a low voltage electrical current flowing through my cress plant.

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JACK TAYLOR

The reason I chose to do this experiment is that world hunger is still one of the leading causes of death in less developed countries.

I think that one way to stop this would be through using scientific methods to grow crops at an exponential rate, thus stopping millions of needless deaths.

This experiment also would help me to get into university and other jobs as it proves that I can conduct my own experiment.

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KAYLA SANSOM

I chose to research the psychological and physiological effects of caffeine as I am interested in the psychology of addiction as well as neuroscience. This is an area I wish to go on to study at university and one day possibly work with addiction in the health sector.

As of this moment in time, I have applied to study courses including psychology and psychology with mental health at university. I am hoping this will lead me into a career where I can work with all aspects of mental health but addiction in particular. Addiction and dependency is a subject that interests me and inspired me to carry out this investigation as the effect of caffeine was unclear to peers around me so this study alerted them to the dangers associated with it.

I enjoyed this project as I got to work with people and study their behaviours, which correlates to what I wish to do in the future.

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KULVEER KAUR

This project relates to my future career of becoming an independent pharmacist.

This study demonstrates that I conducted research on one of the most essential vitamins, Vit C, and how it plays a vital role in the human body.

As a result, I chose this project relating to health and wellbeing since I have an interest in helping patients with their diagnosis

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LEAH ROBERTS

I chose this project because I enjoy physics and this project relates to it. The thing I most enjoyed about the projects was filling the capillaries with oil.

At university I want to study radiography as it links to the physics side of medicine, such as like x-rays.

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MEGAN HARMIESON

I find bacteria extremely interesting, especially how it manages to survive in extreme conditions.

I wanted to be able to discover how prominent bacteria was in everyday life, especially in something as common and passed around as money.

In my experiment I aimed to discover if different variations of coins changed the bacteria that could grow on them, and if any possessed an antibacterial properties.

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NATHAN RICHARDSON

I wanted to test how well a mealworm can get through a maze under the influence of creatine as there is varying evidence stating it can affect cognitive function.

Creatine is sometimes taken by athletes to improve strength and increase lean muscle mass. It has also been linked to short-term improvement in memory and reasoning in humans.

As I couldn’t test on a large sample of humans, I chose mealworms as a suitable subject to study.

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RAE GREASLEY

I am interested in this project because the acidity of seawater is a major factor in the deaths of coral reefs. As the water becomes more acidic, the coral becomes bleached and white; consequently killing it. This is really upsetting in my opinion as I care a lot about the survival of ocean life, and I find the ocean very fascinating in general.

Coral reefs are a large part of the ecosystem of the oceans and they host thousands of different marine life species around the globe (NOAA- 02/26/21).

As I could not experiment on coral as it is hard to acquire, too expensive and difficult to maintain which would create unfair test conditions, I chose to test on how the acidity of water affects algae, in the form of marimo moss balls.

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TIFFANY WINFIELD-BUFF

This project comes from a personal interest of mine: how different drugs will affect your body and why some medications are mixed with other types of drugs.

This project aims to study and examine under a microscope the decrease or increase of heart rate in daphnia after exposure to different amounts of codeine and water solution.

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