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Zoology Science Fair Project

Bird's Eye Chili Extract and Cricket Survival

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Bird's Eye Chili Extract and Cricket Survival | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
Can chili extract work as an insect deterrent? You place ten crickets in each of four tanks. Each tank gets sprayed with a different concentration of Bird's Eye chili extract: 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. Every 30 minutes for two hours, you count how many crickets remain alive in each tank. The highest concentration killed all ten crickets within 60 minutes. The lowest concentration left nine out of ten alive after the full two hours.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that Bird's Eye chili extract will repel and even kill crickets.

Method & Materials

You will catch 40 crickets, grind 100 grams of Bird's Eye chili, mix it with water, and spray it into 4 tanks with 10 crickets each.
You will need 4 empty aquarium tanks with a cover each, a plastic container, 40 crickets, a food grinder, 4 spray dispensers, 100 grams of Bird's Eye chili, 400ml of distilled water, 4 beakers, 1 measuring cylinder, and a black marker pen.

Results

The experiment showed that the highest concentration of Bird's Eye chili juice killed all the crickets in the shortest amount of time. This proves that Bird's Eye chili extract can repel and even kill crickets.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting and unique because it uses a natural pesticide to repel and even kill crickets, instead of using chemical pesticides which can be harmful to our health.

Also Consider

Variations of this experiment could include using different types of peppers like capsicum, red chilies or green chilies, or using different types of insects like the grasshopper or praying mantis.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.

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