# School project ideas - phytochemistry theme **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-project-ideas-phytochemistry-theme/555646 "2010-09-30T19:19:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-project-ideas-phytochemistry-theme/555646/1 "2010-09-30T19:19:57Z")
A nephew of mine was asking for ideas on a high school science project - I’m a chemist but have to say I was coming up empty for ideas to do at high school - we did talk about extracting something interesting from plants or seaweed and he seemed quite taken with the idea. Has anyone ever done something like this for a High School project? Say the kids go out and about collecting the plants, then perform a simple extraction to get a dye, say, or an interesting chemical. One that caught my eye on the web was extracting [extracting iodine from seaweed](http://www.practicalchemistry.org/experiments/extracting-iodine-from-seaweed,256,EX.html). Seems straightforward and potentially interesting - any teachers have experience of this one? My nephew lives in Ireland on the coast, so the seaweed angle is a good one I think. [I think I’ve seen threads on science project ideas before, but I thought with the somewhat narrow theme it would be OK to post a new one.] ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-project-ideas-phytochemistry-theme/555646/2 "2010-09-30T20:07:16Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > Has anyone ever done something like this for a High School project? Say the kids go out and about collecting the plants, then perform a simple extraction to get a dye, say, or an interesting chemical. Well…um…this guy I knew in college…when discovered gathering certain mushrooms from piles of cow shit, told a dubious farmer he was collecting samples for a botany project. I understand some very interesting chemicals were later extracted therefrom…but I wouldn’t suggest that for a high school project. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-project-ideas-phytochemistry-theme/555646/3 "2010-09-30T20:54:21Z")
What kind of access to chemicals and glassware does he have? For a rather simple extraction, there’s the pH indicator from [cabbage](http://chemistry.about.com/od/acidsbase1/a/red-cabbage-ph-indicator.htm) experiment though it’s somewhat well-known and done by many students. At a more complex end there’s the extraction of eugenol from cloves, which is a very common first-year organic chemistry lab. He’d need access to steam distillation glassware, though. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-project-ideas-phytochemistry-theme/555646/4 "2010-09-30T21:27:56Z")
I’ve got lots of ideas, but they’re all from Agatha Christie novels. Foxglove, yew, tobacco… ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-project-ideas-phytochemistry-theme/555646/5 "2010-09-30T21:29:10Z")
Thks for the replies (both :)). I think he just has access to the real basics, like beakers and maybe some simple reagents and solvents. The cabbage experiment is an excellent suggestion - I’ll suggest that one. I don’t really know how much creativity is needed in project choice and whether lifting something straight off the net is OK - my feeling is that it’s more about the execution at his stage so well-described experiments are fine. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-project-ideas-phytochemistry-theme/555646/6 "2010-09-30T21:34:48Z")
Using paper towels or filter paper, and isopropyl alcohol, you could do a chromatography experiment, looking at different pigments etc… in the plants around the house, in leafy vegetables etc…