Project ideas

Students can choose any project they wish that conforms to the aims of the competition. Students are encouraged to use data collected from (for example) a science class. You may have collected data in biology about the best conditions for growing bean spouts. What a great idea for a Statistics Competition poster!

Project guidelines

Remember to read the general project guidelines before starting.

Previous winners

For inspiration take a look at some previous winning posters:

• 2007 winners
• 2006 winners

Project ideas

Some ideas to get you started are given here. Don't feel restricted by the ideas listed; any topic can be chosen as long as it is statistical and sensible.

Examples requiring data collection

Splat that! (Physics) (PDF 32 kb) - Objective: To describe the accuracy and reliability of a simple catapult.

Ants for lunch (Biology) (PDF 29 kb) - Objective: To determine whether ants are more attracted to jam sandwiches or meat sandwiches.

Kids Bizz (Psychology) (PDF 27 kb) - Objective: To explore the relationships between smoking, drinking, pocket money and parental marital status.

Tack toss (Probability) (PDF 25 kb) - Objective: To determine the chance of a thumb tack landing point down.

Example projects from the CensusAtSchool website

Full descriptions of these examples are found by going to the Australian CensusAtSchool website and then clicking on your appropriate State or Territory.

Being Australian similarities and differences (years 7-10) - Students will use birth place and the language spoken at home to begin an examination of cultural diversity. The activity extends through to discussing what is important about being Australian.

Are males better drivers than females? (years 7-10) - Students compare the mean and median reaction times of males and females. Box plots can be used as a measure of spread. Excel functions can be used to construct a summary table and draw appropriate graphs.

Eye colour (years 5-8) - Students conduct a survey of eye colour within their class. They can use Excel to construct appropriate graphs and make comparisons with other communities.

Could the footprint belong to the person in the image? (years 7-10) - Students join a forensic team to see if a foot print at a crime scene matches a security camera image. They can use Excel to investigate the relationship between belly button height, foot length and height.

Other ideas

There are numerous other ideas also; here are a few:

• Transport
  • How old are the cars on the road?
  • Cycling injuries: Helmets, do they make a difference?
  • Who uses which forms of transport and why?
• Sport
  • Do fit people sweat more than unfit people?
  • Can the winner of a rugby match be picked at halftime?
  • How do resting and standing pulse rates vary across age and gender?
• Science
  • Does buttered bread always land buttered side down?
  • How does the boiling point of water change with concentration of dissolved salt?
  • What factors determine the coefficient of friction?
  • Are extra-life batteries worth the extra expense?
  • How do plant germination times vary under different conditions?
  • How does the level of ant activity change with temperature?
  • How fast do cups of water lose their heat?
  • Do bananas keep better in the fridge wrapped in foil, cling wrap, or in a natural state?
  • Does fruit ripen faster when placed in a paper bag with bananas? Does this work with all fruits, or just some?
• Psychology
  • Does reaction time vary with age?
  • How does short term memory retention vary across various groups?
• Marketing
  • Do generic brands taste different?
  • Can people distinguish amongst brands of tea/coffee/cola by taste alone?
  • Are opinions affected by advertising?
  • How knowledgeable are people about nutrition?
• Behaviour
  • How much do people eat?
  • At what age do people take up smoking?
  • How much do teenagers drink?
  • How do homework habits vary with grade/sex/type of school?
  • Do people prefer Cola poured from a Coke or Pepsi bottle? (In fact, unknown to them, both bottles contain a generic brand.)
• Opinions
  • What subjects should be taught in schools?

There are plenty of other options also. Don't feel restricted by the suggestions given here; they are just ideas.