Awards Earned: 1st Place, Life Science, PCA Science Fair

Which bug spray works the best?

Off: Deep Woods will work the best, I think. The reason why I think so is because it is a popular brand and it is for deep woods. It should be strong because it is used for deep woods.

List of Equipment: apples (or any other sweet fruit)
different kinds of bug spray (at least 5)
table
sunny spot outside (over grass)
plates
notecards
pen
watch
knife
a day free of work in the summer

Control and Variables:

Control: a plate of apples with no bug spray on it
Variables: plates of apples with different repellent on them

Procedure:
1) Move table in sunny spot
2) Put plate on grass next to table with apple on it
3) Slice apple on the plate using knife
4) Apply repellent on the apples for five seconds (time with watch)
5) Put plate on table
6) Repeat steps 2-5 until all repellents are used
7) Either leave or wait there for one half-hour
8) Check to see if any had come
9) Record data on the notecard with pen
10) Repeat steps 7-9 for as long as you wish

The plate with less bugs on it, is the best repellent, because the bug repellent blocks the bug’s antenna from sensing the fruit. Therefore, the more that landed, the worse the product is.

The dish with no bug spray had 115 bugs land on it over a 5 1/2 hour period while the dish with Off: Deep Woods had 6 bugs land on it over the same period of time.

My hypothesis was correct. Bug Off: Deep Woods repelled the most bugs. It contained a high amount of DEET, a substance in bug spray used to repel bugs. However, when spraying the repellents on the plates, the grass around the plates was sprayed also, by accident. The grass that was sprayed turned brown. The apples did too. I think the amount of DEET applied on the grass killed it. DEET causes rashes, eye irritations, central nervous system problems, slurred speech, confusion, insomnia and mood changes in people. It has also been linked to several deaths. My one question is why does DEET harm things?

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I chose this verse because of what we use bug repellent for. We use bug repellent to keep bugs away. We want to keep bugs away, because bugs carry harmful diseases. The reason bugs carry disease is because Adam and Eve sinned. This verse shows that everyone sinned, not just a few.

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