Senior Project Hands-on Projects
You may write about your hands-on experience in your paper (if you are able to finish it before then). Your hands-on experience will be the core of your
Senior Project presentation. Below are actual senior project hands-on experiences.
Criteria for Hands-on Project:
● Quality of documentation
● Evidence of new learning/challenge
● Relevance to research topic
● Clear evidence of 15+ hours of work
● Creativity and “wow” factor
A level
Topic
B level
Project
Topic
Project
C-D level
Project
Electric Cars
Rebuilt a car – including photos with
demonstrating progress
Music and
Imagery
Created an original music video
Creativity
Created own language code
Folk Music
Writing a few original folk songs (was not
finished)
Electronic
Sports
Playing electronic sports games, no
documentation or purpose.
Youth and Crime
-Participated in MV Academy Program (2
months)
-Middle School mentorship program
-San Mateo County Jail Tour
Indian
Culture
Participated in 3-4 family traditional
customs and ceremonies – didn’t
participate previously.
Video Game
Addiction
Interviewing 15 gamers and asking about their
addictions, no documentation beyond quotes
from “anonymous” participants.
Concussions
Built a prototype of a mouth-guard
measuring head impact data; Stanford lab
team; developing coding systems
Becoming a
music
reviewer
Alternative
Medicine
Did a few sessions of Bikram Yoga – poorly
documented
Aging
Volunteered with Santa Clara County
Senior Orchestra; 10 sessions every other
Wed.; 2 hour sessions each.
Designed two longboards from scratch, one
with a design and one without. (Process
took 6 months, solicited feedback from
several people
The benefits
of religion or
spirituality
The mistaken
link between
materialism
and
happiness
Brought in 5-6 reviews that he had
written. Before starting, had received
advice from a professional music
reviewer.
Became a Christian for 30 days (attended
church every Sunday, went to youth
group, prayed before meals and bed)
Created a personal blog practicing the
habit of not being materialistic
Youth and
the Prison
System
Undocument
ed
Immigration
-Attended a court case arranged by father
-Interviewing people
-No documentation
Printed out Dream Act documents (F)
The effects of
design on a
product
Anxiety
Creating an anxiety journal and “tracking”
anxiety levels over 15 days
Topic
Fear
Introversion
Taking a helicopter ride on Maui vacation –
poorly documented – could have been photos
from a family vacation taken last year.
Reading a book; trying to be extroverted for a
day – no documentation
A level
B level
Project
Understanding
Feminism
(focused on
women who
work)
The significance
of cult film
Designed website and gathered information
about STEM programs for girls; promoted
website to schools. (Solicited feedback
from women’s studies professor)
Animal
testing
Made and brought in three different
beauty products that she uses. Said it took
much trial and error. Process could have
documented more fully.
Buddhism
Visited a Buddhist temple on summer
vacation and took pictures – obviously tried to
pawn off a trip as a “project”.
Train and then join the shadow cast for The
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Becoming a
music
reviewer
Brought in 5-6 reviews that he had
written. Before starting, had received
advice from a professional music
reviewer.
Homeopathic
Medicine
Started a blog about experiences (little thought
in terms of audience and purpose)
Nutrition and the
Athlete
Went on a paleo diet. Created Instagram
with dozens of photos of foods she
prepared. Worked out with a trainer and
did tests before and during the diet that
showed changes in performance. Brought
in paleo muffins to share with the class.
Habits
Stopping the habit of eating at the taco truck
and eating other places for lunch (irrelevant
journal)
The application
and implications
of drones
Designed and flew his own drone. Dozens
of pictures and a video documenting the
process. Brought in the finished product
Violence in
Video Games
Played violent video games and “monitored”
behavior afterwards
Street Busking
Learned Frozen songs on the cello. Busked
for one hour on Castro Street and for eight
hours at Santana Row. Had video and
pictures documenting the process. Made
over $400.
Business
ethics in
restaurant
industry
Applied for a hostess job at Rick’s Café and
“observed” business practices.
Organic and
hydroponics
Created a hydroponic system and grew four
plants over 2 months. Brought one of the
plants to school and pictures shown of each
step of the process.
Refurbishing a backyard putting green with
sustainable materials
The pros and
cons of social
media
Spreadsheet of time spent on different social
media over 5 weeks
The
psychology
of learning
Health and
Fitness
Lucid
Dreaming
Plastic
Bottles
Learned Swedish. No documentation and no
mention of hands-on project until asked
during Q&A
Made food for the class. Showed pictures
preparing that food.
Taught himself to lucid dream. Kept a dream
journal. No evidence or documentation.
Brought family’s recycling to the recycling
center and “spent the day” watching how the
recycling is collected. No documentation.
Golf Courses and
Environment
Topic
Project
Topic
C-D level
Project
Topic