When planning a STEM project that involves animals, there are a few steps you should take before you start. This will help make sure your project is ethical to do, and will keep animals, the environment, other people and yourself safe.
Questions to ask yourself
And as you brainstorm for your project in your logbook, consider the following questions:
- Who could be my scientific supervisor? (Someone with expertise in working with these animals, who can offer advice on my STEM project.)
- Do I have experience working with these animals?
- How could I get training to better work with these animals?
- How will I be interacting with these animals? Handling, interacting in some other way, or observing?
- Where will your animal test subjects come from? Pets, scientific supplier, agriculture, or in the wild?
- Note: If you plan to use wild animals, you must follow your local laws for wildlife. This typically means observation is okay, but interaction is forbidden (outside of game species with the legal license to hunt or fish).
- How will you make sure the animals aren’t harmed, or that your research doesn’t negatively impact their typical behaviour?
- How can you make sure you have enough animal test subjects for your results to be statistically meaningful? You can learn more about figuring out your sample size here.
Create a Plan
Use this template to help you lay out a plan for using animals in your STEM project: Use of Animals Research Plan Template. It will help you think through how you will ethically and safely involve animals in your research, what support you need, how you will care for the animals, the equipment needed, etc. Take your time to carefully lay out your plan and it will make your project stronger, ethical and safe!
Seek Approval
If your STEM project is for school, your regional STEM fair, or another STEM opportunity, it is important for you to get approval before starting your project. This typically means talking to your teacher to see if they have any concerns about how you plan to involve animals in your research. If you’re interested in participating in your regional STEM fair, use these forms to explain your project and get permission from their judges:
Your teacher can help you complete these forms, and if you have questions, you can find the contact information to reach out to your regional fair here.
Learn more about making sure your project is ethical here, and you can also check out our safety and ethics resource.