Well to be picky - you are writing a "Report" not a Research Paper - in other words, unless you mentioned it and I missed it - a report is like a wikipedia listing, a research paper is where you set up an experimental design where you have a null hypothesis for example, that white betta live longer than black beta - you determine your sample size, perhaps 10 each, and make sure you get them from the same dealer and they are roughly the same age - then perform all tasks (feeding/water changes) at the same time daily. Then you log any illnesses, deaths etc. At some point in time you call the experiment to a halt and if your null hypothisis (that white live longer than black) then that's one outcome, while if they live the same amount of time (which is what you want to prove) and they do - then you can successfully say there are no differences.
You can see why research topics usually start with a grant from some organization - you submit your proposal and they give you money
- it helps if there is a reason that this study is important - perhaps retailers or breeders want to know so they can safely tell their customers than one color doesn't live any longer than the other than you have a way to solicit grant donations or sometimes a particular company or non-profit group is looking for proposals about this topic - then you submit a description of your experiemental design. Frankly you aren't really expected to do all this as a 2 yr HS but when you get to college or more likely graduate school this is the type of work you would do, There are, however, easy low-cost projects you can do in high school that usually gets you an A+++ rather than something anybody can look up online and read the same thing.
Best of luck for writing your report - it's all good experience.
