I found some interesting stuff about the classification of bull (or bullhead) kelp. It is a member of the chromalveolata kingdom, meaning that it is not classified as a plant. However, chromalveolata members have cell walls and chloroplasts, which makes them similar to plants (though these are two of the few similarities between members of the kingdom.) Other members of this kingdom typically include types of red algae, eukaryotic phytoplankton, and other types of kelp, among others. We could focus on researching how it differs from seaweeds classified in the plant kingdom, though this might be somewhat difficult because there doesn't seem to be too much on bull kelp, and what is there about its kingdom tends to be very technical.
The rate of growth of bull kelp, or Nereocystis, is very rapid-sometimes as fast as 17 cm per day-and the kelp itself can grow to be up to 36 m long! It also releases spores, unlike other kelp, and we could try to research this using the kelp sample that we find. (I'll do more research into that.)
Also interesting from the biochem side is that the bulb contains some CO gas . . . It would be cool to measure this if we have the right equipment.

-Alex