Ideas for a Science Fair Project

[Samara]

Hey!

I'm thinking of entering my school's Science Fair, and I'm trying to think of a good project

The Categories are:
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Biochemistry
Botany
Chemistry
Computer Sciences
Earth and Space Science
Engineering
Enviromental Science
Mathematics
Medicine and Health
Microbiology
Physics
Zoology

Any ideas? *shakes tin cup*

[Samara]

OH FLASH OF WHATSIT!

How about what color aids memory the best? I could test it by writing the definitions of ten words on five seperate sets of index cards (each set a different color) and give them to people to study for a few minutes. Then, when they're done studying, I test them to see which one remembers the definition the best!

What do you guys think?

[Swift]

OH FLASH OF WHATSIT!

How about what color aids memory the best? I could test it by writing the definitions of ten words on five seperate sets of index cards (each set a different color) and give them to people to study for a few minutes. Then, when they're done studying, I test them to see which one remembers the definition the best!

What do you guys think?

Not bad. You might even think of just making it word-lists and not definitions (like 5 words in a row on a card). The more people you can test the better - you might even get enough to do some statistics on it. You probably should find some reference material on similar tests (google first and check the library). You might find some information that would allow you to form a hypothesis of what color would be best and to test your hypothesis. It is ok if you are wrong - you then demonstrate how you modify your theory. Good luck.

[kashi]

Putting various household objects in the microwave is always fun. Some links here: http://apache.airnet.com.au/~fastinfo/microwave/

(That was a joke btw)

In all seriousness, what were you thinking of doing? Perhaps you can narrow it down to a particular area then we can help you a little more...

[Wayne Smith]

Engineering is fun. You get to play with low level explosive and call it rocketry.

[taurus26]

What about a new combustion engine built around a new means of measurement?

http://www.aussiecarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=3154

[jfribrg]

What grade are you in?

[Andromeda321]

^ What jfribrg said.
By the way, an interesting variant on the colors thing is to write words like yellow and green and mix them in with just red and blue and see how many people can read them quickly.

[jfribrg]

One question my son did (it isn't trivial). Does a hollow cylinder take longer to roll across a valley (rolling down one side then up the other side) than a solid cylinder? There was a rather long thread discussing/debating this a couple of years ago on the BABB. If you're interested, I will try to find it and post a link. My son did it in 6th grade, using nothing more than pre-algebra, but it could be easily made into a high school project by adding calculations of energy loss due to friction and including uncertainty ranges into the measurements. You will need a very accurate timer to do it properly.

Another one the might be appropriate for different ages is the question: "Does a Slinky obey Hooke's Law?" At the middle school level, just graphing the weights and displacement along with the pre-algebra necessary to explain Hooke's Law would be a nice project. At the high school level, you test different springs/elastic items. Undoubtedly some or all items would not behave perfectly, and you could do some analysis of the ranges in which Hooke's Law is valid. You could also use the Generalized Hooke's law and use some more advanced math (such as vector algebra) to impress the judges.