Science Fair Project. Help

[at33q]

Who here has done a Science fair before? I am currently in eight grade, and i am doing a science fair. The choices i have are
4. Music vs Noise- difference
2.Sky Colour- account for differences in colour at different times
30.Radios
17.How strong is a toothpick?
25.How is sound produced?

Which one do you guys think would be the best choice? and What additional information could you provide me with? This is a big part of my grade and help would really be appreciated. PM me, if you really want to help me, otherwise, please do give me advise on here. Whoever helps me will get credit on my Science Fair project.

Help would be appreciated.
thanks

[MelissaB]

Hi,

Are these a list of topics your teacher has provided you with? Can you use any other topics, or do you have to pick from the list?

My advice is to do whichever project interests you the most. If you can pick other topics, look at our ideas guide/project selection wizard (link is in the top left corner of your screen, where it says 'Science Fair Project Ideas'. I would also suggest reading through the information under the link titled, 'Science Fair Project Guide'. I think they will really help you understand what a science project is. Right now, some of the topics you are listing may be difficult to actually investigate scientifically, although if you post back and let us know which one you're most interested in I'm sure we could help you come up with something.

[at33q]

Hey MellisaB

The teacher did not choose the topics for my group, i chose them myself. I can still choose another topic though, I was looking into doing "Music VS Noise, the difference" the most, but as you said, i feel this option would be hard as well. If you could recommend to me something similar to this project, which i can easily work on, i would really appreciate it. Thanks for the guide, it really helped me. I will post on here for additional help. Members feel free to post on here to help me in any way possible

Cheers

[Willz]

Interesting topic!

Since you seem to be interested in the topic "Music VS Noise, the difference", I thought this page might provide a bit of background information, although not a lot of detail is provided because it is required that you register (for a fee): http://www.scienceproject.com/projects/ ... /IP004.asp
As for your own project, my advice would be to create a compilation of different music (different genres) and noises. Using this compilation, you could test these sounds on humans and/or animals (pets) and observe how the different sounds affect them, and then you can compare the effects of music vs. noise. If you test with humans, you might consider asking what they consider music and what they consider noise (different people have different opinions). Generally, music is considered to be planned out and has a beat, while noise is just random and unorganized.

Hope this helps!

[MelissaB]

Hi,

I agree with Willz, but I would add another dimension. Rather than just seeing where the cutoff (music vs. noise) is with various people, why not see if the cutoff is consistently different between groups of people? For example, do older people consider more things noise than younger people, or do men and women draw the line differently, or...?

One thing you might want to consider is how to choose your subjects. The more people you have take the test and the more varied they are, the more likely you are to get good results. If you just try to test you and an adult who's always complaining about 'that noise kids listen to these days', your sample will be biased and your results won't be as good.

Like Willz said, choosing the music/noise is going to be very difficult because it will be hard to get a continuum. One piece I think you might want to look at is Edgard Varese's 'Ionisation', which is considered to be a musical composition but is really just a bunch of noises strung together. You might also consider finding traditional Chinese or southeast Asian music--different cultures have different tastes when it comes to music; personally, I have trouble with anything that just has percussion (some traditional southeast Asian music) or has what I consider to be very jarring notes and disharmony (traditional Chinese music).

Anyway, let us know if you need more help!

[chiko]

how sound is produced
goooood luckkkk

[amyc]

Hi - In addition to the suggestions you've been offered, I wanted to give you the link to Science Buddies project ideas in the area of music...
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... p?ia=Music

(You can use the buttons at the top that show the difficulty level to sort this page so that it shows projects suitable for your grade level.)

There's not a project here on noise versus music, but if you're still thinking through your options, something here might grab your attention.

Amy
Science Buddies