Hey, my name is Dave Button and I'm a junior at Burlingame High School. I play football and soccer there, and the high school science classes I've taken are Physics, Biology and Chemistry. I did a science project back in 7th grade that got 3rd place in our school, so hopefully I'll be able to help you out with yours. When you get this, why don't you send me your ideas for your topic and if you don't have any yet, send me what you're interested in, so we can work something out. Talk to you soon. Dave

Hi. My name is Matt Nielsen. As you might know already, I come from Lawton Alternative School. I play soccer, too but not on a school team(our school can't have one for some unknown reason) I also had a science fair project but the fair failed and no one won. I am interested in physics, chemistry, biology, and computer sciences. I have to go now so, later.

Hey! I was thinking that maybe we could also do something in aviation. OK?

The science fair project I did was on how the shape of a sail affects the speed of a boat. You could probably do basically the same thing with aviation if you wanted to. For example, you could test how the shape of the wings on a plane, or, the shape of the plane itself, affects how far the plane goes using paper airplanes or something like that. Just an idea, let me know how you feel about it and if you have any other ideas. Later. Dave

I'm sorry if I talk too much but i saw something on the internet about phychology. There are subliminal messages, seeing if mice really like cheese, or a smell -vs- taste test. Tell me if you like any of these ideas and i could elaborate on them. Matt

I think those are all interesting, but I'm not sure how you would do a project using subliminal messages. Also, I think you want to avoid things that are subjective and depend on the person being used, what tastes good, for example, depends on who you ask. Other than that, keep thinking and let me know if you come up with an idea for a project using those subjects, or any other topics you want to look into. By the way, you don't talk too much. Ask me whatever you want to know and hopefully I can help you out with it. Dave

Hi again. For subliminal messages we could record us saying something like I like the red ones. I like to eat them over and over Then tape some music over it. Then we find a group of people and give them some candy and see which one they eat. Hopefully the red ones. We could see if mice like cheese. That would be fun. And by the smell -vs- taste test i mean that we could see if smell affects taste. We could blindfold someone and put a wet lollipop in their mouth. Then we pop a different flavor lollie pop in thier mouth and see if they could tell which flavor it was.

I like all of those, and I think the smell and taste one is the best. Keep thinking and try to come up with one you really like or pick one of the ones we've already talked about. Just so you know, I probably wont be checking this on Saturday because we have our big rivalry football game. See ya. Dave

Burlingame -vs- Who? You guys had a rival? Are you on the team? Can we intertwine this with a science fair project? Will i ever stop asking questions?

Yes I'm on the team and our rival is San Mateo High School, who we beat 37-19 by the way. It's called the Little Big Game after the Cal-Stanford rivalry which is called the Big Game. We play for a big plaque called the Paw, which goes to the winning school. As for putting it into the science project, I'm not sure how that will work, but if you have an idea let me know, and keep all your other ideas coming, the more you have, the better.

We've thrown a lot of ideas out there lately, which is a good thing, but sooner or later, you have to narrow it down. Why don't you pick out your favorite ideas so far, and let me know what they are, but, as always, if you've come up with any other good ideas, let me know about those too. Dave

Hey there, My name is Alissa and I'm one of the Advisors for this team. A little background on me - I have a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics (planes and spacecraft) so I'll be able to tell you plenty about aviation. Although the work I do these days is closer to materials science and mechanical engineering. I'm working for a company that is building ultrasound sensors for medical equipment. You can read about it at: http://www.sensant.com. I've read your discussions and I agree with Dave's comments, you might want to think about an experiment where you can make some measurements (using a stopwatch, ruler, etc.). There are so many interesting questions, the hardest part is really to decide which one you want to study. I recommend trying something you're really curious about (and maybe don't know too much about). I'm going to be kind of quiet for the next three days because I'm going to play in an ice hockey tournament in Utah this weekend, but after that I'll be on my computer all the time and will usually be posting messages at night. Alissa

I like psycology (even though i can't spell it without a dictionary) and biology. I like the idea of animal behaivior. We can explore that. I have an idea that could possibly fit under both categories.

Ice hocky. Cool.

What's Your Idea?

I think we could use this idea: Acid rain and its effects on plant growth. Recreate a solution of acid rain that matches the pH of the actual rain. Then grow tomato plants (or any others) in the same soil and water plants with acid rain and with normal tap water with less acid content. We then measured the growth of the plants and compared results.

Matt, The acid rain experiment is on the right track, but try to keep in mind the timeframe, plants don't grow that quickly and you only have a few weeks to perform your experiments. Have you looked through the Science Buddies website? There is lots of useful info there. I liked: http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/Current/Projects/ which lists different projects that other students have worked on. Sometimes reading about what other people have done is a great way to get new ideas and figure out how to do things. You mentioned you are interested in aviation. One thing that's always a hot topic on the news is airport noise. You could easily measure the sound pollution around an airport, nearby homes, with a sound meter. Maybe you could see how much noise different planes make, or how the weather affects the noise (fog, rain). These are just a few suggestions. A good experiment is easy to do when you can make some definitive and accurate measurements. Alissa

Hi Team Darwin, Just wanted to remind everyone about Lawton's February 7 deadline if you'd like your project to be judged so that it may go on to the San Francisco Middle School Fair at the Randall Museum. Try to finish up your experiment, analyze the data, and work on conclusions this weekend. And remember to post to the Assignment Mailbox so Science Buddies can track your status and see if you're eligible for the $25 Borders prize. Each Buddy who completes every step in the Assignment Mailbox AND displays his or her completed project at the science fair will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to Borders. Let me know if you need anything. Good luck! Gina

In the formula for measuring the viscosity. Which you can find here: http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/ViscosityTe.html I don't understand what the acceleration of gravity is. Please help. I am gathering materials today and hopefully doing the experiment tommorow and the day after. What kind of liquids should i use?

I am pretty sure that the acceleration of gravity is 9.8 meters/second*second (second squared) but you can just round up to 10.0 m/ss.

Matt, Dave is right, the acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s*s or in English units, 32 ft/s*s. As for liquids, I would recommend doing at least water, vegetable oil (or similar), and corn syrup (very viscous). Then do anything else you can get your hands on - shampoo, ketchup, crisco, etc. By the way, I looked over your Review of Literature, and I have a suggestion. You shouldn't just copy words directly from your source. You're supposed to write an essay in your own words based on the information you've read. The judges will want to see that you understand the basic background of your experiment. Don't feel like you need to make the description as fancy or sophisticated as some of the web pages you've read - those pages were written by experienced scientists, no one expects you to write like that. The important thing is to state what you know and understand as clearly as possible.-Alissa

I am modifiying the experimet to see if mixing x% water with a liquid will change the viscosity of the liquid by x%. Look at the assignment mailbox for details.

Matt, Excellent! An interesting hypothesis! Have fun doing your experiment. Also, in your hypothesis, I think you mean to say that less viscous fluids will let the ball fall faster than more viscous. Gooey isn't a scientific term! :) -Alissa

Hi, Check out the green area of your school's page -- it has new info including tips on what to put on your display board, what to bring to school for the Feb. 7 judging, and photos of your class at the Redwood High School fair. Don't stress out -- you are doing a great job! Mentors & advisors, too. Gina

I have done the project with the karo syrup but i don't know what other liquids to use. I have, or will confer with my teacher. Please reply quickly. I have precious little time and my parents are seriously getting buggy.

Matt, You may also want to try ketchup or shampoo. You could use vegetable oil, but that won't work with your dilution with water hypothesis since water and oil don't mix. Remember, the point isn't to have loads of data, but to present what you do have well and clearly. -Alissa

Matt, Adding to what Alissa said, you could also use orange juice with high pulp, sodas, milk or any other types of sauce or drinks that you have easy access to. But if you want to compare the viscosities of a liquid after adding varied amounts of water, you may just want to concentrate on using 1 liquid, or maybe two, and just increase the numbers of measurements by using more percentages. Let me know what you think. Dave

I have completed both experiments and i am uploading the data. What should i do with it? I have already made charts of the times they took. Should i search for porportional relationships between amount of water and time? What else should i do? -Matt

Matt, I looked over your spreadsheet - you did the calculations correctly, but your numbers are all funny because you mixed your units. You need to convert some of your measurements to kilograms and meters to get the numbers to come out correctly. Lengths should be in meters. 100 centimeters = 1 meter, 1000 millimeters = 1 meter. Velocity should be in meters per second. Density should be in kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m^3) 1000 grams = 1 kilogram 1,000,000 cubic centimeters (cm^3) = 1 cubic meter (m^3) -Alissa

ARE YOU SURE THAT I HAVE TO CONVERT. IT WAS MIND RACKING ENOUGH WHEN I DID IT THE FIRST TIME! NOW I HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN! IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO HAVE NEGATIVE VISCOSITIES? I'm going crazy and on the verge of destruction! RSVP ASAP OK? PLEASE RESPOND QUICKLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You definitely need to fix the units or else the measurements will not be correct. Also, I am pretty sure that you cannot have a negative viscosity so you should check that out if one of the answers turn out negative. Relax, I'm sure you can get it done without worrying yourself so much. Dave

Hi Michael, Congratulations on having your project selected to go on to the Randall fair in the physical science category! Your teacher will probably give you some of the judges' feedback, but here are my notes on their comments: - Include some of the things that you used in the experiment in your display -- like the marbles, the tube, and whatever gives judges a better idea of the materials or results of your experiment. You can glue them to the board or put them in a box in front of your display. - The math to calculate viscosity is pretty sophisticated. Think about how you might explain viscosity to someone who knows nothing about it -- like a little brother or sister. The judges want to know that you really understand what you did. The Randall fair is next week, and your teacher has all the details on when to set up your display. By the way, don't forget to post your final research paper in the Assignment Mailbox to earn your gift certificate! Great job! -- Gina

I DID IT! I DID IT! *cough cough* I mean... I made it to the final round. Thank's for all the help. I hope you will both be there. I plan to redo my display a bit. Including the graphs. I don't think my data should be this high, Alissa. Can you look and see if they are? Thanks

Great Job. I'm glad you could finish it all and do such a good job with it. When and where is the Science Fair? I'll do my best to be there. Once again, congratulations. Dave

Matt, Your viscosities are so huge because you forgot to convert the radius of your marble to meters! You had 4.92 as the radius of your marble - this can't be meters, was it millimeters? 4.92 mm = .00492 meters. You need to divide your viscosity measurements by 1,000,000 to get the correct number. Did you use a glass marble? If so, your marble density seems a little large - it should be about 2800 kg/m^3. Other than that, your project looks great! Congrats on winning a gift certificate and being selected for the Randall fair! So, what did you think of this whole experience? Will you do a science fair project next year? If so, you should start keeping a notebook of your ideas as they occur to you. That way you'll have a whole bunch of ideas to choose from when it's time to pick your next project! Take care, Alissa

The experience has be awesome (i think i watch too much 70's show). I really want to thank you and Dave. I hope you two will be there at the faire (?). I would really enjoy seeing you two for once. As for the notebook idea, i think thats a good idea. I always have a good idea when i'm not ready. Matt

Hi Team Darwin, Congratulations! Your project has been selected as a finalist at the SF Middle School Fair at the Randall Museum! Finalists are projects that are being considered for 1st or 2nd place. Actual placement will be announced Friday 2/22 and presented at the awards ceremony Sat. 2/23. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners go on to the next level, the San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair in March. This means that Michael will be interviewed tonight by the Randall judges about the project. Mentors and Advisors may wish to be available in case Michael has any last-minute questions. Great work, team! -- Gina

Matt