Science fair poject

[PaigeHelms]

Hello, I am a wanting to know if my idea for a science fair project would work. I want to do my project over proving that .99... equals 1. My science teacher said that none of the ideas on this website are good enough to do. I really am wanting a winning science fair project at Baylor university and to advance. Please help me pick a project!!

[HowardE]

Your idea is an interesting one. Of course 0.9999.... is not the same as 1, but depending on what you're doing it might be close enough. Are you adding 1 tsp of salt to a recipe? Close enough. Are you trying to launch an object to land on Pluto? It may not be close enough, depending on how many decimal points you stretch out the 9s. If you want to run your theory past folks here, maybe we can help you refine your project.

What you may not think about when you look at our site is that the students who use the site often fall into two categories. Some are looking for an idea and don't consider themselves a 'science kid'. Those students will often pick a project and just execute it as we describe on the site. I agree with your teacher that in that case, our projects won't win any fairs. Remember that for kids who aren't science kids, it's "winning" just to encourage them to participate in the fair. In the end, we're here to encourage kids to develop an interest in science.

You probably fall into other category of students who love science and are interested in new things. You'll take our suggestion, put your own interesting spin on it and and come up with something really fun. One student in NJ took our robot hand made from drinking straws and won multiple fairs in NJ by turning it into a futuristic device for handling nuclear waste. Another took honorable mention in the state of CA with a variation of our project using RFID to trigger sound events - his version made a multiply voiced electronic musical instrument that combined digitized sounds with the eerie sounds of a theremin. So your teacher is right - on the surface - but you can use any of them as a jumping off point and explore something totally new or invent something crazy. It's *your* version of our original suggestion that will help you win a fair.

Any of us would love to help you pick an area. What are you interested in? When you hear about something new in science, what catches your attention? Chemistry? Biology? Space exploration?

[WarrenCountyGymnast2002]

"You probably fall into other category of students who love science and are interested in new things. You'll take our suggestion, put your own interesting spin on it and and come up with something really fun. One student in NJ took our robot hand made from drinking straws and won multiple fairs in NJ by turning it into a futuristic device for handling nuclear waste. Another took honorable mention in the state of CA with a variation of our project using RFID to trigger sound events - his version made a multiply voiced electronic musical instrument that combined digitized sounds with the eerie sounds of a theremin. So your teacher is right - on the surface - but you can use any of them as a jumping off point and explore something totally new or invent something crazy. It's *your* version of our original suggestion that will help you win a fair."
I think I'm inspired now.... You do sound like a science-type-person... (thumbs up!)

P.S.: Good luck!

[TheOnlyCharley]

Does age affect the way we see optical illusions?

[HowardE]

TheOnlyCharley, that's a great idea for a project. Are you considering doing that for a fair?

You could print out a number of optical illusions and show them to people of different ages and see how well they're perceived. I did a quick Google search and found some research on the subject and quite a few sites that suggest how a project might be done. We don't have one on the Science Buddies site...

Howard

[PaigeHelms]

I am most interested in math and know the most about biology. I am stuck in the ideas phase and I can not get any winning ideas

[dcnick96]

Hello. Have you looked at the Science Buddies Topic Selection Wizard?
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=14688&p=51904#p51904

After answering a few questions about what you are interested in, what grade you are in, and how much time you have, the website will offer some project ideas. Check it out and certainly write back if you have more questions. Good luck!

[TheOnlyCharley]

TheOnlyCharley, that's a great idea for a project. Are you considering doing that for a fair?

You could print out a number of optical illusions and show them to people of different ages and see how well they're perceived. I did a quick Google search and found some research on the subject and quite a few sites that suggest how a project might be done. We don't have one on the Science Buddies site...

Howard

Thank you, and yes its a topic I want to base my science fair project on.

[HowardE]

You may have found some of these links and maybe not. Please write back and let us know what you decide to do. What other students have done may help you figure out your own spin on the idea - you don't have to do the same thing as someone else.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19522320
http://www.education.com/science-fair/a ... ou-do-not/
http://mwvsciencefair.wikispaces.com/Th ... yes+of+Age

Howard