HELP! Science Fair Project due on Apr 24, 09

[Bethea's Kitchen]

Hello,

My daughter is in kindergarten and I was notified last week that she has to do a science fair project and it's due on next Fri.
The theme has to do with recycling. I have been online searching for science fair projects that fall under that category but they were more complicated than her grade level.

I don't have a clue as to what we could do in a week and if anyone can offer any advice or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[ChrisG]

Hi,
Welcome to the Ask an Expert forums. For a kindergarten project, you would want it to be something extremely simple and something that will keep her interest. It's probably too early to get into the nitty-gritty details of the scientific method. I would recommend just finding some interesting question about the natural world that relates to recycling, for example, "what happens when food is composted?" (one of my personal favorites). Once you and she find a question, set up a very simple experiment (we'd be glad to help) where you can observe something related to the question (for example, mixing some food scraps with soil and watching what happens to them over the course of a few days & helping her to write down observations every day).
We do have a step-by-step guide, but I think it would be too advanced for a kindergartner.
Good luck. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Chris

[Bethea's Kitchen]

Hello Chris,

Thanks for your response. You help me out on the lines for composting. I saw a few topics that I thought was too indept for a kindergartner but when you suggested we think of something on the lines of what happens when food is composted I thought about came up with this question, "Does adding compost to the soil result in healthier, stronger, faster-growing plants"? But with this, I'm not sure that we can pull it off in 5 days. How long does it normally take to build a compost and once we build it we would then have to test it on the seeds?

[donnahardy2]

Hi,

Chris is right. For a kindergarten project, it does have to be very simple. You don't have time to do the plant-growing project, but you could start composting some plant material, for example banana peels or other plant material that you were planning to discard. You could put half of the sample in the refrigerator (non-composted control) and place the other half in a container covered by loose soil and add enough water to make sure is it damp. Place in a warm location to speed up the growth of the fungi and bacteria that will decompose the food. Have your daughter draw a picture of both samples today and on Thursday. I'm sure there will be a difference in results.

As an alternative, with the short time you have available, you can have your daughter sort through items that are going to go into the trash and help her identify items that can be recycled. This would result in a "collection," of metal, paper, and plastic items that she could either draw or take a picture of to display for her science project.

Do make sure your daughter has fun doing this project. The plant-growing idea would make a good project for first grade, when you have more time to plan the project and start in advance. You could make compost over the summer and use it to start seeds 3-4 weeks before the science fair project is due.

Good luck!

Donna Hardy

[Bethea's Kitchen]

Hey Donna,

Okay we've decided to do a project on making paper. The question or hypothesis would be "Is recycled paper as strong as paper in it’s first use"?

Can you provide any input on how we can set this up using the scientific method?

Thanks for all your advice, I really appreciate it.

[staryl13]

Hi!
This sounds like a very interesting project. In terms of setting up the experiment using the scientific method, it is important to establish some type of standard by which you can measure the "strength" of paper, whether it be placing heavy objects on the paper or other simple tests. The most important thing to be remember is that the "strength test" must be the same throughout the entire experiment. Collecting as many pieces of recycled material would be ideal, as it would make the results more accurate; it would also be helpful to set up a data chart or table of some sort in order to keep track of the results. Hope this helps, and best of luck!

[ChrisG]

Hi,
Do you plan to make your own "recycled" paper, like this?
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/makingpaper.html
You could also purchase virgin and recycled paper of the same weight, which would be quicker (but maybe less fun?).
To test strength you could do something like insert a hook through the paper and then add weights (e.g. washers of a certain size) until the paper tears. Your daughter could count the number of washers, trace them on paper, or whatever she'd most enjoy to get a sense of the difference in results between the two papers.

If you do an internet search for "recycled paper strength" you'll find discussions of how recycling reduces the fiber length and tensile strength (resistance to being torn apart) of paper. This info is probably too abstract & complicated for a kindergartner, but you could try to do some demonstrations of materials with long and short fibers, for example by making your own paper and blending the pulp for different amounts of time.

What ever you choose to do, I'd recommend keeping it simple and fun. I have a son in kindergarten, so I can relate to the challenges of trying to do science at that level.

Good luck! Please keep us posted about how it goes.