I can't find a good project!

[)32OrtonEdge32(]

I am new to Science Buddies, and I need to find a project to do for my Science Fair before Sept. 9. I like to work with electricity, videogames, electronics, physical activity, etc.; and I can't spend more than 20 or 30 dollars. I tried looking through the available projects here, and on sites similar to this, but I can't find the perfect project. Thanks in advance.

[deleted-48245]

Have you tried the topic selection wizard? Try this out and see if any of those projects inerest you.

[deleted-71712]

Hello and welcome to the forum. This question is almost too broad for us to answer, since you're the one who knows your own interests best. We have lists of projects in several categories that you mentioned:

electricity -- https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... hp?ia=Elec
games -- https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p?ia=Games
sports -- https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ?ia=Sports

There is also the topic selection wizard, as mentioned:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... gister.php

If you tell us which projects interest you and why they're not "perfect", we can probably give you better advice. For example, we could help you modify an easy project to make it more appropriate for your grade level, or we could try to figure out how to accomplish something within your budget.

Amanda

[)32OrtonEdge32(]

I have tried the topic selection wizard before. It helped in maybe 5th grade. My teacher says that, because I'm in TAG, I have to do at least a 9th grade project. I really want to do something with chemicals, like corrosion or rust, but my teacher shot down these projects I had in mind:

What types of wrappings will keep apple slices fresh the longest?

What liquid makes a penny rust faster?

Which would rust first - a penny, a nail, a needle or a paper clip?

Which exercise affects your heart rate the most?

[deleted-71824]

There are many "alternative" or "natural cleaners"one can make themselves. You could examine some of the simpler recipes,see http://www.demesne.info/Sustainable-Liv ... eaning.htm, and compare their effectiveness to store-bought "harsh" alternatives. Just a suggestion, but I highly recommend the project topic wizard.

[deleted-71712]

Was your teacher's objection that your project ideas weren't difficult enough?

Since two of the ideas you mention have to do with rusting, you might be interested in reading more about corrosion to come up with more ideas. Corrosion is a major problem in engineering materials for various applications: when they undergo unwanted chemical reactions with things in their environments, their properties change and they don't perform as well. In extreme cases that can lead to things like bridges collapsing because rusted iron is weaker. Stainless steel (steel is mostly iron with a few weight % carbon) has some chromium added and doesn't corrode as easily. One thing that's interesting about the corrosion of a metal like iron when exposed to water is that whether iron prefers the oxidized state (rust) depends on both the pH of the water and the voltage (electrochemical potential) at the iron-water interface; electrochemists illustrate this with a Pourbaix diagram. So, sometimes metals can be protected from corrosion by keeping them at a certain voltage while they're exposed to corrosive solutions. This is also why acid rain damages buildings, statues, etc more than regular rain. Another way of protecting materials is to coat them with something that the oxidizing species can't penetrate very well. And actually, many materials that seems to resist corrosion well actually do so because once a thin oxidized layer forms on the surface, it blocks the oxidizing species from reacting with the intact metal underneath -- this is called passivation. Unfortunately, rust (oxidized iron) is still pretty permeable to water, so rust is not automatically limited to a thin layer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrosion
http://corrosion.ksc.nasa.gov/corr_fundamentals.htm
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hb ... osion.html
http://electrochem.cwru.edu/encycl/art- ... rosion.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pourbaix_diagram
http://events.nace.org/library/corrosio ... onE-pH.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passivation

These corrosion-related projects are probably not at the difficulty level you're looking for, but they might give you some ideas for experimental design, search terms for background research, etc:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p018.shtml
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p079.shtml
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p090.shtml

As you're thinking, keep in mind that the next step after coming up with a question is to form a hypothesis -- a guess at the answer to that question based on scientific principles and/or previous observations.

Amanda

[)32OrtonEdge32(]

Thanks for all the help. I gave my teacher the first two projects, and we'll see how that goes.