Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,

My daughter did a science project last year over expansion and contraction of different types of metal. To test this she had 4 different small metal rods. She had one end in a hole and the other end was open. The rods were very small and light so she hung a rock on the open end to keep it on the pin as it extended past it. The pin was attached to a straw with a graph. She then put candles under it and noted the expansion then contraction of these metal rods.

What she learned in her project is that she should have done some things differently. The rock was too heavy causing a bowing/drooping effect in some of her weaker metals. She is not sure if the metal was extending up/down instead of out on some of them. She was not measuring how much the bow/droop was in the rod, just the length.

This project received 1st and Grand Champion in her class and campus which lead to it moving on to Regionals where she received 1st place.

She wants to continue this project but wants to make sure it will qualify for a continuation of the project and not a repeat for the guidelines. Her thought is to measure how much it contracts if put in the freezer (not performed last year), and compare to room temperature. Maybe even do a race to see if the frozen metals expands faster or slower than the room temperature ones. Also, she wants to add a graph to measure the bow/droop in the metal as well as the length measurement.

Would this be considered a repeat or a continuation. If it is more of a repeat rather than a continuation, how could she make it a continuation?

Thank you.

Hello abrown323,

Congratulations to your daughter for her prize-winning work on last year's project!

I checked the Intel ISEF guidelines (see link below) for continuation projects.

https://student.societyforscience.org/r ... l-projects

A new research question or new variables are required for a project to qualify as a continuation. Based on the description you've provided it seems that your proposed project has essentially the same research question (what's the effect of temperature on metal expansion) as last year's. So I don't think the proposed project would qualify as a continuation. But you should check the guidelines for your local science fair as they may be different.

Your daughter may want to research some other properties of metals to experiment with. Or she may be able to formulate a new research question that is related to expansion/contraction with temperatures. For example, do metals expand the same amount after repeated heating and cooling?

I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Thank you for your reply. That’s what we were thinking but she was thinking last year if the metals expanded/contacted the same when exposed to heat repeatedly and if it weakens the metal at all. I think she still wants to bring the cold (freezer) test into it and she has also wondered if the metals will expand the same with different types of paint on them. With all of this I think she can show it as a continuation or a whole new test.

Thank you,
Abrown323