Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am in grade 12 and am interested in doing a project on factors which effect crystal growth. My teacher is concerned that the topic might be too easy and not in line with expectations. Do you have any suggestions?

Many Thanks

Almost any general scientific inquiry can easily range from simply redoing something that has been done long ago and is well understood and documented to extending the inquiry into something that has never been tried before (or at least there isn't any easily found record of it).

The international space station lab in the past few years has had several crystal growth experiments that have lead to doctorial thesis, so I would respectfully have to disagree with your science teacher that the area of crystal growth is fully understood and unworthy of more work.

On the other hand, what you proposed to investigate and what you are constrained to work with because of equipment and lab safety may not meet the criterion.

Try asking your teacher about how you might modify or refine your ideas to be worthy. In any case, if you teacher doesn't like the area of crystal growth research, you are at a disadvantage in pursuing it. It always helps to start out on a project that one of the people grading your efforts is enthusiastic about.

One interesting yet very practical topic is to study the crystallization of silicon. As we know computer change the way of world and life, and the bases of the 21st century technology is silicon. Below is a link of how the silicon is grown:
http://cnx.org/content/m1033/latest/