Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

My project is due very soon around early February. I am in urge need for an appropriate level and quick mice related science experiment. Please help.

All I had thought of is something related to mice, then I went to buy the mice already (got 8 of them already). After I came home, I suddenly realized I don't have an exact plan for my science experiment

I have the following ideas but not sure if they are appropriate or not. I do have a lot of questions from my observation after I get them.. but they are all "Why" questions :/ So not really suitable for this time's science project. The science project I have to do has to be "What is the effect of ___ on ___ (mice related in this case)"

- The effect of light (Amount of light) on mice's ability in solving maze problems (running maze)
(Amount of light as in.. one light bulb, 2 light bulbs, 3 light bulbs of the same voltage; Can't do all dark since I can't see in the dark; Not quite sure if light amount will affect their ability or not; If using the same maze for the first/second trials and etc. I am afraid the mice will remember the route and affects the accuracy of the result; I am trying to keep the cost down as well since I have spent a lot of the food supplies, beddings etc. for the mice already Silly me didn't check careful enough about the needs for mice)

- The effect of incentives on mice's ability in solving maze problems (running maze)
(Say.. cheese / peanut butter at the end of the maze, to see if they will get attracted by the smell and do the maze better or not)

They are the only ones. It becomes really hard when it has to be the effect of something on something I guess they seem to be too childish for a 10th grader?

Please help. Any suggestions/comments for a better experiment or ideas on whether it is appropriate for a 10th grader will be greatly appreciated . Thanks in advance.

P.S. I am a 10th grader. I was too excited when my teacher recommended me to go into Honors for next semester and didn't know the project has to be an actual experiment. As I started to do the project, I realized that I have a very limited ideas for actual science experiment Since it seems a bit late to withdraw from next semester schedule.. I really want to do a decent on for this project and hopefully I will be able to learn and become better in science than the current me.

Hi Lin,

Looking through the Science Buddies project ideas, I found a mouse-related one that takes about a week to do:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p007.shtml

I don't know if that's interesting to you, but it's a start.

However, the ideas you suggested are interesting as well!

- The effect of light (Amount of light) on mice's ability in solving maze problems (running maze)
(Amount of light as in.. one light bulb, 2 light bulbs, 3 light bulbs of the same voltage; Can't do all dark since I can't see in the dark; Not quite sure if light amount will affect their ability or not; If using the same maze for the first/second trials and etc. I am afraid the mice will remember the route and affects the accuracy of the result

Your concern about the mice learning the route is a valid one. To see whether the amount of light will affect the mice's abilities, you should do a little bit of research on the topic. Here is one link I found that relates to this question of yours: http://the-mouse-trap.blogspot.com/2006 ... learn.html

- The effect of incentives on mice's ability in solving maze problems (running maze)
(Say.. cheese / peanut butter at the end of the maze, to see if they will get attracted by the smell and do the maze better or not)

This topic may be better suited to your time frame, as the setup is a bit simpler. Again, you will need to do a bit of research, and remember that you need to establish experimental ("treatment") groups as well as a control. The mice learning the route will still be an issue, so keep that in mind.

Good luck, and feel free to post back with more questions as you develop your project idea!

Cheers,
Heather

Lin wrote:Hi,

My project is due very soon around early February. I am in urge need for an appropriate level and quick mice related science experiment. Please help.

All I had thought of is something related to mice, then I went to buy the mice already (got 8 of them already). After I came home, I suddenly realized I don't have an exact plan for my science experiment

I have the following ideas but not sure if they are appropriate or not. I do have a lot of questions from my observation after I get them.. but they are all "Why" questions :/ So not really suitable for this time's science project. The science project I have to do has to be "What is the effect of ___ on ___ (mice related in this case)"

- The effect of light (Amount of light) on mice's ability in solving maze problems (running maze)
(Amount of light as in.. one light bulb, 2 light bulbs, 3 light bulbs of the same voltage; Can't do all dark since I can't see in the dark; Not quite sure if light amount will affect their ability or not; If using the same maze for the first/second trials and etc. I am afraid the mice will remember the route and affects the accuracy of the result; I am trying to keep the cost down as well since I have spent a lot of the food supplies, beddings etc. for the mice already Silly me didn't check careful enough about the needs for mice)

- The effect of incentives on mice's ability in solving maze problems (running maze)
(Say.. cheese / peanut butter at the end of the maze, to see if they will get attracted by the smell and do the maze better or not)

They are the only ones. It becomes really hard when it has to be the effect of something on something I guess they seem to be too childish for a 10th grader?

Please help. Any suggestions/comments for a better experiment or ideas on whether it is appropriate for a 10th grader will be greatly appreciated . Thanks in advance.

P.S. I am a 10th grader. I was too excited when my teacher recommended me to go into Honors for next semester and didn't know the project has to be an actual experiment. As I started to do the project, I realized that I have a very limited ideas for actual science experiment Since it seems a bit late to withdraw from next semester schedule.. I really want to do a decent on for this project and hopefully I will be able to learn and become better in science than the current me.

Heather gave you some great advice. I just want to point out a few technical details. Projects involving animals often require 'pre-approval' from the science fair, and a review that you will treat them in a safe and humane manner. Often additional paperwork needs to be filled out before you can start your project. See for example (and particularly the ISEF rules linked within):
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... mals.shtml

There are specific rules to follow (i.e. animals can't lose too much weight, animals must be taken to a vet if ill, study terminated if an animal dies) for animal research. You should also have a plan for the animals after completion of the project, and putting them in harm (releasing them to the wild or killing them) is generally not allowed. I honestly don't know what the regulations are for your situation, but you should find out. As a researcher, you have to explore all aspects of your research, not just the scientific question. Safety and ethics are also critical components of research.

Good luck.

Louise

To mostman,
I also agree the incentive one seems to be easier and better in my time frame. It also reduces the rate of mouse remembering the route for the maze since the mouse will only run one maze one time instead of running the same maze under different lights for several times. For repeating trials, I will be able to build a similar maze and having the mouse run again one time each.

To Louise,
I am pretty sure my teacher lets me use mice as an experiment as long as they don't get harmed. My teacher allowed me to use mice when I was discussing to her about how food affect mice (I changed mind afterward due to time problem and couldn't reach the teacher since school is still off).

I was excited of having mice and totally forgot about things I need to have and do to take care of them etc. Though the housing and supplies are settled down now. I am planning to keep 1 or 2 mice as pet and for my future exploration as there are a lot of interesting things and questions I have about mice that I want to find out through my own observation and researches done by other scientists. For the rest, I am thinking of returning them to the pet store if time frame allows (They have get bigger since they get to my house, I hope the pet store won't mind taking them back >.<)

Anyways, thank you very much for the help!