Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Programming NANORGs in a Virtual World. what is the language that you need to know and how can you learn it fast? i thought this was a fun and interesting project but it is very hard especially when you don't know the special language. is there anyone who can help me fast? i really want to win the science fair but i don't know if this would have a chance. can someone help me because i need help. thanks from wanttolearnbad!!!

also i forgot to say that I'm not really smart with any type of science but I'm going to try my hardest for this project. i cant do it alone though. if there is anyone who can give me much easier instructions on how to do the project step by step than thank you very much. if not than i understand.

sorry this was a falty post

Dear wanttolearnbad,
Hi there. I commend your enthusiasm! It shows through everything you’ve written – right down to your username.

You’ve come to the right place for help. However, given that we offer our help through this bulletin board, it tends to be limited to getting you past very specific problems with your project.

Since you posted your questions in the Grades 6-8 forum, I assume you are in one of those grades. Right from the start, then, you really have your work cut out for you on this project. The NANORG project summary states this project is a difficulty level of 8-10, which is the most difficult and recommended for high school level. It also suggests that you already have programming experience and at least some familiarity with assembly language. If you don’t have that experience, it makes this project even more difficult.

The NANORGs project description on Science Buddies is very detailed. It includes the step by step instructions you are asking for to set up the programming environment on your computer. I don’t know that there’s any way to make the instructions “easier”. If you aren’t able to understand and complete those setup instructions then this project may be more than you want to attempt at this point. There are many other computer science project ideas that are suited to grades 6-8. I’m sure you can find another one that is interesting to you. Some of those will give you the background and experience to perhaps tackle the NANORGs project in the future.

By the way, your project selection itself does not guarantee a winner project. Even simple projects can be winners and the most difficult projects can finish far from the top. It all comes down to what you make of it. It includes things like creativity, ingenuity, inventiveness and good ol’ hard work.

And, finally, please don’t post your email address or any other personal information about yourself to this website. We have that rule to protect everyone’s safety that uses this site.

Mike

thank you very much Mike! this helps me alot. i will read through all the instructions and if i am unable to understand anything i will attempt another project. sorry about the email post i am going to delete. this does help me but i wanted to know just what program to use to start my nanorgs project. after that i should be fine. im learning assembly language but i just dont know were the programs are to begin??? i was thinking of trying to make a super NANORG instead of 50 nanorgs or acctually 20 super NANORGS. do you think that i could have a chance at attempting this challenege. if there are any links or any thing you can give me to start on my project that would be wonderful. i am an 8th grader but had to retake 1st grade... so i should be in 9th grade. i dont know if or what i am allowed to post so ill try to make this simple. we moved when i was in 1st grade and i never went. so my mom made me take it again. i wasnt held back. thank you very much and thank you for responding Mike.

Koli

P.S am i allowed to post my real name?????

ill be back and available all day im just at home all day no school. do you think that having a mentor could help me. i got to go.

i am an 8th grader but am getting very interested on computers overall. this is an awsome website. i know its probably unusual for an 8th grader to have a mentor but i really would like one so i can learn about computers and how they work and what programs do what and all that. if there is anyone who can help me alittle than please tell me. thank you very much and have a nice day. i will always check this blog, all today so please post. i am eager to find out some info. SCIENCE ROCKS!


Koli

If you find that other project to be too complex, I have an alternative:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... z&from=TSW

That link will take you to a project about programming in Scratch, which is a more visual programming language than C++. Once you do that project and learn the basics of programming and how Scratch works, you could try programming something similar to the nanorgs in Scratch. You could even create some sort of game or simulation with good and bad nanorgs. I can think of some easy ways to change the "logic" of a nanorg in Scratch, once you got to that point. It would be a simpler version of the other project, but I think you would learn a lot about programming and at the end you could even upload it online on the Scratch website and other people can play/watch it.

I love Scratch and many people have learned how to program using it. It's much higher level than C++, so it will be easier for you to jump right in and start programming.

This Ask an Expert Forum is more for specific questions about your project, we don't really do one-on-one mentoring. But we would love to help answer your questions and give you suggestions! Some of the more advanced students who really enjoyed their project actually asked questions from start to completion. We appreciate students who really care about learning and want to work hard, so we have no problem with helping you though out the entire process. It's not exactly the same as mentoring, but it's pretty close. Whenever you have a question, try to research it on your own and solve it, but if you have spent some time on it and still can't find the answer, we are here to help.

Good luck and let us know if you have more questions.

thank you very much Amber. i think that i will do the scratch program but i still and now am wondering. how can i do a project for a science fair with the scratch program? i haven't looked at the site you gave me but i will check it out. if i understand it i will tell you and if i don't then i will ask for more help. if i end up doing the first nanorg project then what programs should i use to start it?? do you think it would be possible to upgrade the nanorg project? by making like, super nanorgs????


Koli

At a science fair, there are also engineering and computer science projects that have a different format that a regular science project. Don't worry, there are many different categories of science fair projects, and the Scratch project is perfectly fine. If you create a game, you can think of it like a simulation. The important part right now is that you are learning something useful, and you would learn a lot about computers and programming. If you can explain what you did to create your program, how it works, how it relates to the real world as a simulation, then you are a step ahead of everyone else at the fair!

Take a look at this page to see the difference between a regular science fair project and an engineering or computer science project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ring.shtml.

I'm actually not a computer scientist (I'm learning, just like you! In fact I'm just starting to learn C++). I majored in chemical engineering but I've taken some programming classes and now my goal is to go into educational software. I will let the other experts know that you need some help in this area, as they would know a lot more than I do about your other questions. It might take a few days for an appropriate expert to reply, so please be patient.

It is certainly possible to upgrade the nanorg project, but if you have little programming experience, it would be very difficult (I think just doing the regular nanorg project would be hard). I think it would be better to do something similar but simpler, so that you can get your bearings. Once you are in high school you could even take some computer science classes and then do a more advanced project.

thank you very much and i am thinking of how or what i am going to do. i really want to win and with my imagination, creativity, and some help from friends and people like you i think i can do it. i just need to know exactly what topic to do.. im trying the scracth program now so ill see how it works out. thank you very much and if there is any extra info you think i might need then please tell me.

koli

i was just wondering if you knew if there were more science fair projects that include computer. or like computer science? i didn't like any of the other projects science buddies had and the scratch program was cool but a little confusing and it just wasn't up my ally. i would love to use computers and if you knew any computer scientist please tell me. and if you have any ideas other than the science buddies ones that would be wonderful. i am 14 and like to be challenged so please help me.

Computer programming can be very frustrating, especially when you are first learning. I believe there is an initial "hill" that you need to surpass in order to get the hang of it. I think one thing most people don't realize (I certainly didn't) is how STUPID computers are. Seriously, you have to tell them every little thing. Unlike people, who would probably be able to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if you gave them a brief overview, computers are not very good at making assumptions. Truly realizing this takes a while (believe me, I still forget). But as an example, let's say I told you how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich:

-Get out peanut butter, jelly, and two slices of bread.
-Take a knife, put the jelly on one slice of bread, and peanut butter on the other
-Put the slices together and enjoy!

Now for a computer, this is what we'd need to say. Let's assume the two pieces of bread are already on the countertop:

-Walk to fridge location
-Open fridge door
-Take peanut butter out of fridge (located on Shelf 3)
-Close fridge door
-Go to counter
-Put peanut butter on counter
-Walk to fridge location
-Open fridge door
-Take jelly out of fridge (located on shelf 2)
-Close fridge door
-Go to counter
-Put jelly on counter
-Open peanut butter jar
-Take knife
-Put peanut butter on knife
-Pick up bread slice 1 and apply peanut butter on knife to bread slice 1
....etc.

Do you see how complicated that is? A human is much smarter than a computer. Whenever you program, it is really helpful to draw a map of what you really want the computer to do. You can't just say, I want you to make a sandwich! You have to break the process into steps (and sometimes, you'll have to break down each step too). It takes a while to get the hang of how computers think (it's quite different than how you think, though you'll realize in many cases, you do think the same way, you just skip lots of the steps in between).

I'm sorry you are feeling a bit confused. I think everyone at the beginning is confused (I definitely was). The important thing is to not give up. In general with learning, sometimes you have to read things over and over again until finally it clicks. Other times when you are reading something, you'll look up one word, only to find that you also have to look up the words in that definition, until finally you see words that make sense.

If Scratch is confusing, then other languages are probably going to be even more confusing. I know you are in 8th grade, and Scratch might seem a bit "kiddy" because of all the bright colors, but it's visual style also makes it much easier to learn how to program because it has lots of nice functions that are built right into the software (so you don't need to worry about programming them yourself). I actually used Scratch for a class in my last year of college, and what is cool is that now more than 200 people have played our game on the Scratch website.

I don't know of other resources for science fair projects, but I'm sure if you do a google search on "computer science projects" or something similar, you'll find some. We are working on getting more varied computer science projects. Unfortunately, too many of the ones we have right now are strictly math related.

You could also check out Alice 3D, which also gives a beginning programmer lots of tools to create something cool, but it's in 3D instead of 2D like scratch. The website is here: http://www.alice.org/

I think in order to do a good project, you should try to fiddle around with Scratch and Alice to get the basics of programming down. Then, it will be easier to learn other languages and do a more advanced project.

The scratch Project Idea I gave you was from the video games section (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p023.shtml). I would suggest looking more at the troubleshooting section on that page. The scratch website has some videos and a guide on how to get started programming. Even if you don't end up using scratch for a project, they might be helpful.

I found this website which will help you learn a little bit of C++ and some basics of programming: http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/lesson1.html

I learned how to program using "Scheme" (also called "Lisp").

There are tons of other resources online if you don't like those. Just try things like "programming if statement" or "programming loop" etc.

Whatever you decide to do, remember that it isn't going to make sense right away. It's going to take quite a bit of effort to get to the point where it finally clicks. But you do keep saying you want a challenge . Learning how to program is definitely challenging. Just keep with it!

I think one of the best ways to learn is to look at other people's code and fiddle around with it, so do that when you can too.

Good luck and if you have more questions about your project, let us know.

thank you amber i have one question. ok nvm. never mind. thanks