Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My son is interested in the Nanorg project suggested here at Sciencebuddies at http://www.sciencebuddies.com/science-f ... OjMscmlkOj

My question has two parts:

1. I have read that a science fair project must be an experiment that follows the scientific method. In what way can he apply the scientific method to this project at a science fair? It seems to me that realistically, he is applying the scientific method to every line of code he writes, because he gets an idea for something he wants his code to do, then he forms a hypothesis about how to get the program to do that, then he adds the code, then he runs the program to check the result, and then he tries something else if it didn't work. That IS the scientific method. However, I am not sure how he could actually make the process applicable to a science fair, with the format that is currently required. Any insights would be appreciated.

2. He is only 9 years old- almost 10. He has been programming with Scratch for one year,and has written elaborate programs with it. He wants to do this Nanorg project. I know it is suggested for 8th grade and up. He is going into fifth. Do you think that this is out of the question for a bright fifth grader to try? Also, are there any kid-oriented tutorials for Assembly Language?

Thank you.

Hi,

Your son is the best judge of whether he can do a project. If he is fascinated by NANORGS and wants to try it, let him. He will soon lose interest in it if it is way over his head. If it is not he will stretch himself to master what he does not know and may surprise everyone by what he achieves. Kids skill levels in specific areas vary enormously, and Science Buddies rating levels are only a rough guide for “middle of the skill curve” kids. Some very unusual kids are ready for college level classes at your son’s age.

As for resources to learn assembly language, check out the Bibliography section of the NANORG project write up for several appropriate ones.

As to your first question, read the Science Buddies Project Guide:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

My general suggestion is to encourage your kids to follow their own interests as to the projects they undertake. Science Buddies is designed for their direct access to its resources, and they are encouraged to use it themselves to ask their questions or investigate topics.

Best regards,

Barrett L. Tomlinson

Barrett has given you some great advice.

I just wanted to elaborate on your first question. Instead of following the scientific method, he would be following the engineering design process. In general, all the projects on the Science Buddies website should be accepted by most science fairs and most teachers (unless the project in question is too easy, that's clearly not an issue here).Teachers vary, as many don't even know what the engineering design process is! If this is for a school project, talk to the teacher about the project and if they do not know about the engineering design process, you can point them to the Science Buddies page about it. The project is a perfectly valid "science fair" project, and your son would learn a lot.

Here's the page about the engineering design process: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ring.shtml

Your son might also be interested in Storytelling Alice or the regular Alice, which is similar to Scratch but it is in 3D. Storytelling Alice is geared towards middle schoolers, but if your son is making advanced programs in Scratch he could probably pick up the regular Alice language fine.

Regular Alice:
http://www.alice.org/

Storytelling Alice:
http://www.alice.org/kelleher/storytell ... nload.html (Windows only unfortunately)

We even have a new project on our website about Storytelling Alice!
Project Idea: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p037.shtml
Guide to Storytelling Alice: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... rted.shtml

Good luck!