Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

well i am doin it on which metabolism is quicker .. a 50 yr old or a 13..... my hypthesis be that the 13yr one....
also the 50 yr old does exercise and the 13 yr one doesnt .... so like now what should i do my research paper on _?... and is this a good science project? plzzzz answer i seiously need HELP!!!!

in which science project could i use this info...a freind and me are making diffrent kind of diets (i know different person have different metabolism but ma teacher said i could do it) my friend is doin exersice 5 days a week i dont do any exercise .. ill do this for four weeks after that we''ll switch diets and do it for four too and see who lost the most lbs thru all the 8 weeks .... sooo like what science project would be good with this or is this a good science project??????????????????/ plz HELP!!!!!!!! :mrblack:

gothireve,
This sounds like a very interesting idea for a project, looking at the effects of different diets. However you might want to think about including more people in your experiment than just you and your friend. One of the ways that we can show results that are meaningful and reproducible is by increasing the size of your study to include many other people. Is there a way that you would include a few other people in your experiment?

Matt Badtke

uhm mbadtke would it be wrong if i did the 1st moth with only 2 of my freinds and the 2nd month with the 3rd ???????

plz answer thx for ur past answer watin for a new one

Hi there,

You have a very interesting idea. In order to measure effects in the most scientific way, you will want all of your participants to do the experiment for the same amount of time. It doesn't have to be simultaneous, but keep in mind that metabolism is affected by more than just diet and exercise. For example, it can be affected by drastic changes in temperature. So you'll want to make sure that you are looking at changes within a similar time frame, so you can control as many environmental variables as possible.

Let us know if you have more questions!

Heather