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Abstracts are sorted alphabetically by category. Jump to the start of a particular category by clicking a category link below. See Junior & Senior Division Project Abstracts
Behavioral & Social Sciences
Biology & Biochemistry
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Energy: Chemical & Physical
Engineering: Civil & Environmental
Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science
Engineering: Materials & Biomedical
Engineering: Mechanical
Medicine & Health Sciences
Physics, Astronomy & Math
Plant Sciences
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1005) Color Science
My project helps artists find the brightest color so they can use less resources. I looked at RGB color, hue, value, and saturation to measure the colors as they faded from light.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1076) It's Not What It Seems
The purpose of this project was to see if shadows can trick the mind. The hypothesis is that shadows can trick the mind by using light and color. The methods were testing all types of people on two different videos. Five questions in total where ask of the people. Two for the first video, and three for the second video. The data was analyzed, and the hypothesis was accepted. Because all together their test would have been 50%.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1104) Are You Sure You Want To Eat That?
Soy lecithin is a common ingredient in many candies. Most
people don't know what it is, however, so it doesn't bother them.
I've noticed this before, and I wondered; if I gave a group of
people a food that they liked and told them why that food's
ingredients were unhealthy, would it change how appetizing the
food was to them?
I turned this into a question: Would people still want to eat
something they like if they found out its ingredients and why they're
I researched this question and found several articles about how
knowledge influences perception. Basically, they said that
knowledge can influence decisions and answers.
This research led to a hypothesis: Knowledge influences
perception, and therefore people won't want to eat a food they like
if they know why its ingredients are unhealthy.
I planned the experiment to have two trials. In each trial, the
subjects would be given a "Jolly Rancher" candy and a survey; the
survey would ask them how appetizing the "Jolly Rancher" was, and
how it smelled. Then, they would read information about why its
ingredients are unhealthy, and answer the questions again.
After the data was analysed, I found that twenty-eight people
thought the food was less appetizing than before they read the
information, and eleven people thought it was still just as
appetizing. Twenty-three people thought the smell was the same,
seven thought it was worse, and nine people thought it smelled
better. I concluded that the results supported my hypothesis.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1114) Does Sight Affect Hearing
I studied how sight affects hearing. I made a video where I say a series of random words but there's loud music in the background so it's hard to hear. Some people put a blindfold on and some people didn't and they listened to the video and said what they heard.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1117) You're Hot And You're Cold
The purpose of this experiment was to see what temperature a student can take a test best in. To test this, subjects were given a math test in a cold room and a warm room. This was to see the best academic performance between the two rooms. The two test scores were compared to see the best performance. The colder performances had higher scores because they could concentrate more. The subjects were very impatient and worried about finishing even though they were not timed. The scores in a warm room were very low, the subjects were very relaxed and not focused. A subject can take a test best in a cold room.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1132) Candy Craze: A Social Experiment In Following The Rules
Aim: A social experiment to evaluate the chance of people following the imposed rules more than the obvious social norms (the right thing to do).
Methods: A bowl of candy was placed in the classroom with and without instructions (to take only one candy). The number of students taking more than one candy under each condition was noted and the percentage of students taking more than one candy, under each condition was calculated
Results: When given instructions to take only one candy, 89.3% students followed the rule. Whereas, with no clear instruction, 77.8% students took only one candy. Females did better with instructions, as opposed to no instructions at all (3.6 vs. 14.8%).
Conclusion: As hypothesized, students followed clear instructions better, as compared to the obvious social rules. A huge difference was observed in the behavior of females under the two different scenarios. Whereas, no such difference in males was observed, suggesting that the tendency to follow clear instructions were higher in females than males.
Future Directions: The experiment needs to be replicated with a larger sample size.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1163) The 'Eyes' Have It!
I wanted to find out if people could read emotions simply by looking at a person's eyes, and not their whole face. I took photos of my brother and I expressing different emotions, and then covered up everything but the eyes. I then asked a wide variety of people to "read" the emotions of the people in the photos. It was interesting to see how people interpreted emotions when only looking at eyes.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1172) Music For Your Memory
How does music affect your memory? My project compares memory test results when listening to different genres of music.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1173) Shapes, Sounds And The Bouba Kiki Effect
Are shapes and drawings a form of communication? Do shapes have the same sounds to people that speak different languages and are in different age groups? Will people of different ages and nationalities identify shapes the same way? If I show people shapes and ask them to classify the shape as a "Bouba" or a "Kiki", then I think the majority will say the rounded shape is a "Bouba" and the pointy shape is a "Kiki." To test this theory, people who spoke different languages and were different ages were shown the exact same sketches and asked to identify them as a "Bouba" or "Kiki." The results showed 73.7% of people taking the survey said that the round shape was "Bouba" and 26.3% said the pointy shape was a "Kiki." In conclusion, the data collected supported my reading and research.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1174) The Effects Of Stress On Short Term Memory
This science project tries to measure the effects of stress on the efficiency of short term memorization.
Methods of Research
In a series of experiments, participants were tested on memorizing a set of 30 pictures. In the first set the participants were not placed under stress. In the second set participants were stressed by risk of losing reward (candy) if they did not perform well.
In the experiment the number of correct answers was recorded for each of the ten participants for both tests.
Observations & Problems
Results show that in some cases stress had minor improvements but in other cases drastic deterioration in test scores. I was able to test only ten participants for this experiment. It was difficult to measure the level of stress the participant underwent.
Stress helped my participants on a ratio of 2:1. This shows that it is ok to be stressed when taking a test.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1175) Please Call Stella! What Gives Some People A Knack For Hearing Accents?
For my science project I wanted to find out what makes some people better at hearing spoken accents. My hypothesis is that bilingual people will be able to tell accents 20% better than unilingual people. I tested subjects' ability to recognize spoken accents with an audio file and multiple choice questions. The results were that the average overall was 41% and the average for unilingual 37% and bilingual was 45%. The difference between the two was only 8%, which is 12% less than what I hypothesized.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1221) Peppermint
In this experiment, I tested 10 students. In 10 trials, the students studied an image for 1 minute and then recalled the images they remembered without smelling peppermint essential oil. In 10 more trials, the students completed the same procedure. This time they were smelling peppermint essential oil being diffused adjacent to them. I hypothesized that students would recall more images when they had been exposed to peppermint essential oil. My results supported my hypothesis in that all students identified more images in the presence of peppermint essential oil.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1244) Does Color Matter
This project was done to find out if a certain color of paper helped people do better on a math test. The hypothesis was people would have the best result on a math quiz written on blue paper, because blue is known as one of the calm colors and can help you feel relaxed. Twenty five test subjects were tested and timed on five different color papers of white, yellow, blue, green and red. The results of the tests showed each color helped people do something different. Blue was fastest but least accurate overall test on green paper were the best so the hypothesis was only partly correct. The experiment was inconclusive, because no one color helped people with both speed and accuracy other than green. For further research more colors and more people.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1250) How Tall? Standing "Tall" On The Podium
Is there a correlation between heights of gymnasts and their meet scores?
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1325) Music And Memory
My experiment was about music and memory. My hypothesis was that if people use music to memorize a phrase, then they will remember more words because the tune is familiar. I asked 20 individuals to help in my experiment. The participants were randomly assigned to either "Group 1" or "Group 2." As it turned out, nine individuals were assigned to Group 1, while eleven were assigned to Group 2. I had Group 1 memorize a short poem. Group 2 also memorized the same poem, but this time to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
The average number of words recalled from Group 1 was 12.7. Group 2's average number of words was 14. My hypothesis was correct, that Group 2 would recall more words because they were able to use a tune that was familiar to them. However, the difference between the two groups was not as great as I anticipated. I thought that Group 2's average would have been much greater than Group 1's average. Additionally, I discovered that some people found it particularly difficult to memorize the words to the poem, because they thought of the words to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" instead of the words to the poem.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1351) Are Childproof Containers Really Childproof?
My topic is Are Childproof Containers Really Childproof? I chose it because my uncle is a pharmacist and has shown me some interesting containers. I have always been fascinated with the idea of the containers and whether or not little kids would be able to open them. So when I came across this project on Science Buddies, I wanted to do it.
My hypothesis was that the only container that they would open was number 4, because it was a push and turn lid that turned easily and so I thought they would get mad and push hard and get it open.
To do the experiment, I took 5 different containers and had 10 kids ages 3-5 try to open each one. I took a time of how long they spent on each one and whether they opened it or not.
None of the kids got any of the childproof containers open. The only container all the children got open was the control, the container without a childproof lid.
In conclusion, I found that all the containers I tested were childproof on the children tested. However, two parents told me that their child did once open a childproof container when they were two and so it is important to note that childproof containers are actually just child-resistant which means it'll be harder for them to open, so it is still important to keep the containers out of reach of children.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1380) Color On Memory
I used tests to see if color images or black and whittle images could be recalled easier.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1388) Crosser Catastrophe
Can I affect pedestrians' behavior to use the crosswalk lawfully by posting signs near the poles of a chosen crosswalk in Salt Lake City? Is a written sign or a sign with an image more effective in affecting change? I researched this topic and found that over 500 pedestrians died in 2006 because of incorrect crosswalk use. That is a significant number. I hypothesized that I could change pedestrian crosswalk behavior to utilize the crosswalk correctly with a sign, and that the best sign would be one with an image reminding people that it is dangerous to cross the street when it is not the correct time. I believed this to be true because an image is "worth a thousand words" and can reach all ages, languages, and passersby. To test my hypothesis, I went to a previously planned crosswalk on three days. The first day I only observed and collected data for a control group. I didn't try to change pedestrian behavior. The second day, I posted signs with a simple phrase to remind pedestrians to cross at the correct time. On the third day, I posted signs with pictures to remind pedestrians that it is safer to cross at the correct time. I found that my hypothesis was correct! Pedestrians used the crosswalk correctly at a higher percentage on the day with the picture-sign than the other days.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1410) What Works Better? Reward Or Consequence
My project is a Physical test that tells adult whether Reward works better or Consequence. What i found in my test is that Reward works better because
kids act better and get more done. Consequence just makes children act better. I thought reward would be better because as the oldest of all my siblings and cousins I've always had reward work better. How i tested this is i took kids out in the hall of my school and put them in various groups. I told them to draw circles without moving. That is a summary of what I did on my project.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1412) The Power Of High Fives
Do high fives make people happy? Will random strangers high five a kid? My hypothesis was that high fives make people happy, and that women will five a kid more than men.
The New York Times reported a study conducted on NBA teams that measured their physical contact early on the season. They showed that teams with the best record fived and used physical contact more than the teams with bad records. Other studies showed that high fives, and other similar gestures, can improve performance and reduce stress. I learned that touch, like high fives, releases oxytocin, a hormone that helps create trust. Touch can also reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
My study involved creating a tracking form, going to different public places and saying "High Five" to all types of people. I tracked if they fived me, if they smiled after and their gender and age.
I observed that
1. More than half of people smiled AFTER they fived.
2. Women fives more than men.
3. Middle aged men five the least and were least likely to smile after.
4. People at the grocery store high fived more than people at the mall.
5. Grumpy looking or rushed people usually didn't high five.
6. 100% of old guys fived and were the most likely to smile after.
7. Adults with kids were more exited to five me than adults without kids.
My study did show that high fives do make people happy. High five!
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1426) Dexteri Tee Experiment
How do different types of gloves affect finger dexterity? The experiment was used to determine if bare hands versus gloved hands of different thickness would impact dexterity, speed, and accuracy. Each participant performed one test five times (bare hands and four different types of gloves). The test consisted of taking a tee with a colored top from a bowl, matching it to a colored square on a board and putting it into the hole in the board. The test was timed and scored for accuracy. The results showed that as the thickness of the gloves increased, accuracy decreased and time increased. However, bare hands compared to exam gloves showed a slight decrease in time and an increase in accuracy. This result could have been because the participant was familiar with the test (it was test #2 out of 5) By the third test, accuracy decreased and time increased and then time doubled by the fifth test with winter gloves compared to bare hands and average accuracy also dropped. Gloves do affect dexterity if they are thick enough. Choosing the right type of glove depends on the work that needs to be done. An example where great dexterity is needed, you wouldn't want thick winter gloves unless you were working in an environment that required it. Thank goodness Doctors and Nurses aren't required to wear winter gloves in their procedures because most of their work is very delicate! Conclusion: Choose the right gloves for the right job!
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1431) Liar, Liar, Eggs On Fire!
My project studied whether egg weight increases as egg size increases. I hypothesized that egg weight should increase as egg size increases. In order to test my hypothesis, I weighed 168 shell eggs of different sizes (medium, large, extra-large and jumbo) from six different companies. I was surprised to learn that egg weight did not always increase with size as expected. I concluded that 2/3 of egg producers in my study are not following the federal standards for weight and sometimes market eggs as bigger than they really are.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1465) Learning About Learning
I was sitting in math class, noticing that some kids were really struggling to remember the math concepts that had been taught in class.
I wondered if there was one best way that a math teacher could use to help the kids remember the math concepts.
I tested three groups of 10 fifth-grade students, using different learning styles, to see if one group is able to remember more than another. The learning styles I tested were audibly, visually, and kinesthetically. I used different students for each group so I could use the same questions making the results valid. I used ten math equations with each group of students. Audibly only heard the math equations, visually only saw the math equations, and kinesthetically heard, saw, and drew models of the equations. After learning the equations they were asked to write down everything they remembered.
My results were that visually was the most effective way for them to remember the equations, which contradicted with my hypothesis that kinesthetically would be the best way for them to remember.
If I did this project again, I would do one of two things; I would test second or third-graders because one of the articles I read said that most children are primarily kinesthetic learners until third grade or I would give the fifth-grade kinesthetic learners an answering sheet with room for them to draw models because recreating the models might trigger their memory.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1515) Memory Magic
I focused on mnemonics and tested how long they could remember a set of 30 food items. The point of my project was to see if mnemonics helped your memory or not.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1517) Your Taste Threshold
The question that has guided my project is: Do boys and girls have a different taste threshold? I selected this question because it really interested me because my sister dislikes candy and I have always wondered why. My hypothesis is that girls will have a greater taste threshold for salty, sweet and sour tastes than boys. My reason behind my hypothesis is that my sister dislikes many strong foods, including candy. I think this is because my sister's taste buds are so strong that the tastes overwhelm her. In order to test my hypothesis I mixed different concentrated solutions of salty, sugary, and sour tastes. I then tested an equal amount of boys and girls to see who could taste the different concentrations the best. I then formed my conclusions.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-1533) Does Brushing A Horse Relax It?
My project was on if brushing a horse relaxed it. I used two horses to work with during this experiment. I took their heartrate before I lunged them and used that as the baseline heartrate. I lunged both horses for a total of twenty minutes. After I lunged them I took their heartrate immediately. I continued taking their heartrate every three minutes for thirty seconds until their heartrates returned to baseline. I either brushed them or did not brush them during this time. I then compared the results of when I brushed them to when I did not brush them to see which technique brought their heartrate down to their baseline faster.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-2088) Yay Or Neigh...
Animal training is a Big Business. If you own a horse, you already know it takes several months/years of training just to ride it. At our barn, everyone wonders how to train their horses more efficiently? The "whipping method" is often used at the Kentucky Derby, which is heartbreaking for horse owners to hear. We needed to determine if horses could respond better to verbal praise, pat on head, grooming or treats. Our initial research uncovered several studies showing the importance of using treats. However, which treats had not yet been identified.
When training a horse, which treat reward are horses more eager or willing to work for? Its time for us to test those treats! We tested 26 horses by allowing them to sniff each treat and then releasing them to discover which one they wanted most. We wondered if the horses would eat all the treats (horse buffet). However, 89% selected a single treat. For more in depth answers we repeated the entire process by switching the treats around, and surveyed customers at a feed store.
Want to train your own horse? Horses can smell tasty food and want to please their owners. Finding the right treat can definitely speed up the training process. 50% of each test showed horses prefer Apples. The outcome of our project is important to horse owners, trainers, veterinarians, etc. who want to train their horses quickly and efficiently. Our hypothesis was correct. An apple a day makes a horse say YAY!
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-2137) Blame It On The Game
Many parents think that if their kids spend too much time playing video games, their academics will be affected. We wanted to test this idea to see if test scores are actually lowered and to see how video games affect different people. We designed our experiment to find out if playing video games before taking a math test causes students' to do more poorly on a test than if they had not played video games before doing so. Our results showed that our hypothesis was correct: students do worse on a math test after playing video games than they do on a similar math test without playing video games beforehand.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-2307) Scientific Symphony
The project, Scientific Symphony, tests if music can make you smarter, specifically, classical and rock and roll music. We tested eight people, four boys and four girls, however we had to downsize to 6 people,3 girls and 3 boys. Our project involved a control group that was given a math test and a basic score. Then, we gave the same skill level test, although we would play classical or rock music for 30 seconds before each test. After that, we tallied all of the results and observed if each person's results on the math test. In the end we found that music helps some people while it presents a disadvantage others.
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-2558) Will You Have Cavities In The Future?
Can your fingerprint predict if you are more prone to getting cavities? We are here to let you know- Yes! Your finger prints and your teeth are grown in the same fetal cell. There are two types of finger prints, there are 'Loops' and there are 'Whirls.' Our theory will determine the outcome of the future of your teeth based on which one you have- do you have 'Loops? ' Or 'Whorls'? Most people have both, but based on testings, the adults we have found to have more 'Whorls' unfortunately are more prone to cavities. We tested 23 adults and proved our theory to be correct. This theory will help people be more aware of their future and will help guide their behavior of taking better care of their teeth. Also this will help science develop oral hygiene products for those who are cursed with having more 'Whorls' in their genetic makeup and can assist them at a very young age to make their adult life hopefully 'cavity free.'
[Behavioral & Social Sciences] (1BE-3294) Smart Mints
Our group tested whether different types of mints helped the test taking abilities of various 5th graders. Specifically, we tested a number of 5th grader students by giving them multiplication tests while they were sucking on the different types of mints. We tested three different types of mint candies on each student: Mentos, Lifesavers and Tic-Tacs. We hypothesized that our experiment would prove that one of the mints, as compared to the others, increased the ability of the students to complete the multiplication tests faster than the other mints.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1024) Effect Of Temperature On Hatching Brine Shrimp
Brine shrimp were placed in Petri dishes, covered with salt water (24 ppt), and incubated under continuous light for three days. The experiment was performed at three different temperatures- 76 degrees F, 82 degrees F, and 88 degrees F. Hatch rates for each dish were calculated by dividing the number of shrimp by the number of starting eggs on days 1, 2, and 3. The rates were compared to determine the optimal temperature for hatching of brine shrimp eggs.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1031) What Area Of Our School Is The Dirtiest?
I took germ samples from 9 different places around my school and grew the bacteria to find out which place contained the most germs. I thought that the bathroom would be the dirtiest, but the student's desk was actually the winner. The teacher's keyboard and the reception desk were also very dirty. I think this information can help our school because if we try to keep these areas cleaner it might help everyone from passing germs and spreading sicknesses.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1068) A Midwinter Blueberry Dream
We have all heard it discussed that organic foods are healthier both for the environment and for humans. Is there a way to test for for this? Might pesticides interfere with the nutritiousness of a food? My science fair project was focused on comparing the antioxidant levels in organic and non-organic fruits, with the hypothesis that organic foods would have higher antioxidant content. I used the Briggs Rauscher reaction:an oscillating reaction in which amber radical and blue non-radical steps alternate. By adding samples of different types of food extracts to the reaction and measuring the time intervals between color changes, I compared the effectiveness of the samples as radical scavengers. My samples were lime, grape tomatoes and blueberries (both organic and non organic varieties of each). Distilled water was used as control. I plotted the data from the various trials in box-whisker plots and compared the median time for color change, for each type of food. I found a statistically meaningful difference in the antioxidant levels of organic blueberries versus non-organic ones. The difference in tomatoes was not as convincing, and for limes the data was inconclusive. If the intent is to buy organic food with the goal of getting more antioxidants, berries are your best bet.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1072) Got Gas? The Glycemic Index And The Production Of Methane Gas
The purpose of this project was to see if the glycemic index is a good predictor of methane production from specific foods. Foods high, middle, and low on the glycemic index were blended with water and placed in bottles which were sealed with balloons. The circumference of the balloons was recorded for five days and then compared. The data agreed with the hypothesis which was that if foods high, medium, and low on the glycemic index are allowed to decay in bottles sealed with balloons, then the balloons on the bottles containing food high on the glycemic index will expand more than those with medium and low glycemic index foods. This information could be important in solving the problem of methane pollution from food waste and the solution of harvesting that methane as an alternative fuel source.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1074) Effect Of Repeated Exposure To Antibiotics On Bacterial Resistance
The purpose of this study was to determine if the frequent use of antibiotics affects bacterial resistance. I tested for bacterial resistance by smearing the bacteria over agar Petri dishes and placing small white antibiotic discs on each dish. This process was repeated by collecting bacteria around the clearing, also known as the inhibition zone, and growing more. The hypothesis was that the inhibition zone would decrease in size after repeated exposure to the antibiotic. The hypothesis was supported suggesting that the bacteria become more resistant to the drug.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1140) Yeast Fermentation
This experiment involves assessing the process of fermentation by measuring the CO2 emitted using latex balloons. The yeasts will be fermenting sugar either in the granulated form or in the apples or sweet potatoes, creating the waste product CO2.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1186) Surviving In The Great Salt Lake
This project researched pollutants in the Great Salt Lake and created an experiment to test how one pollutant(fertilizer with Nitrogen) impacts the life of Brine Shrimp.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1200) Can You Teach An Old Dog New Tricks?
My hypothesis was if I take three dogs of different breed,(Corgi, Golden Retriever, Mixed Bread), and three methods, (Treat, Clicker, Praise), and perform all three methods on all three dogs, then the treat training method will be most effective. This is because of a dog's will to please, their determination and their strong desire for food. My procedure was to take the Golden Retriever, train her with all three methods, and time her to see how long it took to train her with each method. I would repeat for the Corgi and the Mixed Breed. It took the Corgi 25 minutes to master the trick with the treats, 29 minutes with the clicker, and 30 minutes with the praise training. The Corgi finished with an average of 28 minutes. The Golden Retriever took 18 minutes to complete and repeat the trick with the treat training, it took her only seven minutes to complete the trick with the clicker, and 20 minutes with the praise. Her overall average was 15 minutes. Lastly, we move to the Mixed Breed. It took him 23 minutes to complete his first trick with the treats, only 11 minutes for his second with the clicker training, and 26 minutes for his praise training. His average was 20 minutes. I was incorrect with my hypothesis since I was taking an average of all the dogs. This concludes my paper.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1229) Soar High Like Birds Fly
The purpose of this experiment is to know what develops more quickly, precocial birds or altricial birds. The hypothesis was that precocial birds will develop more quickly than altricial birds because precocial young can walk, eat, and they open their eyes after hatching. Altricial young are hatched with eyes closed, are unable to walk and unable to fend for themselves. Pigeon young are altricial and chicken young is precocial. Chickens can eat whole foods as soon as they hatch, but pigeons need their mothers milk to survive. The method and what was done was that baby pigeons and baby chickens were hatched and were recorded by what they , what they looked like, and what they do. The hypothesis was that precocial young would develop quicker than altricial young. It was accepted because the precocial birds showed increased weight, Earlier abilities to walk, and leave the nest.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1284) Glucose How Sweet It Is
Testing everyday foods for Sugar content levels and determining that some of the foods we consider "Heathy" have the highest levels of sugar.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1298) There's No Accounting For Taste
"The purpose of my experiment was to determine if boys or girls have better taste buds."
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1309) Are You Sure This Is Sanitary? It Looks Questionable.
On the package of Kirkland cleaning wipes it says that it can get rid of 99.9% of bacteria. It says on the Scrubbing Bubbles cleaning spray that it will also get rid of 99.9% of bacteria. Using hot, soapy water has been used as a cleaner for many years. Which of these methods is the best? My hypothesis was that the cleaning spray would clean the most bacteria off the surface I tested. I said this because of its ingredients and from what it said on the label. My hypothesis was wrong because based on my experiment the data showed that wipes are the best cleaning option.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1327) Chicken Experiment
I saw whether my chickens would lay more eggs on a diet of protein or a diet of carbohydrates.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1343) Do Families Share Similar Finger Print Patterns?
Can one use finger prints to connect people to families? Do parents, children, and siblings share similar patterns enough to identify if they are family members like DNA?
Do Parents and/or Siblings share similar patterns in finger prints? Can this be used to identify a person's connection to a family?
Based off of research I believe that families will have similar finger prints and noticeable patterns within families.
Procedures: I gathered supplies to finger print people includes note cards and ink pad. I then asked different families to offer the use of their fingerprints. The samples came from different family combinations including twins,grandparents,parents,siblings,and cousins. I took the prints of each finger on every person's right hand. I had to look at the prints and classify each print into loops, arches, whorls, or composite. I would label this on the card and note results into notebook. This step was done with the help of a police officer from the Tooele Police Department. I then compared the prints to their family members. I noted the similarities and differences. I then decide if the information I gathered supported my hypothesis.
Results. What answer did you obtain? Be specific and use numbers to describe your results. Do not use vague terms like "most" or "some."
I discovered some interesting similarities within families. While there is proof that there are
family connections when it comes to prints and similarities can be found between families it is not a 100% positive way to identify family members.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1348) Freaky Fingerprints
My science fair question was are fingerprint patterns inherited and if so are they passed through generations? When I researched my question I found that the three general fingerprint patterns are the loop, arch, and whorl. I also found that your body has 23 pairs of chromosomes and one from each pair is inherited from you parents. Chromosomes are small thread like substances in your body. My hypothesis was that the general fingerprint patterns could be inherited, though not always, but the exact ridges and furrows of the fingerprint would not because no fingerprint is the exact same. To start my experiment I collected approximately 30 participants from two sides of my family and had them sign permission slips at my grandparents house. I then examined and determined what type of fingerprint pattern they had at my home. Finally, I compared the fingerprint patterns in the family generations. My adult supervisor was Jennifer Warnas (mother) and her mobile phone number is 801-809-7344
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1441) What Method Of Removing Bacteria From Teeth Is The Most Effective
I am very interested in bacteria, taking the best care of my teeth, and helping other people take care of their teeth. I think that some people may not be removing enough bacteria from their teeth. I want to find the way to prevent cavities, bad breath, and disease.
In my experiments of cleaning teeth, I used the methods of brushing teeth with a manual toothbrush, brushing teeth with an electric toothbrush, and using mouthwash. First, I would use a method. Then, I would swab my mouth. After that, I would wipe the swab in a prepared petri dish. Right after that, I would put the petri dish in an incubator that was thirty two degrees Celsius. Lastly, I would take the petri dish out in two days and take a picture of the colonies of bacteria that grew.
I thought that using an electric toothbrush would remove the most bacteria. After I tested the efficiency of an electric toothbrush, a manual toothbrush, and mouthwash, I discovered that mouthwash removes the most bacteria from teeth. A manual toothbrush does not remove a lot of bacteria from teeth according to my test results. An electric toothbrush removed a fair amount of bacteria from teeth. In conclusion, based on the test results of my project, people should use mouthwash in conjunction with brushing teeth with an electric toothbrush in order to prevent cavities, bad breath, and disease.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1482) Which Grade Is The Grossest?
To find out "Which Grade is the Grossest" I met with a scientist from Nelson Laboratories who donated agar plates for my experiment. She showed me how to label the plates, safely collect samples, and prepare them for transportation. My hypothesis was that the Kindergartners' would have the most bacteria because the younger kids are, the less they understand or care about germs. After collecting multiple samples from each grade I took the plates to Nelson Laboratories where a scientist placed them in an incubator for seventy-two hours. An adult took pictures of each plate and then safely disposed of them. I met with another scientist who helped me identify what types of organisms had grown on the plates. She also taught me how to identify and count each colony. I had four people (including myself) count the colonies, and then I averaged them. I added all the totals for each grade and then divided to get the average number of colonies per grade. My hypothesis was correct! Kindergartners had the most bacteria (when combined and averaged). Interestingly, as the kids got older the numbers start to creep back up. This may be because the students forget what they have learned about germs, or they just become less careful as they get older. If I could get more agar plates, I would love to take more samples and expand on this research in the future. This was an awesome learning experience! Thank you for letting me share it with you!
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1498) Does Calories Burned Affect Sleep?
I am a restless sleeper. I wondered if the calories I burned in a day (a measure of activity level) would affect the quality of my sleep. I wore a fitbit for over a month, day and night. I compared my recorded sleep restlessness with how many calories were burned. My hypothesis was that the more calories burned in a day, the better I would sleep. However, my results were inconclusive. I had too many uncontrolled variables.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1525) Browning Of Apples?
I saw my friend eating sliced apples sprayed with lemon juice. She told me that the lemon juice prevented the browning of apples. Since lemon juice is high in Vitamin C, it got me wondering if dipping the sliced apples in a solution of just Vitamin C would prevent browning as well.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1549) Don't Eat The Green Cheese
I wanted to know if a hard or soft cheese would mold faster because we have to throw cheese away sometimes due to mold. In three trials I put hard and soft cheese out to mold and I measured every other day to see if mold had grown on the cheese. I saw that the soft cheese started to mold in 3-5 days when the hard cheese only started to mold in one trial on the last day.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-1565) Smell Vs. Taste
How important is your sense of smell to you?
I didn't think it was that important until I started researching what it can do for us. I wanted to see how powerful it can be especially when I pinned it against our sense of taste. When I discovered how important our sense of smell was, I knew I would not like to loose it. I found out that you can only taste because of your sense of smell and if you lost this sense, you wouldn't be able to taste all the delicious foods and desserts around you.
The purpose of my experiment was to see whether your sense of smell would be stronger than your sense of taste. Could smelling one scent, take away the flavor of something else, while using them at the same time? In order to find the answer, I thought of a few different combinations of scents and tastes and invited ten individuals to try the different combinations and let me know if they could taste one thing while smelling another thing. What I found out was that the majority of the individuals lost the flavor because the scent was stronger.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-2337) Sweet As Sugar
Our project was called "Sweet as Sugar." We chose to do this project because we thought sugar is very unhealthy and causes a lot of side effects like diabetes and in some cases can cause cancer. We wanted to find a sugar substitute that tasted as sweet as sugar. We tested three sugar substitutes: Splenda, erythritol, and honey. Our hypothesis is that Splenda and erythritol would taste the most like sugar. We made sixteen solutions using 10%, !%, 0.1%, 0.01% of sugar, Splenda, erythritol, and honey. Next, we tested the sugar solutions on ten different subjects of all ages to see if they could detect the sweetness of the sugar solutions. After we tested all of our subjects, we found that the older you get, the less likely you are to detect sweetness. The result of our project was that more people could taste Splenda more than sugar, erythritol, and honey. We found that our hypothesis was only partially correct. If we replace sugar with Splenda, then we may be able to decrease the negative side effects of sugar.
[Biology & Biochemistry] (1BI-3463) Now You See It, Now You Don't
Chromatic Adaptation. Will time or age effect how long it takes for subjects eyes to adjust after looking at the color blocks?
[Chemistry] (1CH-1018) Cool Curds
Cottage Cheese is formed when an acid is added to milk or cream. The protein in the milk separates and forms into curds. My problem is: Which temperature of cream will produce more curds when you combine vinegar and cream? I think that a higher temperature will produce more curds. I think that the proteins in the cream will separate from the heat and be more likely produce curds. I heated and cooled cream. I added room temperature vinegar to them during 3 trials. After measuring the final amounts of curd, the result was that the room temperature cream created more curds. The average curd weight for the refrigerated cream (39°) was 20g. The average curd weight for the room temperature cream (70°) was 29.2g. The average curd weight for the heated cream (120°) was 21g. In conclusion, the cream at room temperature formed the most curds. The hot cream and the cool cream didn't make any curds, but did form a thick precipitate. This was a surprise to me because I thought that the hot cream would make more curds. I think that the hot cream didn't make more curds because it was way too hot and probably melted the proteins in the cream. I think that the cool cream didn't make the most curds because the proteins weren't separated enough. Next time, I would try to heat the cream a little less so the proteins could come apart, but not melt all the way.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1042) Beet The Ice
The purpose of my project was to find out whether beet juice could be used as a substitute or additive to the road salt. Road salt causes corrosion to roads and cars, and it can also be transferred into different mediums like soil and water system and cause harm. My hypothesis was that if beet juice was mixed into the road salt, then the ice will melt quicker. I tested my hypotheses by using various combinations of salts and beet juice. I found that the beet juice and road salt was the best combination for melting the ice. Then I tested the electrical conductivity using the voltmeter to see which combination had the lowest conductivity. In my experiment, I found that the road salt and beet juice would be the best combination.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1055) Scurvy Science
Purpose: To test the vitamin C content of 18th century explorer foods under different temperatures and over time to determine which food and conditions are best at preventing scurvy.
Procedure: Juice from an orange (control) and sage, oregano, cabbage, celery, and parsley (dependent variables) was mixed with an iodine-starch solution under three different temperatures over a 5-day period (independent variables). Iodine was combined with starch to form triiodide: I2 + I- ? I3- which oxidizes vitamin C to form dehydroascorbic acid: C6H8O6 + I3- + H2O ? C6H6O6 + 3I- + 2H+. As long as vitamin C was present in the juice solutions, the triiodide converted to the iodide ion very quickly and changed the color. After a 5-minute period comparison of relative vitamin C content was made based on ranking blue-black color of the 6 juices.
Data: Under almost all conditions the vitamin C content of the orange was consistently the highest. Of the explorer foods, sage most consistently had the highest vitamin C and parsley most consistently had the lowest vitamin C under all conditions. By day 3 the outdoor reactions were consistently the fastest suggesting colder temperature preserves vitamin C content. Over time the differences of colors (ranking) between specimens became more difficult.
Conclusion: Of the food types available to 18th century explorers, to prevent scurvy they should have taken more sage and less parsley on their voyages. Freezing food may preserve the vitamin C content. Vitamin C content appears to decrease over time.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1059) Does The Melting Point Of Chocolate Change Based On How Many Ingredients It Has?
I wanted to find out if chocolate melted faster or slower based on how many ingredients it had. I thought chocolates with more ingredients would melt faster because they are less pure. It turns out that chocolate with fewer ingredients actually melt faster, but more importantly the melting was inhibited by an ingredient called soy lechithin. Soy lechithin is an emulsifier that is used to increase the shelf life of chocolate. It changes the way chocolate melts and what happens to chocolate when it re-hardens.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1099) Fire Resistant Balloons
This project is to test what materials can make a balloon more fire resistant.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1112) A Toxic Topic: Cleaner Vs. Greener
The purpose of my project was to determine whether commercially produced cleaning products cleaned better or worse than their natural alternatives. My research proved that there are many toxic chemicals in our everyday cleaning products. I also found the prices of both the chemical and natural cleaning products, and discovered that the natural cleaners are less expensive. My hypothesis was that natural cleaning products will clean better than those commercially produced cleaning products that have multiple complex chemicals. To conduct my experiment, I applied both the chemical cleaning product, and the natural alternative to a dirty surface. I then cleaned the surface and compared. I discovered that the natural alternatives cleaned significantly better than the chemical cleaning products on all of my tests with the exception of the hair cleaning. The most serious complication came when cleaning one of my test subject's hair with corn starch. The day before, one of my test subjects had put hair product in his hair, causing the corn starch to stick to his hair, and not come out, turning his hair white. In the end I concluded that natural alternatives clean better than the chemical cleaning products tested against them. We can not only reduce the toxic chemicals that we put in our house, but we can also save money by using these healthier natural alternatives.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1118) Let There Be Light
First I cracked three of the same colored glow sticks which in this case was green. Next I put the glow sticks into either the refrigerator the freezer or in the sunroom. Third I put thermometers in the three locations to make sure that the temperatures stayed roughly the same. After that, every hour I would see how bright the glow sticks were and record my observations on a spread sheet. I recorded my last and final observation when two out of the three glow sticks were no longer illuminated. I did this experiment a second time to make sure I did not get mixed results.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1119) Electrolyte Challenge
Sports drinks are often promoted after athletic workouts to restore the electrolyte balance in the body. I wondered if other beverages contained the same amount of electrolytes, so I set up to determine which has more electrolytes--Gatorade or orange juice.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1125) Crack Length In Cheesecakes
When cheesecakes are baked there are often cracks on the top. There are different ways to bake cheesecakes. I am going to choose three baking methods and determine which method produces the least amount of cracks. I will use the same recipe and bake the cheesecakes using the following methods: Traditional, New York, Water Bath.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1139) Evaporation
This project is looking at the rate of evaporation using different liquids and a humid environment. The questions to be answered is do different liquids evaporate at different rates and does humidity affect evaporation. To test this 6 Enfamil measuring containers were filled with water, milk and vegetable oil. The hypothesis was that milk would evaporate the fastest because milk is made of protein and water. Protein does not evaporate, so milk would evaporate the fastest because there is less to evaporate. The conclusion was that water and milk evaporate at about the same rate.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1143) No Potassium = Stop?
Some nutrients, such as potassium in the food can conduct electricity. This project measures how different levels of potassium affect the conductivity of foods using electricity produced by zinc and copper. Would a lower potassium food or higher potassium food have more resistance in an electric circuit? The voltage and current needed to be measured, so the resistance could be found. Four different foods were used.The final results said that the higher potassium foods had less resistance, so the conclusion was made that the less potassium, the more resistance.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1169) Bakin' Bacon
My family loves bacon and makes it in large batches which can make large messes. My project is to find which cleaner is best for cleaning bacon grease.
The experiment is designed to use quantitative measures and demonstrate the action of the cleaner only without any wiping scrubbing, or other mechanical cleaning tools.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1207) The Effect Temperature Has On Drying Glue
In my science project I wanted to see if temperature had a negative or positive effect on drying glue. I glued three things of wood together and then let it dry in three different places where the temperature was different. I then tested if it did have an effect on the glue.
I found that it did have an effect on the glue because when I tested them, the one in the colder temperature broke.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1243) Popcorn: Which Brand Pops Best
I love popcorn, and I wanted to see which brand of popcorn has the least amount of un-popped kernels giving me the most for my money. I bought 5 different brands, Pop Secret, Orville Redenbacher, Jolly Time, Act II and Western Family. Through popping 3 bags of each brand, butter flavor only so my results would be accurate by averaging the results, I found that Act II had the most un-popped kernels and Pop Secret the least amount of un-popped Kernels.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1245) Sugar Crystals
How does surface texture affect the growth of sugar crystals?
[Chemistry] (1CH-1248) Would The Bubble Pop Faster
My question was, "Would the bubble pop faster if we boiled the water we use to pour in with the dry ice?" For my project I boiled the water we use to pour in with the dry ice. My prediction was supported. I thought that the bubble with the boiled water would pop faster because the steam of the boiled water would rise up with the carbon dioxide gas and make the bubble pop faster. It did exactly that. The bubble with the boiled water's bubble popped faster because the steam of the boiled water rose up with the carbon dioxide gas, which lead the bubble pop faster.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1264) Multitasking: Mission Impossible?
With my science project, I asked the question "How well do human's multitask? Is our ability to multitask related to our gender or age?" My hypothesis was that gender and age do affect how well we multitask and that multitasking actually isn't very efficient. I thought that kids under 12 years old would be better at multitasking than the older age groups and that females would be better multitaskers than males.
I did some research about multitasking and then I tested 30 people, both males and females, of many different ages. I asked them to do two different tasks one at a time and then to do the same two tasks at the same time. The results were interesting and answered my original questions.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1265) Ancient Or Modern Mummification?
I wanted to find out if an ancient method of mummification or a modern method of mummification would preserve a hot dog the best. I am going to look at weight, length and diameter to see which hot dog changes and shrinks the most. Egyptians used Natron, which is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate, sodium bicarbonate, along with small quantities of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate. Since this is very hard to find, I researched how to re-create Natron, and found that half table salt and half baking soda was a very close substitute. Then I researched how to dry things out with a modern chemical and a very effective and popular method is silica gel. I put one turkey hot dog and one beef hot dog in Natron, and one of each in silica gel. Then I decided to observe and measure a turkey and beef hot dog sitting on a plate with no chemicals to see how much they would shrink by themselves.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1281) A Hard Boiled "Eggs" Periment
Making hard-boiled eggs can be tricky for two reasons: you may get rubbery, gray-colored yolks or egg shells that are difficult to peel. So how do you cook hard-boiled eggs that are easy to peel and have creamy, yellow centers? This project looks at what time (in minutes) is best for cooking a hard-boiled egg. The eggs were tested in a two-gallon pot with 1-gallon room temperature water that was heated to boiling (205 degrees F). An egg was removed from the boiling water once every minute (independent variable) for 15 minutes, then an egg was taken out every 15 minutes up to an hour. Once the egg came out of the pot, it was placed in an ice bath for 1 minute. Then the eggs were ranked on peel-ability, internal temperature, texture, and yolk color (dependent variables). My hypothesis was that ten minutes was the perfect time for a hard-boiled egg. The experimental results showed that the best time for cooking a good hard-boiled egg was eleven minutes. Eleven minutes produces an egg that is easy to peel and has the best texture for eating.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1295) Do All Liquids Evaporate At The Same Rate?
• Introduction. The purpose of my experiment, was to find out if all liquids evaporate at the same rate. This would be helpful information in cooking, cosmetology, pharmacy, and medical practice.
• Problem Statement. I designed an experiment to answer the question, "Do all liquids evaporate at the same rate?" I selected several liquids with various vapor pressures to test. I hypothesized that higher vapor pressure would result in quicker evaporation.
• Procedures. I calibrated six test tubes and then filled each with a volume of 13 ml with one of six different liquids: tonic water, vinegar, orange juice, nail polish remover, rubbing alcohol, and distilled water. I then observed and recorded the volume around the same time each day for 5 days. I repeated this for a total of three trials and then averaged the results.
• Results. The ending volumes were, in order of quickest to slowest rate of evaporation: nail polish remover (10.6 ml), rubbing alcohol (11.0 ml), orange juice and tonic water (12.2 ml), vinegar (12.3), and distilled water (12.4 ml).
• Conclusions. My hypothesis was mostly correct: Nail polish remover evaporated the quickest and water evaporated the slowest. However, the tonic water evaporated more slowly than I expected, which indicates that it likely has a vapor pressure closer to that of orange juice rather than the more volatile liquids. If I were to further explore this concept, I would try putting the liquids in rooms of different temperatures, or heating and cooling the liquids.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1311) Do All Liquids Evaporate At The Same Rate?
My project tested the evaporation rate of different liquids. I set three identical measuring cups one filled with milk, another with water, and another with orange juice out on a table for a week. Each day I recorded how much it evaporated and took a picture. I did this process again to make sure that the data is correct. The water evaporated the fastest, then the orange juice, and then the milk. I think that this is due to a few factors. The milk curdled and the pulp in the orange juice stayed so that messed with the results. Also, I think that the different viscosities of the liquids played with my data too.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1334) To React... Or Not To React
Testing what substance protects nails better to prevent rust from forming.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1342) Colder Than The Freezing Point
This project is about find the optimum ratio of salt to ice that can achieve the lowest temperature it can get to using only two pounds of ice.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1345) Does The Molar Weight Of Salt Affect How Conductive It Is
I wanted to find out if the molar weight of salt affected its conductivity. To start, I dissolved the 1/40 of a mole of a salt into distilled water. I then tested the conductivity with a scale ohmmeter. Then I added another 1/40 of a mole of the salt and tested it. I repeated this process until there was 1/10 of a mole of the salt in the container. I recorded the data and then moved on to the next salt. I repeated this process until I had used all of my salts. I then analyzed my data and came to my conclusion that the higher the molar weight, the closer it would be to being the best conductor.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1396) I'm Leaven It
Michael Boade Silas SLVSEF 2016 Abstract February 16, 2016
The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect altitude has on the volume of carbon dioxide produced from a baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction. I performed this experiment because I wondered if high altitude instructions for baking recipes regarding baking soda really make a difference. I hypothesized that if a baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction is performed at higher altitudes, then the volume of the carbon dioxide produced will increase. This experiment was performed with five individual trials at each of five different altitudes ranging from 755 feet above sea level in Oklahoma to 8391 feet above sea level in Park City, Utah. In the procedure, a special contraption involving an inverted graduated cylinder was used to collect the gas produced by the chemical reaction between 25 mL of vinegar and 1/32 tsp of baking soda at 70°F. The data were mostly consistent, and the trendline using the average of the measured volumes confirmed the hypothesis that as altitude increases, the volume of carbon dioxide produced by this chemical reaction also increases. The results of this project show very practically that the difference in carbon dioxide production from baking soda at different altitudes is substantial. The range from the lowest altitude to the highest in this experiment was 20 mL of gas. Since 1/8 tsp is a common amount to change baking soda levels by at different altitudes in recipes, my data suggests that there would be 80 mL of gas added to most baked items.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1411) The Great Oobleck Chill Debate
Non newtonian fluid, or Oobleck, has its own laws that other fluids don't have. I wanted to find out how obelisk would react at different temperatures. My hypothesis is that obelisk would act as both a liquid and a solid at room temperature and chilled. When frozen, I hypothesized that obelisk would act only as a solid. My hypothesis was supported by the results of my experiment. The conclusion I came to was that it is pressure that affects the liquid/solid state more than temperature unless it is frozen. Freezing obelisk only makes it hardened in a frozen state. Freezing it does not affect its ability to be a discrepant substance when it returns to room temperature.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1413) Green Pennies Or Clean Pennies
My project will deter main which kind of substances and or solutions can clean pennies or make them turn green. I will put some old worn down pennies into a bowl and put random solutions in the bowls and wait. It takes two to three days for the pennies to either clean or turn green. People all around the world say and have different opinions about can or will clean the pennies or make them turn green. I wanted to see how my own hypothesis would turn out so I put my brain to the test and tried different solutions that probably are really crazy but when the results came back it was even crazier. Have you ever wondered why the Statue Of Liberty is green? Well the Statue of Liberty is made of copper and its right by the salty ocean and it has been there for so long that the oxedents from the salt have come up and made it turn green. That's what supersized me I love science and hopefully you will to.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1415) Got Ice??
Living in an area where winters can be extreme and ice must be managed on sidewalks and roads, I am concerned that many of the standard ice melt products may work well to manage ice, but, they also have negative affects on our environment. Salts (Chlorides) that are generally used for ice melt products corrode sidewalks and roads, can hurt animals and harm our urban streams. I believe that environmentally friendly alternatives are available. My question asks whether certain natural products or chemicals could work as ice melt products and be environmentally friendly.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1433) How Does Temperature Affect Crystal Growth
I grew Alum, Rock Salt and Copper Sulphate crystals in different temperatures. I tested how temperature affected the rate of crystal growth.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1474) Is It Clean? Or Not?
Project designed to test which cleaner works the best between commercial cleaners, dish soap, vinegar, or water.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1489) Melt That Ice!!
The purpose of my experiment is to see what makes ice melt the fastest. I was interested in this because I saw snowplows on the road and wondered what they put on the roads. My hypothesis was that salt will melt ice faster than sand or sugar because it lowers the freezing point the most. My research explained that a lot of substances can melt ice, but that salt should melt ice the best. This is because salt has more molecules than sand or sugar that can combine with the ice. I tested salt, sand, and sugar on the ice in a controlled environment. My results proved that salt melted the ice the fastest. In conclusion, I proved that my hypothesis was correct.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1503) Which Stin Remover Works Best
Have you ever stained your favorite shirt? I have and realized I am not alone. With so many choices of stain removers at the store, I decided to I test stain removers. Do they really work? Which ones work best? I applied four common staining liquids (mustard, ketchup, ranch, and soy sauce) on a piece of cotton fabric cut from a t-shirt. For my control, I didn't treat one set of stains. I then applied 3 different stain removers on the remaining stains, washed and dried the fabric as directed. I repeated this experiment 2 more times and rated the results on a scale of 0 to 5. My hypothesis was that the stain removers would help the stains vanish after I washed and dried the stained T-shirt. I believed "Shout" stain remover would take out the stains best. Shout is a name brand, it is advertised on T.V. and it was the most expensive stain remover. My experiments showed that OxiClean did the best job by removing stains slightly better than Resolve and Shout. Overall, stain removers didn't make that much difference from the control sample where I did nothing, which was disappointing. No stain remover is perfect, including OxiClean because it couldn't take out mustard. And so, until I find a perfect miracle stain remover (which I doubt exists), I will use OxiClean and be very careful when I eat mustard!
[Chemistry] (1CH-1506) Liquid Evaporation
My project was an experiment to determine which liquids evaporated the most rapidly when exposed to air and not exposed to air. I observed and measured the changes in six different liquids over the course of a one week period, three different times.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1559) What Kitchen Item Will Put Out An Oil Fire The Best?
I wanted to make it safer for home owners when they have an oil fire in the kitchen. I wanted to make it safer for them so I found that a lid would put out an oil fire the best and soap and water would be the least effective.
[Chemistry] (1CH-1562) Are Your Pajamas Safe?
What is the effect of fire on different fabrics? I wanted to know what would be the most flame resistant pajamas to wear to bed in the case that there was a fire in the home. Through this experiment I hope to find a material that will have a slow burn time. This will show me which material I would want to wear to bed, and which I would not want to wear. I would want to wear the material that had a slow burn time; that material would protect me.
[Chemistry] (1CH-2039) What Cools The Hot Sauce?
The purpose of this experiment was to find out what liquid- milk, water, or sprite- would cool your mouth down the fastest after putting a q-tip of hot sauce on your tongue. We decided to test 60 subjects-20 with water, 20 with milk and 20 with sprite. Our hypotheses: If you put a q-tip of hot sauce on your tongue, Milk will take away the heat more quickly than water or sprite because milk is thicker and absorbs the heat better than water and sprite.
Each subject placed a q-tip of hot sauce on there tongue and then rated how hot there mouth was on a pain scale from 1-10 (10 being the hottest and 1 being the coolest). Ten seconds later we had them drink 1/3 cup of milk, water, or sprite. Twenty seconds later they again rated how hot there mouth felt.
Subjects reported the biggest reduction in "hotness" rating after drinking milk, with the least reduction after drinking water. Our hypothesis was partially correct because milk did seem to cool down a hot tongue, although just barely more than Sprite. If we did this experiment again then we would make sure that the three groups were similar in age and gender so that their baseline ratings were similar.
[Chemistry] (1CH-2089) Zap Goes The Static
After we had built our electroscope, we got our first material, a balloon. We rubbed it for a minute on a Styrofoam takeout plate,and put our electroscope which had the pie pan under it, on top of it. Measured how far the string, which was attached vertically to the straw and had an aluminium foil ball around it, would go away from the pan.
We measured the distance in centimeter from the cop, to the pie pan. We tested this experiment three times for the balloon, along with other materials we had. After we did this, we recorded the results in our journal. The material that won was the wool, and the material that lost was wood. The order from winning to loosing was:wool, fur, balloon, comb, and wood.
[Chemistry] (1CH-2335) Rapid Reactions (Formerly Titled Fastest Gas)
Have you ever made Styrofoam by mixing two chemicals together or burnt sugar with citric acid? Ever wondered why mixing vinegar and baking soda makes a gas? These are awesome chemical reactions. Chemical reactions happen all around us like when we cook or even in medicines we take. One medicine that uses a chemical reaction to work is Alka Seltzer. We did our project on a chemical reaction using Alka Seltzer and water. When Alka Seltzer touches water it produces carbon dioxide. Our question was if you changed the size of the Alka Seltzer if that would speed up, or slow down the process of creating carbon dioxide. We tried two methods of measuring this. First we tried the syringe method, this method has a jar with water in it and has a tube that connects the jar to the syringe. Then we would drop the Alka Seltzer in to the water and wait for the carbon dioxide to move the syringe. Second, the cylinder method, this method proved to be more successful. In this method the tube connected to the jar would go into a pan of water and under an upside down cylinder. The carbon dioxide would then displace the water in the cylinder. In the end we found out that the smaller the tablet the faster the tablet makes carbon dioxide. We also found out that the smaller the tablet the less carbon dioxide it produces. This is something we would like to experiment with more.
[Chemistry] (1CH-2347) Soda Or Powder
We came up with this scientific experiment hoping to help
people decide whether to use baking soda or baking powder in
their recipes. We also wanted to find out if the baker would
need to use extra ingredients depending on which leavening
agent they used. Finally, we wanted to see if changing from
soda to powder changed the taste or height of the cookies. We
did three baking trials. We found out that taste wasn't much
different but every time the baking powder cookies were a little
bit taller. We also learned about the different ingredients in
baking powder compared to baking soda and a little bit about
the chemical reaction that made our cookies rise.
[Chemistry] (1CH-2379) Which Stain Remover Works Best?
For our science fair project we decided to ask the question which stain remover works best? For this project we used five white t-shirts, five stain remover's, and five stains. The product that we used to create the stains were all household items we used mustard, cooking oil, red lipstick, tomato sauce, and grape juice. What we did was we applied the stain removers on to the stains and then washed them. This process took us about two day's, what we did was we drew circles on to the shirts with sharpie and then applied the "stain makers" inside of the circles. So after we had all of the shirts cleaned and dried we lied them out and look at the results. Their were two t-shirts that tied in scoring but we decided to go with the other one of the two, and went with that one because it took a little bit more of the stain out. So the reason we decided to do this project was because my partners mom had a lot of different removers in the laundry room so we wanted to find out which one worked the best.
[Chemistry] (1CH-2404) Think Before You Drink
We tested in a 24 hour time basis how much a human tooth would rot in 4 different sodas. We used Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, root beer, and Sprite.
[Chemistry] (1CH-2418) What Makes Ice Melt Fastest
We live in a place that gets icy in the winter. We see big trucks spread salt and sand on the roads to help melt the ice. We wondered which material actually melts the ice the fastest. Our hypothesis was that salt would melt the fastest. We've seen people put salt on their driveways to melt ice.
Our project looks at three different substances and how they react to the ice. The materials we used were salt, sand, and sugar. We sprinkled ¾ tsp. of each substance over the ice. We also had a control group, which had nothing on it. We discovered that in a one hour time frame, salt melted the fastest at a combined rate of 48%. Sugar was second at 31%, and sand was last at 24%.
Our experiment proved that our hypothesis was correct. It's good to know that the salt trucks really are helping make the roads a safer place in a snowstorm.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1073) Does Utah Have The Cleanest Snow On Earth?
They say Utah has the "greatest snow on Earth," but does it have the cleanest snow? Scientists have found that Northern Canada had the cleanest snow in North America. My research question was: which state has the cleanest snow? My hypothesis was that Alaska would have the cleanest snow since it is closest to Canada. For my experiment, I collected a snow sample from Utah and I asked relatives from Alaska, Colorado, and Massachusetts to mail me snow samples. These snow samples were my independent variable. To measure snow cleanliness, I used litmus paper to measure potential Hydrogen (pH) and a meter to measure total dissolved solids (TDS). These were my dependent variables. I tested pH and TDS of the samples three times to find the average. In my results, Utah and Colorado had the best pH, and Massachusetts had the best TDS. When combining both measures, the overall winner was Colorado, Utah was second, Massachusetts was third, and Alaska was fourth. Despite these rankings, each snow sample had a very good score. My hypothesis was incorrect, since Alaska did not have the cleanest snow. In conclusion, Colorado had the cleanest snow on Earth (of the places I looked). In future experiments, I would test more states, test different cities in each state, and test snow from different altitudes. This research is important because dirty snow leads to dirty water and possibly poor health. By knowing about our state's pollution problems, we can work to fix those problems.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1084) Fighting The Fertilizers
My project dealt with the impact of compost and chemical fertilizer on the air, the environment, lima bean plants and the Earth. I tested compost and chemical fertilizer on common Fordhook lima bean bush plants to see if one of the plants grew taller and healthier. Another part of my testing was seeing which plant germinated (shed a thin layer of membrane and split in half) or started the reproduction cycle earlier. I also researched both plant food's effect on the environment and the impact on the health of bees and birds when they came to feed on the plants. My project ended up proving that compost is better than fertilizer, it is safer than compost for animals and insects and that it sends less pollutants into the air. My project is important because it deals with an issue people are not very well aware of, and because it ties in apiology, science, agriculture and chemistry into one experiment that tests different plant foods. Overall, my project was about which plant food is better for plants, insects, animals and the air.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1092) Which Type Of Upcycled Insulator Works Best?
This project is about how well a material that was up-cycled works to insulate a cup of hot water. I took four materials; newspaper, packing egg foam, cork, and Styrofoam peanuts and put them in a bowl. In the very middle of the bowl there was a plastic cup full of water between 175-165 degrees Fahrenheit. I took the starting temperature and put the bowl in the refrigerator and set the timer for ten minutes. After waiting ten minutes, I found the ending temperature and calculated the change in heat loss.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1113) Magnetism And The Flow Of Water
For my project I experimented to see how magnetic fields would affect the flow of fresh and saltwater. I used different types of magnets to see the affect that different shapes and their respective fields would have on a given stream of flowing water. I used 2 kinds of magnets (iron horse shoe and Neodymium cubes), fresh and saltwater, a pipette, and a stopwatch. My question was, how do magnetic fields affect the flow of fresh and salt water? This was a very interesting project to do and I came out with very interesting results. This project was a very fun project to do.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1127) Is It Getting Hot In Here?
My project is focused on global warming. I tested the difference in temperature between a box with a white bottom and a box with a black bottom. The project imitates factors that speed global warming and explores one idea about what we can do about it.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1157) Oil Spills And Their Impact On The Marine Environment
I did an experiment to find out how oil spills happen, how they affect marine environments, and how they can be cleaned up. I recreated a marine environment, simulated an oil spill and observed the impact of the oil spill. I also tested 3 different methods to clean up the oil.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1224) The Perfect Cookie Bake Off
My project was to figure out what type of cookie pan could make a "perfect cookie". Using measurements of top done-ness, bottom done-ness, if they stuck to the pan, if they were evenly baked, how gooey they were out of the oven and after 15 minutes of cooling, I tested four different cookie pans: basic aluminum, air bake, stainless steel, and nonstick. I wanted to do this to help people know what cookie pan they should use if they wanted a consistently good cookie.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1232) Be Idle Free: The Effects Of Idling Near William Penn Elementary
For my project I wanted to measure whether idling cars at William Penn during the pickup time after school have an effect on the air quality, specifically the large and small particles, in front of my house (which is next to William Penn Elementary).
This question was interesting to me because I have asthma and every day I come home and there are idling cars in front of my house. I wondered if the idling cars had an effect on the air quality in front of my house. Originally I wanted to do it to promote an idle-free zone.
To find out what to measure, my dad talked to Bo Call at the Utah Department of Air Quality, he told us that there are some hand held devices to measure air quality so we bought a Dylos DC 1100 Air Quality Monitor.
Using the Dylos monitor I decided to measure the average amount of small and large particles in the air by the hour each day for 8 days in front of our house.
Cars idling did not appear to cause a change in the small particles and large particles in the air during the school pickup time around the time school ends in front of my house across from William Penn, so my Null Hypothesis may be right (Null Hypothesis: No change will occur.).
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1242) Oxygen: You O 2 Try It
Having lived in Florida (at sea level) and in Utah (at 5,000 elevation) I was curious about oxygen percentages in the air. I do a lot of hiking and exploring too and can tell a difference in breathing at different elevations. NASA says oxygen is 21% of our atmosphere and OSHA reports 20.9%, but I wanted to know if I could figure out air composition myself. Using test tubes, I used the oxidation process and mathematical formulas to find my answer. I love math and the calculations were really cool to do. I researched that oxygen is the same amount at ALL altitudes, though the total volume of air is just less at higher elevations. I was able to calculate 20.7% oxygen in the air with my process and was excited to get so close to the NASA and OSHA reports! Air pollution can affect oxygen levels in the air so it would be interesting to continue this project during Utah inversion days.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1285) Do Rivers Change At Different Angels?
This project asks "how do different inclines affect the river bed and how do obstacles change the flow of the river at different angels?" The project describes what happens when the slope of the river bed is steeper and what happens when obstacles are placed in the river. The findings from this project are important for river rafters and ecologists to understand. For example, rafters need to know how to safely get down the river and ecologists need to how to clean up if there is pollution in the river.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1314) Through The Filter
My project was on filtering river water with 5 different types of media; clay, sand, granulated carbon, cotton balls, and pea gravel. I wanted to know which type of media would filter the most impurities from the river water. I acquired the materials, and did my experiment by filtering the river water through one of the 5 media at a time, and measuring the impurities. My results were that the clay took out 116 impurities, the granulated carbon took out 32 impurities, the pea gravel took out two impurities, the cotton balls added in four impurities, and the sand added in 38 impurities.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1329) Silent Killer
Introduction: Do you know what radon is? Do you know that 22,000 lung cancer deaths are caused by radon? I recently had an aunt die because of lung cancer. I wanted to see if radon was a health risk to me. I also wanted to find out if adults were aware of the risks of radon and if they had tested their homes for radon.
Problem: If I test for radon, the levels will not be very high.
If I survey adults, they will know what radon is and have taken precautions to prevent radon as a harmful health situation in their homes
Procedures: Placed short term radon tests in three schools and two homes. Used a continuous radon monitor for those areas that came back with high radon levels to confirm high levels.
Anonymously surveyed 40 adults about their knowledge of radon and its risks.
Results: The two homes tested both came back with high levels of radon. One of these was my home! An additional home had a level of 5.1 pCi/L of radon. This is equivalent to smoking eight cigarettes a day.
Adults know what radon is and that it is a health risk. Close to 50% didn't know one in three homes in Utah has high levels of radon. Over 50% had never tested their homes.
Conclusion: Radon in Utah is a health risk. We need to spread public awareness about the silent but preventable risks of radon. HAVE YOU TESTED YOUR HOME?
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1332) Melt Away
A test of the effectiveness of different ice melting products. Eight different ice melt products (3 oz.) were tested side by side on individual 1 inch thick bricks of ice to measure how fast each product was able to melt completely through the brick of ice. The test was done 3 times to confirm the results. The products used were for both home use and those used to melt snow and ice on roadways.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1403) Rocks Suck...Water
When we think of something that is solid we think about rocks. But in reality, rocks have tiny holes of air inside them. This is called porosity. There are many different types of rocks. For this project, I used: Limestone, Granite, and Sandstone. I tested to see which type of rock is the most porous in hot and cold water.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1409) Eggshell Geodes
I got 3 eggshells. Then I got water, food coloring,sugar,salt,and baking powder. Then I mixed some of those ingredients together. Then you let it sit out for 5 days. Then you will see what happens. It is a lot of fun.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1417) How Hard Is Your H2 O?
I noticed a residue on my shower head which is a result of hard water. This experiment tests if water hardness changes based on various locations in Utah.
Hard water is an expensive nuisance causing problems such as replacing pipes, need for a soft water system, or synthetic soaps. Hard water is beneficial because calcium and magnesium make bones and teeth healthy.
Question: What is the effect of location on water's hardness measured in grains per gallon (gpg) as CaCO3 (calcium carbonate)?
Hypothesis: If water samples are collected from Wasatch Mountains, then the water will have a measure of moderately hard water (3.5 – 7) whereas water samples collected from Salt Lake City, South Jordan, Lehi, and Orem will have very hard water (10.5 or more).
A water sample is tested by first adding a reagent creating a pink colored solution. Next drops of titrant are added until the pink colored solution turns blue. One drop of titrant solution equals one gpg.
Water hardness seems to vary by location, yet distance from the mountains doesn't seem to be the greatest factor. Water from the valley is on average harder than the mountains because of the pipes and heat applied as water travels to further locations.
Another concern with my findings is that build up reduces efficiency in heat transfer. This could be a problem with pots and pans for cooking, your appliances, and pipes. Industrial-sized water boilers become less efficient from build-up using more energy which people have to pay for!
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1428) Leaf Paper
The goal of my project is to verify whether paper can be made from leaves. A series of experiments were designed and conducted to make paper from pure leaves, regular toilet paper (as reference), and mixtures of the two. Briefly, 10 grams of maple leaves or the mixture with toilet paper in varying weight percentages (100%, 80%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 20% and 0% of leaves) were added 200 grams of water, and blended for two minutes. The seven slurry samples obtained were poured into paper bowls and dried in an oven at 80oC for 40 hours. When dried, the slurry formed a cardboard-like material. 5mm wide strips were cut off the seven cardboards and were compared for the strength, which was measured as how much water (in grams) the strip can hold before it breaks. The data collected showed that the more toilet paper added, the stronger the paper becomes. This is because the long flexible fibril structure of toilet paper helps tighten the shorter fibril materials of leaves. Based on these results, it can be concluded that paper can be made from leaves, though the strength needs to be improved for practical use. In addition to toilet paper, other strong fibril materials like man-made spider silk or biodegradable polymers can also be used as additives to increase the strength of leaf paper. Since these additives are much stronger than toilet paper, only a little bit of addition would make the leaf paper strong enough.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1435) Tornado Alley
I was born in Oklahoma and I am fascinated by the formation of large tornadoes. I wanted to find out how Northern and Southern air currents effect the formation of EF5 tornadoes. I made a tornado simulator and used dry ice and removable air vents as my independent variables. I used warm water and a fan as my dependent variables. I did three trials during my experiment. I concluded that tornadoes grow stronger and larger with cold air currents. Therefore, the formation of EF5 tornadoes need strong Northern air to form.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1449) Snow Pack Attack
Years of drought have exposed more shoreline around the Great Salt Lake. As wind blows across the lake it picks up sand and some of that sand gets deposited on the snow in our mountains. My project investigates the impact the deposited sand has on the snow pack.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1492) What Conditions Are Best For Fossilization? Soil Vs. Soil
There are many different conditions necessary for fossilization to take place. I hypothesized that topsoil would be better for fossilization because it is soft and also composed of organic material. This project simulates fossilization it is important because without fossilization we would not know about prehistoric life. The type of fossilization that I was trying to replicate is replacement fossilization this type of fossilization occurs when an animal dies and is buried in sediment. Under pressure the buried animal makes an imprint and starts to form a cast. In replacement fossilization the fossil is not the bone itself, other material fills in the cast creating a fossil.
To try to replicate the process of fossilization I tested different soils to see which would create the best fossil. I tested 3 different types of soils: sand, topsoil, and a combination of both. I used a shell to make an imprint in the soil, and created my own fossil by filling in the impression with plaster. I used several criteria when examining the fossils to see which was closest to the original shell, I measured the shells height, base, and crest. I also counted the number of ridges on the fossils created. As I thought some of the soil created really good fossils but some did not look like the original shell at all, proving that the type of soil is important part of fossilization. My hypothesis was not proven correct, the topsoil and sand dry mixed soil closest matched the original shell.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1520) Hydropower
My project is on Hydropower. I did some research about how hydropower is used to convert the energy of flowing water into mechanical energy, like in a dam. Water is directed to a penstock, which controls the flow rate of the water, as it reaches the turbine (or hydrowheel.) A hydroelectric generator then converts this mechanical energy into electricity. My hypothesis was: When I decrease the flow rate, in Hydropower, the time it takes to lift a load will decrase by the same amount. To test my hypothesis, I made a hydro-wheel, attached to a dowel, which was connected to a stuffed toy carrot with a string. I used my kitchen sink faucet to pour water onto the hydro-wheel, causing it to turn, which turned the dowel, and wound up the carrot. I obtained the flow rate of the water by measuring the time it took (in seconds) to fill 1 cup of water. I used 2 different flow rates (one was 1/2 the rate of the other) and measured the amount of time it took to wind up the carrot. After performing the experiment 3 times with each flow rate, I found the average wind-up time of each flow rate. According to my hypothesis, the wind-up time should have decreased by exactly 1/2, when I reduced the flow rate by 1/2. While conducting my experiment, I realized that the angle at which the water hit the hydro-wheel was also effecting the wind-up time. It was hard to keep the angle the same each time I performed the experiment. I believe this is why the results varied a bit each time I did the experiment. The results were close, but not exactly proportional, like I thought they would be. In conclusion, my hypothesis was incorrect, however flow rate was shown to have a large effect on hydropower.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1539) Elevate For Cleaner Snow?
During the winter months in Utah, it is common for inversions to occur. Inversions trap a layer of cold air under a layer of warm air. The warm layer acts much like a lid, trapping pollutants in the cold air near the valley floor. Because I have seen and smelled the brown layer of pollution that covers our city during an inversion, it made me wonder if snow is dangerous to eat?
Snow may appear white and clean, but could it contain contaminants from our air? With the increased snowfall this winter, my sisters and I have enjoyed spending time outside playing in the snow. Recently, when my younger sisters were gathering handfuls of snow to eat, I began to wonder and even feel concerned about whether the snow in the valley was healthy enough to play in and eat!
Through this project, I would like to collect fresh samples of snowfall at different elevations to determine if there is a difference in cleanliness of snow. I hope that through my research, I will be able to explain why certain elevations contain more contaminants in the snow than others.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-1566) Water Filtration
My science project is on the effect that the size of the filtering sand or pebbles has on the quality of the water being filtered. Which size of sand or pebbles filters dirty water the best?
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-2004) Ocean Water Desalination
We used several different techniques to desalinate Pacific Ocean water. Results from each technique were compared by efficiency and by testing qualify of the water that was produced.
We compared distillation, reverse osmosis and electrochemical desalination.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-2160) Wood It Burn?
We like to go camping and we wanted to know what kind of wood burns the longest and which kind lights up the fastest. We chose five types wood: poplar, walnut, hickory, maple and alder. We cut them into 3/4 x 3/4 x 10 inches. We used nine pieces of each kind of wood. First, we rolled four pages of newspaper. Then we stacked the nine pieces of wood up on it. Then we burned the wood and timed it. Our adult supervisor lit the fire for us.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-2320) Two Magnets Together Or Seperated Which Has A Stronger Magnetic Field?
To determine if two magnets together or two magnets separated by a distance but lifting a load together--which will have a stronger magnetic field, thereby lifting the larger load. The advantage of the two separated magnets is they have more surface area. The advantage of the two together is a concentrated magnetic field. Using a custom built Lego crane to control the lift of each magnet test, the magnets in turn where dipped into a bowl of metal pellets, then additional pellets where poured on top to ensure each time the magnets could "grab" as many metal pellets as possible. After each lift the metal pellet load was weighed. Our hypothesis was that the magnetic field strength would be greater when the magnets were working separated as this provided more surface area. The testing supported our hypothesis that separated they could suspend a heavier load.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-2355) Conductivity Trends In The Tributaries Of The Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake has salinity three times greater than seawater. It's a terminal lake, meaning water flows into it through three main tributaries, but only exits through evaporation. This project investigated the salinity that each tributary (the Bear, Weber, and Jordan Rivers) contribute to the Great Salt Lake (GSL). The hypothesis is that salinity increases as you go downstream because the rivers pick up salts through contact with riverbanks, rocks, runoff, and agriculture.
The experiment measured the specific conductance (SC) at several locations from upstream to downstream toward the GSL. SC is a measure of how well water conducts electricity; SC increases as the number of ions increase. Ions come from the breakdown of salts in water. Therefore, the greater the salt content, the greater the SC. SC was measured because salinity requires laboratory analysis and SC can be measured with a handheld meter. A YSI model 30 was used to measure the SC. Additionally, the collected data was compared to historical data, which was then examined to determine if salinity/SC increases downstream toward the GSL.
The results showed that for the Bear and the Weber, SC increases in both the study measurements and the historical data as you go downstream toward the GSL. However, the Jordan River SC data did not increase upstream to downstream, possibly because of inlets and outlets, which constantly bring and take salt from the river. In conclusion the study showed that the hypothesis was supported in 2 of the 3 rivers analyzed.
[Earth & Environmental Sciences] (1ES-2514) Snow Pollution In The City And Country
Is snow cleaner in the country or the city? We did our science fair project to determine if snow found in urban areas contain more particles and contaminants than snow found outside of the city. We did our experiment by collecting our snow samples at various distances from the city limits and analyzed them to determine which was cleanest.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1001) Is A Solar Panel More Efficient Than A Gas Generator (Solar Vs. Gas)
I compared the efficiencies of a gasoline generator to a solar panel. My hypothesis was that solar panels would be more efficient than the gasoline generator, but my results proved the opposite. Some of the good things about gasoline generators are that they produce alternating current (AC). AC is very easy to use. For things that use direct current (DC), we have AC to DC converters for them, but it's more difficult to convert DC to AC. Gas generators also work in most weather and all times of day. But gasoline needs to be refilled occasionally and we will eventually run out of this amazing fuel, as we use up oil at a faster rate than it is produced. Generators also pollute the air, causing global warming, acid rain, and smog. Solar panels on the other hand create clean energy, and NEVER need to be refilled with fuel of any kind because sunlight is free and abundant. The downside is that it is heavily affected by the day-night cycle and weather. Making gas requires a LOT of time and energy. It's not some magical feat that only scientists can achieve, but a long term process that converts light into sugar with photosynthesis in plants. The plants then die at some point and are somehow buried deep underground. The heat and pressure underground decompose the sugar and minerals in the plant into the messy oil we extract with big machines. This is not a very efficient process.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1058) Spinning Energy
This project is about electromagnets and to see if different amounts of magnets and different sized wheels changed the energy outcome. I compared two different sized wheels and different amounts of magnets that were spun over a coil and I recorded the outcome. When tested, the smaller wheel with three magnets generated more energy than the larger wheel with fewer magnets. My hypothesis is that the more frequent a magnet passes the coil the greater the energy output and my testing and research proved this to be true.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1103) The Power Of Food
The purpose of my project was to find out what food will conduct the most electricity and if I could use the food the light a bulb. If electricity travels through acidic substances the best and I test fruits and vegetables, then fruits like lemons will be the best conductor of electricity. I tested lemons, apples, potatoes, and tomatoes. I inserted copper wire and a galvanized nail in each food then connected the wires to alligator clips and measured the power produced. I recorded the results for each item. Then I connected the clips to a light to see if it would power it on. I repeated this process for each fruit and vegetable. I found that the lemon produced the most power which supported my hypothesis. I connected power from 7 lemons to a bulb but it did not produce enough electricity to light it. If we could find out how many lemons we need we could possibly some day use this power as an alternative to fossil fuels.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1184) Which Popcorn Pops Best?
What is the effect of different popcorn brands will leave more unpopped kernels. I think the most expensive brand will have the fewest unpopped kernels. My hypothesis was incorrect. The cheapest, Kirkland brand, had the fewest amount of unpopped kernels.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1205) One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Fuel!
Taking different bio masses and mixing them with cow manure to determine what produces the most biogas.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1291) Almost In Hot Water
"Clean Energy" is becoming a popular phrase in much of the world. Many are looking for ways to provide energy to support our lifestyles without burning so much fossil fuel. Capturing the power of solar radiation from the sun is becoming a hot topic.
Humans like heated water. Before and during the 19th century, there was no easy system for heating water. Most people heated water on wood or coal burning stoves. The first solar water heaters were metal tanks painted black, and put out in the sunshine to warm up. They took considerable time to heat the water, and quickly cooled at night when the sun went down.
In 1909 William J. Bailey patented a system that separated the heating unit from an insulated storage unit. This allowed the water to remain heated throughout the day and night. In California and Florida, solar powered water heaters became very popular because of abundant sunshine and high energy costs. By 1941 half of all the residents of Florida used solar water heaters. When natural gas and electricity became cheap in California and Florida, the use of solar water heaters declined.
Although solar water heater use in the United States has declined, in other parts of the world where energy costs are high and sunshine is abundant, the use of solar water heaters is common. With the recent renewed interest in "clean energy" it is hopeful that better ways to capture the energy of the sun will be discovered.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1383) Worth Of A Sole
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1390) Basketball Energy
If you play basketball long enough, you will eventually find yourself using different kinds of playing surfaces. As a player, it's important to know what types of surface you are playing on because that can affect the way the ball bounces.
Scientific properties of a basketball also help to explain why if you bounce the ball hard it will go higher if you bounce it softer it won't go as high, this is because of elasticity. Elasticity is when the ball hits the ground and that transforms some of its energy to another form.
There are different kinds of energy. One is called kinetic energy. Anything that is moving has kinetic energy. The faster it is moving the more kinetic energy it has. Another kind of energy is potential energy. We measure potential energy of an object as its height above the ground. Why do we say a ball being held up has potential energy? This is because when we shoot it or bounce it potential energy has been made. This is what basketball energy is.
In conclusion, I believe the kinetic energy creation has to go somewhere. I believe that a basketball will increase in temperature when dribbled, no matter the variable. The experiment supported the hypothesis that energy created by dribbling causes the ball to increase in temperature. Energy will cause something to heat up, in this case it was the ball. Further experiments could be done to see if the hard surface temp increased also.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1400) Solar Ovens In Different Weather
My experiment involves building a solar oven and testing it in multiple weather conditions to see if the temperature outside effects the internal cooking temperature of the oven.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1527) How Does The Shape Of An Object Affect Its Fall Speed
this project is to investigate the air-resistance and the time it takes for a horizontally positioned object and a vertically positioned object of the same mass.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1561) Which Battery Lasts The Longest?
My experiment is to see how long batteries can make electricity. I'm using 3 types of alkaline batteries (Duracell, Energizer, Panasonic) and a heavy Duty battery (Rayovac). Each battery will be tested in room temperature, and the same flashlight for the experiment. I will time how long it takes for the battery to run out of electricity.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-1564) Ways Of Waxes
One day I was wondering why in nordic races they don't let me use HF or LF waxes. After that I decided to do my experiment on NF and HF waxes. When I did my experiment I waxed my dad's ski. Then I timed how long it took for a bead of water to go down the ski. I did this with clean water, somewhat dirty water, or dirty water. I did that three times with each water type and with each type of wax. When I used the HF yellow wax, the water bead always went down the fastest.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-2297) Into Thin Air
The purpose of this experiment was to find out what makes water evaporate the fastest.
The hypothesis stated that if the same amount of water was put into three of the same-sized containers with wind on one, heat on another, and nothing on another, and the same amount of water was put in another container with more surface area, then the water with heat on it will evaporate the fastest because the heat will turn the water into steam and evaporate it quickly.
Two cups of water (dependent variable) were put into three equal-sized containers and one container with more surface area. Then, a heat lamp (independent variable) was placed over one of the smaller containers and a fan (independent variable) was placed over another small container. The last small container (Control) and the larger container were left alone. After waiting 24 hours, the remaining water in each container was measured and subtracted from two cups to find how much water had evaporated (dependent variable). This experiment was repeated three more times.
In all four experiments, the water with the larger surface area evaporated the most, followed by wind, then heat and then the Control.
In conclusion, we learned that our hypothesis was incorrect and that surface area, rather than heat, makes the water evaporate the fastest.
[Energy: Chemical & Physical] (1EN-2324) Insulation: Which Insulation Is Best For Keeping Liquids Cold?
Glasses of ice cold water were placed in containers surrounded by various insulating materials including cotton, paper and cardboard, bubble wrap, denim cloth, fiberglass, and a control. The temperature of the water was observed over the next 90 minutes to determine which materials kept the water coldest.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1152) Resisting Destruction
My project is about resisting destruction. I chose this project because I enjoy engineering and learning about natural disasters so I decided to combine my interests. I wanted to know how a building could be built on a steep slope and still be considered safe. I asked how deep of foundation do I have to build a Lego Duplo tower in order for it to stay upright on a slope at varying angles? I built a slope out of a rain gutter and then figured out the angles I wanted to test. To do my experiment I set the slope at my first slope angle and placed the tower in the soil one block deep. I place a ball at the top of the slope and let it roll and hit the tower. I measured the distance the tower moved from where the tower was originally placed. After repeating this process several times I analyzed my results. As the degree of the slope increased the blocks did have to be placed deeper into the soil in order for it to stay upright. I learned that as the angle of the slope increased the tower fell farther from its original spot and needed a deeper foundation than I could build. I also learned that building on a slope is a lot more complicated than I thought and there are many things to consider, not just the foundation of the structure.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1168) The Unbreakable Arch
This project connects the arch with chicken eggs. I tested the strength of eggs and how much weight they could hold. I tested normal eggs, hard boiled eggs and eggs that had been emptied of their insides. I learned that eggs can hold a lot of weight due to their shape which is like an arch.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1199) Check Dams? Check!
My project is on check dams and how to improve them. Check dams are small barriers that are designed to reduce water flow velocity in order to reduce erosion. For example, if there was a hill with a stream flowing down it, you might put a few check dams there in order to keep it from being fully eroded, and now these dams will be put to the test to see which will the best!
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1206) Surviving Tsunamis
The purpose of this experiment was to test different types of tsunami walls to see which was most effective at stopping the wave before it can do damage and take lives. I engineered 5 different ways to stop the wave. Then I tested which was the most effective by pushing an artificial wave at each one and then measuring the amount of water that hit the beach. I included a control and then compared each wall to the control and each other. I tested each wall three times to get a more accurate result. I found that the tsunami control forest was most effective. It seemed like the manmade walls worked as a ramp and allowed more water to reach the land. I hope to conduct this experiment again after I work out a way to make the wave exactly the same strength each time. This way it will be more accurate. I hope this research can help determine the best way to protect people from this dangerous natural phenomenon.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1246) Building Isolators
The project tests buildings with isolators and buildings without during an earthquake, which is tested on a homemade earthquake table with and without marbles. If I put isolators under a building, the building will stay up longer than the building with no isolators, because isolators move with the ground in an earthquake and the building stays still. I tested two different sizes of earthquakes three times each for each building. The buildings without isolators had a quicker collapse time. Using isolators lengthened the collapse time up to about 20x in the larger quake and 10x in the smaller quake. Isolators are very important for houses, buildings, and towers in an earthquake, especially in larger earthquakes.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1259) Manufacture Of Eco Microbeads
Plastic microbeads are recognized as an environmentally global issue. Microbeads are used in several cosmetics and hygiene products we use daily. They are designed to go down the drain after use. Due to their minute size the Waste Water treatment plants cannot filter most of them. They end up in the ocean; during their trip they absorb around a lot of surrounding toxins in the sewage. Once in the ocean they are then ingested by marine life, and gets into our food chain.
This project examined various biodegradable materials to form beads and engineered a way to make microbeads containing the biodegradable materials using high voltage.
Beads were made with naturally abrasive materials like, milk minerals, coconut husk, saw dust, and egg shell.
Once the beads were successfully made, the next step was to find a method to make them small in size and in uniform shape. I used an electrostatic charge/voltage from an ionizer to produce uniform microbeads from biodegradable materials.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1322) Crash Safety Barriers
This science project tested the effectiveness of a simulated crash safety barrier. I tested the barrier, which is a small wooden box filled with dowels, with a homemade Charpy machine. I tested the barrier to discover what effects the surface roughness of the dowels has on the stopping distance.
The barrier is a small, three sided, wooden box with 165 dowels inside that spread out on impact. To test it, I used a pendulum, made of wood, which has a protractor with a needle that indicates the degrees the pendulum swings into the barrier. I used four different drop heights for the pendulum. The surface roughness of the dowels was the variable. I tested each condition 10 times, and then calculated averages.
The question asks how the impact absorption rate in a crash safety barrier can be controlled. The hypothesis is that the crash barrier with the roughest impact absorbing material in it will have the least stopping distance. My hypothesis is incorrect. I think it is incorrect because the smoother dowels had more surface area rubbing the others.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1353) Shake And Break
I made an earthquake simulation with a shake board that I built using a binder, balloons, and rubber bands. I then built Lego towers in three different heights to see which would fall first. I used different measurements to pull my shake board from to simulate displacement and it made stronger shaking pulling back farther each time to see how each tower would react to the movement.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1391) Samuel's Salt Water Solution
I am concerned about the growing number of people in the world that do not have access to usable water. I learned that over 9,000,000 people living on the earth today do not have access to safe drinking water. There are a few machines/tools that can change salt water into fresh water but as I researched them I learned they are very expensive and most people don't have access to those tools. This motivated me to try to help solve the problem. I wanted to build an environmentally friendly, affordable, desalinization tool that could rely on the natural processes of evaporation and condensation to help kids, like me, make fresh water out of salt water. I pulled materials from the garbage and the recycle bin. I created and drew my designs, built my prototype, simulated ocean water (because I don't live near the ocean), tested my prototype, made design changes, built new prototypes (four total), tested and retested them. The majority of my final prototype is built out of recycled materials, is easy to use and effectively changes salt water into fresh water. I know that finding alternative ways to make fresh water is going to be critical to the world in the future. I am excited to continue working on my prototype and creating ideas that will help solve this important problem so that we can make a difference in the lives of kids all around the world.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1407) Wonderful Bridges
My project is on what type of bridge can hold up the most weight. I decided on this because there was a group in my class did intervention on bridges. I had to build three bridges and that took me 5 days. I would say this project was difficult at some parts and not other parts.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1453) Copper Coil Conundrum
My project was called Copper Coil Conundrum. I chose this project because I have seen wind turbines before and wanted to know how they work. I did a little research and learned that wind turbines use copper coils to produce electricity. I wanted to know if more copper coils would produce more electricity. In order to test this, I coiled 4x100 coils of copper wire, 4x200, and 4x300. I researched how wind turbines work to create electricity. The wind turns the blades which are connected to a shaft. The shaft turns magnets which spin over copper coil, which is a generator. I built my own wind turbine. I used to a hairdryer and yardstick and blew wind at my wind turbine from 10", 15", and 30". I tested each copper coil from these distances three times each. After my test, I learned that 4x200 did the best.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-1472) "Breaking Bridges", Or The Strength Of Different Bridge Designs
The purpose of the project was to determine the effect of a bridge's design on its strength (i.e., the weight it will support). I chose three common bridge designs (arch, truss beam, suspension), constructed 3 models of each type and tested them to see the amount of weight each would hold.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-2052) Rocking The Boat
We tested how well two different types of boats would be stable in motion also while adding weight. Our two types of boats were bilge and bilge-keel.
[Engineering: Civil & Environmental] (1CE-2053) Goo Be Gone
In our project we tested which sorbents would best absorb oil in a mock oil spill.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1002) Where's My Wi Fi?
I experimented with a Parabolic Reflector to improve wireless internet signal. The parabolic reflector enhanced the speed and range of the wireless network. I ran speed tests to determine the speed, range, latency, connectivity, etc. This applies to our world by improving signals for a better wireless network, which is a big problem in today's world because almost everyone uses a mobile phone or computer. I focused the signals by using the parabolic reflector that I built. (Make cardboard center, aluminum parabola and glue together) Readers should care about my project because it has a significant impact in our generation. The internet is used for everything. It will help build the perfect wireless network that everyone enjoys.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1006) Human Powered Generator An Engineering Solution (Phase Ii)
Currently there is not a way to generate energy that simultaneously makes people happier and healthier. My ultimate goal is to create a bicycle that can generate power and is safe enough to use in a public location. Last year, my research supported how exercise makes people happier because of endorphin production. I also found that it is possible to build a prototype of a bicycle connected to a motor that can generate enough energy to power common devices. However, my prototype last year could not safely charge a battery because the voltage produced was too high.
This year in Phase II, the engineering problem I am attempting to solve is: How can I reduce the voltage generated from my human-powered motor to safely charge a battery?
My research focused on four main areas: methods of reducing voltage produced from my motor, lower-voltage DC motors, electrical and fire safety requirements to incorporate into my redesign, and monitoring equipment for measuring voltage and current.
After completing my research, I defined key changes to my generator system: voltage reduction, safety options, and user-friendly design, I sketched/designed my system with my safety considerations; I purchased my necessary parts; and I built my Phase II prototype.
After my redesign, my human-powered generator produced power at a voltage to safely charge a 12-volt battery. The suggestions from a licensed electrician and fire inspector were incorporated to improve overall safety, and multimeters were successfully installed onto the handlebars so the endorphin-filled cyclist can see how much power is being generated.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1007) Electromagnets
My project is about electromagnets. I looked at how electricity and copper wire can turn an iron bolt into a magnet. I designed this experiment to determine what impact, if any, the type of wire used would have on the strength of the bolt's magnetic force. I experimented with un-insulated stranded copper wire, insulated stranded copper wire, and un-insulated solid copper wire. I learned that the un-insulated stranded copper wire and un-insulated solid copper wire generated the strongest magnetic force. The plastic insulation on the insulated copper wire blocks some of the electrical current to the iron bolt, so it creates a weaker magnetic force.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1030) Turn Signal Jacket
It's hard to see cyclists at night especially when they are turning. My goal was to create a jacket that uses LED lights that can be seen at day or night as turn signals. I created a simple circuit that uses buttons as switches to turn the signals on. The jacket also has a flap on the back so you can put a backpack on and still see and use the turn signals!
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1033) Coding Robots
I've coded a program using a raspberry pi computer that will say what you type in or tell a joke depending on what button you press.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1141) How To Make A Machanical Cell Phone Charger
For my science fair project I wanted to see if I could make a mechanical cell phone charger. This could come in handy if you run out of battery on your cell phone and you need to make a call if you have and emergency.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1177) Sight Through Sound Engineering A Contactless Distance Sensor To Assist The Visually Impaired.
I designed and made a prototype for a device that will use an ultrasonic sensor to measure the distance to object, and then provide feedback on this distance by playing an audible tone whose frequency increases as the distance to the object decreases to indicate a priority of proximity to assist a visually impaired person to navigate without having to make physical contact with things (using a walking stick).
My project is helping blind people be able to navigate obstacles with ultrasonic sound. It will send a tone to them so they know something is in their way, without something touching the obstacle (walking stick). I designed and built the circuit and wrote the code using my sister's visual programming tool.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1179) Water Does Not Conduct Electricity
I wanted to prove that water alone does not conduct electricity, but that it is materials in the water that do the conducting. I tested using distilled water and then adding substances (sugar, salt, baking soda & lemon juice). I used a circuit that could be completed causing a siren to make noise as well as measuring the conductivity using an EC3 meter.
My research included reading articles on the internet regarding water and electricity as well as consulting a civil engineer in Montana and my uncle who is an electrician.
Using a 4 cup measuring cup I started testing distilled water alone. I then added the substances listed above 1/4 teaspoon at a time. I then tested both the completion of the circuit and the EC3 meter recording both the sound result from the siren and the reading on the meter. I carefully cleaned all equipment between each test. I repeated each test 4 times.
My results showed that the distilled water alone did not conduct electricity. Neither did the solution of distilled water and sugar. My results showed that the salt water conducted electricity the best, followed by the baking soda and then lemon juice.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1316) Wi Fi Blockers
My question is what materials can block a Wi-Fi signal. To perform this experiment, I first covered the Wi-Fi router with a material. Then, I used an app to measure the strength of the Wi-Fi dBm number. I repeated these steps for all materials and found out that my hypothesis was incorrect. I thought that cotton would block Wi-Fi signals best because cotton muffles sound so I thought it was going to be the same for radio waves. However, it was actually stainless steel that blocked Wi-Fi waves the best. I think I got these results because radio waves such as Wi-Fi are blocked best with thick materials such as metal. Plastic wrap had the worst effect since it was the thinnest material.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1319) Do More Coils Produce More Electricity?
My project is Do More Coils produce More electricity. I built an an electrical generator to research my question . I winded 6 and 4layers of coils in two different bendable iron core to add to the electrical generator. First, I measured electricity by adding 6 layers of coil to the electrical generator and measured the electric current with a multimeter. Then I measured the electric with 4 layers of coil. Finally, adding both 4 and 6 layers of coil(10 layers) to the electrical generator and measured the Electric current produced.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1331) It Only Takes 0.002970344 Seconds To Crack Your Password
Because people's Internet passwords get discovered and their information gets hacked, repairing the damage costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. I researched many ideas of what a strong password should be and created my own model. I coded the model into Excel and created 1000 passwords as a data set for the experiment. For my experiment, I tested the hypothesis that a strong password model created in Excel can create 1000 strong passwords. For my experiment, I first determined whether any of the 1000 were duplicates. Second, I put 20 samples through a tester website to show how long a desktop PC performing 4 billion calculations per second would take to crack them, compared to the length of time to crack the 20 most common passwords. I concluded that my hypothesis was correct: A strong password model created in Excel can create 1000 strong passwords.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1421) What Metal Conducts Electricity The Best?
My project is on what metal conducts electricity the best. I researched the three metals that I thought would conduct electricity the best, the metals I chose are steel, copper, and silver. I chose these metals because they are the metals that you would usually see in an electrical circuit.
These metals are also used for many other things besides electrical wiring. Silver is also used for jewelry or kitchenware, as it is considered a precious metal. Copper is also used for heating and water systems. Steel is normally used for buildings because of its strength, low cost and the ability for chemists to create alloys - variations of steel with different properties.
The goal of this project was to learn about these types of metals as well as how an electrical current works. For my experiment I took these three types of metals and tested them with a simple electrical current. To create the electrical current I used three alligator clips and connected them to each of the three metals. I used a series of different size light bulbs, lighting each bulb up until I got to a bulb that had to many volts or watts for my experiment to power.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1424) Energy Use Of Different Types Of Lights
The purpose of the experiment was to figure out what kind of light is most efficient to help lower the electricity bill and be friendlier to the environment.
The experimenter measured the lux and the current and voltage of LED, incandescent and fluorescent lights to figure out which type of light produced the most light with the least amount of energy.
The result was that the LED bulb used by far the least amount of energy to produce the most light.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1454) Show Me The Money!!!
For my project I used the scientific method. The goal was to create a way to teach my younger brothers how to count with coins. I decided to make an electronic game. The game displayed an amount of money on a screen and the player had to push buttons to add a penny, nickel, dime or quarter to the total. I made the game by programming an Arduino. The Arduino was connected to a LCD screen and some buttons.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1488) Vision Quest
I made a game for the blind that has different sounds for what the character should be doing.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-1535) Life And Death... Of Batteries
My question is what is the effect of extreme temperature on battery life? I did this because one time, my mom's car didn't work on a cold morning. My dad told me it was because the current in the battery got depleted. My hypothesis was the lower the temperature, the shorter the battery life. I used: 18 AA Duracell batteries, 2 AA battery-operated table fans, 1 Styrofoam container, 1 plastic container, 1 lb. of dry ice, 1 lb. or ice cubes, safety goggles, 1 pair of waterproof gloves, stopwatch, and a digital thermometer. the batteries were at dry ice temperature, ice cube temperature, and room temperature. I first measured and maintained the dry ice temperature. Then, I put the batteries in the fan and the fan in the dry ice. I had to use the gloves and goggles to put the fan in the dry ice. Once the fan began to turn, the clock is started. I recorded the duration of the fan between the beginning and the end. I did repetitions. then, I used ice cubes instead of dry ice. after that, I used the batteries at room temperature. I then made charts and graphs to interpret the data. the room temperature batteries had the longest lives. the dry ice temperature batteries had the shortest lives. My hypothesis was correct.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-2123) Secore Bot
A security robot prototype that can patrol a floor of your house and not run into walls or fall down stairs. It has pixicam that can be viewed on a phone or devise so you can see what is happening at home.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-2130) Red Light, Green Light
Our science fair project is about robot vision. We decided to do research on this topic because we wanted to learn about robot vision and compare that information with our human vision. This question is also important for developing self-driving cars that can navigate the road saefly. We decided to learn how a Mindstorm Ev3 Robot senses specific colors. We programmed a Mindstorm brick to give us feedback on whether the color sensor sensed a color or shade that we could see with our eyes. We tested the sensor by using a Benjamin Moore paint palette, in varying lighting conditions (bright and dim). The color palette had seven different shades of one color on it going from darkest to lightest. We used one color palette for each color and put them in front of the sensor. Unexpectedly, the sensor saw 4 out of 7 different shades of each color tested.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-2544) Rainbow Light Energy
We tested various color panels to see if they affect the amount of energy that a photo voltaic cell would produce.
[Engineering: Electrical & Computer Science] (1EE-3011) Ev3 Line Follower
Our project was was designed to see if a Lego EV3 robot could follow a line. The EV3 measures the reflective light intensity of a line using a light sensor. Using EV3 software and a computer, we had to program the EV3 to follow a line using a color sensor. We also built the EV3 so that it could move, carry the sensor, measure light sensitivity using the sensor and maneuver. We went through more than five programs and three build redesigns to make the robot work as we had planned.
[Engineering: Materials & Biomedical] (1MB-1048) Fishing Line: Which Type Is Strongest?
The purpose of my project is to test tension strength of the three most common types of fishing line. My procedure is to gather the materials needed that include the three types of fishing line; Braid, Flourocarbon and Monofilament, identified as the three most popular types of fishing line in my research, as well as ten pound weights. The next step is to build a frame to tie the fishing line to and attach the ten pound weights to the fishing line using size 3 ball bearing swivels. Finally, I will test each fishing line's breaking point by adding the weight and observing which fishing line breaks first.
[Engineering: Materials & Biomedical] (1MB-1181) Stretching Rubber Bands
I was very interested to see which craft rubber bands were the best quality. This is something that i love to do, so I wanted to know which one held up the best. So in my project I thought I would find out which brand and color of rubber bands could stretch the furthest and hold that stretch without breaking.
[Engineering: Materials & Biomedical] (1MB-1235) Cooler Than A Normal Horse
Which saddle pad will keep the horse the coolest after a 20 minute workout?
[Engineering: Materials & Biomedical] (1MB-1266) Head Vs. Ball
My project determined out of a foam material, a composite material, and neoprene, which material is more protective from a soccer ball. I decided to do this experiment because I play soccer, and I wanted to see if soccer head gear really protects your head from the soccer ball. In some of the articles I read they said that head gear does help, but in other articles I read they said that the head gear does not help. The head gears are supposed to decrease the impact of the soccer ball. My hypothesis was that the composite material would provide the most protection from a soccer ball because it is made of Kevlar fiber that is said to be 5 times stronger than steel. My hypothesis was wrong because the foam material head gear provided the most protection and caused the floral foam test material to crush the least amount. I think the foam material head gear worked the best because it wasn't a solid band like the composite material headgear.
[Engineering: Materials & Biomedical] (1MB-1392) Strength Of Stitch
I got a sewing machine for my birthday and I wanted to know which stitch was the best for my future sewing projects. I sewed 2 pieces muslin together using several different stitch types that my sewing machine had. Next I used a machine called a Tensiometer to pull the fabric apart. The Tensiometer pulls whatever you're testing apart and tells you how many pounds it needed to break it. I finalized my test results and made a graph. I concluded that my hypothesis was correct! That is the first time that has ever happened to me so I was very excited. The straight stitch is the strongest stitch! I am excited to start some new sewing projects.
[Engineering: Materials & Biomedical] (1MB-1496) Sticky Or Not
I wanted to find out if copper or aluminum is magnetic and if so, which would produce more resistance to magnets? The low resistance material can be used more efficiently as brakes for a locomotive.
One morning, I was reading an article about speed trains. Speed trains can reach up to 540 mph and I wondered how they braked. The article talks about magnetic brakes and how heavier they are and a new technology called electro-magnetic brake systems. I wondered what electro-magnetic brake is and how they work. Since magnetic brakes are heavy, I wondering if there is a better way for them to brake using a lighter metal. This lead to my research on lighter metals and magnetism. Aluminum and Copper are lighter so I wondered "Will aluminum or copper work better for brakes for trains?"
[Engineering: Materials & Biomedical] (1MB-2300) Shake Rattle But Not Roll
We studied earthquakes and the affects earthquakes have on buildings. Our hypothesis was that taller buildings would be more affected by earthquakes unless architecturally reinforced. To test our hypothesis we built a shake table and buildings made out of legos and conducted controlled experiments by placing the lego buildings on the shake table and creating an "earthquake". We then recorded our results.
[Engineering: Materials & Biomedical] (1MB-3270) Love The Glove
The purpose of this experiment is to find out what material sticks the best on a soccer ball. We are doing this experiment to find out if we can improve the performance of the goalie gloves. The unit we are using to measure the force it takes to pull an object across the soccer ball is Newton's. We are also using Newton's to measure the weight of the object we will be pulling across the soccer ball. Our materials that we are going to pull across the soccer ball are a sock, soccer goalie gloves, football gloves and a mousepad. The soccer is our control material.
We hooked a spring scale on to the materials individually and tested them by measuring the force it took to pull the material across the ball and the materials weight. After we collected the results for the materials we put the numbers into our equation. Our equation is Fr=fr x N.
We observed that the goalie gloves can not be improved with any of the other materials we tested. Our conclusion was that the goalie glove is the object that sticks the best on the soccer ball.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1003) Automotive Aerodynamics
The study of airflow on road vehicles. How to improve measured turbulence and aerodynamics by the use of different body shapes and wings.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1038) Lego To 3 D Fillament
My brothers bought a 3d printer and I wanted use it. They said I had to buy the filament if I wanted to use it. I did a little research and found that filament is expensive, costing $30 to $50. I can't pay for that. So I thought, "there has to be a better way." I did some research and found that Lego bricks are made of ABS, the same plastic in 3D printers. The glass transition point of ABS is 221°F and a high temp glue gun can heat to 380°F. Next step, I need to get the Lego bricks in a glue gun. I needed to grind the plastic, but how? I thought of many different ways, a hammer, a chainsaw, a hand crank meat grinder, a coffee grinder, and a garbage disposal. I compared my options and decide on the garbage disposal, which was the hardiest, had the most power, and was least likely to break. I sorted and ground the Legos into a powder, then started the long process of extruding. After about an hour, I made an important decision to take apart the glue gun. I drilled a hole in a 2x4 for the glue gun parts. I replaced the wooden dowel with metal one and finally I had filament! Next I loaded the filament into the 3Doodler, because I didn't want to break a 3d printer, and waited. Soon the tiniest sliver of green appeared, and it was smooth sailing from that point on.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1046) Magnet Powered Generator
I am testing how LEDs light up when varying numbers of neodymium magnets, from 1 to 12, are used as kinetic energy producers in a hand-powered electricity generator.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1056) Windmills Pumping Water
Much of the world does not have clean water. This project is to design an inexpensive, wind-powered water pump to draw water from wells. The design uses PVC, scrap wood, and a recycled bicycle wheel to keep costs low. Several design problems were overcome, but there were a couple problems that I did not have time to solve. I believe this is a good start to solve the problem of bringing clean water to the whole world.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1079) Looping The Loop
This science project was about designing a roller coaster. The question was asking what the minimum height of the starting point needed to be to make a marble loop a loop with a diameter of 15 inches. The hypothesis was that the minimum height needed to be about 30 inches, which is the double size of the diameter of the loop, based on the assumption that the track's friction may take away a certain amount of the energy generated by the height. The purpose was to find the minimum height for the starting point of a roller coaster so that roller coaster designers/builders could save the cost. The types of kinetic energy, as well as their formulas, were researched, and a roller coaster was built with foam insulation pipes, tape, scissors, and a support piece. During the experiment, the distance between the beginning of the track and the loop was fixed at 46 inches. The starting point of the height was 10 inches to test the effects of the friction caused by the track. The height was continually raised if the original height was unsuccessful, and each different height was tested 9 times. The results were that the minimum starting point height was 30 inches; the hypothesis was correct. In the conclusion, the hypothesis and the results were restated. It also states that the formula for kinetic energy, which is KE=0.5·M·V^2, where M=mass and V=speed, is very important because the higher the height, the more speed, and therefore more energy.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1081) It's A Bird! It's A Plane?! What Shapes Are More Invisible To Radar?
Since WWI people have been trying to make planes invisible to the eye with different colors of paint and materials.
RADAR can identify planes from long distances and help missiles shoot them down.
I wanted to learn how to make planes more invisible to RADAR and to see what shapes would be the best to make a stealth airplane.
I learned that certain shapes are better than others at making a plane's RADAR cross-section smaller.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1097) Effects Of Weight Distribution In A Yo Yo
Investigation of how changes in the moment of inertia effects how long a yo-yo will remain spinning after being dropped.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1106) Bounce Or Pounce
The question is how high can a basketball bounce with different PSI? I must see if the air pressure in the ball effects a player's performance in a sport. My hypothesis is if I increase the PSI in the basketball then it will bounce higher at 9 PSIthen at 4 PSI. In my experiment I measure how high the basketball would bounce in the PSI range from 4 to 9 PSI. I did this by dropping the ball from 12 feet up and recording the bounce of the ball on a camera. My results were that 9 PSI bounces higher than 4 PSI. My conclusion is that my hypothesis was supported because 7-9 PSI bounces higher than 4-6 PSI.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1171) Really Long Arm
My brother needed something to help him reach and grab things that are high or that he drops. He is very small and is a wheelchair user. All the tools on the market are either too bulky or too heavy for him to use. I designed and created a tool that was light weight and easy for him to use.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1202) Lights Out
My project is to help people who are afraid of the dark or just plain lazy. It is cheap at the price of under $15.00 and all you need are three screw-eye hooks, a strong string about 144 inches, and some ticky-tack. First, place one screw-eye hook above the bed at a good length away from the ceiling with the hole facing the ceiling.(About 2 inches away) Then, place another screw at the same height above the light switch facing the one you just placed. If you end now and place the string then it will turn it on, but we want it off, So place the last screw eye hook under the light switch at about 1 1/2 inches from the switch and make it face up. Put the string through each hook and tie a knot to attach it to the light switch. Finally, place the ticky-tack on the light switch and if it was done correctly, it should turn off. The scared kids will still be scared, but at least they don't need to run to their beds at the speed of light at night time.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1213) The Fast And The Furious
The science fair's purpose was to determine the speed of cars either a car with four wheels or a car with three. The prediction was that the car with four wheels would go faster than the car with three wheels. That was the prediction because a car with four wheels has less drag than a car with three wheels. One of the methods was to find a track to run the car.
Another method was building the two cars to test time. A tablet was used to make the car move. The cars were driven on a flat surface. The cars both went fast but, it turned out that the car with four wheels went faster than the car with three wheels. It went faster 11/20 times 55% so the hypothesis was accepted.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1240) Re Engineering A File Cabinet Into A Bbq Smoker
I re-engineered a 4 drawer filing cabinet into a bbq smoker. I repurposed as many parts as possible, including the file cabinet, burner and other small parts from the file cabinet. By altering the structure of the drawers, adding vents, thermometers and creating a space in the bottom for the burner, I was able to successfully smoke meats in the smoker. I've shown that with slight changes,something intended for one purpose can be used for something completely different and not wasted or just taken to the trash.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1241) We'll Break That Bridge When We Get There
Bridges are awesome, but engineers need to make sure they're safe. So, they have to test them to see which is the strongest and safest. In this project, the test was to find out which material, Popsicle sticks and coffee stirrers, and what bridge design, square sides, triangle sides, and triangle sides with a crossbeam, was the strongest. The problem trying to be solved was which bridge design and material was the strongest to withstand weight. It was suspected that the Popsicle sticks were the strongest, and the triangle with crossbeam was the strongest design. The weights would be put on the bridges after set up, and more weights would be put on until the bridge broke. Each would have a specific amount of weight on it and there would be a live load to dead load ratio. The experiment ended in the square bridges being the strongest, and I would make the measurements next time.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1282) How Does The Air Pressure In A Soccer Ball Affect How Far It Travels When Kicked
The Law's of the Game published by The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) say that a soccer ball should be pumped up to 8.5 PSI to 15.6 PSI. This caused me to wonder if such a wide range would have an impact on the game. What would happen if a ball had more air in it? What would happen if a ball had less air in it? My project is a scientific study of the affect of more or less air pressure in a soccer ball on how far it travels when kicked.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1367) The Power Of A Bike Generator
One day I thought of how a motor turns to generate electricity, and how the wheels of a bike turn as well. I soon came up with the idea of building a bike generator. After doing some research and finding the materials needed, I predicted that I would be able to generate enough electricity to light a 12 volt light bulb going at ½ pedal rotations per second (RPS) because of the need to pedal quickly to generate power. For my experiment, my dad made a stand that had the top of the back tire next to the shelf that the motor sat on. That way, the two could touch and rotate each other. I hand-pedaled the bike at different speeds, and my dad measured the electricity created. Then, we would attach a 12 volt light bulb to the circuit and observed the brightness when pedaling at the same speed. For the bulb to be completely lit, the voltage generated would have to exceed the light bulb's 12 volts. From my experiment, I found that at 1/4 RPS, I could generate about six volts of electricity. At the speed 1/2 RPS, I could generate about nine volts of electricity. Last, I tested at one RPS and created about 19 volts of electricity. From this analyzed data, I have found that a bike generator is powerful enough to light a 12 volt light bulb by pedaling at one full pedal rotation per second because 19 volts exceeds the needed 12 volts.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1373) Self Closing Gate
I need a way for the gate to close on it's own so our new puppy doesn't get out and die like our old dog did. What can I create to make sure my puppy is safe in my yard?
The design of the self closing gate needed to keep my new puppy safe in my yard when I was not out there with him. I needed the gate to close on it's own so nobody could accidentally leave it open for the puppy to escape.
I used bungee cords, magnets, wood and zip ties to make the gate close on its own without using springs. I wanted to create something that did not already exist. What I made works well and keeps my puppy safe!
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1401) Slingshot On Ice
How do weight and surface affect motion and distance an object will travel across ice?
Hypothesis: On a smooth ice surface, heavier objects with limited surface area will travel the farthest (like a person on ice skates)
Experiment: Using equal force, slingshot 6 different containers across a smooth ice rink a) without adding weight, b) adding 11 pounds, c) adding 22 pounds. Measure the distance traveled.
Results: A metal container with limited surface area traveled the farthest empty. With weight, it dug into the ice and stopped quickly. A plastic, rigid container with limited surface area traveled the second-farthest empty and farthest with added weight. All other containers with more surface area traveled shorter distances.
Conclusion: Minimizing surface area reduces friction and maximizes distance unless/until the weight/friction ratio causes the object to dig into the ice -- much like an ice skate and the toe stop of an ice skate.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1405) Bristle Bot:Follow The Light
I built a robot using two toothbrush heads, my robot can follow a light in front of and can turn while following the light. I had to make adjustments to the photoresistors and the pototentiometers make it most accurately follow the light.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1507) Baking Soda & Vinegar Rocket
my main objective for my project was to find the best combination of acid and base to get the best lift off.
Procedure-#1 First you mix baking soda and water to make some paste but only with the correct amount that can stick to your spoon with no trouble.
#2 Next you putting 3 teaspoons of vinegar each one at a time to be certain there is no extra.
#3 Then you measure the amount of baking soda that you want to put on to a film canister that will go over the vinegar.
#4 Finally you go outside set it on a flat surface and see science before your very own eyes!
Conclusion-It turns out that 3 teaspoons and 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda give the best to lift because of its weight and how much power it carries with its blow from the acid and base combining
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-1509) Robots And Sensors
The purpose of this experiment was to determine the best distance sensor to use on a ground based robot. After some research, it was determined that there are basically 2 different types of sensors that were practical to use with this robot: a Sonic Ping sensor and an IR sensor. These sensors were tested under various conditions, testing for the minimum and maximum useable distances as well as the maximum angles they could sustain and still work. They were also tested against various potential surfaces that would be required by the robot.
After testing and data collection a decision matrix was created and used to determine the best sensor for use with the robot. The decision matrix weighted different performance characteristics according to the desired use of the robot and used that weighting to determine a final grade for performance.
The testing and decision matrix showed that the Sonic Ping sensor should be the best sensor for use in this scenario. The decision matrix was also used to do some sensitivity studies to determine if the choice of sensor would change under different circumstances.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-2008) Ready, Set, Fire
Do the properties of the ball (hardness, solid, texture, size, weight, and composition) effect how high and how far the catapult can throw a ball? That is what we set out to find the answer to. We chose a catapult design and with the help of a parent assembled the catapult. We decided which balls to evaluate: baseball, t-ball, foam ball, golf ball, ping pong ball, tennis ball, and wiffle ball. Our hypothesis was that the lightest, smallest, smoothest ball would travel the farthest. Comparing the properties, it was believed that it would be the ping pong ball. Procedures included floor and wall markers for measurement. 3 trials were preformed using each ball. Data was recorded and analyzed. The data supported the golf ball to have the most height and distance overall which is contrary to our hypothesis. This process was not with out variables and redesign and retesting considerations.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-2080) Go Cars Go
We wanted to create a car that ran by balloon power. We copied off the internet and fixed it to run much better.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-2091) Column Crushers
A column is a structure that is built to transmit a gravity load from top to bottom. Columns are also used in bridges, towers, cranes, airplanes, machinery, and furniture. Columns can also be called struts, pillars or posts. Timber, stone and masonry columns have been used since the beginning of time. Today we also use steel, aluminum, concrete, plastic and composite materials. This project is about creating and testing the strength of different thicknesses of foam core and basswood columns. We created the foam core columns using 32"x40" sheets of foam core. We cut the sheets into 6 inch wide pieces and glued the pieces together with Elmer's glue. Our hypothesis was that if we increase the thickness of a foam core column, then the load the column can carry will increase as well. To test the columns we built a wood framework with a sheet of plywood that could slide up and down on 4 wood posts. We would raise the plywood to the top of the posts then center the column between the base and sheet of plywood. Next we would add weight to the top of the plywood thus increasing the pressure on the column. We would continue to load weight on the plywood until the column failed and buckled. The results proved that our hypothesis was correct.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-2158) Toilet Flood Warning
For our project, we decided to create a device that would alert you of any toilet floods. We found that 1 in 5 toilets in the USA is leaking every second and that the average leaking toilet releases 200 gallons of water a day, so we found toilet floods to be a big problem. The main reason we chose to do this project was because Colton's basement flooded and his family had no idea it was happening. It cost us a substantial amount of money to repair the damage. We created our design criteria which consisted of the following items:
1. Needs to be low cost
2. Needs to be durable and not easily broken
3. Needs to stand up and not tip over no matter how much force acts upon it
4. Cannot float if the water gets to a certain height.
5. Needs to perform the job well.
We then began constructing our alarm from corrugated plastic sheets. Our alarm starts squealing when something that conducts electricity touches the two metal circles at the bottom of the alarm. When you do this, it connects the battery's power from one of the metal circles to the other one. When this happens, it sends a signal to the speaker which sets off a very loud sound. We decided to name our water alarm the S.W.A.T water alarm which stands for Super Water Alarm Technology. It is a S.W.A.T agent that protects your home from water damage. We love our design!
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-2247) Solar Power
We wanted to test if a solar powered car with a battery would be powerful enough to go over 4 different surfaces.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-2457) How Various Materials Affect Parachute Drop Rate
We know that a parachute's drop rate is a combination of gravity pulling towards the earth countered by the amount of air resistance it creates as it falls. The amount of air resistance created depends on the shape, size, and material used in the parachute. We wanted to see how materials of different weights or stiffnesses would affect the rate of drop for a parachute.
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-2478) Race Car Friction
Testing how fast cars can go on different surfaces
[Engineering: Mechanical] (1ME-2490) Wheely Fast Wheels
The purpose of this project was to see which type of lubricant would reduce the most friction and allow the wheels in our project to spin the longest. The hypothesis was that the silicone based lubricant would make the wheels spin the longest. We had four identical wheels and used three different lubricants to test how long the wheels would spin. The lubricants we used were, lithium, silicone, and graphite. The fourth wheel on the board had no lubricant. First we sprayed the wheel with the lubricant, then we used a drill gun and buffer to start the wheel spinning. We held the drill gun at full power with the buffer on the wheel for ten seconds and then held it away from the wheel. When we moved the buffer away from the wheel we started the timer and when the wheel stopped we recorded each result. We repeated the experiment five times on each wheel. After doing the project five times we realized that our hypothesis was wrong. The graphite lubricant helped the wheels spin the longest. The silicone based lubricant came in second place. The lithium based lubricant came in third place. The slowest timed results were the wheel that had no lubricant at all. Overall we agree that the wheels with any lubricant on them with help them spin longer and faster.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1016) The Effect Of Video Games On The Body
The autonomic nervous system is important in emergencies because it triggers the fight or flight response. The heart beats faster, the lungs breath faster, pupils get bigger, reaction time gets better, and pain tolerance increases. The fight or flight response is triggered by instinct to a perceived threat. Playing video games puts a person in a virtual world. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect that video games have on the body; specifically, if they trigger the fight or flight response.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1023) Which Backpack Is Better?
This project is about any students health. It captures which backpack (roller-bag or backpack) will cause more or less pain, which is more handy, and which one is better for school in general.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1037) Video Games And Memory
Topic: Video Games and Short-Term Memory
Question: Is short-term memory affected by playing a video game?
Background: Many people have questioned the effects on the brain of playing video games. Some believe that video games are a bad influence, while others think that there could be positive effects. Scientists have discovered that playing video games can affect short-term memory.
Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that short-term memory will improve after playing the "Fruit Ninja" video game.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1151) How To Prepare Your Green Bell Peppers
For my project, I wanted to find out how to prepare green bell peppers for the most vitamin C. The four ways of preparing I used were: raw, dry roast, steam, and stir-fry.
Through my extensive research, I learned how to measure vitamin C, how my method of measuring vitamin C worked, and the advantages and disadvantages of each preparing method I used.
My hypothesis, after gathering and analyzing research, was that the rawly prepared green bell peppers pieces would have the most vitamin C, that the dry roasted green bell pieces would have the second most vitamin C, that the steamed green bell pepper pieces would have the third most vitamin C, and that the stir-fried green bell pepper pieces would have the least vitamin C.
For my results, raw had the most at: 1.16781144771 milligrams of vitamin C per gram, steam had the second most at: 1.16109988767 milligrams of vitamin C per gram, dry roast had the third most at: 1.06042648701 milligrams of vitamin C per gram, and stir-fry had the least at: 0.8188103254 mg of vitamin C per gram.
Now that I have done this experiment, you know how to prepare your green bell peppers for the most vitamin C. If I was to do this experiment again, I would use a larger diversity of peppers. I think that this experiment will help people because now people will live a healthier life because they know how to prepare their green bell peppers for the most vitamin C.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1159) Running Focus
The question I asked was "Does running help students focus in school?". From my research I learned that exercise, specifically aerobic exercise like running, can help the brain in many ways including focus. Therefore, my hypothesis was that running would help students focus in school. I talked to my teacher to get her cooperation and I had students' parents sign permission for them to participate. We chose to test the focus levels using division math facts because math facts takes a lot of focus and division is the hardest one. The process I used was that each morning for four days we did a division math fact sheet timed for 2 minutes. Half of the days we ran for 5 minutes beforehand and the other half of the days we didn't do any exercise before. Then I collected the scores from the teacher. After analyzing the data, my conclusion was that my hypothesis was correct. The students' average scores went up on the days they ran.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1185) Effects Of Store Bought Drinks On Teeth
Which store bought beverages stain teeth the most. Substituting egg shells for teeth, I placed egg shells in different beverages and then noted which stained the egg shells the most.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1257) Using The Glycemic Index To Predict Blood Glucose Levels
This experiment tested the effectiveness of the glycemic index in predicting blood glucose levels. This is important information for me since I have Type I Diabetes: when my blood sugar is low (below 80) I need to know which beverages will raise my blood sugar level quickly. For ten days, I drank 250mL of five different drinks with different glycemic index values from the "Harvard Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load for 100+ Foods": water as the control substance (0), tomato juice (38), orange juice (50), Fanta soda (68), and Gatorade (78). Each beverage was tested for two days. I used the One-touch Verio glucose meter to test my blood sugar right after I drank each beverage and then again 45 minutes later. I tested at 6:45 a.m. (when my blood sugar level is most consistent due to fasting) and again at 7:30 a.m. and measured the change. I made sure my blood sugar was below 150 each day when I started. I averaged numbers from the two days for each liquid. I found that orange juice raised my blood sugar level the fastest (rise of 100.5) followed by Gatorade (93.5), Fanta soda (80), tomato juice (36.5), and water (-3.5). Orange juice raised my blood sugar fastest, even though it has a lower glycemic value than the Fanta soda or Gatorade. The brand of 100% fresh orange juice I used may have had a higher glycemic value than the brand of orange juice tested by Harvard for its index.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1277) Hot Dogs And Sun Screen
The affects of different spf sunscreens on protecting hot dogs from sun damage.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1293) The Relationship Of Exercise And Heart Rate
so my science project is about the Relationship of Exercise and Heart Rate. So what I did is I got 11 volunteers to participate in my science project. then I did there Heart Rate., Restpatory Rate, and Oxygen Saturation, then they jump roped for 2 minutes then after they Jump Roped for 2 Minutes I did there Heart Rate, Respatory Rate, and Oxygen saturation and then they rested for 2 minutes and then I checked there Heart Rate, Restpatory Rate, and Oxygen saturation. so I was going to ask them to jump rope more then once but only 2 participant's wanted to do it the others said it was to cold for them to jump rope everyone had fun during the activity but only one of the did not like the activity. I had fun during my science project and I think everyone liked it to because when we were done jump roping I asked them and they said that it made them fell good about them self because it is keeping your heart healthier and the rest of your body healthy and I also learned a lot of things while doing my project like I learned what Aerobics' mean's,it means your exercising and moving around and using all of your muscles and Anerobic's means lifting weights and I also learned that if you jump rope for an hour and you weighed 150 or 200 or 750 pounds you would burn a lot of pounds and this project is important because if you are over weight or are obese if you exercise and stay healthy you will have a happy and longer life.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1299) Do You Hear What I Hear
I can determine a person's age range depending on the kHz they can hear.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1384) Rethink Your Drink
This year my little brother came home with 8 cavities, and I think it's because he eats a lot of sugar. I found out sugar is not the only thing that can damage your teeth though. My question was: Which liquids will damage my teeth the most? My guess was that coffee would damage my teeth the most.
I put eight hard-boiled eggs (as a calcium carbonate substitute for teeth) in to these drinks: water, vinegar, Coke, Diet Coke, Red Bull, Sprite, orange juice and coffee. I left them in the liquids for 48 hours, and I checked the eggs at 8 hours and 24 hours. Then I tried brushing them with a toothbrush and toothpaste, so I could see how hard it was to brush it after that amount of time.
I found that the more acidic liquids (the ones with a low PH level) did the most damage to the eggs. The vinegar took the shell completely off, so it was the most corrosive. Water did nothing at all. Coffee did a lot of damage to the egg, as I thought it would. It stained the egg the most, and it was really hard to brush off. So most of the drinks that we usually drink do not have a positive effect on our teeth, and I think that we should only try to drink them every once in a while.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1389) Effectiveness Of Whitening Agents On Sea Biscuits
To figure out which ingredients from toothpastes, mouthwashes, strips, gels, and trays whiten calcium in sea biscuits better when stained with tea and grape juice, and if increased lumens increases the effectiveness of the whitening products, by measuring the effectiveness with the grey scale.
After watching the Colgate commercial about teeth whitening, I wanted to do an experiment to see which chemicals and products whiten teeth better. But since I don't have access to enough teeth, I decided to find a substitute. The Colgate commercial showed using a sand dollar which is made from calcium just like our teeth. The enamel of a tooth is the hard, white outer part of the tooth and is mostly made of calcium phosphate, HCaO4P, a rock-hard mineral. Sea biscuits and sand dollars are all part of the order Clypeasteroida, which have a rigid skeleton known as a test. The test is made of calcium carbonate, CCaO3, plates which are very similar to our teeth. After looking at the some research I decided to look at how different types of products would work on stains from drinks, tea and grape juice, and the effect of lumens on these products.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1406) Are Your Eyes Playing Tricks On You
My project is about afterimages. I wanted to see if afterimage persistence increases the longer you look at a particular object. I also wanted to know which color cone cell would fatigue the longest or fastest. I did many trials to find out my questions. First I would look at a red circle for thirty seconds. I did this many times and found out that my first hypothesis was right. My first hypothesis was that afterimage persistence will increase the longer you look at a particular object. my second hypothesis was that the blue cone cell will fatigue the longest. I was wrong. It was the green cone cell.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1430) To Drink Or Not To Drink
I wanted to test the sugar level in various drinks because Type 2 Diabetes runs in both of my parents' families. This project helped me gain the knowledge of what drinks I should consume in small servings or avoid entirely. I hypothesized that sodas would have the most sugar because they have carbonation and they taste sweet. I tested the sugar level of sodas, sports drinks, fruit juices and freshly squeezed fruit drinks. Even though sports drinks and fruit juices have a lot of sugar, the sodas consistently had more sugar. So the next time you are debating whether to drink or not to drink, remember this project.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1536) The Sense Of Smell And Your Memory
My project explores the relationship between your sense of smell and brain functions. Specifically, I wanted to determine if certain smells could stimulate portions of the brain that would improve memory function. The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils points to two olfactory nerve tracts that run directly into the limbic system (the part of the brain concerned with memory and emotion) and contains references to research establishing this connection.
For my experiment I tested peoples' ability to memorize similar lists of 15 words of comparable difficulty, and I recruited 25 people to memorize the lists in a 30 second period. First I took participants into a room where there was no peppermint essential oil diffusing, I gave them the first list to memorize and recorded the results. Then I took them into a room with peppermint essential oil diffusing and repeated the test two times, once after one minute in the room and once after five minutes in the room.
Overall, the group did not initially perform better in the room with peppermint oil, but after 5 minutes, there was slight improvement but it was not significant. When I looked at the results by age, it appears that the older participants actually performed worse, but the younger participants did perform better in the room with peppermint essential oils. This is not what I suspected or what other researchers had found.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1537) Does Uv Light Kill Bacteria Better Than Sterile Wipes?
Cell phones can carry dangerous bacteria. This might be a more important problem than we think. There are new products that can be used to sterilize phones and pens and other objects. The products include special wipes that won't harm cell phones. But these wipes only contain alcohol as an active ingredient and it is not clear if the concentration is high enough to kill bacteria. In contrast, true disinfecting wipes contain special chemicals that kill bacteria and viruses more effectively than alcohol. But these more power full chemicals can be harmful to cell phones and shouldn't be used on hands any way. In this project I tested the hypothesis that a UV ray chamber would kill more bacteria than an alcohol-containing wipe that is made especially for cell phones. I used bacteria cultures on cell phones. I found unexpected results! UV treated groups showed more or about the same amount of bacteria colonies than the untreated groups. The cell phones that were wiped with the sterilizing wipes had a lot more bacteria grow when compared to those that had no treatment at all. I think that the wipes were either: (1) contaminated, or (2) the wiping swept out bacteria from the grooves on the sides and between the front face and sides of the phones. I ran another set of experiments and found that the wipes were indeed contaminated and the UV light chamber was not effective. I also tried "wet-ones" wipes and these had no growth of bacteria.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1540) The Effects Of Exercise And Age On Heart Rate And Blood Pressure
The purpose of this experiment was to see if exercise or rigorous activity affects blood pressure and heart rate. I also wanted to know if getting older had any effect on blood pressure and heart rate. To conduct the experiment, I measured the before and after exercise heart rate and blood pressure for 25 different people. For this experiment, my independent variables included the age and health of the individual. My dependent variables included the results of the person's heart rate and blood pressure before and after exercise. My controlled variables are the time and intensity people exercised. Data collected included heart rate systolic and diastolic blood pressure. I also calculated the mean arterial pressure. For all subjects tested heart rate increase by 54.6%, diastolic blood pressure increased by 20.2%, systolic pressure increased by 17.2%, and the MAP increased by 18.9%. I was also able to show that younger people tend to have a higher before and after exercise heart rate, and a lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure when compared to older people. The data I collected supported my hypothesis that after exercise or rigorous activity, heart rate and blood pressure in normal healthy individuals will go up. It also supports my second hypothesis that older individuals' heart rates are slower than younger individuals and their blood pressure tends to be higher.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1545) Show Me Those Pearly Yellows
I wanted to find out which whitening toothpaste works the best on yellow teeth. My dad's teeth are yellow and I wanted to be able to recommend a good toothpaste. I used tiles to represent teeth. I soaked them in coffee and let them dry. Then I used 4 different kinds of whitening toothpaste to see which would whiten the tiles best. I recorded daily observations of the tiles after each brushing session.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-1560) What Liquids Stain Teeth The Most?
I put 5 different liquids, red wine, coffee, lemon juice, diet Dr. Pepper, and soy sauce in 5 cups. I put a raw egg in each cup and observed them for 5 days. I found out that the wine stained the most.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-2116) Video Game Effects
How do video games affect our heart rate and blood pressure.
[Medicine & Health Sciences] (1MH-2452) Chicken Vs. Microwave
Everything in the world is getting faster and more convenient, a microwave is one example of the various inventions made specifically to be faster and more convenient. It makes you wonder if you are substituting speed for safety. In other words: can a microwave kill enough bacteria that raw meat becomes safely edible. We decided to put this to the test. After doing research, we found out that our microwave operates at an average temperature of 625 degrees. We then found out the heat resistance of common bacteria on chicken and compared it to the average heat of our microwave then formulated a hypothesis; when raw, unpasteurized chicken is microwaved for 30 seconds 26% of bacteria will remain. When it is microwaved for longer more bacteria will die. We microwaved raw chicken and counted the bacteria on each piece before and after cooking. We proceeded with the experiment and analyzed the data. Results varied, but it was evident that our hypothesis was not supported. Therefore, we conclude that microwaving chicken for 2 minutes and under is not an adequate method for killing bacteria on raw chicken.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1014) Matchstick Rockets
The Matchstick Rocket demonstrates Isaac Newton's laws of motion as they relate to rocketry. Specifically, Newton's third law is demonstrated in this experiment. Using matches wrapped in tinfoil, the goal was to figure out if larger pinholes in the foil allow the rocket to fly farther.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1035) Magnet Madness
My project explored the strength of magnets and the effect of temperature on that strength. It is important to know this information for medical and mechanical purposes as well as to have a greater understanding of how the Earth's magnetic field works. Medical and mechanical equipment use magnets and knowing if temperature of the magnets effect their strength greatly effects their accuracy.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1047) High Potential
How does the mass of the ball change the distance the ball will travel successfully down the course?
A roller coaster consists of kinetic and potential energy. At the top of the hill the car has potential energy, determined by the mass and height of the car. As cars go down the hill, the potential energy is transformed to kinetic energy, energy in motion. Just like with potential energy, kinetic energy is influenced by mass.
Changing the weight of a roller coaster car will change the energy of the ride. Increasing the weight of the car will increase the energy, making the car go faster or a further distance. It would be interesting to change the weight of the roller coaster car to see if too much mass causes problems. My hypothesis is that if you increase the mass of the coaster car, the car will travel down the track at a higher speed and go a further distance because the increased mass results in more energy.
I tested 3 ping pong balls of different weights on a PVC coaster track, consisting of one loop and an upward sloped off ramp. The lightest ball traveled the shortest distance and the medium weight ball traveled the furthest distance. The heaviest ball traveled further than the lightest ball but not as far as the medium weight ball. This may be because the heaviest ball needed more energy, based upon its mass, to get through the loop. My hypothesis was partially supported.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1049) Magnetic Force Fields
Magnets are fun but mysterious. I aimed my experiment towards the magnetic force field of a magnet. The magnetic field is like a bubble surrounding the magnet. I would like to see how the magnetic field strength of a magnet will increase when two or more magnets are combined together. If each magnet has a hypothetical force of "5 magnetic field units", will that mean if you put two magnets together we will have a combined total of "10 magnetic field units"?
A lot of phenomena happens linearly, like light, for example. If you have two identical light bulbs, inside a dark room, what happens is that with one bulb on, the room will be bright as much as one light bulb can do, but as soon as you turn on the second light bulb, the room will be lit twice as much. Will magnets add up in similar fashion?
I performed my experiment, adding one additional magnet to a group of magnets as I measured the effect on a single separated magnet. Every time I added a new magnet, the added magnetic force to the total combined force was less strong that the previous magnetic force contribution. This means that magnetic forces do not add linearly, but in a decreasing curve manner instead. Each addition is a lesser powerful force contribution to the final total group force as the magnets are combined, and a plot of each consecutive addition comes up as a curve rather than a straight line.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1051) Surface Tension Of Water
I explain the surface tension of water, why it exists, its unique properties and use a very unique way to measure surface tension. I alter the waters chemical composition and summarize with a physical experiment. I also incorporate graphs, photos and illustrations.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1061) Bouncin' Basketball
The purpose of this project is to determine what surface will absorb the most kinetic energy when bouncing a basketball on it. The surface that absorbs the most will cause the basketball to bounce the least. The surface that absorbs the least, will cause the basketball to bounce the highest. We bounced a basketball on 5 different surfaces to determine which surface caused the basketball to bounce the highest. Four of the surfaces were hard and one of the surfaces was soft. I had someone video each time I dropped the ball and I reviewed each drop after the ball bounced 1 time. With a yard stick taped to the wall and the ball dropped 55 inches above the ground each time, I recorded my results on a chart, I was able to come up with a conclusion on which type of surface the ball bounced the best on.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1062) The "Brightest" Led Light Bulb In Salt Lake City
We all know that light emitting diodes (LED) light bulbs are the most efficient of all light bulbs, right? Have you ever wondered which brand of LED light bulbs were the best, as in most eco-friendly, bright, cost efficient and energy-saving? Well, my project is about which type of LED bulb brand is the best in Salt Lake City. It will help even the world become a better, more economy friendly place. First, I did research. I found some popular LED brands there. So, next came along the question. Mine was, Which LED light bulb brand is the best in Salt Lake City? Then, based off research, I constructed my hypothesis: The best LED light bulb brand was going to be CREE. I then conducted my experiment, by measuring the light intensity, temperature change, and the bulbs life span vs the price. I then drew some charts off of my results. My results was that FEIT was the best brand. The total possible score for each brand was 18 points. FEIT got sixteen out of eighteen points. My conclusion is that my hypothesis was not supported by my results. I wrote my procedure, did my bibliography, and organized all my data.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1064) Soaring To Win
I conducted an experiment to determine whether a higher or lower launch angle would allow a balsa wood glider to fly the furthest. I launched the gliders with a "T" launcher that would give an accurate launch power and angle every time. My data showed that a somewhat lower launch angle was better. 15 degrees will give you a fair flight. However, I found that 10 degrees will provide an even better distance than 15 degrees. Therefore, I determined that a lower angle, such as 10 or 15 degrees, is the best launch angle.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1065) Under Pressure
While measuring how far water squirted out of a hole in a water filled tube, I learned that the greater the amount of water above the hole, the farther the water squirted.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1066) How To Make Fruit Salad Using Small Caliber Bullets
I like shooting. I wanted to learn the effect different bullets have on targets. The energy formula to calculate the energy of a bullet is similar to Einstein's E=mc^2. My hypothesis was faster bullets will cause more damage. I tested 3 different bullets: .22 LR; 9mm; and .223 high power shooting at cantaloupes. The .223 caused the most damage. It traveled at 3 times the speed of the other bullets. Velocity is squared in the formula so velocity has the bigger influence on the energy. I also learned about hydrostatic shock which is the shock wave coming off the bullet. This shock wave cause a very dramatic effect with the .223 bullets. My hypothesis was correct, faster bullets caused more damage.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1085) Rock On!
The abstract of my project is to determine if thick strings/low pitches have more surrounding vibration than thin strings with high pitches.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1095) How Does Temperature Affect Pitch
This project investigates how changes in temperature affect the pitch of a tuned viola.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1105) Are You Playing A Sport In A Surface Or Temperature That Won't Help Your Ball Bounce?
This project was done to see what temperature and what surface a certain sport should be played on. There were five balls tested, five surfaces, and two temperature ranges. Another reason why this experiment was done was to see how high the balls bounced based on the surface and temperature. The five surfaces were grass, dirt, concrete, asphalt, and wood. I did ten tests in all. Five tests were done in a temperature lower than 40 degrees and the other five tests were done in the temperature 55 degrees or higher. Each test included each ball being bounced at least two times. The concrete had some of the highest bounce results. All of the balls bounced very high on the concrete, wood, and asphalt.?
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1109) Conservation Of Enrgy
The point of the project was to find out if a pendulum would swing higher than from where it was released. The process of the experiment was to drop a pendulum from one foot and than from two feet and to measure how much distance it lost from each swing. The amount of distance lost is equal to the amount of energy lost. The conclusion is that due to energy loss the pendulum could never swing further than from where it was released.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1147) Forces Behind The Mystery Of Interleaved Phone Books
When the pages of two phone books are interleaved they are nearly impossible to separate, which demonstrates the strength of friction forces. This project explores the forces at work in this classic physics puzzle. My project asks the question: Does the angle between the book spine and the pages give interleaved phone books their strength? My hypothesis was that removing the angle between the book spines and the pages will reduce the normal force created by pulling and therefore reduce the strength of the interleaved books. I used interleaved notebooks (book spine to pages angle present) and interleaved notebooks with every-other page removed (book spine to pages angle absent) with decreasing page counts to determine if the angle gives the interleaved books their strength. My results showed that interleaved notebooks with an angle between the book spines and the pages are much stronger than interleaved notebooks with the same number of pages but without the angle, which supported my hypothesis.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1188) Playing Hot And Cold With Balloons
Get 12 balloons. Fill 6 with helium and 6 with air. Label air balloons "A" and a number (ex. "A1"). Label helium gallons with the letter "H" and a number (ex "H1"). Put 3 helium and 3 air balloons inside (warm, around 73 degrees F). Put the other helium and air balloons outside (cold, around 29 degrees F). Every day measure the circumference and buoyancy of each balloon, what time it is and what temperature it is. Record all data, Then, Stop measuring when some of the balloons are deflated. Draw conclusions based on dada. Create a display board and presentation.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1209) Sucking It Up
My project tested how fluids with different surface tensions demonstrated capillary action. The project utilized bricks as a porous medium and evaluated salt water, water, vinegar, and vegetable oil. My findings on this experiment were that, with the exception of salt water, the liquid with the highest surface tension exhibited the greatest capillary action.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1251) Adidas, Nike, Or Mitre?
For my science fair project I had 6 men shoot 3 different brand soccer balls and recorded the speed. I am comparing Nike, Mitre, and Adidas soccer balls. I believe that because the Adidas or Nike are of a higher quality balls they would be shot faster. I recorded the shot speeds by using the Adidas snapshot app. I had people come every other weekend for 6-8 weeks. i hypothesized that because Adidas and Nike balls are considered to be of a higher quality, that they would be shot faster. after analyzing my results it seems that the Mitre ball was shot the fastest, then the Nike, and finally the Adidas ball. in conclusion my results showed the opposite of what i had predicted. ?
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1253) What Protects Best?
I wanted to know which material would keep something fragile the safest (for example, hard-boiled eggs)? I found that there was a lot of studies or research on car crashes and safety. I thought there might be a way to keep people and fragile objects unharmed in a car crash. That's why I needed to find out which material would keep eggs the safest. My hypothesis was that toilet paper would protect the eggs the best and the control (no protection) would protect the worst.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1254) Got Winglets?
I wanted to know why some airplanes had winglets on the ends of their wings and some did not. What is the purpose of having winglets? Why don't all airplanes have them? I researched the internet and discovered what winglets are and what their purpose is. I wanted to test what I had learned, so I constructed 3 types of paper airplanes with and without winglets and did 5 trial runs to see how effective winglets would be on their flight patterns.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1283) Rocket Away
Testing launch distance of varying amounts of baking soda and vinegar.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1349) Detecting Sub Atomic Particles Using A Cloud Chamber
Did you know that you are thousands of little particles flying through your body right now? You do not feel them, you cannot see them, but they are always there! In this project I have built a cloud chamber which allows you to see the trails left by these particles. With my cloud chamber I am trying to detect these particles, see if they are affected by magnetic force, and how the different types of particles behave.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1357) Going Up: How Fast Do Balloons Go In Different Temperatures?
One cold winter morning, I saw two hot air balloons in the sky. I wondered if the cold weather affected them to rise faster or slower. My project is about how temperature affects how fast balloons float to 20 feet. I tested two helium balloons 15 trials each in 4 different steps: cold balloons in cold air, cold balloons in warm air, warm balloons in cold air, and warm balloons in warm air. It turns out that the cold balloons in cold air reached the 20 foot mark the fastest. I also observed that the air temperature affected the speed of the balloons more than the balloons' temperature did.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1378) The Fun Area Of Math
The purpose of my project is to find out if the area will be larger in a quadrilateral when the side length numbers are the closest, and the shapes have the same perimeter. By making different quadrilaterals with cardboard and measuring their area,I found my hypothesis to be supported.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1399) That's The Way The Ball Bounces
My experiment was to find out how temperature affects the bounce height of a tennis ball. I hypothesized that the hotter balls would bounce the highest and the colder ones would bounce the lowest. I placed 3 balls in each of the following Fahrenheit temperatures: -6, 33, 70, 170, 200. I built a ball dropper to drop the balls from the same height every time and to measure how high each would bounce. I videoed each ball being dropped and recorded its bounce height. I found that my hypothesis was correct. The hotter balls did bounce higher than the colder ones.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1402) Sound
My science project is about how sound affects our lives. Sounds are all around us in many forms. Sound is used for communication, safety, sound provides us pleasure and displeasure, it helps us navigate and sound is used in medical devices. I designed a few practical experiments with sound.
My project analyzes a few affects of sounds. One is how some objects have a resonance, like a bell rings at a specific frequency or a tuning fork when tapped will resonate. I have demonstrated how a crystal wine glass has a specific resonance and if you surround the glass with a loud enough sound level at its resonance the glass will vibrate and shatter.
Another type of sound is ultrasound, which are sounds that are frequencies above the human hearing range. Ultrasound can help us navigate. Using a modified backup sensing system for automobiles, I demonstrate how sound pulses measure distance. Basically the backup sensor sends out a burst of several cycles at 40,000 cycles per second or hertz. The burst of sound travels out and reflects off an object. The reflected sound is received by the same sensor. If you know the speed of sound in air you can calculate the distance.
A third demonstration of sound is how a parabolic microphone works. I demonstrate how the sound enters the parabolic dish and reflects off the dish. All the sound is reflected to a specific focal point. This effectively amplifies the small sound levels from long distances.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1408) Flying Footballs
I threw a football 10 times inflated and deflated to see when it would fly farther. I guessed that it would fly farther when it was inflated. After I tested it, I was right.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1439) Rebound Height
This project tests the ratio of the rebound height of a dropped ping pong ball. I took the percentage of the initial height compared to it's rebound height and tested to see if the percentage remained the same from varying heights. The rebound percentage was at or near 75% every time.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1458) Probability Program Project
Can you roll a six sided die so many times that you can guarantee the average of those rolls will always be 3.5? My Hypothesis was "I think that no matter how many times you roll the die you can not guarantee the average being 3.5." To test this I wrote a program on scratch.mit.edu. It would ask how many times to roll the die, and then it would roll the die that many times and find the average. It would do that 100 times and put it on a list, which I used to turn into histograms. After analyzing the data I concluded that my hypothesis was correct. I ran the program comparing 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, 100,000, and 1,000,000 rolls. Even after rolling the die 100,000,000 (1,000,000 x 100) times it still did not always average out to be exactly 3.5.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1459) Just A Drag
I will determine which object, of several different shapes, will produce the most drag when pulled through the water. This will be determined by pulling various objects at the approximate same speed and length, through the water and measuring the drag for each. I will report my hypothesis and findings for this project.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1481) Baseball Hit Charts: Luck Vs. Physics
I wanted to find out what makes a ball go far and whether the swing angle or position you hit from makes more of a difference. I am interested in this because I am a baseball player. I also wanted to find out if it's mostly luck or physics in hitting a ball. I later found that sometimes a ball would happen to go far or short. That means sometimes there was luck to a hit, but most of the balls were pretty close together so, it was both luck and physics. I also learned the closer the ball to the tip of the bat was the further it went. That means my hypothesis was correct.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1491) Heat That Liquid
I was interested in how liquids heat and how each liquid would compare to another when heated in the same way. I chose seven liquids to compare: water, canola oil, diet coke, milk, chocolate milk, lemon juice, and tomato juice. I thought these liquids would show a good range for my experiment.
Before the experiment started, I thought water would heat up the most and chocolate milk would heat up the least after 60 seconds in the microwave. I tested this by placing each of the liquids in the microwave separately. I recorded each liquid's temperature before, after 30 seconds, and after 60 seconds in the microwave. The results showed that half of my hypothesis was correct; the water heated up the most. My hypothesis was not correct because the canola oil heated up the least not the chocolate milk.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1494) How Does The Air Pressure Of A Soccer Ball Affect How Far It Travels When Kicked?
A flat, medium flat, and pumped up ball are kicked and the distances measured to see if air pressure plays a factor in the distance kicked.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1499) The Bounce Of A Raquetball
I got 9 balls and put three of them in hot,cold,and room temp. water. After that I dropped them from 15ft. and saw which temperature mad the balls bounce the highest. I then had my mom mark where she saw the highest point of the balls bounce. My dad was also video taping it so we had more evidence of where the balls really bounced. I then figured out that the balls that where in the hot water bounced higher than the other balls that were in the other temperatures of water.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1501) Sharp Shooter
The title of my experiment is Sharp Shooter. The purpose of my experiment is to see if different shooting positions affect your shooting percentage. My hypothesis was that the different shooting positions would affect your shooting percentage. I thought this because I think that most people are not used to the different shooting positions. Then I did my experiment. For my procedure, I had five people each shoot ten shots for three different shooting positions on the foul line. I recorded their shooting percentage for each different shooting position. Then I found the average percentage for each different shooting position and saw that the middle position was the best, the overhead position was the second best, and that the chest position was the worst out of the three. When I finished organizing my data, I found that my hypothesis was correct. More than half the people used the middle position regularly so when they shot with that position they were pretty good at it. Some new questions that I have about my project are "does the height or age of a person affect their shooting percentage?" and "Why was the chest position the worst position out of the three positions"? Also, "Why was the chest position worse than the overhead position"? An example of a project extension I was interested in doing was researching to see if the amount of arc in a shot makes a difference to if you make the shot or if you don't.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1510) Which Bubble Wrap Protects The Best?
For my project, I wanted to know which kind of bubble wrap would protect an egg the best. I used three different sizes of bubble wrap: 6/16 inch, 1 inch, and 4x6 inch. My hypothesis was that the 4x6 inch bubble wrap would protect the best because it has a bigger air bubble. To test this, I wrapped an egg in each size of the bubble wrap and first dropped them from two feet. The egg wrapped in the 6/16 inch bubble wrap broke, while the other two eggs were protected. Next I dropped the eggs wrapped in the 1 inch bubble wrap and the 4x6 inch bubble wrap from four feet. The egg in the 1 inch bubble wrap was protected and the egg in the 4x6 inch bubble wrap broke. My hypothesis was proven wrong. I think it was proven wrong because the 4x6 inch bubble wrap had gaps between the air bubbles. If an object lands in that space when dropped, it will break, which is what happened in this case. This experiment can help people because I have been able to show that 1 inch bubble wrap will protect a fragile object better than 6/16 inch and 4x5 inch bubble wrap.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-1516) Can Water Take The Shape Of A Sound Wave?
Can you bend water with sound? Although it seems impossible, falling water may be formed into a soundwave using a simple experimental set up. This set up will allow a viewer to see water as it falls through the air in the shape of a sound wave. You can make small adjustments to the design, and the water will change from as a frozen sound wave in the air to flowing slowly up or down in the air. The experiment design is quite simple. The design includes a speaker capable of generating at least a 23 Hz tone, a tone generator capable of generating 23 through 25 Hz tones, an amp, a water hose, a bucket, a camera capable of filming at 24 frames per second, and a curious mind. One must use a camera because the human eye cannot perceive the sound wave effect due to persistence of vision. The resulting camera visual effect, however, is astounding. The reason this is so astounding is because it does not occur anywhere else in nature. This experiment is being conducted in order to help the audience understand and visualize the power and shape of a sound wave.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-2017) How Altitude Affects The Bounce Of A Tennis Ball
HYPOTHESIS: Higher altitude will make a tennis ball bounce higher because the air is thinner. Higher altitude will have less air pressure therefore making the tennis ball harder & bounce higher.
PROCEDURE: We recorded the altitude & temperature of each location (Portland & Bend, OR; Park City & Salt Lake City, UT). On a flat black top surface at each location, we dropped a tennis ball 3 times each at a height of 4' and 5'. One person dropped the ball from the appropriate height & the other person looked at the tape measure & eyeballed how high it bounced.
CONCLUSION: We expected that when we went to the higher altitude location, the tennis ball would bounce higher. But we found that our thoughts were not always correct. The experiment worked better at 4' than at 5'. The ball bounced higher in Portland than we expected because the temperature was higher. Potential reasons for this are (1) the temperature was different; (2) we used different actual tennis balls (but same type); (3) we had to eyeball the height measurement; and (4) the surfaces could have been a little bit different.
WHAT WE LEARNED: We could have taken a slow motion video of the ball bouncing next to the tape measure so our data could have been more precise than eyeballing it. We could have both been in every location together so we could spot any mistakes the other may have made. We could have used the exact same tennis ball.
[Physics, Astronomy & Math] (1PA-2027) Does Temperature Affect How Balls Bounce?
This project tests how temperature affects how high rubber balls bounce. We used 5 different rubber balls and had 5 temperature conditions: room temperature, warm (soaked in hot tap water for 3 minutes), hot (soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes), cold (placed in refrigerator for 30 minutes), or freezing (placed in freezer for 30 minutes). Bounce height was measured using a yard stick and checked with slow-motion camera across 5 trials for each condition. Out of the five temperatures, the ball in the boiled water condition (hot) bounced the highest. Our research showed that this result happened because at higher temperatures, there is more air pressure, leading to higher bounce. Also, as the temperature increases, the gas molecules expand, causing a higher bounce.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1057) Who Soiled My Soil?
Compost provides plants important nutrients, which allows them to grow stronger and healthier yielding bigger crops and a better ability to hold moisture and resist disease. I wanted to test which compost is the best additive for garden soil: homemade or store bought. My hypothesis was that homemade compost would be the best because it contains a bigger variety of materials than store bought.
Four garden plots were constructed to test which compost would grow green beans the best. Each plot contained either well-established garden soil, no compost, store bought or homemade compost. Two separate plantings of eight seeds per plot were performed. To determine plant growth I measured the number of days to first sprout, the number and weight of beans for three harvests. Soil chemistry (pH, nitrogen, potash and phosphorus) as well as composition (sand, silt and clay) was evaluated.
The positive control plot (established garden soil) yielded the greatest number of beans. Two plants from control produced 342 beans and 1117 grams in weight. Of the experimental groups store bought produced 2 plants with 58 beans weighing 169 grams. It produced a higher yield of beans compared to homemade compost in which two out of eight beans sprouted then died before harvest. The negative control (no compost) plot didn't show growth. Soil pH for the positive control was closest to desired. I discovered that store bought compost grew the most green beans in bad soil but soil that has been used for gardening gave even better results.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1101) Pyramid Power
The pyramid power plant experiment is an easy experiment that anyone can try at home or at school. I placed potted plant seeds under a galvanized steel pyramid and potted control seeds outside of the pyramid.. The seeds were given the same sunlight and water advantages. The results show that energy harnessed from a pyramid produces stronger and healthier plants.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1134) Is Fertilizer Really Helping My Plants
Planting a garden is a fun activity to do but, do the plants really need fertilizer and other crazy chemicals to help them grow bigger, better, faster and greener. In this experiment that fact is tested. The plants have had the recommended amount of fertilizer half of that and nothing but water. Plant A definitely grew the largest out of all the plants as expected. Plant B and C stayed around the same height sometimes being the same height. Except plant A had the full recommend amount of fertilizer. Plant B had half of that and plant C did not have any fertilizer at all. Plant A was growing faster the others, that was probably from the fertilizer. Plant A had the most nutrients and care. Water does not have that many minerals and nutrients as fertilizer so it grew the smallest ofthe three that were tested. Fertilizer is a mixture of minerals and Co2 which boosts plant growth, but as the plant growth healthy or really affecting it?
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1150) Go Green By Growing Green
Because planet earth is "dying", we have to look for alternative fuel sources. We are looking toward other fuel sources because humans are creating too much carbon dioxide and we will eventually run out of fossil fuels. In this experiment, I tested which plant, out of corn, oat and wheat, would produce the most biomass energy. I found that corn produced the most fresh weight and the most dry weight, meaning the overall most biomass energy. This supported my hypothesis that corn produces the most biomass energy.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1212) The Effect Of Microwave Radiation On Seed Growth
For my experiment I was interested in finding out how microwave radiation affects seed growth. I microwaved seeds for different amounts of time. Such as, 30 seconds, 1 minute, and 1 minute and 30 seconds. I also had controls that were not microwaved at all. I thought that microwave radiation would have a negative effect on plant growth, and that the non-microwaved seeds would grow better. The results of my experiment turned out as I hypothesized. Both of my controls grew, and only one of my 30 seconds grew. My other 30 seconds and the rest of the plants didn't grow at all. The purpose for this experiment was to find out if microwave radiation has a negative effect on seed growth. I found out that the radiation from the seeds heats up the water molecules in the seeds. This weakens the seed and prevents it from growing. Too much radiation from the microwave will kill seeds.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1302) The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side
In my project, I wondered what would be the most effective amount of times a week I would need to water plants to get the healthiest result. To do this I gave four grass plants one gallon of water every week at different rates. I watered plant one with the full gallon of water each Sunday, I watered plant two with 1/2 gallon of water each Sunday and Wednesday, I watered plant three with 1/3 gallon of water each Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday, and I watered plant four with 1/4 gallon of water each Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I did this for three weeks in order to see which plant would be the healthiest and came to the conclusion that the grass in plant three produced the healthiest results, even though my hypothesis was that plant two would be the healthiest.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1318) Which Starch Will Make The Best Slime
The purpose of my project was to see which starch made the most slime. I did this because I like to play with slime. I cut veggies up, put them in water, separated the starch from the veggie and then added tonic water to make glow in the dark slime. I encountered difficulties cutting yams and sweet potatoes. They were hard to cut, but I got it done after about twenty minutes. I learned that corn does not make any slime. Brown potatoes and sweet potatoes hardly make any slime, but the yams and red potatoes made a lot of slime. The brown potato produced 6 teaspoons of slime. The red potato produced 11teaspoons of slime. The sweet potato produced 1.5 teaspoons of slime. The corn didn't produce any slime. I formed the conclusion that the red potatoes created the most slime and glowed in the dark the best.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1470) Jalapeno Heat
I tested to see if jalapenos raised temperatures in water and in peoples' mouth. Is there something in the jalapeno itself or in peoples' body that made them sweat? My hypothesis was if the jalapenos were put in water and in peoples' mouth, they would not raise temperatures. To test this, I recorded the temperature of the water, then put jalapenos cut different sized pieces in each cup of water. After 10 minutes, I recorded the temperature of the water again. I repeated this process three times. Also, I recorded the temperature in peoples' mouth, then had them chew a piece of the jalapeno for ten seconds, spit the jalapeno out, and recorded their mouth temperature again. The experiments in the water, seven-eighth of the results had the temperature staying the same. In the mouth tests, four-fifths of the results had the temperature rising. In conclusion, my experiments prove half of my hypothesis right: jalapenos do not raise temperatures in water; and half wrong: jalapenos do raise temperatures in a human's mouth, which was not supposed to raise. I conclude that my test subjects might have put the thermometer in different parts of their mouth which caused the recorded temperatures to be not very accurate, but there are many other possibilities.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1475) Worms And Plants
Do plants with earthworms grow better than plants without earthworms?
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1495) Can Elodea Save Us From Oil Spills?
An exciting look on wether or not Elodea,a supposedly useless water weed can absorb oil spills in it's unique molecular structure.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1502) Jack And The Beanstalk
A see grows by taking nutrients from the soil. Commercial fertilizers have been made to give seeds extra nutrients to make them grow faster and taller. Fertilizers can easily be made at home to give plants extra nutrients.
Can a homemade fertilizer be more effective than a commercial fertilizer?
Garden beans were planted in plain soil. 18 were fertilized with homemade fertilizer made from coffee grounds (nitrogen), egg shells (calcium), molasses (microbes), banana peel (potassium), and water. 18 were fertilized with Miracle Gro. 24 were not fertilized, for control.
The beans without any fertilizer grew the tallest. However, the beans with the homemade fertilizer had the most spouts.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1552) Radiation, Mutation: A Plant Experiment
The purpose of this project is to find out the effect of radiation on plants. My hypothesis was that with the greater radiation exposure the plants would do worse because radiation can alter DNA. First groups of Mung, Mustard, Wheat Grass seeds were exposed to X-radiation for 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, and 5 hours. After being X-rayed, they were put into small pots that were the same size and covered with the same amount of soil and let to grow for 8 days. After 8 days, they were weighed and the results were graphed. After studying the data, the hypothesis was found to be incorrect. The graph showed an arc that indicated radiation hormesis, a phenomenon whereby small amounts of radiation can be beneficial to living organisms and large amounts are not. In future research, it would be a good addition to add more quantity and variety of plants and let them grow for longer amounts of time.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-1556) Change In The Color Of Plants
The purpose of my project is to see if I can dye the blooms of Paper whites (Narcissus papyraceus) green and red. To set up this project I put 18 bulbs in plastic cups with pebbles and water. I will then water them until they bloom, over time I will check on them and measure them. I have put all 18 bulbs next to a window in the sun. Changes in height and color have been recorded in my data, and I have also calculated the average rate of growth in the plants. I have figured out that the green plants grow 0.05 inches faster per day than the red plants, which grow 0.11 inches per day. I have also figured out that the green plants have a larger average growth rate than the red plants. My theory for why the average growth rate is larger for the green plants than the red plants is that the dye affects the plants by making the green plants grow faster than the red plants, and I also think that the red dye stunts the growth of the plants. Also the red plants could be smaller because of not being watered for a while, and the plant could've absorbed the water faster than the green water. Maybe the green plants absorbed less water so it lasted longer than the red water.
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-2182) Water Wonders
Research says that grey-water can be used for growing plants and can help reduce the need for household water. This could be very important in our desert to conserve and recycle water because of our long droughts and still grow our own food . WE did not find information on grey-water for growing seedlings, so we set up an experiment to compare using tap water and grey-water for growing radish seeds into plants. We planted 32 radish seeds and used grey-water and tap water to sprout the seeds and grew them for 20 days. We found that grey water did not allow radish seeds to sprout as well as tap water, but we did find that the sprouted seeds grew as many leaves when using grey-water and grew taller than the sprouted radish seeds growing with tap water .
[Plant Sciences] (1PS-3484) Orange Pulp Paper
About 6 billion trees are cut down a year, and a lot of the tree is wasted. The paper making companies use tree fiber as the main ingredient in their paper. We thought that there could be another fiber that is not from trees, and we thought of orange pulp because it has a lot of fiber. So we made paper out of orange pulp.