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Science Fair Ideas!

This year I have to do a science fair project - I'm still disappointed that I broke my track record by not participating last year.

So I am asking you, my esteemed colleagues, to present possible ideas for an extremely scientific and quantitative project. I have a few ideas in mind - ranging from entomological projects, to botanical experiments, to robotics, and aerospace concepts (I'm having a little trouble choosing at the moment, but robotics looks like it's the way to go)...But I'd love to hear your ideas! (Plus, I figure that this hobby has loads of ideas that need controlled investigating.)

Potential awards at the regional science fair include scholarships, cash prizes, and stuff to load onto my high school resume - but I'm looking to make it to the nationals!

Plus, if I make enough off of the science fair, I may be able to pay (at least partially) for a trip to Nepenthes territory (Borneo!) and plenty of pics will result, for sure!

I sincerely appreciate any input that anyone can contribute!
 
wow, way to go man!

Ok, im not sure what is within your bounds, but what about simple testing for carnivory in byblis/ibecella/other "maybe" carnivores? Using isotopes may be out of your leage but hey! :) Good luck doing whatever you do! :D
 
I'm guessing the old find what taste buds taste which tastes is out of the question, eh? Sounds like a fun competition. I'll try and think of some ideas. I love science projects.

xvart.
 
They've got books with metric tonnes of ideas and things to help you get started.

I did two good science fair projects.

The more-scientific one investigated the effectiveness of difference sunscreens. Measurements were made by using different sunscreens to "protect" UV sensitive paper. Was pretty neato.

The less-scientific one was in my tripos phase. I investigated their form of suspended animations. In hindsight, it wasn't particularly scientific, but I liked learning about it.

So what I can tell you is this: Do something that you'd really enjoy doing, but keep scale in mind. I had fun with the triops one, but it wasn't particularly good because it wasn't scientific. The sunscreen one was less in my area of interest, but it ended up being pretty cool and practical. Don't limit yourself to only things about plants or things that'd just take too long.

Best of luck!
 
BAM. You've come to the right place. You're talking to a 2 time Florida state science fair competitor. I did my projects on robotics, won 1st place and hella awards at the regional competitions, and placed high in the state level competitions. Of course, this was in middle school, but I'm pretty sure I can provide some very valuable input.

Est is right, the first step is to always pick something you enjoy, preferably something you want to build a career around.

So, what do you really think is interesting?
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! Hope to hear some great ideas soon. ;)

As for my limits - Black Holes are the limit! Anything from astronomy to microbiology interests me, but engineering seems the way to go at the moment. Thing is, I don't have the math or ability to study black holes, but everything else is a possible project.

I'm sure that if I planned a great experiment, I could work with an institution that actually has radioisotopes and the facilities to measure any sort of carnivory in the protocarnivores...great idea, Obregon! I think I might consider doing that next year, since I'd need to plan it well and get to know the right people. ;) But hey, this is New Mexico - we've got more radiation here than we know what to do with!

Xvart - I'm sure you have plenty of nice ideas too - hope to hear them soon!
Est - I did a triops project in fifth grade. You're right - their fun, but qualitative rather than quantitative experiments. Since I'm interested in pretty much anything even remotely scientific, I'm open to any ideas, although I have about two or three dozen already on paper of what I'm really interested in doing...

DrWurm - Sounds like we have similar interests and backgrounds - I've placed top in science fairs from Kindergarten to Eighth Grade, doing geological, biological, and robotic projects. I really look forward to any ideas you can offer! ;)
 
You may try a cross between two sundews as a legitimate project.
 
Haha, my first science fair was in 5th grade, I did mold on bread and I won. I've found that science fair projects are 50% science, 50% show. For my robot projects, i made the line following robot in this book: http://www.robotroom.com/RBFB.html and then tried to modify it using 2 water sensors so that if it came across a wet trail, it would follow that instead.

I never actually got it working, but I had the robot running around on the table and a prototype board to show the judges. I backed it up with the idea that I was giving this robot another sense in addition to light, so I was improving upon the AI, and that it also related to the search for water on distant planets.

So, in the field of robotics, anytime you attempt to improve or create AI, people are impressed. Add to that having the robot on the table to observe, and you have a competitive project. If you want to go to nationals with something like this though, you'll have to do a lot more than I did. If you have knowledge of circuitry and/or programming, you could probably set up something nice. Intelligence algorithms are always a hit, and they're often not that hard if you're clever, see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOEP603VRdE

This is a popular robotics platform to do projects with here: http://www.parallax.com/tabid/411/Default.aspx

What did you do for your robotics projects?
 
Ah, good old Sandwich!

Nice idea, about the water-following. While I had realized that the light sensors could be replace and redirected to produce different behaviors, I had not thought of the water-following behavior.

BTW, Science fair projects are more than 50% show, IMO. ;) It's about 80% show, 10% science, and 10% looking presentable (communicative skills - very important - are part of the "show" category, lol).

My specialization isn't far from Sandwich (analog circuitry). I've been building walking robots and solar-powered, light-seeking little robots for the past few science fairs. Efficient solar circuits and walking efficiencies of different robots were my past projects (nothing big); now I'm looking to wow the judges with something a bit more complex and sizeable. I'm thinking an autonomous walking robot with several behaviors based on analog integration of light, sound, and touch responses.
 
  • #10
Just to give you guys an idea of how far I can possibly go:

-Suborbital rocket launches go on at the WSMR, mere miles from where I live. If I get to know the right people, I may be able to secure a few pounds of payload on a launch for experiments (seeds exposed to radiation? Oh boy! ;))

-At least two large telescopes are perched atop the mountains near my home - the facilities are visible to the naked eye from where I live. I hear that time is granted to schools who'd like to use the telescopes. You can't see black holes in telescopes, but you can see about any luminous object in the universe (I mean it when I say that black holes are the limit! :))

-I have garden space to grow a plantation of protocarnivorous garden plants. 'Nuff said.

-My teacher has contacts (biologists) that work with radioisotopes. Today I asked him if I could work with him on a protocarnivorous plant investigation project for next years science fair, and he said "Sure!" His only concern is whether or not radioisotopic experiments are allowed in the science fair, lol! (Thanks again for the idea, Obregon!)

-The same teacher can obtain chemicals and supplies for high-school chemistry and beyond. On Friday, he's bringing in liquid nitrogen, and he has demonstrated a violent thermite reaction to his eager students. I'm sure he'll support any crazy (extracurricular, lol) ideas I present to him, as long as we can ensure adequate protective measures.

-If I plan a CP project well, I can get an indoors growrack, complete with lights, for "controlled experiments and growth monitoring."

-I design and fabricate my own printed circuit boards.

-I strapped culture vials of algae, shrimps, and protozoans to my ceiling fan to create a centrifuge! Just for fun, to see what the effects were compared to the control group.
Honestly, how many mad scientists do you know who would do that, or even have the creativity to come up with such an idea? ;)

-I've grown algae that smelled like cr**, just so I could maintain rapidly-adapting forms for microscope study. Smell is nothing in the face of science!

-I've given Chinese mantids more food, water, and pampering than they could bare - and committed the results to memory...

-I've blown up more model rockets than I can bear to think about. I have a high-power rocket on the construction stand. I have multiple rocket plans and gliders that need to be tested (destroyed :p) in the name of discovery. I have entertained the thought (multiple times, including very recently) of building a small-scale wind tunnel. Or I could simply drop/launch/shoot some of these things off of a nearby mountain cliffside. ;)

I'm just a scientist without the proper documentation. :) And New Mexico is the perfect place for almost any high-profile experiment.
 
  • #11
I love science fairs too. Right now I'm designing my yearlong project for my "biotechnology senior tech. lab" that involves the effect of differing ratios of auxins and cytokinins on drosera capensis tissue culture growth. Do you have access to column chromatography, sds-page, or gel electrophoresis? Those offer lots of ideas as do organisms such as fruit flies (drosophila melanogaster), flatworms (planaria), and daphnia.

Just a side note, my teacher told us today that several biotech. firms will be donating a refurbished DNA sequencer to our school (TJHSST)!:banana2:
 
  • #12
Ah, good old Sandwich!

Nice idea, about the water-following. While I had realized that the light sensors could be replace and redirected to produce different behaviors, I had not thought of the water-following behavior.

BTW, Science fair projects are more than 50% show, IMO. ;) It's about 80% show, 10% science, and 10% looking presentable (communicative skills - very important - are part of the "show" category, lol).

My specialization isn't far from Sandwich (analog circuitry). I've been building walking robots and solar-powered, light-seeking little robots for the past few science fairs. Efficient solar circuits and walking efficiencies of different robots were my past projects (nothing big); now I'm looking to wow the judges with something a bit more complex and sizeable. I'm thinking an autonomous walking robot with several behaviors based on analog integration of light, sound, and touch responses.

BEAM bots then? I have that book too :D
 
  • #13
Right on the money, DrWurm! Although this will be several layers of Nv and Nu neurons...a little more complex than what I'm used to, or what you normally see on the nets. :D Of course, if I can get all the connections figured out in time.

I'm still waiting for Mark Tilden to publish some of his most personal work - and I'd love to get my hands on some of his hextiles!


Tbone: Wow, congrats on the new equipment!

New Mexico Tech (about two hours from my town) has a forensics program...I've seen a DNA machine in person, but I'm not quite sure how extensive their equipment is, nor what their usage policies are. I'll have to look into the column chromatography, sds-page, and gel electrophoresis - I may put two and two together about what they can do. It'd be cool if they could compare DNA of different Nepenthes - that would get some real data for how they evolved, and which are truly closely related. I'm sure it would be no trouble to contact the forensics department at NMT. Thanks for the ideas!

My personal ideas for fruit flies (so far): effects of electromagnetic radiation from TV's, selective breeding for long-or short-lived flies...

Ideas for planaria: effects of electric stimulation, regeneration patterns...

Ideas for daphnia: effects of drugs and pollutants in their water, selective breeding for light/dark sensitivity...

Ideas for mosquito larvae: effects of pesticides, smoke, oil, and water pH on development...

Feel free to add to these - they are just initial thoughts.

On a side note: NM Science fairs happen to be heavy on nature-oriented projects, so I try to stick to mechanical/nonliving projects. But now that there's potential for a really big, really scientific experiments, I'm thinking that plants and insects may make it into the agenda!
 
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