Help, DS need a good idea for Earth Science fair project.

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Weather IS a portion of Earth Science!!!!! I MAJORED in Earth Science in college and a course in atmospheric science (climatolog/meteorology) was REQUIRED. The egg trick ought to be ok if you relate it to how acid affects the environment, but then the tornado chamber should be okay, too!

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Weather IS a portion of Earth Science!!!!! I MAJORED in Earth Science in college and a course in atmospheric science (climatolog/meteorology) was REQUIRED. The egg trick ought to be ok if you relate it to how acid affects the environment, but then the tornado chamber should be okay, too!

Weather is a portion of earth science, but making a tornado chamber is not an experiment -- it's a demonstration. The point of an experiment is to ask a question and devise a test which will give results supporting one answer over another.

You need to have two test situations that are as identical as possible, except for one thing which you change between the two situations. That thing you change is the independent variable. The dependent variable is the thing that changed AS A RESULT of the change you made in the independent variable (the change in the variable is "dependent" on the change you made in the independent variable...make sense?).

If you haven't already picked something, go through your child's list of topics to be covered, and try to think of a question that can be answered by an experiment in which you have two groups (the "control" with no manipulation, and the "test" with one manipulation in the independent variable).

If you post some of the things to be taught in your child's earth science class, I can give you some ideas. Or, if you're not sure, you can google some science education websites. There are lots of ideas for children's science experiments there. Here is one I just found.

 

[Royd]

How about something theoretical, like: Are precious metals and gems still being formed in the earth's crust, and how did oil get 10,000 ft. below the earth's surface, if it's just dinosaur guts?

Here's even a better one. Which came first, The La Brea Tar Pits, or the animals which got caught in them?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Weather IS a portion of Earth Science!!!!! I MAJORED in Earth Science in college and a course in atmospheric science (climatolog/meteorology) was REQUIRED. The egg trick ought to be ok if you relate it to how acid affects the environment, but then the tornado chamber should be okay, too!

Weather is a portion of earth science, but making a tornado chamber is not an experiment -- it's a demonstration. The point of an experiment is to ask a question and devise a test which will give results supporting one answer over another.

You need to have two test situations that are as identical as possible, except for one thing which you change between the two situations. That thing you change is the independent variable. The dependent variable is the thing that changed AS A RESULT of the change you made in the independent variable (the change in the variable is "dependent" on the change you made in the independent variable...make sense?).

If you haven't already picked something, go through your child's list of topics to be covered, and try to think of a question that can be answered by an experiment in which you have two groups (the "control" with no manipulation, and the "test" with one manipulation in the independent variable).

If you post some of the things to be taught in your child's earth science class, I can give you some ideas. Or, if you're not sure, you can google some science education websites. There are lots of ideas for children's science experiments there. Here is one I just found.

True, but Science Fair Projects are not necessarily experiments. Projects that are demonstrations (such as the tornado chamber) or presentations (reports and displays) are equally common. It is obvious that this teacher wants experiments, but that information was not well-communicated to the students or their parents. A tornado chamber could be used for an experiment, not just as a demonstration or presentation. My point was that the teacher said that a tornado chamber was not Earth Science, and it IS. She could have said that his idea was not an experiment, but that is not what she said.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Weather is a portion of earth science, but making a tornado chamber is not an experiment -- it's a demonstration. The point of an experiment is to ask a question and devise a test which will give results supporting one answer over another.

You need to have two test situations that are as identical as possible, except for one thing which you change between the two situations. That thing you change is the independent variable. The dependent variable is the thing that changed AS A RESULT of the change you made in the independent variable (the change in the variable is "dependent" on the change you made in the independent variable...make sense?).

If you haven't already picked something, go through your child's list of topics to be covered, and try to think of a question that can be answered by an experiment in which you have two groups (the "control" with no manipulation, and the "test" with one manipulation in the independent variable).

If you post some of the things to be taught in your child's earth science class, I can give you some ideas. Or, if you're not sure, you can google some science education websites. There are lots of ideas for children's science experiments there. Here is one I just found.

True, but Science Fair Projects are not necessarily experiments. Projects that are demonstrations (such as the tornado chamber) or presentations (reports and displays) are equally common. It is obvious that this teacher wants experiments, but that information was not well-communicated to the students or their parents. A tornado chamber could be used for an experiment, not just as a demonstration or presentation. My point was that the teacher said that a tornado chamber was not Earth Science, and it IS. She could have said that his idea was not an experiment, but that is not what she said.

I'm sorry if I missed something, but what I gathered from the OP was not that making a tornado chamber wasn't earth science, but that simply making one as a project did not satisfy the "experiment with independent and dependent variables" criterium. I didn't catch where the teacher said a tornado chamber wasn't earth science....and still can't find it...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
True, but Science Fair Projects are not necessarily experiments. Projects that are demonstrations (such as the tornado chamber) or presentations (reports and displays) are equally common. It is obvious that this teacher wants experiments, but that information was not well-communicated to the students or their parents. A tornado chamber could be used for an experiment, not just as a demonstration or presentation. My point was that the teacher said that a tornado chamber was not Earth Science, and it IS. She could have said that his idea was not an experiment, but that is not what she said.

I'm sorry if I missed something, but what I gathered from the OP was not that making a tornado chamber wasn't earth science, but that simply making one as a project did not satisfy the "experiment with independent and dependent variables" criterium. I didn't catch where the teacher said a tornado chamber wasn't earth science....and still can't find it...

Post #22:
Quote:
Two problems. 1) the teacher seems to have said they have to do an Earth Science Project, but didn't communicate that it needs to be an experiment until after they came up with ideas, and 2) said a tornado chamber was not Earth Science as well as not an experiment. Might the kid not understood the assignment or his teacher's criticisms, sure, but it seems that enough was conveyed that even the mom became confused as to the teacher's criteria.

 

[AquaEyes]

Ah, ok, thanks Sonoran Silkies...I missed that part. Well, in any case, I hope that something interesting was found.

 

[Cpprpnny19]

How did the project go?


Lynne