Science Fair ideas?

[mom'sfolly]

Last year my then third grader and his buddy made chemical rockets with alka-selzer and film canisters. Their variables were water temperature, water vs. selzer vs vinegar, amount of water, amount of alkazelzer. For each variable they did 5 tests and a set of control tests. They measured reaction time and height of the rocket. It was great fun setting off the "rockets". Conclusions: 1/4 alkaselzer and 1/4 canister of warm water give you the fastest, highest shot. Why: warm water speeds the reaction time and you need enough airspace to build enough CO2 to blow the rocket. But we all thought warm selzer would give you the best if you could get the lid on fast enough. It was really too fast for small hands.

 

[carugoman]

Last year my then third grader and his buddy made chemical rockets with alka-selzer and film canisters

hmm,uh...and this has what to do about chickens again?​

 

[SunChick]

Here is another suggestion, you could look at the environmental impact chickens have. Science fairs LOVE the scientific method, so definitely keep that theme. So doing a "go green" experiment say with manure is a great idea. You could also have your teen build a "bator" and experiment with it comparing it to a made "bator". Your 6th grader can also investigate the "downside" of commercial poultry production, how it impacts our streams and estuaries. This could make a great platform for why keeping chickens will help us eliminate the amount of pollution that is produced by commercialism.

 

[horsewishr]

how about culturing the bacteria found on the outside of eggs?? Then check to see if you can culture anything from INSIDE the eggs? People are so paranoid about eating raw eggs. It would be interesting to see if the paranoia is well founded.

 

[silkiechicken]

mom'sfolly :

Last year my then third grader and his buddy made chemical rockets with alka-selzer and film canisters. Their variables were water temperature, water vs. selzer vs vinegar, amount of water, amount of alkazelzer. For each variable they did 5 tests and a set of control tests. They measured reaction time and height of the rocket. It was great fun setting off the "rockets". Conclusions: 1/4 alkaselzer and 1/4 canister of warm water give you the fastest, highest shot. Why: warm water speeds the reaction time and you need enough airspace to build enough CO2 to blow the rocket. But we all thought warm selzer would give you the best if you could get the lid on fast enough. It was really too fast for small hands.

What you gotta do is get an even smaller container in the film cansiter, and put the water in that, flip and run.