NCMom Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 My youngest has to do a science project, due in January, and wants to do something with chemistry. I am drawing a blank. My other two have done physics or bio projects. This is not a science child, but she can use lab equipment and I have a lot of it courtesy of years spent working in an environmental lab (metals) and teaching science at co-ops. I'm willing to budget ~$50 for it. EVERYTHING on the internet is either sooo babyish or it's at the national competition level and ya practically need a mass spec, lol. :glare: Any ideas? Thanks! Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 (edited) Silly Putty!:D Step 1. Go on line and get a general feel about how to make it. Then, start varying the different components - more borax, a different glue type, more or less cornflour. You will definitely notice that some putties are better than others. Now, define "better" - bounce height, stretchiness, pliability (don't tell your student these things, they are to guide you), make her come up with what she thinks. 2. Create a hypothesis (or many). Design an experiment to vary the 3 variables (this can get messy because you have to hold two constant while changing the other, so you might end up with many types of silly putty especially if you have low medium and high amounts of chemicals). Design a way to test objectively bounce height and stretch or whatever you think makes "best." 3.Then make the silly putties, do the experiments, collect the data (you will need to replicate), graph you data, and draw conclusions. I truly believe that if my son had entered the Regional fair (he was too young) he would have won something. It was an awesome project! Ruth in NZ I forgot to mention that you can read up on Non-newtonian fluids as background. Edited October 2, 2011 by lewelma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy Grommy Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Oh, you should try out the Science Buddies webpage! You can sort the experiments by topic, difficulty, time scale, cost, grade level, etc. I've done a few of the projects with ~7th grade students and the write-ups seemed very well done. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Have her go to Science Buddies - there's an extensive interest inventory there to help students find projects that they are interested in as well as a data base of ideas for projects. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Oh, you should try out the Science Buddies webpage! You can sort the experiments by topic, difficulty, time scale, cost, grade level, etc. I've done a few of the projects with ~7th grade students and the write-ups seemed very well done. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/'>http://www.sciencebuddies.org/'>http://www.sciencebuddies.org/'>http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ Have her go to Science Buddies - there's an extensive interest inventory there to help students find projects that they are interested in as well as a data base of ideas for projects. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ Well, we did that, both my others used that site too, but so many of the experiments are so babyish, even the ones that say they are for high school. My other two did their projects in Jr High so Science Buddies was really helpful. I think the problem is that she wants something more meaningful, more real. Thanks! Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Silly Putty!:D Step 1. Go on line and get a general feel about how to make it. Then, start varying the different components - more borax, a different glue type, more or less cornflour. You will definitely notice that some putties are better than others. Now, define "better" - bounce height, stretchiness, pliability (don't tell your student these things, they are to guide you), make her come up with what she thinks. 2. Create a hypothesis (or many). Design an experiment to vary the 3 variables (this can get messy because you have to hold two constant while changing the other, so you might end up with many types of silly putty especially if you have low medium and high amounts of chemicals). Design a way to test objectively bounce height and stretch or whatever you think makes "best." 3.Then make the silly putties, do the experiments, collect the data (you will need to replicate), graph you data, and draw conclusions. I truly believe that if my son had entered the Regional fair (he was too young) he would have won something. It was an awesome project! Ruth in NZ I forgot to mention that you can read up on Non-newtonian fluids as background. Thanks for the great idea! I will have her check it out. Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_EDUCATION&node_id=89&use_sec=false&__uuid=20831ab6-4038-472d-b0d9-5144fc73ca88 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kangato3 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 My dd did one where she tested the Vitamin C level of different types of orange juices (fresh squeezed, frozen concentrate, bottled, etc). She used an indicator chemical called indophenol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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