Science Experiment?

Question

I'm in eight grade and we're having a science fair and i really want to win this year but cant think of a project. If you know of a really good science project having to do with physical science or a physical science website, please tell me. Thanx

Answer 1

I ran into the idea of extracting the DNA from onions a few years ago, and discovered from someone else who had done it that it only takes kitchen materials and substances. Since then apparently it's become a staple of several introductory studies in genetics.

Here's a website that details the process that I learned:

http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/DNA_extractions.html

For the ethanol you can sometimes use "denatured alcohol," available at any major hardware store, because traditionally it's 90% ethanol anyway, with 10% methanol (poisonous) in it to render it undrinkable.

However, should you decide to do this, ask your teacher for a source of ethanol or pure isopopyl alcohol, because denatured alcohol isn't always made like this. Sometimes it has acetone in it.

Now, if you're looking for some projects which are out of the ordinary, check out a page on the website of the IgNobel Prizes:

http://www.ignobel.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html

to get some ideas of something a little wierd that you mighjt do that would get teachers' attention.

You could try waiting for a rainy day, then weighing yourself and one other person. Then one of you runs through the rain to another building (with a scale in it--or run around the block or from one building to another and back again to the original scale, which would probably be better), and the other of you walks, and see which of you weighs more at the second weighing. then you can answer the question, "Do you get wetter walking or running through the rain?"

I've been trying to get a neurologist to research why we humans feel a sense of relief having gone to the bathroom--I suspect it has something to do with dopamine levels, but I'm not sure--but so far no one has taken me up on it. Maybe you would have more success?

Perhaps you could do a series of physics experiments on friction, involving a deer-hunter's weight scale and younger brothers. You could hook the scale (with a soft rope) one at a time to a few younger brothers and see how much force it takes to drag them while they are quiet, and compare it to the force needed to drag them while they are thrashing about. This way you could do a great service to younger brothers everywhere, who would then know how to more quickly tire a sibling and end the forced relocation, as in, "You're going to bed if I have to drag you there!"

.You could check out the 2001 Ignobel Prize for Physics and see if you can replicate the results of why shower curtains billow inwards toward the showerer.

Or, here's one that tends to please:

Take a Martinelli's bottle, or champagne bottle, or any glass bottle that has been made to withstand pressure. There won' tbe much pressure in this experiment, but there will be heat, and these bottles will withstand the heat.

Put in it a couple of cups of water, enough to about half-fill it, then add a tablespoon or two of Red Devil Lye--that brand is almost pure sodium hydroxide, though I suppose that you could compare its action to, say, Drano. You might want to use a paper funnel to do this, and do it in the sink. Don't get this stuff on the rug. In the bottle this will form a concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide. Be very careful with it at this point. A solution this strong will dissolve first fats and oils, but it will also attack any organic compound, and you are made of organic compounds. Protect your eyes, especially. Now take a couple of 18" lengths of aluminum foil and fold or crumple them into long, thin rods. Drop these into the sodium hydroxide solution and then snap over the mouth of the bottle an ordinary balloon.

Slowly the balloon will fill with hydrogen gas. You can then remove the balloon, tie it off, and float it on a string. You can also put a piece of transparent tape on the balloon, put on gloves, pierce the tape with a pin, and light the gas issuing from the hole.
The gloves are for safety's sake. The flame could--I've never had it do this, but it could--melt the tape and the balloon around the hole and suddenly the balloon will explode gently but suddenly in a gout of orange flame. I've often done this without gloves, but it does burn the hair on my hand.

Or you could put the balloon on a short length of string and with a propane torch or BBQ lighter or something just light the balloon which will do the exploding thing in a hurry. It's rather fun. The explosion is slow enough that it is not loud--it's so quiet that you can do it indoors safely enough--but fast enough to excite.

You'd of course have to figure out the chemical process that evolves hydrogen gas and leaves behind a solution of sodium aluminate, but you could work this out with your teacher.

Have fun.

Answer 2

If you're looking for a "college-level" experiment, I'd say the easiest on would be the presentation of the Law of Diffusion by placing Potassium Permanganate on a petri dish because this law applies on every aspect on science. Whether it be biology or natural science. Or if you want to involve the "eminent threat" on security in the country, you could try showing how simple it is for people to create home-made explosives and other devices using common household materials.

Answer 3

i did a physical science project in junior high.....

i can giv u the details cuz i didnt win but its a good project:

show how oil and water have diferent chemical properties by putting water in a cup and then a thin layer of oil... the oil will float over th water... drop a drop of food coloring into the mixture

the result: the coloring will retain its round drop shape while traveling thru the oil.. it will break once it reaches the water and it will look beautiful....