I've picked out 2 Science Fair projects, but which one should I choose to do? It's due tomorrow ....?

Question

First of all, I'll tell you flat out - I am NOT a science kinda person. I hate science, I hate science fair, and I don't like my science teacher (pointless, but it makes it all that much harder to do this).

The point is, I was looking for a quick, easy, 1-2-3 step project that was so easy, a caveman (or I) could do it. Here are the two projects I narrowed it down to:

1: Testing how the number of letters in a file change the size of the file.
------------ Basically opening Word and saving 1000 letter A's as one file, then as another file saving 2000 letter A's, then as another file saving 3000 letter A's, etc. Then comparing/contrasting the data.

2: Testing if saving an image file in a different format will change the size of the file.
---------- Saving a pic in different formats (like JPEG, TIFF, PNG, etc) and then comparing/contrasting the data.

The first project was rated, on a scale of 1-10, a 1. The second project was rated a 3. Both projects are easy-peasie-lemon-squeezy for me, so I was wondering what you guys think? Which one should I go for?

Thanks =P

P.S. The board is due tomorrow ... I KNOW, I KNOW! I'm a procrastinator. But it's only in science, I swear. =S

Answer 1

Sorry,

Idea 1 sounds like a waste of time; how will it help anyone do you plan on changing all "As" into "Cs" if that is smaller; then the text becomes unreadable (“apple” becomes “cpple” but, “canal” becomes “ccncl” which could be “acncl”, “aanal”, or “acnal” etc.) The way to compress text is to remove the spaces and formatting, this is why Yahoo Answers doesn’t allow fonts or italics or bold characters; it makes for a shorter file.

Idea 2 is flawed because the answer is already known.
- JPEG files use a loosy compression rate which means that they lose some information every time they are saved because they take an average of the pixels.
- GIF format takes the colors down to 256 instead of the 16 million found in JPEGs, which means they are great for icons, but not good for standard images.
- TIFF images are huge because they keep all the information.
- PNG is just an updated GIF format, both are good for simple animation, which is why you can't use JPEGs in Alchemy Mindshop's GIF Construction set to make animated images, only GIFs and PNGs.
- BMPs are one of the earliest forms of image saving using a 1:1 ratio so they are very large, but almost any image reader can read the image.
- PSP images and Adobe Photoshop images are even larger because they store layer information allowing you to parts of the image separately.

The job has been done a long time ago, it is well known and the reasons are clear to anyone who does a simple Wikipedia or Google Search.

What might be a better project would be to create a model of the locks in the Panama canal. All you need is a square chamber that is water tight and will let you put in some dividers; you can find these at places like Wal Mart and Home Depot, just look for crafts/tools storage cases. Then use clay to make the joints where you put the dividers in water tight. Now you can fill each container with water at different levels. If you can find a small enough model of a boat that actually float you can put that in, but you will probably have to carve it out of Styrofoam. Then look up the Panama Canal on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal
and explain that the locks are used to raise the ships UP to the level of Lake Gautn. Then the ships sail down the lake to the other locks to lower it to the level of the ocean on the other side. This has to be done because the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean are at different heights on each side of Panama and the Rocky and Andes mountain chain runs from Alaska down to Antarctica. The French built the Suez canal and tired to build the Panama Canal, but failed. The Suez Canal is an almost straight run, but the Panama Canal would have to go through too much rock to that.

Interesting facts:
1. The Army Corp of Engineers spent 1 year eradicating the Mosquito from the area before they even touched an ounce of dirt, to get rid of malaria and yellow fever; which destroyed the French effort.
2. The hydraulic power produced by the water falling creates electrical power to run the dam, but only 25% of that power is needed allowing Panama to sell it to their citizens.
3. The canal is become obsolete because it is too narrow, US Aircraft Carrier has to go around the Horn because they can't fit through the Canal, and neither can the new super freighters.

Then you can go to the Panama Expansion project: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_expansion_project
to explain the plans on improving and modernizing the canal.

Answer 2

I'd go with 1 but I'd also add a little to it... it doesn't add too much work.

I'd also see if 1000 letter i's make a bigger file than 1000 letter W's - since i is so much littler than w. or even 1000 periods or apostrophes

you can make a bar graph - with the letter on the x axis and the file size on the Y axis for my extra idea,

and

a line graph with the number of As (1000, 2000, 3000) on the x axis and the file size on the Y axis.

Answer 3

You could get the answer to the first without doing the work. I'd be more impressed by the second. Along with rating the size of the file, you might also get subjective opinions on the clarity of the picture. That would add a practical aspect to your study.

Answer 4

id go with 1