An interesting experiment?

[Fantom]

Hi everyone, new to this forum =)

 

I have a science assignment where i have to conduct an experiment. It has to be one of the ones where there's a control group and a group you test on. Something like the typical "lets grow some beans in water and some beans in soil and see which one grows faster".

 

I want to do something fun and interesting though, nothing that cliche =D

 

Has anyone got any suggestions? i don't want to spend too much money and i've for a reasonably amount of time.

 

Ive had a look around the posts and thought about memory test type stuff like whether doing memory exercises makes people remember better and whether you remember things better earlier in the day. These experiments seem too vague though, its very hard to conduct them in the exact same circumstances.

 

I've also thought about comparing more expensive products to cheaper ones. An example is expensive sunscreen and then home brand sunscreen. The experiment i thought of involved photography paper and somehow blocking sunlight with the sunscreen to see how much of it got developed but it seems too hard to control again.

 

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

 

Thanks.

[YT2095]

the problem with photography paper is that it`s sensitive to a very wide spectrum of light, although some types drop off rapidly in the Red part of the spectrum, sunblock doesn`t alter that, only the Blue and upwards and all papers are sensitive to that even in minute amounts.

you`d need to rig up some sort of Very fast shutter mechanism that will work consistently, 1/250`sec and faster would be a good start.

[Fantom]

yeah, that was the problem i found with that experiment, it would be too unnecessarily complex. Any other ideas for different experiments?

[Mokele]

Are you looking for any subject in particular? Physics, biology, chemistry?

[Fantom]

I can do anything i want =) feel free to suggest anything.

[Mokele]

Well, you could always do something with frog jumping, though I'm biased because that's my PhD work. Perhaps compare the jump distance of frogs vs toads you can catch, then look at things like leg length, etc.

 

It's especially nice because it unifies physics (balistic trajectories, force, power, acceleration, etc.) with biology (muscle properties, anatomy, etc.)

[Mr Skeptic]

You could grow some beans in a dark container with a hole in the side, and some beans either without a container or one with a hole in the top. Will the beans grow sideways?

[cameron marical]

will the beans grow at all? their stuck in the dark except that one spot. though i like that one.

[Patrick Henry]

I can do anything i want =) feel free to suggest anything.

 

Have a budget?

 

 

If you don't mind getting dirty...

 

Effect of Air Ventilation on Microbial Decomposition:

 

Materials

* indicates items provided by student

 

* six 2-liter or 3-liter soda bottles (you will make three bioreactors, but you need 2 bottles, a top and a bottom, for each bioreactor.

* three smaller containers, about 5-cm high, that fit inside the soda bottle (one in each bottle)

* three Styrofoam plates or trays

*Compost (carrot peelins, lettuce scraps, apple cores, bread crusts, banana peels, weeds, grass clippings, etc.) chopped or blended into small pieces

*insulation to wrap around your 3 composters to keep them warm: could use old newspapers, bubblewrap, t-shirts, towels....

 

drill or nail for making holes

duct tape or clear packaging tape

utility knife

insulation material

fine-meshed screen or fabric large enough to cover top of soda bottle and air holes in bottom half

thermometer that will fit into the top of the soda bottle and be long enough to reach down into the center of the compost

chopped vegetable scraps such as lettuce leaves, carrot or potato peelings, and apple cores, or garden wastes such as weeds or grass clippings

bulking agent such as wood shavings or 1-2 cm pieces of paper egg cartons, cardboard, or wood

optional: hollow tubing to provide ventilation

Construction

http://compost.css.cornell.edu/CIC.html

Download the pdf. and see chapter 2 , pg. 31 for more illustrations for constructing the soda bottle biocomposter

 

1. Using a utility knife or sharp-pointed scissors, cut the top off one soda bottle just below the shoulder and the other just above the shoulder. Using the larger pieces of the two bottles, you will now have a top from one that fits snugly over the bottom from the other.

2. Place a smaller container (roughly 4-5 cm high) upside down into the bottom of the soda bottle. This will form a stand to support the tray that will hold the compost. You can use any plastic container that will fit inside the bottle and provide adequate support for the styrofoam stand and overlying compost.

3. The next step is to make a styrofoam circle. Trace a circle, the diameter of the soda bottle, on a styrofoam plate and cut it out, forming a piece that fits snugly inside the soda bottle. Use a nail to punch holes through the styrofoam for aeration.

4. Assemble the bottom of your bioreactor by placing the stand into the soda bottle, then resting the styrofoam circle on top of the stand. Make a mark on your bottle to indicate where the styrofoam circle sits. Above this point is where the compost will be, and below it is where you want to make air holes.

5. Label your 3 soda bottles A, B, and C.

6. Bottle A will be your control. Do not make any air holes in the side of the soda bottle.

7. Bottle B: Make 4 air holes (at postitions like these times on a clock: 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00) in the sides of the soda bottle in the area below the mark that you made. This can be done with a drill or by carefully heating a nail and using it to melt holes through the plastic. Avoid making holes in the very bottom of the bottle unless you plan to use a tray underneath to collect whatever leachate may be generated during composting.

8. Bottle C: Make 12 air holes (at postitions one through twelve like these times on a clock) in the sides of the soda bottle in the area below the mark that you made. This can be done with a drill or by carefully heating a nail and using it to melt holes through the plastic. Avoid making holes in the very bottom of the bottle unless you plan to use a tray underneath to collect whatever leachate may be generated during composting.

9. Reassemble the bioreactor pieces.

10. Fill the bioreactors with the mixture you wish to compost. Use the same materials, in equal quantities, in each reactor. A variety of materials will work, but in general you want a bulking agent to provide air flow plus some vegetable scraps to provide food for the microbes.

 

In these mini-bioreactors, composting proceeds best if the bulking agent and food scraps are cut or chopped into roughly 1-2 cm pieces. Soak the bulking agent in water until thoroughly moist, then drain off excess water.

 

11. Mix roughly equal amounts of bulking agent and food scraps, then fill your reactor. Remember that you want air to be able to diffuse through the pores in the compost, so make sure to keep your mix light and fluffy and do not pack it down.

 

12. Put the top piece of the soda bottle back on and seal it in place with tape.

 

13. Cover the top hole with a piece of screen or nylon stocking, rubber banded into place. Alternatively, if you are worried about potential odors you can ventilate your bioreactor using rubber tubing out the top. Simply use the screw-on soda bottle cover with a hole drilled through it for a piece of rubber tubing, which leads out the window or into a ventilation hood.

 

14. If you want to eliminate the possibility of flies becoming a problem, you can cover all air holes with a piece of nylon stocking or other fine-meshed fabric. 11. Insulate the bioreactor, making sure not to block the ventilation holes. (Because these soda bottle bioreactors are much smaller than the typical compost pile, they will work best if insulated to retain the heat that is generated during decomposition.) You can experiment with various types and amounts of insulation.

 

Now you are ready to watch the compost process at work! You can chart the daily progress of your compost by taking temperature readings, inserting a thermometer down into the compost through the top of the soda bottle. The thermometer should be inserted in the upper 2/3 up the bottle.

 

Because the bottles are so small, you may not end up with a product that looks as finished as the compost from larger piles or bioreactors. You should find, though, that the volume shrinks by 1/2 to 2/3 and that the original materials are no longer recognizable. You can let the compost age in the soda bottles for several months, or transfer it to other containers for curing while starting up a new batch of compost in the soda bottles.

 

 

***This experiment is taken directly from "Composting in the Classroom" found at the website:http://ei.cornell.edu/biodeg/composting/

[Tugrul]

You could build a leydans jar, its a simple capacitor.

 

http://http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Leyden-Jar