Good Science Projects That You Can Compare
When students experiment with science, they learn how to conduct independent research, develop analytical thinking skills and solve problems creatively. Good science projects encourage students to collect, document and analyze data as they compare one set of criteria to another. Ultimately, they can discover how science works in everyday life---and prove or disprove a hypothesis along the way.
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Vitamin C in Fruit
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Compare the vitamin C content in different fruit varieties. You will need a 2 percent iodine solution from a local pharmacy, an eyedropper, test tubes, cornstarch, water and different kinds of fruit juice such as orange, lemon and cranberry. Mix 1 tbsp. of cornstarch with enough water to create a paste. Add 250 ml of water and boil for five minutes. Add 10 drops of the starch solution to 75 ml of water using the eyedropper. Add enough iodine to make the mixture purple-blue.
Put roughly 1 tsp. of indicator solution in each test tube. Add 10 drops of juice---one type per test tube. Clean the eyedropper after each use so you don't cross-contaminate samples. Hold each tube against a white background, such as a piece of paper, and line up the tubes from lightest to darkest purple. Lighter solutions indicate a higher vitamin C content, because vitamin C causes the purple indicator solution to lose its color.
Iron in Breakfast Cereal
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Compare the varying levels of iron content in different breakfast cereals. To conduct this experiment, you'll need a laboratory scale, different cereals, measuring cups, plastic baggies, hot water, a wooden spoon, bowls and a 3-inch bar magnet in a light color that will allow iron filings to show.
Place ½ cup of each cereal in separate plastic baggies, Crush the bag gently with your hands until the flakes are half their original size. Pour into separate bowls and add 1 cup of hot water to each. Mix with the wooden spoon. Put the magnet in each cereal mixture and stir it in a circular motion for approximately five minutes without bumping the sides of the bowl. Take out the magnet, and remove and weigh the iron filings that the magnet pulled from each cereal.
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Ants in Light and Darkness
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This experiment explores how ants work in the light versus the darkness. Create two observatories with 25 ants each. Keep one observatory in the light and one in the dark for a specified time period. Compare the amount of work that gets done in each environment, such as tunnel digging and building of dirt mounds. Note whether light or darkness is conducive to ants' productivity.
Eggs in Motion
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Discover how to tell the difference between raw and hard-boiled eggs. All you'll need is one raw and one hard-boiled egg for this experiment, plus a flat surface such as a countertop.
First, set the raw egg on its side and spin it; note that it spins no more than a few rotations per second. Do the same with the hard-boiled egg and it will spin much more quickly---even standing on end if it spins fast enough.
What's the reason for the difference? The raw egg's fluid slides inside as you spin it, and most of the mass of the egg is in this fluid. As such, the egg stabilizes at a rotational velocity equal to the fluid inside. In contrast, the hard-boiled egg has most of its mass as a solid and the egg spins at a higher velocity---equal to the spin that you give the egg.
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References
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Comments
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what can I compare.
