Science fair

[punkabof1]

I am looking for a decent science fair project, which I can not find. I was thinking about video game violence, but my team-mates don't want that. My teacher is being very picky about the project were doing. Please help. . . Thanks.

[phyco126]

Well, you mentioned team mates, and that your teacher is picky on what you pick. So, without anymore info on how picky s/he is, it's hard to give advice. Is there any specific genre you have to do, or if is it free for all as long as your team mates like the idea?

Personally, electricty is a fun one to mess with. Or volcanos.

Eh, sorry I'm not much help, was never good at picking things.

[Kizyr]

How is "video game violence" a science fair project? What does it have to do with violence anyway?

I don't think your teacher or team mates are being picky. They just have common sense. KF

[Imperial Knight]

I am looking for a decent science fair project,

Unfortunately, "decent science fair project" is, for all intents and purposes, an oxymoron. Science fairs are horrible for science education for a number of reasons. They give students a really skewed version of how scientific research works, almost all the results obtained are totally invalid for one reason or another, and the people judging them rarely have enough scientific knowledge to do so.

Now I realize that this isn't the most helpful reply in the world (particularily seeing as you've most likely been assigned to do this). It's just that whenever the topic of science fairs comes up I feel the need to rant about how stupid they are.

[Sonic#]

Now, I would argue that science fairs, at the high school level, when done properly, are actually a very good way of teaching a scientific methodology. The thing is, you get teachers that force indifferent students to do them, which brings out mediocre projects. And you also have people that imagine science to simply be something shiny and explainable, and miss the whole point. But to degrade science fair projects would be to ignore the hard work several of my friends and I did. Mine weren't so good, but some of theirs... awesome.

Now, as for a good suggestion on a project... try to find something you're curious about that's testable and fairly challenging. Try to make it in a way that it applies things you've learned in a new way. I would stray away from straight product comparisons.

I can see where you might head as far as 'video game violence', but keep in mind... what are you doing with it? It'd almost certainly be a project using people, perhaps measuring their responses to different media. It would require lots of paperwork for using human test subjects, and it's very tough to get a large sampling size with that. I'd recommend something different, relatively inexpensive.

[Imperial Knight]

Yeah, now that I think about it, my first post went a little too far. It certainly is possible to have a good science fair project. However, I would argue that the presence of any good science fair projects is mostly due to the individual talents of the students who carry out such projects, and I still stand by my criticisms of science fairs and their educational value (or lack thereof). While they may teach something about the scientific method in theory, in practice they usually end up teaching a very skewed version of it and reinforce a lot of mistaken notions.

[Aquaignis]

We are supposed to be helping our friend in his time of need, not arguing about how flawed science fairs are. I suggest something about the weather like: Why do toilets fluch clockwise, while, below the equator, they flush the opposite. Or something like how dollar bills are made. (I'm assuming you are American.)

[Imperial Knight]

I suggest something about the weather like: Why do toilets fluch clockwise, while, below the equator, they flush the opposite.

That's actually a myth. See here.

Anyways, I agree with others that video game violence is not such a good idea for a project, largely because trying to carry out any meaningful study on it is quite simply far too complex for that level (What exactly would you be testing for? How would you get enough subjects? If it's an experiment, how would you insure that there are proper controls? If it's an observational study, how do you control for confounding factors?) In general, I'd try to avoid anything involving human subjects for these same reasons. A project in the physical sciences could be more feasible, since these can often be carried out using readily-available materials.

[Dragonmaster Lou]

I would suggest picking something you learned in a recent science class, and then coming up with an experiment to try to prove (or disprove) it. This can be tricky, though, just because some scientific theories were pretty difficult to prove because they required really precise (and sometimes custom-made) equipment that might be out of your reach.

Then again, some can be done relatively simply if you have access to a tall enough building (like Galileo's gravity experiments) or a big enough yard/field (calculating the speed of sound).

[Sonic#]

One thing that might possibly be an option is, once you have a certain general idea of what you want to do, ask a local university professor. They're often helpful, as long as you know what you're doing. In fact, in some of the fairs I've been at, the top contenders have actually worked in conjunction with a professor in their lab. It's certainly an easier way to get hard-to-obtain equipment.

[Kizyr]

Then again, some can be done relatively simply if you have access to a tall enough building (like Galileo's gravity experiments) or a big enough yard/field (calculating the speed of sound).

Drop an X-Box and a PS2 from a tall building and see which one hits the ground first.

There you go, you've just combined both ideas. KF

[GhaleonOne]

What? No love for the Cube? Isn't it good enough to be thrown off a building too?

And to answer your little experiment, you don't even have to test that theory. The Xbox is the bulkiest gaming system in the world.

A better experiment is to put all the forum members in a room and place a Nall plushie in the middle and see who walks out with it. That's truley testing survival of the fittest.

[phyco126]

A better experiment is to put all the forum members in a room and place a Nall plushie in the middle and see who walks out with it. That's truley testing survival of the fittest.

I would own you all.

Major pwnage.

[Kizyr]

And to answer your little experiment, you don't even have to test that theory. The Xbox is the bulkiest gaming system in the world.

But hold on now! Objects will fall at the same rate, except for things like wind resistance. Doesn't matter how bulky or heavy the X-Box is, they'll still hit the ground at the same time. KF

[punkabof1]

I would really love to waste my money on a x-box and a ps2 just for science but its to bad because i don't have that kind of money.

A better experiment is to put all the forum members in a room and place a Nall plush in the middle and see who walks out with it. That's truley testing survival of the fittest.

I don't believe the lil plushie would even survive.

For the video game violent's, i just thought of it because there's so much people saying video games (like GTA) will cause people to be violent. I was going to do it through a survey. There isn't any need to condemn me.

[Imperial Knight]

I don't think anyone was condemning you. It's just that projects involving human subjects are really hard to properly pull off. Even something as seemingly simple as a survey requires a lot of knowledge and effort to get unbiased results. It would be more realistic to try something else.