Science Fair Projects

[WaterGirl]

Well thankfully this is DD's last year having to complete a "Science Fair" project!

For those of you who may be similarly situated, wondering if you had done any projects related to snow, altitude or skiing? This year we wanted a project related to our love of snow sports -- and had come up with a few ideas....

1. Effects of different gases used to fill potato chip bags and increasing Altitude (nothing like that exploding bag of chips going from 10ft to 11,000 above sea level)

2. Does being on "vacation/ holiday" increase alcohol consumption at lunch time at ski resorts?

3. Ocular Dominance and Footedness in Snowboarders. During that last 5 hour drive home we came up with this, and she will be starting her survey next weekend -- seems most people are right eye dominant, and its a split 50/50 for footedness which means not only do snowboarders have a blind spot, but their down hill eye is not their dominant! Will be interesting to see the numbers.... (this could also be done w/ surfer/ skate boarders).

would love to know if anyone had any other ideas !

 

[ling]

Avalanche?

 

[geargrrl]

#2 is highly inappropriate for minors. What age is this kid?It's important to match the project to the kids age/interest/abilty level


How about ski shape in relation to turn radius?
How temperature affects snow crystals
Snow crystals and how they form
As Lind said, what causes avalanches?
Global warming relationship to historical snowpacks
Altitude relationship to snowpack
Glaciers what are they and how do they form?
% of snowboarders, skiers, telemarker at a given area
What are the differences between green, blue, black runs.


Done more science fairs than I can count.

 

[ling]

When I was in school, the teacher gave out a list of possible topics. They were big and vague enough that even though multiple students pick the same topic, they wind up focusing on different aspect of the topic.

I usually found something in the list that sounds interesting to me and hit the library (those were pre-internet days). I was also fortunate that my parents were engineers so I typically pick something vaguely related to their work. Tried to understand it like I was the engineer. My parents tolerated me by explaining things I got totally wrong patiently and got me back on track. But they usually leave me alone to make my next mistake... somehow, I managed to put something together (usually a lot simpler than what I started out with in my head). In the process, I got to know the topic quite a bit more in depth than I started with.

I never came up with the most sophisticated end product in the class. (Or maybe because many parents helped but mine didn't? Who knows) But I usually got good point by being able to explain WHY I end up with what I had, because I really did learn it, on my own.

 

[ling]

Another possible topic, altitude and amount of oxygen in the air.

It can easily be extended to how that affects health (or cooking). It's an open ended topic. So easy to tailor to fit the time available.

 

[SheSki]

You could do something that examines mass and friction with a test to find out if skis or snowboards are faster. Use an isolated, short slope with someone at top and bottom and let an unweighted snowboard and ski of similar length and waxing go to see which wins. Or if your daughter knows twins, have one of them ski a short ski and one a long ski down the same fall line without any turns and see which one's fastest

We talked about doing something like this for son's science fair this year but the project was due in early December so we didn't have enough time to really plan and execute this one.

 

[SheSki]

#2 is highly inappropriate for minors.

She wasn't advocating the kid drink alcohol, and sociological observations and experiments are not restricted to adults. Nor should they be. The appropriateness is for her to judge.

 

[ling]

I have no opinion on whether it's appropriate or not for minors. However, we all know what the answer is already. So I'm not sure it'll make a good SCIENCE project.

 

[SheSki]

I have no opinion on whether it's appropriate or not for minors. However, we all know what the answer is already. So I'm not sure it'll make a good SCIENCE project.

So true

 

[geargrrl]

She wasn't advocating the kid drink alcohol, and sociological observations and experiments are not restricted to adults. Nor should they be. The appropriateness is for her to judge.

probably, but I'd be suprised if any public school would allow it in, in today's climate.

 

[Ringrat]

I thankfully only had one science fair when I was a kid. I won with the topic of how a variety of factors affect the water content of snow. I filled a container (fixed volume/dimensions of course) in a controlled manner (i.e. consistent scooping technique, no packing) and then let it melt. I remember testing the effect of the temperature when it fell, altitude (sampled at the top of Lake Louise), how long it had been sitting for (i.e. same snowfall at 12 hours after, 24 hours after, 3 days after, etc.). I also went to a local hill where they make snow and they drilled me out some man-made snow. There was a some side-notes on the board about crystal structures and avalanches.

 

[santacruz skier]

I was thinking about the water content as well. What is "heavy" snow vs "dry" snow?