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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Science:
1. Does Temperature Affect the Viscosity Of a Liquid?
2. The Effect of Oil Spills on Clams
3. Does Learning Mode Affect Memory?
4. The Effect of Music on a Subject's Heart Rate
Math:
1. Does The Size Of A Circle Affect The Value Of Pi?
2. Is Euler's Formula Accurate?
SCIENCE SECTION
TITLE: Does Temperature Affect the Viscosity Of a Liquid?
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Amanda Senules
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I would like to do a scientific research project to determine
if temperature affects the viscosity of a liquid. Viscosity is
the measurement of how easily a liquid flows. A liquid is a
state of matter which it is more dense than a gas and less
dense than a solid. My hypothesis states that all of the
liquids I test will have a lower viscosity when hot.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote my statement of purpose and did a review of
literature on fluidity, viscosity, and density. Next, I
developed my hypothesis. After that I developed my methodology
to test my hypothesis. Next, I gathered a funnel, a stop
watch, a measuring cup, a Celsius thermometer, milk, water,
syrup, and olive oil to use in my experiment. Next, I plugged
up the small end of the funnel with my finger and fill it with
240 mL of hot (70 degrees Celsius) water. I then removed my
finger and let it flow freely out of the funnel into the
measuring cup. The funnel held straight upright the whole
time. I timed how long it took for the funnel to empty. I
started timing the moment the water first came out and stopped
when the funnel was empty. I did this three times and then
averaged the times required to pour out 240 mL of hot water. I
also did this with 240 mL of cold (30 degrees Celsius) water.
Then I repeated the entire process with milk, syrup, and olive
oil. Each liquid was heated to 70 degrees Celsius and cooled
to 30 degrees Celsius.
My variables held constant were the size of the funnel, the
angle I held the funnel at, the amount of liquid in the funnel
before I started pouring, the temperature of all of the hot
liquids, and the temperature of all of the cold liquids.
My manipulated variables were the different liquids and the
temperatures of the liquids.
My responding variable was the amount of time it took to pour
240 mL of each liquid.
After the experiment, I conducted my analysis of data, wrote my
summary and conclusion, and applied my finding to everyday
life. Finally, I published my abstract in The Student
Researcher Journal.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
After my experiment, I found that the average time it took to
pour 240 mL of hot water was 2.65 seconds. The average time
for cold water was 2.73 seconds.
With hot milk, the average time to pour 240 mL was 2.63
seconds. With cold milk, the time was 2.64 seconds.
With hot syrup, the average time to pour 240 mL was 4.35
seconds. With cold syrup, it was 11.03 seconds.
With hot olive oil, the average time to pour 240 mL was 2.86
seconds. With cold olive oil, it was 3.13 seconds.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, all four of the liquids I used, milk, water,
syrup, and olive oil, had a higher viscosity when cold and
poured at a slower rate. Therefore, I accept my hypothesis
which stated that the liquids would have a higher viscosity
when cold.
V. APPLICATION:
I can apply my findings to every day life by heating up liquids
if I want them to pour quicker.
TITLE: The Effect of Oil Spills on Clams
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Kelly Kirkland
SCHOOL: Cardinal OÕHara High School
Springfield, PA
GRADE: 11
TEACHER: Kay Lansing
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
In this project I wand to find out how oil spills affect clams.
My hypothesis is that oil will affect the physical conditions
of clams.
II. METHODOLOGY:
The following materials are needed to do this experiment: two
ten gallon fish tanks labeled A and B, sand, ocean water,
seaweed, two dozen clams, and crude oil.
Directions:
1. Create ocean-like environments by putting 8 cm. of sand,
five gallons of ocean water, seaweed, and twelve clams in each
tank.
2. Take an extra clam and open it up and observe.
3. Observe daily the number of clams that remain above the
sand, the number of clams that burrowed halfway under the sand,
and the number of clam that completely burrowed under the sand.
This shows the clamsÕ activity.
4. On day 4 add 25 drops of oil to tank A.
5. On day 5 add another 25 drops of oil to tank A.
6. On day 6 add another 25 drops of oil to tank A.
7. On day 13 take one clam from each tank, cut each open and
note any changes in them.
8. On day 14 add one hundred and fifty more drops of oil to
tank A.
9. On day 19 take another clam from each tank and repeat the
same procedure as day 13.
10. On the final day, day 21, remove all the clams from both
tanks and see if any of them have died. When the clams are
alive they are very tight and hard to open.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
Tank A which was polluted with oil had may physical changes.
The clamsÕ movements were slowed down, their shells turned dark
black, and they had oil soots on them. Looking at a graph of
the mobility of the clams in tank A and tank B, I could see a
significant difference. Tank BÕs graph fluctuated, thus
showing the clams had much more activity in tank B than in tank
A. None of the clams died in either tank.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
In doing this experiment, I found that oil spills will affect
clamsÕ mobility and color, but will not kill them. I accept my
hypothesis because oil in the water does change the clams'
physical conditions. Another factor I could have considered in
doing this experiment would be weight change in the clams.
V. APPLICATION:
I plan to write to oil companies to find out exactly how they
ship oil and what precautions they take to avoid oil spills.
Hopefully they will take my letter to mean that there are
people who care what happens after oil spills and they will be
more careful when shipping oil.
TITLE: Does Learning Mode Affect Memory?
STUDENT RESEARCHERS: Dr. Cole's 2nd Period Class
SCHOOL: Martin Luther King Lab School
2424 Lake Street
Evanston, Illinois, 60201
GRADE: 7 and 8
TEACHER: Charles Cole
I. Statement of Purpose and Hypothesis:
In the October 7th, 1994 issue of Science News, an article
appeared telling of Dr. Tim Tulley's research on memory in
fruit flies at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York
(originally published in the October 8 issues of Cell). The
article said that long term recall only occurs when learning
happens in short stretches of time with rests in between. Long
term recall did not occur when learning happened in one
stretch. We wondered if human subjects would respond the same
way. Would humans learn better from having everything thrown
at them all at once, what we called block learning, or if they
were given information with rest periods in between - interval
learning? The hypothesis of most of the students in the class
was that long term memory would be better in people who had
received interval learning.
II. Methodology:
We began by sending out requests for volunteers for our
experiment. We wanted 36 ten year old students, half boys, and
half girls. With fewer than 36 volunteers, we narrowed it down
to 32 subjects. We divided them into two even groups, 7 boys
and 9 girls in each group. Group A got the block training, and
group B got the interval training. We scheduled a separate
learning session for each group and three follow up assessment
sessions with each group. When the subjects arrived they found
their names on manila folders at individual desks. The
students were told to sit at the table with their names. A
tape recorded set of instructions was played directing the
subjects to look at the screen and then try to write down the
numbers as best as they could. Once the tape had finished, the
overhead projector was turned on. It projected a copy of 16
randomly generated numerals in four rows of four onto a screen
in the front of the room. During the original block training
session for group A (session A1) it was left on for 180 seconds
and then turned off. For the interval training group, (session
B1) it was kept on the screen for six 30 second stretches,
divided by five 15 second intervals during which the overhead
was turned off, and the screen was blank. After the 180
seconds of viewing time had finished for both groups, the
lights were turned on. In the folders were a pencil and a
blank piece of paper with four lines on it, indicating where
the students should record their answers. They were asked to
return for three assessment sessions (A2 - A4 and B2 - B4) in
which recorded directions told them to open their folders and
record as best they could the original numbers.
Our independent variable was the learning mode and our
dependent variable was the number of correct responses compared
to the number of originally learned numerals. We attempted to
control the location, directions, lighting, seating
arrangement, task, time of day, age and sex of the subjects.
III. Analysis of Data:
A reduction of the data from all sessions leads to the
following table, which shows how many numbers the group
recalled at each session, on average.
Averages numbers recalled at each session
Session 1 2 3 4
Group A (block) 12.7 12.1 12.1 11.1
Group B (interval) 12.1 12.4 10.6 9.2
The numbers above indicate the average number of numerals that
they originally remembered right after the learning session
(session 1) and the average number of numerals they remembered
in the follow-up sessions. The data appear to indicate that
interval learning may lead to better recall in the short term,
but that block learning leads to better recall over the long
term. Although we did not use the variable of sex in our
primary research question, we are intrigued by the fact that of
times that a student remembered all 16 numbers at any of the
trials, 33 out of 37 times, it was a girl.
IV. Summary and Conclusion:
Most of the researchers in this class must tentatively reject
their original hypotheses that interval learning would result
in better long term memory. However, several factors cause us
to question our results. The most important variable that was
not controlled was the fact that (we suspect) many of the
subjects did discuss the experiment with each other outside of
our classroom, even though we told them not to. This may
explain why some subjects reported remembering only 9 numbers
right after the screening but then "remembered" 12 numbers the
next day. We also believe our results, while interesting, do
not tell us enough since our sample size is so small. We
believe that using many more subjects would give us a better
picture of the differences that might exist. Another problem
was that some subjects did not show up for every session, and
that made data analysis difficult. Also, we think that since
boys mature physically at a different rate than girls, usually
slower, that using boys and girls of the same age brings us
subjects (boys) who are somewhat behind the other subjects
(girls) in development of their brains, and that may explain
the difference in the performances of boys and girls. But, we
do not know for sure, and suggest that further experiments be
done with groups of all girls or all boys, or with groups that
have the exact same number of girls and boys in the groups.
V. Application:
If our results truly reflect the way people learn, then this
could change the way children are taught in school. It could
change the educational system dramatically. It may also teach
us something about the age-old tradition of cramming for exams.
Should we study differently if we wanted to remember the
information longer?
TITLE: The Effect of Music on a Subject's Heart Rate
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Jonathan Landry
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: Ellen Marino, M.Ed.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I wanted to do a scientific research project to determine if
music would affect a subject's heart rate. My hypothesis
stated that "Heavy Metal" music will increase the pulse rate
while "Classical" music will decrease the pulse rate when both
are listened to at the same volume.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I stated my purpose and did a review of literature.
Next, I developed my hypothesis. Following that, I gathered
all my materials needed to test my hypothesis. To begin my
experiment, I selected three people who were willing to help.
I recorded the pulse rate for each subject before listening to
any music. Then each of these three people were asked to
listen to four types of music for a two minute period each.
For each subject the same song was played at the same exact
volume. I then recorded the pulse rate for each subject
following each two minute period for all four types of music on
my data collection form. Next, I analyzed my data from the
data collection sheet and wrote a summary and conclusion.
Following that, I wrote my application and published my whole
report.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
Subject 1 had a resting pulse of 96. After listening to "Heavy
Metal" music subject 1 had a pulse of 102 which was an increase
of 6. After listening to "Rock n' Roll", subject 1 had the
same pulse as their resting pulse rate. After listening to
"Country and Western", subject 1 had a pulse rate of 90, a
decrease of 6. After listening to "Classical", subject 1 had a
pulse rate of 84, a decrease of 12.
Subject 2 had a resting pulse rate of 84. After listening to
"Heavy Metal", subject 2 had a pulse of 90, an increase of 6.
After listening to "Rock n' Roll", subject 2 had a pulse of 90
also an increase of 6. After listening to "Country and
Western", subject 2 had a pulse of 78, a decrease of 6. After
listening to "Classical", subject 2 had a pulse of 78, a
decrease of 6.
Subject 3 had a resting pulse rate of 84. After listening to
"Heavy Metal", subject 3 had a pulse of 96, a increase of 12.
After listening to "Rock n' Roll", subject 3 had a pulse of 90,
an increase of 6. After listening to "Country and Western",
subject 3 had the same pulse as their resting pulse rate.
After listening to "Classical", subject 3 had a pulse of 78, a
decrease of 6.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
Heavy Metal increased the subjects' pulse rate an average of 8
beats per minute. Rock n' Roll increased the pulse rate an
average of 4 beats per minute. Country and Western decreased
the pulse rate an average of 6.7 beats per minute. Classical
decreased a pulse rate an average of 13.3 beats per minute.
Therefore I accept my hypothesis which stated that "Heavy
Metal"would increase the pulse rate while "Classical" music
would decrease the pulse rate when both were listened to at the
same volume.
V. APPLICATION:
Now that I have all my information, I can apply it to the real
world outside the classroom. I can play Classical music to
help me go to sleep because it will slow down my pulse rate.
Math Section
TITLE: Does The Size Of A Circle Affect The Value Of Pi?
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Dana Blount
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I am doing a mathematical research project to see if the Pi is
affected by the size of a circle. Pi is the ratio of the
circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi is always equal
to 3.14. My null hypothesis states that the value of Pi will
not be affected by the size of the circle.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote my statement of purpose and did my review of the
literature on Pi, circumference, diameter, and circles. Then I
developed my hypothesis. Then I wrote the following
methodology to test my hypothesis.
First, I gathered my materials, which included ten circular
objects of different sizes, paper, pencil, ruler, calculator,
and data collection form. Then I took one of my circular
objects and made a mark on the edge. I placed the mark on a
piece of paper and marked where the mark, on the circular
objects, was on the paper. I carefully rolled the circular
object on the paper until the marked point touched the paper
again. I marked this spot on the paper. Then I measured the
distance between the two marks on the paper to find the
circumference of the circular object. Next, I measured the
width of the circular object to find the diameter. Then I
divided the circumference by the diameter to compute the value
for Pi. I recorded my data on my data collection form. I
repeated this process with all of my circular objects. Next, I
listed my variables as shown below.
My variable held constant is the formula for Pi. My
manipulated variable is the size of the circular objects. My
responding variable is the value of Pi for the circles.
Then I analyzed my data using the information on my data
collection form. Next, I wrote my summary and conclusion where
I accepted or rejected my hypothesis. Then I applied my
findings to everyday life. Finally, I published my findings in
The Student Researcher.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
I found that two out of the ten circular objects I used for my
experiment had a Pi value of 3.14. Two of the circular objects
had a Pi value above 3.14. Six circular objects had a Pi value
below 3.14. My average Pi value was 3.06. These differences
were due to the fact that my instrument of measurement was not
accurate enough to find the true Pi value of 3.14.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
After I analyzed mt data, I found out with my instrument of
measurement that the majority of the circular objects had a Pi
value below 3.14. Two out of my ten circular objects had a Pi
value of 3.14. Two of the ten circular objects had a Pi value
above 3.14. I therefore, accept my hypothesis which stated
that the size of the circles would not affect the value of Pi.
If my instrument measurement had been more accurate the value
of Pi for the circular objects would have always been 3.14.
This research should be repeated and more exact measurements
should be taken to ensure that an accurate value of Pi is
computed.
V. APPLICATION:
I can apply my findings to everyday life by telling teachers
and students that Pi always equals 3.14 if you use the right
instruments that allow you to accurately measure a circular
object's circumference and diameter.
TITLE: Is Euler's Formula Accurate?
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Paul Brand
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I would like to conduct a research project to see if Euler's
formula is correct. Euler's formula is a mathematical formula
that states that the number of edges on a polyhedron is equal
to the number of faces plus the number of vertices minus two
(E=F+V-2). My hypothesis states that Euler's formula will be
accurate with all of the polyhedrons that I test.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote my statement of purpose and hypothesis. Then I
conducted a review of literature on Leonard Euler, Euler's
formula, and polyhedrons.
The manipulated variables in my experiment were the number of
faces, vertices, and edges on the different polyhedrons I
gathered. The responding variables in my experiment were the
answer to Euler's formula generated. The variables held
constant were Euler's formula.
I gathered 10 different polyhedrons. The I counted the number
of edges, vertices, and faces and then recorded them on my data
collection sheet. Then I used Euler's formula to compute the
number of edges. Then I compared the number of edges I counted
and the number I computed with Euler's fomula. Then I wrote my
summary and conclusion where I accepted or rejected my
hypothesis. Then I applied my findings and published my
research.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
For polyhedron 1, E=F+V-2 was 32. The actual number of edges
was 32.
For polyhedron 2, E=F+V-2 was 12. The actual number of edges
was 12.
For polyhedron 3, E=F+V-2 was 12. The actual number of edges
was 12.
For polyhedron 4, E=F+V-2 was 15. The actual number of edges
was 15.
For polyhedron 5, E=F+V-2 was 12. The actual number of edges
was 12.
For polyhedron 6, E=F+V-2 was 9. The actual number of edges
was 9.
For polyhedron 7, E=F+V-2 was 26. The actual number of edges
was 26.
For polyhedron 8, E=F+V-2 was 12. The actual number of edges
was 12.
For polyhedron 9, E=F+V-2 was 11. The actual number of edges
was 11.
For polyhedron 10, E=F+V-2 was 11. The actual number of edges
was 11. Euler's formula was correct ten out of the ten times I
tested it.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
In my research, I found out that Euler's formula worked on 10
out of the 10 polyhedrons I tested. Therefore, I accept my
hypothesis which stated that Euler's formula would be accurate.
V. APPLICATION:
I will apply my findings by telling students when they are
working with a complex polyhedron that they can find the edges
by adding the faces and vertices and subtracting 2.
© 1995 John I. Swang, Ph.D.