Abstracts – Tantasqua Regional HS Science and Engineering Fair 2017

#1 - Solar Oven

Many societies around the world struggle to survive without electricity. By harnessing the power of the sun, the problem of world hunger can be overcome. This one-of-a-kind solar oven hopes to bring good nutrition to the people of our earth. This project is designed to cook a number of foods without using any energy other than solar energy. It will reduce electricity costs as well as provide an easy cooking mechanism to those without. Over 3 days, 4 different types of solar ovens were built and tested made of various materials for absorption of solar energy, such as black construction paper, black paint, sheet metal, and lastly brick, then testing these types of ovens over an hour in the sun and collecting data of the different temperatures of pizza. After testing the various conductors of heat energy for an hour with an outside temperature of 53 degrees without clouds, the results led to the confirmation of brick being the best conductor of heat with the final internal temperature of the oven at 104 degrees. Following brick was black paint at 96 degrees, construction paper at 94 degrees, and then the sheet metal ended with an overall temperature of 87 degrees. In conclusion, the ovens were successful, although some ovens did not reach as high a temperature as others. The results support the fact that these ovens would provide a cheap alternative to people who can’t afford top of the line ovens.

2Automatic Popcorn Popper

Ever wonder if making popcorn could be as easy as making a coffee in a Keurig?  The purpose of the invention is to allow people, who do not know how to make popcorn or have difficulty making it, make popcorn easier. It is better than making popcorn by hand since you do not have to worry about if it is burning. The problem addressed was that it is sometimes difficult to make popcorn without burning it or that someone cannot constantly turn the handle fast enough to prevent the popcorn from burning. The popper uses a computer program with a set time to control the amount of time the popcorn is heated in order to prevent burning and to maximize popped popcorn. The trials that were run determined that the best results were achieved when the popcorn was heated for an average of 4 minutes 54 seconds. Between trials the thermostat-regulated portable stove has to cool completely otherwise the stove never turns on to get up to the correct temperature so the popcorn takes a really long time to pop. The popcorn popper contributes to society by allowing someone to make popcorn without having to constantly turn the handle or worrying about if it is burning.

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The Keys To Dyslexia

Dyslexia makes everyday things like reading, writing, and even typing difficult. The purpose of our research was to make using a keyboard easier for dyslexic individuals. As of right now, there is no keyboard designed to assist dyslexic people. Our keyboard would be more efficient for people with dyslexia to use than a traditional keyboard. It is enhanced because the people using the keyboard would be able to feel the letters on the keys. You might say we found the keys to dyslexia. Why is a keyboard so difficult for dyslexic people to use? We researched dyslexia and how it affects the brain. In our research, we found that keyboards are especially difficult for dyslexic individuals to use because they switch the letters. With that in mind, we interviewed seven people who struggle with dyslexia and asked what would make using a keyboard easier. We received various responses; five out of seven of our interviewees stated that what made it most difficult is not being able to see the keys while typing. The others said the letters on the keys were too small and that enlarging them would help. When asked about other ways we could improve a keyboard, six out of seven said adding color to the keys and being able to feel the impression of the letters on the surfaces of the keys would help. Predominantly, our prototype was successful. We designed a keyboard using the criteria given to us by the dyslexic individuals.

Project #4:  Protein Bars

    Protein bars are thought to be a healthy snack, but in reality they are just as bad as a candy bar causing weight gain, gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, and nausea. An alternative protein bar was created to provide a different experience supplying efficient ingredients that are commonly known to be “better” than your everyday preservatives.There were 30 high school students (age 15-18) that tested these bars and compared them to a popular bar (gatorade protein bar), and then they filled out a question survey. Then 30 adults (ages 40+) also went through this testing procedure and filled out the question survey. Many students found these healthier protein bars to be almost as  good as the gatorade ones with 44.8% saying yes. While 63.3% of adults said yes. The results gathered show that the taste of a protein bar can be maintained and be a great source of protein while eliminating all the unhealthy aspects of the ingredients and  holding a reasonable price. The results are true to the alternative findings that were gathered.

Project 5: Fiberglass Bullet Resistant Armor

Kevlar armor is by far the most effective in bullet resistance, but it is very expensive and hard to obtain for the average citizen. This fiberglass armor created in this experiment is a cheap effective alternative, proven to be resistant to the most common handguns used in crimes in America. The armor was built using two 6”x 8” tiles as molds, and laying alternating layers of fiberglass welding blanket and resin on until there were 20 layers of the blanket, after which the

fiberglass was clamped in between the two tiles and left to dry. Later resin was used to glue the layer of EVA foam on the back to act as a shock absorber. The armor was able to resist penetration from the handguns shot, as long as they were isolated and not grouped closely. This means that the armor will protect against any handgun shot at it the first time, and any subsequent shots that are not too close to another. The armor is under 50$, able to be shaped before hardened, and resistant to the most common handguns, meaning it is a safe and easy alternative to Kevlar.

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Blocking Radio Waves

Radio waves are used all the time, especially with today’s technology. Your phone, something you use all the time, always emits radio waves. Radios, wifi, internet, and anything with an electronic signal uses radio waves. So, of course, you would want to know what blocks them, so you can avoid them. This is what our science fair project is about, what materials block radio waves, and why they do so. We used a remote control car as our independent variable, because the remote emits radio waves to tell the car to move. We then wrapped the remote completely in different materials. These materials were rubber, wax paper, plastic wrap, cotton, and aluminum foil. Our hypothesis was that cotton and aluminum foil would block the waves, because cotton is a natural material from Earth, and aluminum is a metallic material. We wrapped the remote in each material, and tested it twice. If the car moved, the material didn’t block the radio waves. As we did the experiment, we learned that the only material of the 5 that blocked the radio waves was the aluminum foil. This is because aluminum is a conductor. Since it’s a conductor, it allows it to reflect, absorb, and block radio waves. The other materials weren’t conductors, so they didn’t block the waves. Therefore, materials like aluminum foil, copper, and other thin metallic conductors block radio waves. So if you want to be able to get signal, don’t be surrounded by thin metallic conductors.

Project #9-ACL Unknown

Many young athletes are at high risk for knee injury that includes ACL tears, which is one of the longest recovery times after the injury and can affect them in later years of their life. There are many different kinds of approaches that could be taken after an ACL injury that many athletes don’t know about. Different types of candy that had the same characteristics of the ACL ligament it represented after surgery. There was a difference in strength and wear overtime that was tested during the experiment to show the risk of re-tearing, and later in life, the probability of arthritis .The results were that the BEAR procedure was the strongest in the shortest time, and was at very low risk for arthritis in the later years of life. Then the hamstring reconstruction showed that there was regrowth in a medium time frame compared to the

BEAR, but was at a guarantee of arthritis developing in the next 10 years after the ACL tear. Then the cadaver substitution showed that there was very little regrowth during the given time frame and was guarantee of arthritis developing in the next 10 years after the ACL tear. The BEAR procedure that not many athletes know about, is the best option for athlete recovery time and has the low risk of arthritis taking place compared to the hamstring and cadaver reconstruction.

Project# 10 “Secure Password”

Everyone knows password security is very important, but even though people know this they still make bad, easy to remember passwords. The purpose of this experiment is to test how fast one could crack an actual data base of real passwords using different techniques such as Brute Force and the Dictionary Attack. In this experiment a data base of 100,000 actual passwords less than or equal to 8 characters were gathered, hashed and stored. Then using a program designed for cracking passwords two different techniques were used, Brute Force and The Dictionary Attack. Using the Brute Force method it took 6 hours and 44 minutes to crack every password that was 7 characters or less but to do all passwords including the 8 character ones it took 28 days. This shows how unpractical Brute force actually is when the passwords start to get long. The dictionary attack on the other hand found 66,793 (86%) out of the 77,921 possible passwords in just 26 minutes. The dictionary attack is definitely more efficient but it will not find all of them like brute force will. After looking at the results of this experiment it is clear that cracking passwords isn’t very hard, so make passwords that are long (at least 10 characters) and don’t use any words that could be found in any dictionary. If someone follows these simple rules and uses all 96 unique characters on a keyboard it will make the crackers job significantly harder and will secure ones private information.

Project # 12: The Lifespan of Spray Paint

Spray paint is a widely used painting media when doing outdoor work and painting outdoor objects. This project tests three different types of spray paints and their resistance to photodegradation, the process of fading, and the winter month’s effects on them. During a period of 33 days, 3 boards were painted with the spray paint brands Krylon, Rust-Oleum and Valspar and left outside. 3 additional boards painted the same as the outdoor ones were left inside. At the end of the period, the boards painted with Rust-Oleum showed little to no signs of

photodegradation or changes between the indoor and outdoor while the brands Krylon and Valspar showed many signs of photodegradation; Valspar even more so. The results of these observations show that Rust-Oleum is the best brand of outdoor spray paint to use when doing outdoor projects and can reduce the unnecessary purchase of poor quality paints.

13Hamster Dash

Hamsters are great household pets, so people should make sure they’re feeding their hamsters what they like to eat. This project tests hamsters to see what kinds of food they prefer, and if they’ll solve a puzzle faster depending on if they like the food at the end of the maze. For 5 days, 3 hamsters were timed through a maze with food at the end. Each day held 6 trials for each of the hamsters, and every trial used a different type of food at the end of the maze. The hamsters were timed to see how fast they went depending on the food placed at the end. Over the course of the trials, the hamsters’ times got faster, and they seemed to show some food preferences. The averages for the different types of food for each hamster showed some correlation with each other. The orb seed recorded the fastest times from each hamster; the brown male averaging at 6.90 seconds, the brown female at 9.20, and the marbled female at 10.84. The two brown hamsters’ averages were more similar compared to the marbled hamster. They had almost the exact same averages for the corn and the pellets, and when lining the foods up from the fastest times to the slowest,  the order of their foods is almost the same too. The results show that hamsters do have favorite foods, and that they will solve a puzzle faster to get to them.

#15 Gel Electrophoresis of Food Dyes

Gel electrophoresis is used to facilitate scientists to separate macromolecules in major industries of science such as clinical diagnosis, pharmaceutical research, forensic science and genetics. This project uses electrophoresis in an agar gel to monitor the separation of various dyes into discrete zones. The method development to find the best conditions to show the highest degree of separation and migration was shown by altering the voltage, the concentration and identity of buffer solution along with the percentage of agar in the gel. The length of migration for each of the dyes was limited despite the various voltages, yet complete separations of the dyes were achieved. These results reveal the identity of each primary dye in the colors that have a mixture of more than one of the primary dyes. The optimization of gel electrophoresis can be determined by altering the voltage, the concentration of buffer and the concentration of the agar gel thus allowing scientists to determine the purity and identity of biomolecules.

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The Effects of Microwave Radiation

We know that if our bodies are exposed to too much sun, it’ll have a negative effect on us causing our cells to die, due to radiation. But, will growth of plants be impacted by radiation? This project looks into great detail at plants, if exposed to the sun’s radiation, will be influenced and affected immensely. This experiment was demonstrated with a microwave and radish seeds. The seeds were microwaved for these amounts of time, zero seconds (control variable), five seconds, fifteen seconds, and thirty seconds, and were then planted into separate cups. My hypothesis was that the longer the seeds were placed in the microwave, the slower it’ll take for the plants to grow. The results of this experiment did not support my hypothesis noticing that the seeds that were placed in the microwave for the longest time grew faster than the other seeds. The thirty second plant grew to be 8.20 centimeters, the fifteen second plant grew to be 6.90 centimeters, the five second plant grew to be 5 centimeters, and the normal, non-microwaved plant grew to be 3 centimeters in a period of three weeks. In conclusion, exposing seeds to microwave radiation, had a positive impact on the plants, but if the seeds are exposed to too much radiation, the plants will not grow as healthy.

#18 The time to act is minNOW!

Overpopulation is the only problem that can come from having no problems. It is causing large global issues in countries such as India, China, and even here in America. This project tests the effects of overpopulation on a community over a period of several weeks. Three fish tanks were examined for rapid movements, oxygen intake, and feeding habits. The first tank contained five minnows, the second contained ten, and the third contained twenty. The fish were fed at consistent times, and data was recorded at consistent times as well. The minnows in the twenty--fish group exhibited more erratic feeding habits, increased oxygen intake, and much more rapid movements than the other two tanks. The tank containing ten fish was subsequently more active compared to the five fish tank, in erratic movements, feeding habits, and oxygen intake. These results support our hypothesis that overpopulation would lead to more erratic behavior in minnows and likely in other communities. These results have a correlation to other struggling ecosystems as well, which is decreasing global diversity.

#19                 How High Can I Jump?

The purpose of this experiment was to observe which objects will be more affected by the charge, created from the Van der Graaff. The Van der Graaff is built on a pulley system with a belt. As the belt rotates around, the electrons are removed creating a positively charged atmosphere in the “dome”. This experiment can prove whether certain objects can be affected by such charge. To conduct this experiment three objects were chosen to be tested, rice krispies, pom poms, and styrofoam balls. Each object was placed in a metal bowl upon the Van der Graaff and exposed to 7.5 volts. The objects were observed based on how high they were propelled. The average height for rice krispies cm,(data still being collected) with a (mass of 30 g). The average height for pom poms,(data still being collected). The average height for styrofoam balls(data still being collected). The hypothesis was proven true. Each object tested was affected by the created charge. It was found that the rice krispies were propelled higher proving that they were affected more.

20 Deflategate and the Ideal gas law

In the 2015 AFC Championship game, the New England patriots played a game against the Colts. In this game, Tom Brady was accused of deflating the footballs to give him and advantage on the field. This project investigates whether he really did deflate those footballs, or if the change in air pressure can be explained by the Ideal gas law. Using near perfect temperature conditions and regulation size balls I conducted experiments to replicate the conditions the footballs were in. When balls inflated to 12.5 psi in a 72 degree room were placed outside where it was about 50 degrees the psi in the balls fell to about the same levels it did in the game, 11.3-11.9. It was also clear that moisture affects psi in foot balls; balls sprayed with water experienced a larger change in psi than the dry ones. These results conclude that it was very likely that Brady and the team did nothing to deflate the footballs, and the slight change in psi can be explained by the ideal gas law.

#21 Diffusion of an Egg

Eggs react in a variety of ways when they’re put into different liquids. They may have had their shell fall off, the egg may shrivel, or there might be no change to the shell at all. Three eggs were put into three different cups of three different liquids. Each of the eggs and liquids were monitored closely every day and photographed for a length of 14 days to figure out what was happening inside he cups during the 14 days. This project shows what happens to the parts of the eggs exposed to the different liquids. The egg inside the cup with the vinegar had the shell of the egg slowly disintegrate off and the egg turned into a rubber. The egg with the cup full of salt water had turned the egg shell soft but still intact on the egg. The egg inside the cup of pure

water had no change at all. Overall the only a significant different with the egg inside the cup of vinegar.

Number 22: Bacteriophage Therapy

In recent years, bacteria have been developing a resistance to antibiotics which may lead to antibiotics becoming too ineffective in the future. This experiment tests the efficiency of an alternative to antibiotics, bacteriophage therapy. E. coli B colonies were grown in petri dishes, and the petri dishes that weren’t the control were later introduced to different amounts the bacteriophage T4r. The control colonies continued to grow healthily, while the ones that had bacteriophage in them had started to die off. The more bacteriophage that had been added, the more effective and less time it took to infect all of the E. coli B. These results support that bacteriophage therapy is an effective alternative to antibiotics.

Project #23: Break a Ruler Using Newspaper and Atmospheric Pressure

The purpose of our experiment was to see if a ruler would break when covered with different areas of newspaper. This was conducted to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. This experiment investigated the effect of different areas of newspaper, seeing if the ruler would break when struck. We placed a ruler about halfway off a table and then placed a newspaper over the half that was on the table. The tester then struck the ruler to see if it would break. The data indicates that newspaper with an area of 20”x20” or smaller does not break. Therefore, a newspaper with an area of greater than 20”x20” will break the ruler. This means that the greater the area of the newspaper, the more atmospheric pressure is applied. The results show the power of atmospheric pressure and how it can help pull of amazing feats.

Project Number 24                Water Temperature and Its Effect on Plant Growth

Plants and their growth are vitally important to society because they produce food for humans to consume. This project’s purpose is to discover which temperature of water is best suited to growing food, such as lima beans. In this experiment, twelve lima bean seeds were planted and watered with either cold, room temperature, warm, or hot water. For a period of 22 days, although data will continue to be collected until April 3rd, each plant was given the same amount of water at the same time, and put back in the same location after being watered. The results garnered by this experiment were inconclusive. While the cold plant grew taller and quicker than the room temperature water plants, it was also the only cold water plant to grow. The cold water plant’s success might be attributed to the angle of sunlight as it came through the window

allowing for the cold water to be in the sun for longer than any other plant, but there is not enough data to support or deny this hypothesis. If this experiment were to be repeated, each category would contain more than three plants in order to produce more data and decrease confusion, and the amount of time in the sunlight each row received would be monitored as well.

Project 25: Electrolytes: How Many Really Are In Your Favorite Drink?

    Sports drinks and other beverages are sold with the intent to gain sales by promoting the large amount of electrolytes that they hold. Gatorade, Powerade, coconut water, orange juice, and milk were tested in this experiment for electrolytes to see if sports drinks designed with “more” electrolytes truly have more than drinks like milk or juice. Eight ounces of each drink were tested for milligrams of potassium, magnesium, sodium, and calcium. Coconut milk had the most potassium, Gatorade, the most magnesium, Powerade, the most sodium, and milk, the most calcium. In conclusion, sports drinks who claim to have more electrolytes than other drinks, don’t necessarily do. They may have the most of one specific element, but no one drink had a sufficiently larger number in all categories like one would assume. In order to fulfill the daily values of electrolytes, one must drink an assortment of beverages which are each sufficient in different elements.

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5 Second Rule

We’ve probably all dropped a piece of food, picked it up, put it in our mouth and said “five second rule!”. But if you actually looked at how much bacteria clings to the piece of food dropped on the floor, you won’t want to put it in your body. People often shrug off the fact that a lot of bacteria can get on food in a short 5 second time interval. In this experiment, food was dropped on 5 different surfaces, allowed to sit there for 5 seconds, swabbed with a sterile tip, and streaked onto an nutrient agar plate to then incubate for 2 weeks. The piece of food that I used as a control group in this experiment was a piece of deli ham (which surprisingly had more bacteria than you think). The conclusion I came to at the end of my experiment is that people should definitely think before eating food off of the floor. The way that my experiment contributes to everyday life is it will open people’s eyes to how much bacteria can get on food in 5 seconds. Hopefully my experiment will make people think twice about eating dropped food.

Project Number: 27 Game to be a Better Driver

Poor driving ability in people of all ages has led to increasingly high injury and death rates. By participating in fast paced action video games (FPAVGs), the skills necessary to be a good driver can be improved. The reaction times developed by actively playing FPAVG are similar to the reactions that are necessary to be a skillful driver. This project investigates whether or not playing FPAVGs that require quick reaction times, increases one’s ability to drive. In order to carry out this investigation, we selected twenty people to participate in a driving simulator that tests one’s ability to drive with distractions. Ten of the twenty participants actively play FPAVGs, and the other ten participants have had no experience playing FPAVGs. There were three stages of the driving simulator and the scores of the participants were recorded after each stage of the driving simulator. After all scores were recorded it was evident that the people who actively played FPAVGs had less roadside collisions, less road signs missed, and more distracting tasks completed. Based on this data a conclusion can be made that playing FPAVGs can increase one’s reaction times, and ability to be a skillful driver.

Project #29 Are Fingerprint Patterns Inherited?

It has been said that everyone, no matter where they come from, has a unique fingerprint. This experiment researched whether or not this statement is true. Have you ever looked at your close relative’s fingerprints and compared them to your own? Every body’s print patterns seem very similar therefore, it was interesting to find out whether or not a whole family would have the same type of fingerprints due to inheritance. This project investigated the truth behind family fingerprints, are fingerprint patterns inherited from generation to generation? The fingerprints of each member from 10 different families were taken using black ink and then gently placed onto cardstock. Each volunteer used their left thumb in order to get comparable results. This step in the process was the most important, all of the research that had been put into this project relied on this one step. Although it did take time in order to get clear results, we eventually found the answer that we were looking for. In conclusion to all of the data taken through this experiment, it was found that fingerprint patterns are not inherited. The multiple different trials showed that the fingerprint pattern types within families seemed as if they were randomly selected due to the inconsistent results. Only one of the ten families, which participated in the experiment, showed constant fingerprint types. Due to all of the background research and fingerprints that were taken throughout this experiment, it was concluded that fingerprint patterns are not inherited from generation to generation.

Project Number: 31 The Five Second Rule

It is believed by many that if a piece of food is retrieved off the floor in a period of time less than 5 seconds, the food is still clean enough to eat. This project investigates whether or not the “five second rule” is real or a common misbelief. A selection of foods from different food groups (chips, bread, lettuce, cheese, carrots, and apples) were dropped on to the floor for three different periods of time (one second, five seconds, and a control group of zero seconds), then swabbed for bacteria. The bacteria was then relayed on to separate petri dishes of agar and allowed a timeframe of four days to grown in an incubator. About fifty percent of the time (3 of 6) the foods chosen grew significantly more bacteria the longer they stayed on the floor. It must be noted that the foods that have less surface area exposed to the ground tend to be less susceptible to growing bacteria. These results support the conclusion that if food is dropped on the ground, half of the time it will have the same amount of bacteria before it was dropped and after five seconds on the ground.

Project #32 How To Get Away With Murder

Using chemicals to break down evidence is what allows criminals to avoid capture. This projectinvestigates the effect of pH on breakdown of organic material. For a length of about 2 weeks, 3pieces of meat were left in 5 different types of liquid to observe the decomposition. The meatwas weighed and the liquid was measured periodically. There was no significant decrease inweight overall, however the meat in hydrochloric acid and in sodium hydroxide had a slightdecrease. The results show that the extremely acidic and extremely basic liquids had the bestrate of breakdown which supports the common knowledge.

#33 Should you be Growing your Plants Sideways?

All plants grow the same way, but what if they grew better in a different direction? This experiment gives people a better understanding of how plants grow. This project observes the effect of orientation on pea plants. Over the course of four weeks the growth rate of five pea plants grown at five different directions was observed. Each plant received the same amount of water and sunlight to see which plant grew the best. Results showed the plant grown upright grew the best at a height of six inches, but the plant grown at a forty five degree angle grew the fastest, by growing a total of three inches within two weeks. With successful plants come unsuccessful plants, including the plant grown upside down. By the end of the fourth week this plant still had not grown at all. Results proved the best way to grow a pea plant is upright.

#34: Ultraviolet vs. Yeast

Skin cancer is a leading cause of death in many developed countries, often undetected in its initial stages. This project investigates the effect of UV radiation on living cells and the after effects of this radiation. Differing concentrations of yeast colonies were exposed to ultraviolet rays from the Sun for various time intervals after which their survival rates were measured and calculated. Based on the data collected in the experiment, there was a significant decrease in survivability in yeast colonies proportional to exposure time to solar ultraviolet rays. For the longest time interval, the range of survival rates was between 8.09% and complete fatality, while shorter exposure time led to survival rates between 71.3% and 60.4%. These results support the hypothesis that ultraviolet radiation is harmful to living DNA found in yeast cells and may be related to harmful UV radiation in human epithelial cells.

#35 Keep Them Fresh

When apples are cut open, and begin to brown, it is a known fact that some children refuse to eat them. This contributes to the amount of food wasted in the United States per year. This project investigates how well different substances preserve sliced apples. For a period of 6 hours, sliced apples were placed in bags containing different substances. Each substance had a different effect, and was practical and impractical for different reasons. Although lemon juice preserved the look the best, it altered the taste. It was found that apple juice and water with an overall practicality rating of 78%, preserved the look the most and altered the taste the least. The results support that liquid with similar taste to the fruit, or no taste at all were most practical for preserving the apples.

Project #36 Why Do We Yawn?

The purpose of this experiment is to test the likelihood of yawning after seeing another yawn. This could help secure the curious mind about why we yawn. The question being tested is “do we yawn when we see another yawn?” This question was tested by showing 10 students from age 14-18 videos and pictures of others yawning and recording their reaction. The subjects were showing a video of a male and a female yawning, and pictures of a male and a female yawning. About 50% of students reacted by yawning when looking at pictures and videos of others yawning. In conclusion, about 50% of Americans react to others yawning by yawning themselves, 25% born male and 25% born female.

#38 Reaction Time

Between boys and girls of all ages, reaction time has always been a competition to find which gender has faster reactions. This experiment tested boys and girls reaction times when given auditory, physical, and visual tests. In one day's time, ten boys and ten girls were given three tests with no distractions to see how fast they react to sounds, changing colors and a physical task. Each were given the same task of tapping a button as fast as they could when a color on a screen was changed; tapping a button as fast as they could when a beeping noise was made after an unexpected time of silence; and catching a meter stick with their hand flat on a desk, only using their thumb and pointer finger-as it was dropped unexpectedly. Each subject's times were recorded and put in a data sheet. Boys times were averaged together for each of the three tests and then girls times were averaged together for each of the three tests. When boys and girls times were compared, it was found that boys times were lower than girls times for all three tests. This proves that boy's reaction times are faster than girls reaction times when presented with auditory, visual and physical tests. But, the data for boys wasn't vastly lower than the data for girls meaning the small difference in times between genders concludes that boys only have a slight advantage over girls.

#39 The Effects of Antifreeze on the Environment

The run off of antifreeze into the environment has been linked to water pollution, plant death, and other environmental damage. This project investigates the effect of antifreeze solutions on plant growth. For a period of 7 weeks, 25 squash plants were grown. The plants were divided into groups of 5, with each group receiving a different concentration of antifreeze-water solution. One group acted as a control and received only water, while the other groups received 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% concentrations. Plants that received 0%, 10%, and 20% antifreeze concentrations had plant height averages of 13.92cm, 13.48cm, and 13.52cm. Plants that received the higher antifreeze concentrations of 30% and 40% had lower plant height averages of 11.72cm and 9.28cm. These results support the hypothesis that antifreeze runoff has a negative effect on plants in the environment.

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How Chewing affects grades

Chewing gum during study periods helps improve test grades among many. This project investigates the effect of chewing gum on test grades, over 2 weeks four participants took part in taking a pre-test and then a test that was customized for them based on their pre-test score. The participants were given one pack of gum, and study problems to prep for their final exam. All of the participants recorded an increase that the effect of chewing gum while studying before taking

an exam is true. Group 1 saw a 20% increase from pre test scores to post test scores, while group 2 saw about a 37% from pre test scores to post test scores. Although the two groups saw an increase in test scores, it is considered inconclusive because we had no control group that would’ve not studied with gum and study problems.  

Project #42: Are Your Hands Dirtier Than You Think?

The purpose of this experiment is to test the effectiveness of antibacterial products on cleaning hands. The positive impact this experiment is to acknowledge the most effective method of washing hands in order to promote hygiene, and decreasing a person’s probability of getting sick. The question answered in this experiment is out of all of the products tested, which is the most effective at killing bacteria. In a petri dish, a “before” swab of the tested hands was taken, then the hands were washed with an antibacterial product for fifteen seconds and swabbed again. This swab is then placed into a different petri dish labeled, “after” with the product used. This process is repeated for each test, but in order to get an accurate reading in between each of the tests, the hands were dirtied with the same dirty dish sponge. This is repeated until all of the products have been used and swabbed. In total, four experiments were conducted with four antibacterial products. In order to conclude which was most effective, visual estimation was used and, the colonies were counted, allowing for a percent difference to be calculated. The results of this experiment are that hand soap is the most effective, followed by hand sanitizer, dish soap, and the least effective was bar soap. In conclusion, the experiment expressed that washing hands with regular antibacterial hand soap eliminates more bacteria than hand sanitizer, dish soap, and bar soap.

43The effects of tea cola and coffee on your teeth

How many of you have or do drink soda or coffee on a daily basis? Have you everwondered what that soda and coffee does to your teeth if you don’t brush your teeth every night?Infact there are many things that these beverages can do to your teeth. In some cases thesessodas can even erode your teeth and rot them to the point that you have holes in your teeth. Withthis project we hope to educate you about this topic of tooth staining and decaying. In thisexperiment we believe that the black coffee will stain your teeth the most. The black coffee isfilled loads of caffeine that could cause tooth decay and staining. The acid in the coffee willcause tooth decay and will leave a yellow/ brown stains on your teeth. For our procedure the firststep was to blow out all the yoke in out eggs. Next we put the eggs in the various beverages for 3days and waited for the results.The red wine and caffeine free cola stained the most. The oilsfrom the grapes in the red wine cayuse a lot of staining. The loads of minerals and acids in thepigment of the coca cola stained the eggs severely. As you can see there are many negativeeffects on your teeth just from drinking soda or red wine. Important to moderate your soda intakeso you do not end up with soda stained teeth.

#44 Effects of different liquids on Mung Bean PlantsPlants have been surviving off water since they first sprouted, but there are other liquidsthat have more nutrients that plants need. Plants could grow taller off different liquids. Thisexperiment examined the effects of plant height that different liquids have on Mung Bean Plants.For 21 days 6 plants for each type of liquid (Water, Seltzer, Pink Lemonade, Sprite, Apple Juice)got the same amount of liquid per day and had equal conditions throughout the experiment. Theywere measured each day until the end of the experiment to record their height. At the end of theexperiment the pink lemonade and sprite did not grow and the seeds were ruined. The apple juiceout of the six plants one grew a max of 5 cm at day 17, then it started to die shortly later. Thetallest water plant grew to 15 1/2 cm at day 21. The seltzer grew the tallest of the 5 types ofliquids at 16 cm at day 21. The results that the seltzer grew taller than the other types of liquidsshows that the carbonation of the seltzer made the plants more successful. This means that seltzercan be more efficient at growing mung bean plants than water is, so many more of these plantscould be grown faster if they used seltzer than used water.

Project 45: Popping Popcorn

Consumers usually store popcorn in the cabinet, along with other snacks but have they been storing it in the wrong spot? This research was conducted to test which type of environments affected how well popcorn pops. This project investigates the amount of time taken for the popcorn to begin popping, and the amount of popcorn that was fully popped, partially popped and not popped at all depending on which environment it was stored in. The locations where the popcorn was stored varied in humidity and light exposure. For a 23 day period, popcorn was stored in a total of eight different environments. Some of these environments included freezer, pantry, basement, window, and etc. Each of the eight different samples of 50 popcorn kernels was popped in 1/8 cup of oil on high heat for a total 35 seconds. After the 35 seconds was up each sample of popcorn was poured quickly into an ice cold tin bowl to stop any further popping. Once the popping was over the data was collected. The results of this procedure showed that popcorn popped quicker and better when stored in a dry/room

temperature environment. If the environment was too dry and cold the popcorn results in burnt kernels.

Project Number 46                    Are You Addicted to Your Cell Phone?

Cell phones are used by most everyone in society and the dependency on these devices/ usage throughout the day have a connection to a person’s energy and human contact they experience. This project investigates the effect of number of hours spent using your phone on human connection. For a period of four days, six volunteers used an app called Moments on their iPhones to track the amount of time spent on their phones and the number of pickups throughout each day. Each volunteer predicted their results prior to the project and used a log to keep track of their non cellular activity every day. Age played a role in a person’s length of usage overall, although no subject had a substantial difference in their ratio of contact (non cellular) to the amount of time on their cells. These results support the fact that technology has an effect on the society we live in and that they do in fact alter human interactions.  

#47                                         Kick fossil fuels, welcome green

 Research of biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels is important. The use of algae to produce more biological artificial petroleum may help the oil overuse problem. This project investigates the effects of adding different amounts of herbicide while growing algae. For a period of 21 days, 50 test tubes holding 25ml algae included one control group and two different test groups with different amounts of herbicide added. Each test tube growth rate was recorded.  Eighty seven percent of the test tubes that contained algae grown with herbicide produced 10-12 times more oil than control group algae. These results support that fact that use of herbicide will help the algae grow faster and produce more petroleum.

#48 – Wavelength Efficiency

Plants often take more time to fully grow and thrive than desired, so knowing the best conditions to grow your plants in is vital. This project demonstrated what wavelength of light would be the most efficient for growing plants. A total of 30 plants were planted and after weeks, they sprouted and were distributed evenly among the 6 different light colors that we had set up. Both the growth rate and the overall healthiness of the plants were monitored over the remaining period of time. There was indeed a significant difference in the growth of the plants. The plants placed under the blue light, which had a wavelength of about 430-490 nm, and the plants placed under the red light, which had a wavelength of about 620-780 nm, had the fastest growth rate and grew healthily. The plants placed under the green light, which had a wavelength of about 490-570 nm, had the slowest growth rate. Under the blue or red light, the plants grew as much as 50% faster than the plants under the green light. The obtained results prove that wavelength does affect the efficiency of plant growth and certain wavelengths of light can be used to grow plants more productively.

#49 - Second Law of Thermodynamics/Stirling Engine Energy Output

Engine efficiency is one of the leading problems of science and engineering today. This project investigates the effect of the second law of thermodynamics and entropy on engine efficiency. Several trials were conducted with a Stirling engine to measure the energy output of the engine. Energy within the heat source of the engine was then measured to calculate what the expected theoretical energy output of the engine should be. The efficiency of the engine was then found by comparing the observed energy output of the engine versus the expected theoretical output. The results were as expected with the observed results producing less energy than what the expected theoretical output was. These results support the second law of thermodynamics and the idea of entropy which states that a perfect closed system is not achievable and that some energy is always lost in thermodynamic processes.

50-The Five Second Rule    Bacteria can attach itself to anything as soon as there is contact, even if that contact only lasts for 5 seconds or less. This project investigates the reliability of The Five Second Rule and whether its effect varies due to the location at which the food is dropped and if it varies due to whether wet or dry food is dropped. Two experiments were conducted. In the first, pieces of banana were dropped on a kitchen floor and the floor of a car, the surface of the bananas were swabbed and then swabbed in petri dishes that then sat upside down for a week. In the second experiment, pieces of banana and ritz crackers were both dropped on the kitchen floor and swabbed in the same way, these petri dishes also sat upside down for a week. In the first experiment, the banana dropped on the car floor showed a larger amount of growth than the banana dropped on the kitchen floor. In the second experiment, the banana showed more growth than the cracker did. In conclusion, The Five Second Rule is not reliable and there is more bacteria in a car than the kitchen and bacteria gets picked up by wet foods better than dry foods.

Project 51 - The Magic of Photochemistry

The amount of light coming from a source has been known to affect the time it takes for a chemical reaction to occur. For this project, the effect of different light sources on the time it takes for a chemical reaction to occur was tested. In this project, 5 different test tubes were filled with an iodine mixture and were placed in different locations, being exposed to different sources of light. This project requires a total period of 120 minutes, in which all of the reaction times were recorded using a phone timer. After running this experiment, the results show that all of the reaction times were increased by the light. The florescent light increased the reaction time the most with an average time of about 22 minutes, the sunlight with an average time of about 35 minutes, the LED light with an average time of about an hour and the candlelight with an average time of about an hour and a half. In conclusion, these results support the fact that light

increases the time it takes for a chemical reaction to occur, thus proving light can be used to speed up some everyday chemical reactions.

Project #52 Feeling Sound

For years, scientists have known that sound is made up of the vibrations in air, but there have been few ideas to use this. This project was designed to find which pitch of sound would be best used to move physical objects, in this case papers, without actually coming in contact with said object. A single piece of paper was bound on the top to a pole that brought it out in front of an Ampeg BA-115 15 inch woofer speaker, and subject to sounds of varying pitch. A ruler was set parallel to the paper in order to track its horizontal movement from the 6 inch mark. Though use of the speaker, the paper only moved at a visible level from 50 hertz to 130 hertz. As the pitch climbed to 90 hertz, the visible vibrations increased in intensity, and as the pitch surpassed 90 hertz, the speed and strength of the vibrations decreased at a similar rate. These results suggest that any sounds at a pitch of 90 hertz will have a stronger reaction to paper, other than any other pitches within the human hearing range. These results could be used to manipulate papers without any physical contact.

Project 53; Warped Words: The Stroop Effect

The purpose of this project was to study and test the Stroop Effect, a phenomenon in which one must say the color of a word but not the name of the word. Understanding the Stroop Effect is significant because it can be used to evaluate someone’s processing ability, investigate regions of the brain associated with decision making and detect attention deficit disorders/ADHD. The question this project addressed was whether altering the legibility of the word made it easier for the test subject to state the color of the word. To investigate this problem, 20 test subjects completed 7 different timed tests where they had to say the color of the ink the word was written in, not the word itself. On some tests the ink color was the same color as the word, on other tests the ink was a different color than the word itself. Also, on some tests the word was warped and more difficult to read, but easier to name the ink color. The result of the tests were the tests that the ink was the same color as the word itself and the words were warped were the easiest and had the shortest average times (Test version 3 average time: 6.05 sec, Test version 5.41 sec, Test version 6: 6.66 sec). The tests that the ink was not the same color as the word itself and the word was not warped, was the hardest to complete and the average time was the longest (Test version 2: 9.35 sec). The tests where the ink was a different color than the word but the words were warped (Test version 4: 7.49 sec, Test version 7: 6.81 sec) were medium difficulty. The tests where the ink was the same color as the word but the words were not warped were easy to complete (Test version 1: 4.94 sec). The results supported the hypothesis that altering the legibility of the word made it easier for the test subject to state the color of the word. The reason the Stroop Test is difficult is because the left side of the brain controls reading comprehension while the right side deals with color perception. Using both sides of the brain is difficult, so

when the legibility of the word is altered and the use of the left side of the brain is cut out, the test becomes easier.

# 54—The Effects of Caffeine and the Placebo Effect

Caffeine is a substance that is extremely prevalent in today’s society and is consumed by 90% of people worldwide. The placebo effect is a phenomenon where a person’s expectations can affect how a substance affects their body. This experiment investigates the physiological effects of coffee on fine motor skills and whether or not a person’s expectations can impact their performance. Volunteers would play the game Operation and then drink either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee under the presumption that their coffee was caffeinated, and play again. There was no significant increase or decrease in performance regardless of which coffee the participant drank but almost all participants reported that they felt shakier after drinking the coffee, even the participants who were given decaffeinate coffee. These results suggest that low levels of caffeine do not have a significant effect on fine motor skills but due to the placebo effect people perceive that the coffee had an effect.

56

 

Clouded/Hazy Ice Experiment

Have you ever watched a commercial for a beverage, and were enthralled by the highly appetizing look of a cool, icy drink? Have you noticed how the ice cubes in said drink are crystal clear, lacking any sort of cloud or haziness? Having clear ice can seriously boost the appeal of a drink, and can help advertize a drink, or improve a restaurant's reputation. My goal was to find out how to do such a thing, and my hypothesis was that if parts of the ice tray were insulated, parts of the cube would freeze slower, allowing the air which causes the cloud to form to instead escape. My approach was to use three containers; a control with no insulation, one with everything insulated but the bottom, and another will all insulated save for the top. The insulation was a rubber mat, cut down to size and attached to the exterior of the container. I would freeze water inside of each, and measure each cloud of air inside. My results showed that the average volume of the cloud within the container with no bottom insulated was 4.140625 in3, the container with no insulation was 3.1929 in3, and the container with no top insulated was 2.3215 in3. To obtain the most clear ice, a container insulated on all sides, except the top, must be used. Using this method, clear ice can be acquired and used to make beverages more appetizing.

58. Appealing to your Customer

Advertisements are supposed to appeal to a designated target group. This experiment gathered information on people's visual preferences based on different age groups. This would help advertisers better appeal to different age groups. Many people from multiple age groups took a five question survey to find out their preferences. Children were found to not have a popular favorite color while teenagers preferred green and blue and seniors preferred blue. Children slightly favored italicized text, teenagers slightly favored normal and bold text and seniors slightly favored normal and italicized text. Children are generally exposed to ads when they watch TV and use the internet while teenagers usually use the internet and seniors prefer written media. The visual preferences of the subjects were too varied and vague to draw a definitive conclusion. Instead to have a successful ad you should place an ad on the age groups’ favorite media platform, television and internet for children, internet for teenagers and written media for seniors.

59                  

Gum`s Effect on Grades

The grades you get pave a future of college, and careers sometimes for busy, involved students it is hard to sit down and be fully devoted to studying until you know everything. A way to help you study, remember information, and get better test grades you can do this by chewing gum. Chewing the same type of gum while studying and testing has an effect on the grades.  24 students across the region participated in a blind study. A simple pretest, posttest methodology was utilized. The control group was given a pretest, a 10 minute study session where they read through the study guide and a post test. The experimental group did the same thing but chewed bubble gum during the study session and the post test. No in how was given the test knew more than 60% of the information before they read the study guide. And only about 17% of everyone tested scored a 100% on the posttest after studying. 75% of the people that got 100% on the test were part of the experimental group.  This resulted 16% difference in the average posttest grade of the control and experimental groups. The average posttest grade of the control group was a 60% and the average posttest grade of the experimental group was a 76%. In conclusion chewing gum while studying and testing is an cheap, simple study skill and an easy way to get an A.  

Project #60 : The Effect of Different Music on Plants

    Agriculture is a huge part of the economy, and if there is research that shows certain types of music is beneficial to helping plants grow, and then it can be used by agricultural practices all over the world. In this experiment I answered the question; what is the effect of different types of music on plant growth. The procedure for this experiment is as followed; first plant the seeds in small decomposing started pots. Two seeds per pot and 15 pots. Divide the pots into three groups of five, and place the tree group is areas with similar conditions but far enough apart to play separate music. The plants should be kept in the same temperature, receive the same amount of sunlight,

and receive 1/8th cup of water twice a day. Play classical music for one group, pop music for another group, and heavy metal music for another group. Play the music three hours a day. Continue these steps for two weeks. The independent variable is the type of music being played, the dependent variable is the growth of the plants, and the constants are the environment the plants are kept in, including room temp, water amount, and sunlight exposure. The results for this experiment were very interesting. The average height of the five plants being played classical music was 5.2 cm on the last day. The average height of the five plants being played pop music was 4.6 cm on the last day. The average height of the five plants being played heavy metal music was 2.95 cm on the last day. This shows that the plants exposed to classical music grew more. At first the plants being played pop music and heavy metal music started growing the same, but by the 11th day it was clear the plants being played pop music were growing better than the plants being played heavy metal music.

61

Does it float?

How can the Archimedes  theroy affects everday life? The Archimedes theory, this experiments hypothesis, states that for any given object to float it must displace more water than its mass. In this experiment, the Archimedes theory was put to the test to find the ideal density for objects to float in tap water. During data collection, several objects were tested and then altered in various ways to change their volume and density. These altered objects were then retested to find the precise density needed for an object to clearly float. Based on the data collected the hypothesis was found to be true. The average density of an object to clearly float is approximately 0.7 grams per cubic centimeter. This average was found through 20 different tests and 5 retests to find the closest estimate of the density needed to clearly differentitate between floating, sinking and neutral bouyancy. How is this used in the real world? This theory is used to build both military and private vessels in order to float, but not completely above the water. This theory is also present in nature. Certain bugs or animals have the ability to "run on water". This is possible because they quickly run across the water by displacing more water than their mass. The archimedes theory affects every day life by explaining one of natures greatest mysteries: how things float.

62 The Thickness of Monolayers

Understanding how atoms interact with each other and form structures is critical todeveloping ideas in the scientific world. This experiment formulates a method to determine the

thickness of a common fatty acid, oleic acid. Calculating the thickness of the monolayer opensup the possibility of calculating the molecule’s exact length, which is important in understandingintermolecular activity. A tray of water was coated with a thin layer of talcum powder. A drop ofoleic acid diluted with ethanol was released onto the tray, pushing the powder away in the shapeof a circle. The diameter of the circle - measured with a ruler - was used to find the area of thecircle, which is needed to find the thickness and length of the oleic acid. This process wasrepeated several times throughout the tray, and the average diameter was found to be 1.42 cm.By dividing the volume of oleic acid within the diluted solution by the area of the average circle,the thickness of the layer, and its length, was found to be 314 nanometers. This result supportsour investigation into calculating the thickness of a molecule. Oleic acid aligns vertically in alayer on the surface of the water, so the thickness of the monolayer is actually the length of themolecule. With this in mind, the lengths and thicknesses of monolayers can be calculated,contributing important data to the field of intermolecular mechanics.

63 - Gender Stereotypes in Children

Gender stereotypes dictate the way people in our society live, affecting what activitiespeople participate in, and what careers they choose. This project investigates how the influenceof gender stereotypes changes as children age. Participants answered four open ended questionsabout what activities males and females are good at, and what careers they have. There were 20participants for each age group, ages 4-6, 7-8, and 11-12, and a mix of male and femaleparticipants in each age group. There was a steady increase in masculine stereotype responses asage increased. There was an increase in feminine stereotype responses from ages 4-6 to ages 7-8,and a decrease from ages 7-8 to ages 11-12. There was an overall increase in neutral responses asage increased, but an overall decrease in reverse stereotype responses. These results support the

fact that the influence of male stereotypes increase with age, and the influence of femalestereotypes increases as children approach age 7, and decreases once they are 8 years old.

64 You make me sick

Every day, people come in contact with surfaces that hold millions of types of bacteria, increasing their chances of getting sick. This project tests the effectiveness of antiseptic products like hand sanitizer, all-purpose cleaner, dish soap, and antibacterial soap on bacteria. To begin, hands were covered in a bacteria indicator. Each of the four products (hand sanitizer, all-purpose cleaner, dish soap and antibacterial soap) were then swatched on one hand all at once. The data was then analyzed through pictures. Significantly throughout the four hands used, the all-purpose cleaner was found to be the most effective (majority bacteria gone). Following (from most to least effective) was anti-bacterial soap, the dish soap and lastly the hand sanitizer (almost no germs gone, just spread around evenly). These results do not support the hypothesis- that hand sanitizer will kill the highest percentage of bacteria. If people choose to use all-purpose cleaner then they will have a more effective way of killing bacteria and a lesser chance of getting sick.

#65                    Beauty In The Eye of The Golden Ratio

The Golden Ratio, a mathematical equation that can be applied to a face to give it a symmetric and often “perfect” face, has explained how we see beauty in one another.  This project investigates how affective the golden ratio is and if it actually affected who people found more attractive. .There was a total of 30 pictures including a mixture of faces with the golden ratio and without.  The test subjects were between the ages 14-18.  This is to make sure of clear, concise data that was then used to make a conclusion.  The test subjects had about 5-10 seconds to choose between the two photos in front of them of the same person (one photo with the ratio applied to it and one without) and decided the correct picture that had the golden ratio applied to them, which was the one that appeared more beautiful. The data recorded did not show  a clear line between the participants recognizing the more “perfect” face.  The data that was collected included 31 images that had the golden ratio were chosen by girls, and 26 images without.  For the boys, 32 images of the ratio and 33 of the distorted or normal images were chosen. This data concludes that the golden ratio is not at all near as affective as it was said to be. In conclusion, though, the golden ratio may create a “perfect” face, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is more attractive.

Project #66 – “Effects of Sugary Drinks on Teeth”

People should listen to their dentist and brush their teeth 2-3 times per day because dental hygiene is important in maintaining healthy, white teeth. The purpose of this experiment is to see what effect drinks that people consume on a daily basis, has on your tooth enamel. For a period of 5 days, 9 eggs were placed in a different drink and refrigerated. The eggs stayed in the beverages for 120 hours to see what beverage has the most impact on your tooth enamel (the egg). The monster energy drink and both diet pepsi and regular pepsi all had major effects on the egg. The monster energy drink ate away at the egg shell causing erosion, while the pepsi and diet pepsi both stained the egg dark brown with black spots and went underneath the egg shell into the egg. These results support the fact that drinks containing carbonation will have a greater impact on your teeth and your tooth enamel.

68 The Dangers in Our Water Supply

Contaminated water can lead to cancer, memory problems, and many other health problems. In cities like Flint, Michigan, this prevents people from having access to clean water that they can use and consume safely. This project measures the pH and hardness, as well as levels of chlorine,

nitrates/nitrites, lead, and pesticides, in Sturbridge tap water, bottled water, and well water. Test strips from the First Alert WT1 Drinking Water Test Kit were used to test for the presence of each substance. For tap water, the pH was found to be 8.5, the hardness was 250, and it tested positive for pesticides. It was negative for chlorine, nitrate, nitrites, or lead. Well water has a pH of 7.5, hardness of 0, and was negative for chlorine, nitrates, nitrites, lead, and pesticides. Bottled water had a pH of 7.5, a hardness of 50, and was also negative for chlorine, nitrate, nitrite, lead, and pesticides. These results show that because tap water has a pH that is basic rather than neutral as water should be, and a potentially dangerous hardness , it is the most unsafe to consume. Bottled water is slightly less safe than well water, because it has a hardness of 50, but both are safe to use and consume because they fall within the acceptable range. In conclusion, tap water is generally less safe than well water and bottled water.

Project #69 Does Listening to Music Affect Memory?

Many people wish to improve their memory in order to perform well in school, during testing, or to simply make plans. This project investigates how music affects one’s memory. In this experiment, 30 high school students were shown the same short video, and were given a survey to complete after. This survey consisted of 12 questions, two of which are about how much time they spend listening to music and the genre of music they listen to, and the rest about how well they remember the video. Data from this experiment shows that there is no significant correlation between music and one’s memory. The memory of the subjects did not change in response to the average time they spend listening to music each day.

Project #70    Instant Ice

    The solid, liquid, and gas forms of substances can not only help us understand more about change in state, but atomic structure as well.  This project examines how quickly water can change from liquid to solid ice.  Multiple un-opened 16 mL bottles of water were placed in a freezer set at 0 degrees fahrenheit.  The bottles were taken out of the freezer at different recorded times to see how long it would take for the bottles to supercool most successfully.  The process was repeated with a bucket of ice instead of a freezer.  The results of this experiment showed that the water bottles most successfully supercooled in a freezer at around an hour and forty minutes. On the other hand, the water bottles in the bucket of ice showed scattered results with two hours and five minutes being the most successful time for them to supercool.  Not only did this experiment lead to the discovery that supercooling water bottles is possible and most successful in a freezer after about an hour and forty minutes, but the experiment also contributed to understanding the atomic structure of water and atomic structure in general.

71

Science Project Abstract

As a student, I know that memorization is a vital skill worth mastering. Equations for algebra, vocabulary for french, and the never-ending list of terminology for biology all prove to be massive hurdles in the game of memorization. What if there was a simple way to improve your grade in every class? Although it sounds unrealistic, my partner and I wondered how we could find a way to do this. Could listening to your favorite song while reviewing your set of vocabulary improve your ability to recall it? Or would no music at all be more beneficial? This is what we based our project on, and could even use the results to excel in the classroom. There have been numerous studies done on the effect of music on the mind. These studies stated that when you listen to music, areas of the brain associated with paying attention, making predictions, and updating events in our memory are “switched” on. Considering our research done online, we hypothesized that music would improve people's’ memories. We tested this idea by giving our subjects 5 minutes to memorize a set of twenty random words without music. After they took the test, we then ran the same scenario, this time having the subjects listen to music while studying. Results were varied, however the music ended neutral effect overall on the individual's memory. According to our data, 50% improved, 47% declined, and 3% stayed the same. It mostly depended on the person's preference, whether they like complete silence or music/noise to study with.

#72 Burning Calories

Each year, millions of people spend millions of dollars on diet foods to slim down a few pounds, but what if they could save all that money? This project investigates how many calories are actually in everyday foods such as cereals and crackers. Six everyday food items (oyster crackers, gold fish, veggie sticks, captain crunch, oreos, and rice cake) were placed, in 0.7-11.5 g amounts, on a cooking pan, then a coffee can with the bottom cut off was placed over the food. Next, a smaller tin can, with a dowel through the top was filled with water and placed in the coffee can (held in the air by the wooden dowel). Water temperature was measured before and after the burning, and the amount the water temperature increased is directly related to the amount of calories in the food. Our results showed that Oyster crackers had 0.084 Calories per gram, Goldfish had 0.816 Calories per gram, Captain Crunch (cereal) had 0.89 Calories per gram, an Oreo had 0.668 Calories per gram, a ricecake had 0.964 Calories per gram, and Veggie sticks had 0.779 Calories per gram. We concluded that the less dense each of the foods were, the better they burned. It was also noticeable that in general, the more fats each food had, the less Calories were burned off.

#73 Eliminating Super Bacteria

Super bacteria (antibiotic resistant bacteria) have become more prevalent over the past few years, popping up in doctors’ offices across the globe and even in the 2016 Rio Olympics. This project is designed to eliminate super bacteria through the process of selective inversion by exposing the bacteria to different anti-bacterial solutions than the one that caused the resistance. Twenty-one

petri dishes of E.Coli were exposed to Isopropyl alcohol over a period of two days, leaving only resistant strains to survive and reproduce in a controlled environment. Groups of five, excluding a control, were then exposed to either the Isopropyl alcohol, Potassium Iodide, Bacitracin, and Hydrogen Peroxide to see which ones could survive the new treatment. In the petri dishes where the E. Coli was exposed to Bacitracin or Hydrogen Peroxide, there was a significant decrease in both E. Coli colonies. For the petri dishes exposed to Potassium Iodide, 60% decrease significantly and 40% stayed about the same. In the petri dishes exposed to Isopropyl alcohol, 60% of the dishes continued to grow and 40% died due to agar complications. The results of the experiment support that selective inversion can be used as a deterrent for super bacteria.

Project 74: What is the Best Lubricant?

Friction has been a problem for humanity since the beginning. From squeaky doors to car engines, friction creates a lot of problems in our everyday life. This project tests lubricants for their effectiveness in eliminating friction. Twenty five tests were conducted with 4 different lubricants wherein an onyx paperweight that weighed roughly 5 newtons was wrapped in tin foil and dragged across a cardboard plate wrapped in tin foil. All of the lubricants demonstrated a decrease in friction over the control test. All of the lubricants decreased the force by roughly the same amount besides the talcum powder, which fell behind quite a lot. The results confirm that Rem-oil is the most effective lubricant of the five that were tested.

75 When life gets ruff, Get a dog.

Worrying about your overall health? Maybe you should adopt a furry friend. Dogs havebeen known to decrease heart rate, blood pressure, and calm your emotions. This project testswhether or not the presence of a dog in a stressful environment will directly decrease a person’svitals. After determining a baseline for each subject, their heart rate, blood pressure, andemotional status were tested and recorded. 75% of the test subjects experienced a 7% decrease inheart rate. 85% of the test subjects experienced a 10% decrease in blood pressure. Keep in mindthat organisms need to maintain homeostasis and huge fluctuations in heart rate and bloodpressure are not healthy. 80% of the test subjects experienced an 80% decrease in a negativeemotional status and a 60% increase in a positive emotional status. A dog’s presence has abeneficial impact on a human’s blood pressure, heart rate, and emotional status.

#76     Soda’s Effect on Bones

The consumption of soda has been linked to lower bone density and decreased bone strength, leading to malnourished children and adults. This project investigates the effect of acidity and carbonation on the strength of bones. For a period of five days, over 12 bones were soaked in various liquids including distilled water, coca cola, diet cola and vinegar. The pH of each liquid was tested over time, as well as the strength of the bones. Trials of breaking each bone by hanging a 25 pound weight from focal point were timed.  Drastic pH changes were

tested and a significant decrease in amount of time to break the bones were observed when placed in acidic or carbonated liquids. These results support the fact that the consumption of acidic and carbonated substances aid in the deterioration of bone strength, which may affect the health of individuals throughout the world.   

Project #77: Hand Eye Coordination in Baseball and Softball

It is a popular belief that athletes have stronger cognitive and physical abilities than non-athletes. This project tests to see if baseball and softball players have better hand-eye coordination than those who do not play baseball or softball. Forty individuals, consisting of ten baseball players, ten softball players, ten non-playing males, and ten non-playing females, were asked to stand at a distance of 2 meters from a wall and, for 30 seconds, throw a tennis ball, starting with their dominant hand, catch it with their opposite hand, throw with that hand, catch with their dominant hand, and repeat until time was up. The baseball and softball players completed an average of 31 throws in the period, while the non-playing individuals completed about 23 throws. These results support the popular idea that individuals who play baseball and softball have better hand-eye coordination than individuals who do not.

#78 Sleep For Success

Inconsistent sleep is said to cause teens to get bad grades in school. This investigation is the

effect of consistent sleep on school grades. 20 of my friends took a pretest and then I asked ten

of them to go to bed at an inconsistent time and ten of them to go at a consistent time. Then

they took another test to check the results. The scores seemed inconclusive because everyone

only 3 people that went to bed at a consistent time scored better on the final while 5 people

that went to bed at an inconsistent time scored better on the final.

#79             Not to be Crude!

    Over one million gallons of oil are spilled in U.S. waters each year, causing great damage to the environment. This project tests the effect of oil on plant life and displays different containment and cleanup methods used in response to oil spills. As part of this project, a bowl filled with water and covered with an oil layer was used to exemplify an oil spill. Barriers, dish soap, and cotton balls were used to display the common cleanup methods of containment, dispersant usage, and adsorbent usage. To test oil’s effect on plant life, wisteria plants were kept in separate inverted eudiometers filled with water for a period of 6 days. One plant was coated in motor oil, another plant had been coated in motor oil and then cleaned, and the third plant had no

oil coating to act as the control. The photosynthesis conducted by each plant was measured by the amount of oxygen gas produced in the eudiometer. The plant coated with oil produced no oxygen gas, the plant that had been coated with oil and then cleaned produced 3.6 ml of oxygen gas, and the plant with no oil coating produced 4.9 ml of oxygen gas. These results support that oil spills have damaging impacts on the environment, inciting the need for better oil spill cleanup and prevention methods.

81 How Additives Affect Health of Consumers and Decomposition of Burgers

Additives put into fast food burgers have lead to heart disease and obesity. This

experiment examines the different additives that are put into different fast food burgers and the

effects it has on health and decomposition. Over the course of 38 days, burgers from Wendys,

Mcdonalds, Burger King, and a burger made at home were put into a fridge and watched to see

how the burgers would decompose. The second step in the examination is to find out what types

of additives are put into the beef and how it affects your health. The McDonalds burger shriveled

up, and became rock hard. The Burger King burger did the same, but was not as extreme. The

Wendys burger and home-made burger became hard, but did not shrivel up. The results did not

match up with the hypothesis, because all the burgers had about the same effect and there were

several different additives put into the meat.

Project #82

A World with Cats

Many people claim that cats benefit human health in many ways including lowering blood pressure of humans and also lowering the human heart rate. This project investigates the effects of having cats on human health. Family and friends got involved and volunteered to help conduct research for this project. There were three trials per person; one for each cat. The

heart rate of the subjects was measured before petting the cats and after petting the cats. Most of the participants had a change in heart rate; specifically a decrease after petting the cats. These results show that having cats as pets can be very beneficial to human health.

83- Does Color Affect Whether or not, we Want to Purchase it?

Color has a lot of effects on the way we see things. Companies use color to try and make it more appealing to the eye of a child. This project investigates whether a colored box will make a child want that cereal over a boring box. It also investigates how the decision of cereal is influenced by color even if the boring one tastes better. To do this experiment boxes of normal Lucky Charms and the off brand covered in white paper were laid out. Then had each child lined up and documented their selection in secret and picked which box of cereal they would like to eat. After the children made their selections there were pre-poured bowls of each cereal and the children tasted it without knowing which cereal it was. Each child then picked which cereal they thought tasted better and the data was collected with a ballot. The results of this experiment, when the children were asked to pick a cereal 12 out of 16 children picked Lucky Charms, 4 out of 16 picked the boring box. After, when they tasted the cereal 12 out of 16 picked Lucky Charms and 4 out of 16 picked the boring box. The hypothesis was proved true that children pick Lucky Charms, the more colorful box instead of the boring off brand box even if they don’t know the taste.

84

Which toothpastes Whiten the Most?

It is critical to have good hygiene to keep yourself healthy. This also applies to dental health and involves my project. The goal was to test which toothpaste had the most whitening effect on eggs. I was unable to actually test it on teeth, so the next best objects to test on were eggs because they are white and are full of calcium. There were many good reviews about Crest 3D White so technically, it should contain the best results. After the 36 eggs were bought, they were stained in coffee for 24 hours in order to test the toothpastes against stains. 6 toothbrushes and 6 different toothpastes were also bought in the process. They were some of the most used toothpastes and also guaranteed whiter teeth within a certain amount of days. These toothpastes were Crest 3D White, Colgate Optic White, Sensodyne Pronamel, Crest Pro Health Advanced, Crest Fluoride Anticavity and Colgate Whitening. Each toothpaste was given 6 eggs and brushed each twice every day for 10 seconds for 9 days. There was no clear answer as to which toothpaste made the eggs look the whitest but it seemed to be the Colgate Optic White. Further testing is to be done for a longer period of time to get improved results. It was hoped that the crest 3D would be the most whitening toothpaste but the answer wasn’t clear. It would have been great to help people to find the whitest toothpaste brand.