Science Experiments

Archive for September, 2007

Question: How long does a lab report have to be?

My daughter is doing a scientific-method based experiment proposal for her tenth grade Biology class, and she needs to write a conclusion as part of it. She isn’t sure about how long it has to be, or what to include in it…any suggestions will help, thanks!

Answer: I think that depends on what her teacher wants.

A true scientific journal article would have the conclusion/discussion section as most of the article (at least, in the field of molecular biology). In it, they explain what they hypothesize their evidence to mean. This is especially important when results aren’t intuitive, like when they give you a gel and say “In this deletion mutant, this protein disappeared” or “we did not detect any phosphorylation of such-and-such protein.” They would need to explain what that means, and propose a pathway of molecular interaction.
I think for high school reports I always wound up repeating the results and drawing a conclusion. “We can conclude based on ____ that ____.”

The Energy Report – 5/25/10

Question: edit this for me? many commented that it needs better punctuation. i dont see any errors?

As a kid, I was always been fascinated by the ways of science, and asking questions in science class or reading the textbook over and over was just not enough. I attended the National Science Center Summer Camp, where I spent endless hours watching exhibits, and working with many hands-on activities. It was not just a play-area to me, but instead a newly discovered land of wonder, including machines that could produce electrical energy using wind, solar, and even human energy, exhibits explaining how substances interact, experiments with magnetic fields, sound waves, electricity, and much more. This new world of science seemed like magic; it all seemed to fit together.

Answer: As a kid, I was always fascinated with science. No matter how many questions I asked in science class or how many hours I spent reading textbooks, I could never get enough information. I attended the National Science Center Summer Camp, where I spent endless hours observing science exhibits and working with many hands-on activities. It was fun, but it wasn’t simply a play-area to me. Instead, this was a newly discovered land of wonder, which included machines that could produce electrical energy using wind, solar, and even human energy. The exhibits demonstrated several concepts and contained experiments relating to magnetic fields, sound waves, electricity, and much more. This new world of science seemed like magic; it all seemed to fit together.

Try to keep everything in past tense, your paragraph uses too many gerunds which are generally a present tense construction.

Salt Sound Waves

Question: Is there any experiment that i can do that can represent lightning or electricity?

I have this science project that is due in a couple days and i wanted to this experiment where u could make your own lightning but several other people in my class are already doing that.
I want to win so i need n experiment that is really cool that i can do in a group in front of people
The experiment has to do with at least lightning, electricity or hydroelectricity
It should represent one of those topics well enough and if any of the experiments have to do with sparks then the sparks have to be big and clear enough to see in the light.

Best Experiment Awarded Ten Points!

Answer: I known an experiment having to do with the flow of electrons… so it’s basically electricity.

You’ll need:
1 copper strip
1 zinc strip
1 apple
insulated copper wire
a small LED or torch bulb
a wire socket

Instructions:
Connect the wire ends of the socket to one copper and one zinc strip. Stick the metal strips into an apple. Put the bulb into the socket.

The bulb should light up.
The more apples and strips you use in series, the brighter the bulb should light up.

Explanation:
Protons from the acid contained in the apple pull electrons from both strips. The copper strip(anion), however, gains electrons from the zinc strip(cation) through the wire. This flow of electrons creates a current resulting in precious electricity. I hope this applies. Good luck!

Museum of Science Boston, Overnight