SCIENCE FAIR: GETTING THE IDEA
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A science fair project! What to do??? Do I have to find a cure for cancer??? A way to end pollution???? An endless supply of inexpensive electricity?? HELP!!
WHOA!! Quit biting your nails! You’re not expected to win a Nobel Prize with your very first project (that can wait a year or two!) .
What are you expected to do?? Well, first of all, you’ve got to select a topic. And, how, you ask, do you do that? Checklist #1 should help. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.

CHECKLIST #1 - DECIDING ON A PROJECT

STEP 1
LIST 10 THINGS YOU ARE INTERESTED IN: (examples: playing the piano, football, computers, people watching, plants, chemistry, skateboards, animals, photography)
OR : HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED ABOUT: (examples: is black print easier to read than blue? Do brown eggs have more cholesterol than white? Would a helicopter fly better if it had more blades? what care do computer disks really need? Which fishing line is the strongest?)

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If you listed the things you like, pick 4 and ask yourself 5 questions about it... questions you’d really like to know the answers to. For example, let’s say you really like football. Your questions might include, “Can I write a computer program to predict the outcome of this year’s NFL games?” Would young players learn faster if the coach used a computer to diagram plays?” “Do Pac-Man whizzes make better passers?” Or, getting away from computers, “Do players with thicker necks suffer fewer injuries?” Does artificial turf produce more touchdowns?’ “What is the relationship between body fat and running speed?”
Get the idea?? Okay, your turn.

Hint: be sure there is NOTHING on taste testing... and I mean NOTHING! Minimize the “boy vs girl” projects. Be very concious of the amount of time plant projects take. You only have until Dec to finish this and you won’t start growing them until about Oct. Projects involving tobacco; tobacco products; smokeless powder; black powder; explosives; the manufacture of rocket fuel and/or alcohol/other intoxicants or gasohol (or the production of these), are prohibited.
SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS TO AVOID PROJECTS WHICH WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED
1. Survey projects (opinion sampling, product use, etc.  An in-depth questionnaire that probes into factors affecting opinions – and is thoroughly correlated – may stand on its own as a project or may be used as a preliminary step in behavioral studies.) 2.  Models, e.g. volcanoes 3.  Demos, e.g. how a battery works 4.  Anything in violation of animal or other Fair regulations 5. Projects with small sample sizes 6.Projects with limited numbers of test runs 7.  Illogical tests – e.g. effect of rum on plant growth 8. Projects in which the results are common knowledge 9.Kit building, e.g. Radio Shack or Heathkits 10.  Projects which duplicate standard class/text experiments 11. Collections, e.g. minerals 12.  Anything with purely subjective measurements
PROJECTS UNLIKELY TO BE ACCEPTED – AVOID!
(overdone, lack originality, extremely difficult to do properly)
1.  Effect of colored light on plants (or anything else) 2.  Effect of music on plants (ditto) 3. Effect of talking on plants (ditto) 4. Mold growth 5.Crystal growth 6. Effect of Coke, coffee, etc. on teeth 7.Effect of running, music, video games, etc. on blood pressure 8.  Do we eat balanced diets?  (data usually unreliable) 9.  Strength /absorbency of paper towels (and other projects) 10.  Product testing projects that take a “which is best?” approach – generally without scientific merit 11.  Graphology 12.  Astrology 13.  ESP, especially standard card test 14.  Basic maze running 15. Any project that boils down to simple preference 16.  Effect of color on memory, emotion, mood, taste, strength, etc. 17.  Optical Illusions 18.  Reaction times 19.  Most male /female comparisons (especially if bias shows) 20.  Basic planarian re-growth 21.  Detergents vs. stains 22.  Basic solar collectors 23.  Basic flight tests, e.g. planes, rockets 24.  Battery life projects of the plug in and run down type 25.  Basic popcorn volume tests 26.  Pyramid power 27.  Basic flower preservation techniques 28.  Taste comparisons, e.g. Coke vs. Pepsi 29.  Smelling vanilla, etc. to improve test scores 30.  Child-resistant caps tested on kids (arthritics, maybe) 31.  Sleep learning 32.  Taste or paw-preferences of cats, dogs, etc. 33.  Color choices of goldfish, etc. 34.  Basic chromatography 35.  Wing, fin shape comparisons with mass not considered 36.  Ball bounce tests with poor measurement techniques

MY QUESTIONS ARE:
1: Topic: ____________________________ My 5 questions about this topic are:
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2: Topic: ____________________________ My 5 questions about this topic are:
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3: Topic: ____________________________ My 5 questions about this topic are:
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4: Topic: ____________________________ My 5 questions about this topic are:
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IF YOU COULD PICK YOUR FAVORITE TOPIC WHICH WOULD IT BE??
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