Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair

[Animal Sciences] Cricket Cryostasis
The purpose of this experiment was to test the theory of cryostasis in crickets and to see how long a cricket could survive in a sub-freezing environment. To start this experiment, I poked holes in a plastic container and placed a cricket inside of the container. Starting the first set of experiments, I set a timer for 5 minutes, then placed the container and cricket inside a freezer set at about -17.70 C (0 F) and started the timer. After the allotted time, I took the container out of the freezer and observed the cricket. I placed the cricket in a bag and put the bag in a warm area of my house to see if the cricket would be able to revive. I tried with less time, starting at ten seconds and working my way up to 3 minutes. The maximum time that a cricket survived was about 2:45. My other experiments made the introduction into the coldest environment more gradual, which provided more accurate data. I placed the cricket in the plastic container and placed it into environments starting with room temperature and gradually lowering the temperature until I placed it into the freezer. The cricket was actually able to survive a longer period of time with this method, with the cricket being able to survive the freezer for 5:15. My data shows that cryostasis would be difficult to induce in invertebrates; therefore it would be even more difficult to apply these principles to complex vertebrates.

[Animal Sciences] Angus Or Murray Grey
If I have two steers that are about the same size and weight but different breeds, Murray grey and Angus, and I track their average daily weight gain while they are given the same amount of feed,(hay, and then hay and grain) which breed will perform better? The steers were within 30 lbs. of each other to begin. I fed the steers about 16 lbs. of quality alfalfa hay each day for 49 days. I then fed them the same amount of hay and added a supplement of 4 lbs. of high protein grain to each of them for 42 days. The steers were weighed at the start, after the first test period, and at the end. The animals were kept in the same corral with free access to the feed. The Murray Grey steer gained the most weight per day during the initial test period. The Angus had a significant jump in weight gain when the supplement was added. Murray Grey cattle are known for their weight gain on just pasture or hay. Angus cattle need to have supplements added to finish off properly and to get a premium grade. My data supported the research that I found. If the test was to continue for a longer period of time, the Murray Grey weight gain would increase while on grain once their bodies were given substantial time to adapt to the higher protein feed. This data would be useful to farmers when choosing the breed of cattle they raise.

[Animal Sciences] The Herpetoculture Of The Tangerines
Traits of the tangerine leopard gecko

[Animal Sciences] Good Rid Ants
Research Question: Are natural ant repellents effective in driving ants away? Which kind of natural repellents will repel the ants the best out of mint, pepper, and baby powder? My hypothesis is that pepper will be the best natural repellent because the strong scent and taste of the pepper is a natural defense for the plant to keep insects away. Method: The natural repellents tested were: 1) mint, 2) pepper, and 3) baby powder. The ants were placed in paired compartments to see how many would move from the compartment with repellent to the adjacent compartment without repellent. The variables were the repellents and the number of ants. Every compartment had the same amount of water and food. The repellent compartments contained the same amounts of repellent. After 11½ hours, the ants were permanently immobilized by freezing. Counts were then taken of the number of ants in each of the compartments. Data, observations, and analysis: The experiment showed that the mint and baby powder were 100% effective. When it came to the pepper, about 60% of the ants in both trials had moved over to the other compartments. These results were very different from my hypothesis. Only one ant moved over to the other paired compartment in all of the three controls. Conclusion: Natural ant repellents are effective in driving ants away. The results are reliable because the tests were duplicated with the same outcomes. They are significant because of the large differences between the repellent and control outcomes.

[Animal Sciences] Cold Chickens
We tested the effects of Utah's winter weather conditions on the number of eggs chickens lay. We found that it has some impact on the amount of eggs they produce.

[Animal Sciences] Rat Tastic Slumber
I studied the sleeping behavior of my pet rat by altering the accessibility of bedding materials allowing her to choose what she preferred. Over the course of twelve days, i discovered the rat always used facial tissues more than cotton or rags.

[Animal Sciences] Better Out Than In
My project is about why horses cannot burp nor vomit. It mostly focuses in the esophagus of the horse. In the project there will be a model to demonstrate how the esophagus works. The problem: Why can't horses burp??? Horses cannot burp because of the esophagus. I thought that if the horse's esophagus has a valve at the end and has very muscular contractions only one way then the air will not come back up to make a burp. The difference between a real horse and this model are, for one the model is not living and it is not an exact replica. The horse cannot burp. My project is about why horses cannot burp. It mostly focuses in the esophagus of the horse. In the project there will be a model to demonstrate how the esophagus works. The problem: Why can't horses burp??? The horse cannot burp, because of all reasons mentioned before. I did not really test this project; it was really more of a research and physical. I was inspired by Michelangelo De Vince.

[Animal Sciences] A New Way To Test For Deafness In Dogs
This project tested a new way to test for deafness in dogs, a short ten second test that might just be revolutionary.

[Animal Sciences] Lateralization In The Canine Brain
During this project I tested to see if dogs showed similar signs of brain lateralization as humans do. The way that I tested this was by performing three different experiments inquiring if dogs had a specific paw preference. My experiments tested if dogs used a specific paw to begin walking, if they turned around in a specific direction, or if they would use a specific paw to retrieve a treat. I preformed these test on 15 different dogs of no specific gender, breed or age. By not limiting my sample group I was able to find a broad response to my question without any variables that could affect the results of this project. What I found is that most dogs are left pawed with almost as many being either right pawed or ambidextrous. By doing research on my topic, I found that dogs have shown that they are likely to mirror the actions of their owner. I believe that this corresponds with my results because most people are right handed. During my research I was also able to find that dogs that show fewer signs of brain lateralization are more easily distracted and have a harder time transferring their attention from disturbing stimulus such as loud noises. This makes them unlikely candidates to succeed at becoming a service dog. Therefore my project can be a simple way to rule out unlikely candidates to complete service dog training.

[Animal Sciences] Gerbil
In a world where Gerbils are often labeled “rats” or “rodents”, a single teen boy rises with an idea that will prove Gerbils can do more than hold a seed and eat it at the speed of sound. Asking myself, I pondering if my gerbil would be able memorize 7 commands of my choice very much like a dog. I hypothesized that my Gerbil would be able to accomplish the task in 34 days. I searched on the internet and books ravenously on tricks or hints on how to train a furry Gerbil and created an acronym: R.A.T.S. (Repeated Acknowledgment of Teaching Steps) to teach the desired 7 commands. Extremely ironic though, even when the whole objective of the testing is to have Gerbils called by their rightful name. Moving on, I began the experiment for a length of 34 days (still in testing) using the R.A.T.S. method. In the beginning and nearing the end, I had a frustrating time attempting to grasp my gerbil’s attention which created a sort of concentration crest of rise and fall. In conclusion, I successfully had my Gerbil memorize 6 out of 7 commands almost perfectly. Although very recently, my gerbil has not been doing so well but nevertheless, I believe he can improve.

[Animal Sciences] Worms Eat Compost
I did my project on worms. Not just ordinary words, these worms are called composting worms. These worms were breed to eat compost which are also known as table scraps or leftovers.So bassically what i dod on my project was to see how long it takes worms to eat different types of food. The three types of food i used were strtawberries, jalepenos and parsley.I used these somewhat uncomon foods, to see if i had a more wide spread of results. I used strawberries for more of a sweet taste.I used the parsley for more of a natural food source they would have if the worms were in a natural enviornment. I used the jalepenos for the hot part of the project. This is not a very common project anyone would do. A lot of people ask me how I found this project? Well actually I made it up. I love the earth, and i said why can't I show people how much they are polluting the enviornment by wasting all of their food scraps. We are polluting our landfills today with so much waste, and about thirty percent of it is food waste. Now if more people knew about these worms, it would be like saving our world all over again. MY question for my project was How long does it take for eack group of 100 worms take to eat 1/2 lb. of their assinged food? I had a time of a week, and the jalepeno box ate it the quickest!

[Animal Sciences] Is Your Dog As Smart As You Think?
I wanted to see what size of dog has the best attention span to be trained to do tricks. On the first day, I found dogs around my neighborhood and down at the animal shelter that are all different sizes, small, medium, and large. i tested them all on the Hidden test. The were graded A,B,or C. The next day, I tested the dogs on the Obstacle course again grading A,B, or C. On the third day, I tested them on the Silent test and graded them in the same way. On the fourth day I did the String test, on the same dogs, using the same grading. I added up the results and found that meduim dogs would be the best to work with.( small: 178, medium: 188, and large: 181.

[Animal Sciences] Bird's Eye View: A Study On The Color Preference Of Cassin's Finches
Cassin’s finches, or Carpodacus Cassinii, are medium-sized birds of the order Passeriformes. In a 2003 study on the distribution of birds’ color vision by Odeen and Hastad, it is shown that while not all birds can see ultraviolet, species within the orders Psittaciformes (Macaws) and Passeriformes (perching birds, including finches) do possess ultraviolet sensitivity. It was questioned whether or not Cassin’s Finches have a preference for bird feeders of a certain color, and hypothesized that Cassin’s Finches, both male and female, have a preference for a red bird feeder because it is similar in color to male finch plumage. The experiment used three bird feeders, bird seed, and three colors of paint (red, green and ultraviolet). The three bird feeders were each painted one of the different colors, and then it was noted which feeders the finches ate from. Though the p-values indicate that the data is not significant, this seems to be due to small sample sizes. A surprising observation was that 62% of the finches were male, but despite several hypotheses as to why, it is not understood exactly why this is. Regardless, the finches have shown a preference for the ultraviolet bird feeder, and so it was concluded that the Cassin’s finches have a preference for a bird feeder painted with ultraviolet BirdVision paint.

[Animal Sciences] An Isotopic Analysis Of Anthropogenic Food Sources In Raptor Diet Using ?15 N And ?13 C
Our partner organization, Hawkwatch International, helped us collect breast feathers from four types of birds: Red-tailed hawks, American kestrels, Sharp-shinned hawks, and Cooper’s hawks. Red-tailed hawks and American kestrels are generalists that feed and breed in agricultural and urban areas, whereas Sharp-shinned hawks and Cooper’s hawks are specialists that feed and breed in more isolated forested areas. Raptors are an indicator species that have historically reflected problems in ecosystems. Of special concern is the American kestrel population, which several recent studies have indicated is currently declining. The reason for this decline is still under speculation: one hypothesis is that their habitat is changing due to reforestation and drought, others speculate on the continued impacts of pesticides. Our experiment could indicate whether their food sources are native or anthropogenic. We ran the feather samples through the University of Utah’s mass spectrometer to find ?15N and ?13C isotope levels. We looked at these elements specifically because natural nitrogen contains different isotopic ratios than the nitrogen used to fertilize crops and carbon isotope levels reveal whether the bird has consumed more nutrients from C4 plants, like corn, or more from C3 plants native to north-central North America. Levels of nitrogen isotopes did not differ between generalist and specialist species. Nitrogen is affected by many different factors, which makes data analysis difficult. We found that sharp-shinned hawks and Cooper’s hawks had a higher ?13C in their diets relative to red-tailed hawks and American kestrels indicating that there are more C4 plants in their diet.

[Animal Sciences] Mystery Meat; Getting Down To The Isotopes
For our experiment we wanted to gather twelve beef samples, six that were labeled “100% grass-fed” and six that were industrially raised and look at what they were made up isotopically. If a cow was really being raised eating grass then we would find that the sample wouldn’t contain a large amount of carbon-13 while the industrial beef samples would, because corn is a C-4 plant, which takes up a lot of this carbon isotope during photosynthesis while C-3 plants, such as grass don’t. We used a mass-spectrometer to gather these results. Before beginning we had to put the twelve samples into a vacuum to dehydrate them, then we used liquid nitrogen to easily be able to grind the samples into a fine powder. We measured .5 micrograms of each sample and placed them into a tiny tin capsule, then placed them into the mass-spectrometer: then each sample went through a series of steps. First, the mass-spectrometer takes away one or two electrons making the molecules into positive ions. Then the ions are separated to their mass-to-charge ratio by electromagnetic fields, from then on you can use to data acquired to figure out what kind of carbon isotope is in the beef. The mass spectrometer gave us ? 13C, which represents the proportion of C-12 to C-13. To analyze our data we put our results onto an excel spreadsheet and created a bar graph out of the results. The Y-axis was organized by most corny to least corny. The X-axis represented the isotope ratio: we made -15.0 the cutoff for C4 producers, everything above (-15.0-0) would be a C4 producer and everything below (-16.0- -30.0) would be a C3 producer.

[Animal Sciences] Does Niche Partitioning Occur In Winter Flocks Of Forest Songbirds?
The study examined the characteristics of winter flocks of songbirds in mixed conifer forests of Northern Utah and the degree to which niche partitioning occurred within the flocks. Methods involved 16 hours of observation between December and February. Overall, 23 winter flocks were observed and the vast majority of birds encountered were in flocks. Dramatic differences in the kinds of trees and position within trees were documented for the different birds species in the flocks. This niche partitioning likely reduces competition between birds that flock together to reduce risk from predators.

[Animal Sciences] Ferret Intelligence
For my project I tested the intelligence of my five ferrets, Honey Bootsie, Smoochy, Smokey, and Dante. I hypothesized that Dante would receive first place. I first filled out an IQ test, in which I found off line, and then I timed each ferret separately in five different tests, I tested each ferret three times for each test. For each test I timed it, and then came up with averages. My testes consisted of calling their name, shaking a treat container, hiding a treat in my hand, hiding a treat under a reusable plastic container, and then I squeaked a toy. After the test results I added up all of their averages to come up with first through second place. In the end Smoochy got first place, Bootsie got second place, Dante got third place, Smokey got fourth place, and Honey got fifth place.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Think Fast!
Does the speed of your voluntary reflexes increase or decrease after you have eaten a meal? I wanted to learn more about what affects your voluntary reflexes and your reaction time. I studied about voluntary reflexes and the nervous system. I also learned about why foods that are high in carbohydrates make you sleepy. When you eat a meal high in carbohydrates, the carbohydrates turn in to glucose. If your body has too much glucose, your brain sends out insulin to help keep it balanced. The insulin immediately produces a protein called tryptophan. The tryptophan then creates a chemical called serotonin. Serotonin makes you sleepy. Based on my research, I predicted that the speed of human voluntary reflexes will decrease after eating a meal high in carbohydrates. I used a standard reaction test. I tested how quickly participants could catch a ruler. I conducted the test before and after the participants ate a meal high in carbohydrates. The results of my experiment proved my hypothesis to be true. I found that when you eat a meal high in carbohydrates, your voluntary reflexes slow down.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] When Are You Full?
Studies have said that most people eat until their plate is empty, even though they might be full. Not being able to see your food could result in how much you eat.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Blurry Concentration
For my experiment, my goal was to determine whether obstructing peoples vision using glasses over only one eye and not tailored to their vision will change where they focus in their field of vision. To measure the effect I used a well proven phenomena called change blindness which states that people are more likely to see something unusual or a change if they are concentrating on the area where it happens. I had 2 main independent variables, one that measured whether the change in image is on the same side or the opposite side as the glasses were. The other variable that I believed would change the outcome is whether or not the person is allowed to move their head. I predicted that people would be paying more attention to the side opposite of the glasses and that the ability to move one's head will further increase the effect while restricting the head will create the opposite effect. I accurately predicted that when the head movement is unrestricted then the change is noticed faster. The results also show that I predicted the results while the head was not allowed to move. An unexpected effect occurred when the head was allowed to move. When the head's movement is unrestricted then instead of following the predicted pattern, the people who had the change on the same side of the glasses were significantly faster then the people with the change on the opposite side.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Do Your Eyes Help You Taste?
Does the color of our food affect the way it tastes to us? When a certain food or flavor is not the expected color, is it harder for us to figure out the flavor of the food or drink.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Can You Tell The Difference?
For our project we were wondering if people can really can tell the difference between name brand and store brand prodcuts, so we tested it. We took six items name brand and store brand, cookies, cereal and chips and we put them in cups labeled "A" and "B".We tested 50 people and asked them to try each cup. We asked which one the liked better and which one they thought was the name brand. We recorded the data on a table. We ended up finding out the majority of people we tested liked the name brand product. So we concluded that it is worth it to buythe name brand products.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Kids Vs. Adults
Are children better multitaskers than adults?

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Park City School District Computer Survey
In the beginning of 9th grade we were given laptop computers by the Park City School District, and we were expected to continue using it throughout the school year. I wanted to know if 9th grade students use their laptops wisely and sufficiently, or if it is was just another additive to our school luggage. I wanted to test this by gathering data of students over a 27 day period starting January 5, 2012 and ending on January 31, 2012, on certain types of activities like Homework, Listening to Music, Gaming Watching Movies, E-mailing, Twitter, and simply Other Activities. I hypothesized that 9th grade Park City School District Students spend more time on other activities besides homework because a person can easily become distracted by other activities. My results showed that only about 41% of the time students are doing other activities versus about 59% of the time was done doing homework. I conclude that my hypothesis was wrong and that of the 9th grade students that I surveyed about 59% of the time was spent doing homework. I think that if I were to do a further study I would want to choose more subjects, for my data to be more valid, than just some of the students in my 9th grade Honors Biology class, or make the 27 day period smaller so more students are willing to track the dates and times on which was spend on their computers.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Does Sight Affect Taste?
I chose this project because I wondered if the color of a food or drink would affect the way a person percieved the taste.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Stare Down
According to published research, at least 70% of people feel they have the ability to sense when another person is staring at them. However, after a moment's reflection, it becomes clear that to feel the stare of someone outside one's field of vision would require some awareness not typically ascribed to the five basic senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch) If the ability to sense when a subject is stared at can be scientifically proven, it would hint at the presence of a sixth sense. However, if no subjects can be found who demonstrate clear evidence of having such a sense, one must wonder why so many people believe that it exists. To conduct this experiment and find an answer, I tested 20 people. Each sat in a chair facing the wall while I (sitting directly behind them, completely out of view) flipped a coin and depending on the result, looked intently at them or stared at the floor. This was done ten times for each subject and I recorded their answers.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Gender And Art
I wanted to find out if ability in art was effected by gender. I had volunteer boy and girl students sketch a tree, a flower and a mountain and had these drawing rated by an art teacher.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Caution Wet Paint
Painting is my favorite hobby, I usually purchase expensive artists paints for my projects because I feel they make the project look more professional. However, because of the cost I sometimes am not able to finish. So “can cheaper acrylic paints work just as well as expensive artist paints in covering over lines?” I believe that the more expensive the paint the better it will cover because of the amount of pigment. I also believe that the cheaper the paint the worse it will do. I researched and interviewed a painter then set up my project. I chose four surfaces: canvas, fabric, paper and wood and four paints ranging from $.02 per ml to $.78 per ml. Marking off measured areas with a permanent marker on each surface, using the same amount of paint, brush position and pressure, I tried three layers of paint for each surface and paint, to see if one, two or three strokes of the paint would make a difference in comparing the results. Through testing I found that there are other things that create a good paint not just the pigment, and I was able to answer my question. I found that there are cheaper paints that can perform as well and even better than the most expensive and that even though a paint is cheap it does not mean that it will perform the worst. In fact the paint that worked the best only cost 3 cents per ml. So both hypotheses were incorrect.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Subconscious Sense
Psychologist Boris Sidis researched a theory known as unconscious cerebration in the late 1800s. The theory claims that the subconscious mind takes input from the five senses extremely quickly and very accurately, processing it for later use, but without the awareness of the conscious mind. Because the pathways between the conscious and subconscious are limited, the information cannot flow freely from one to the other. Sidis’ experiments yielded interesting results and research on the subject has continued. Implicit actions/reactions are movements that happen quickly and are almost entirely impulsive. There is substantial evidence to link subconscious cerebration to implicit reactions, however most existing data has a time delay between information exposure and testing. This project attempted to test the connection between unconscious cerebration and implicit reactions by introducing new information to the subject and testing their recall immediately afterward. The test required subjects to guess which number was hidden in an image flashed before them for 25 milliseconds. About 140 subjects were tested and all testing was carried out via a computer program designed for the project. The final data did not support the hypothesis that implicit reaction would yield a higher percentage of correct numerical input, but it cannot entirely disprove a connection between the subconscious and implicit actions.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Do People Remember Visual Or Audio Information Better?
The main purpose of this experiment was to see if people remember audio or visual information better. We hypothesized that children from the ages of 7-13 would remember visual information better than audio information. To test our hypothesis we visited Youth City Afterschool Program to conduct the experiment on them. We tested 28 kids between the ages of 7-13. For the visual test we used 4 flashcards that displayed a series of random things. For the audio test we used a voice recording saying various facts. All of the kids got both tests done, and 15 minutes later we handed out a worksheet that tested their ability to remember what they'd seen and heard. Our conclusion supported our hypothesis. The kids responded to better to the flashcards than to the voice recording. 50% of the kids could remember visual information better, 29% of the kids could remember audio information better, 18% got all of the questions right on both portions, and 4% got none of the questions right(1 person) on both portions.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Memory Of Words
Memory of Words is a project to see if the first letter of your name helps you remember words with the same first letter.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Age And Gender Differences In Visual Spatial Adaptation
Background: We all must adapt to our environment. One factor that has been associated with adaptation ability is intelligence. I hypothesized that age might influence ability to adapt because as you age you gain knowledge and experience. Materials and Methods: I developed a test using the computer program Eye Lines to test a subject’s ability to adapt to a visual-spatial challenge. Subjects used a computer mouse to trace around a diamond, with a strange mouse setup. The vertical directions were normal, but left and right were switched. Each performed the task five times. I tested 36 subjects, nine subjects in each of these groups: (1) Females 12-16 years, (2) Males 12-16 years, (3) Females 30-50 years, (4) Males 30-50 years. Results: My data show that in almost every analysis there were no significant differences in performance between any of the groups. There were two comparisons that showed a significant difference. There were a few other comparisons where I measured a difference in performance, but the likelihood that it happened by chance was a little higher than standard. Conclusions: I predicted that adults would show more ability to adapt to the task, because they have more experience and knowledge. However, I was unable to show consistent differences in how well the experimental groups adapted to the task. Although there were two analyses where a difference in performance was seen, and a few others that were close, this was not enough evidence to show real differences between the age and gender groups.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Writing, Doodling & Listening...Oh My?
To research and understand note taking in school. Is it better to write long hand notes, doodle pictures to help you remember what was talked about in class, or just sit quietly and listen?

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] At The Line
My project was based on a topic I enjoy - Basketball. I wanted to know which basketball free-throw starting position produces the best results? There are three common starting positions in basketball which are 1. a position with your dominant hand on the middle of the ball and your other hand on the side, or the "shooters pocket", holding the ball below the waist. 2. holding the ball in the "shooters pocket" level between the elbow and chest. 3. holding the ball in the "shooters pocket" above the head. Using students from my school I created an environment for them to shoot free-throws while studying their position. My project will display the results.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] The Effects Of Multitasking
My project is on the effects multitasking has on performance, and if it varies depending on the second task. I tested multiple participants and averaged their change from the control for each test they did. One with music, one with TV, and one in a crowded room. From there I came up with my conclusion on the effects of multitasking.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Can You Get Fingerprints Off Of Skin?
All humans have friction ridge skin on their fingers, palms, and the soles of their feet. This skin is commonly called fingerprints. These areas of skin often leave deposits of sweat on surfaces when touched. A lot of surfaces yield good fingerprints. However, some surfaces are more difficult. These include leather, cloth, rough surfaces, and skin. The reason it is so hard on skin, is that it perspires. The perspiration has a tendency to wipe the sweat deposits away.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Dominant Eye Vs. Recessive Eye. Which Eye Is Better At Calculating Depth Perception?
We first became interested in this topic when we decided to work with a vision related project. After we gathered more researched, we came across depth perception. The purpose of our experiment was to determine wether the dominant or recessive eye of a person could better calculate monocular depth perception. Our hypothesis was that the dominant eye would have a stronger ability to calculate monocular depth perception. We tested 30 individuals with a testing box that we created. The box’s purpose was to have a way to take in measurements. These individuals had their dominant eye determined and then were tested with our testing box. The individuals had to connect two markers as accurate as they could while leaving a marking on paper, a part of the testing box. After collecting all data, our trials showed that, on average, the dominant eye was better at calculating monocular depth perception. The dominant eye on average, was 8.9 mm off on the alignment, where the recessive eye, was 10.4 mm off. Overall, we learned that we use depth perception everyday, and that it is the reason for seeing 3 dimensional objects and how we judge distances. What we learned could be taken to see how depth perception has changed over time. This topic is just one, of many sections of vision and how it works in living organisms

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Imaginative Involvement And Anxiety, Rumination, & Depression
Diagnosis of behavioral disorders has historically been inconsistent and full of error. By researching different behavioral aspects of individuals prone to anxiety and depression, researchers hope to improve the process of diagnosis and even prevention of these symptoms. This project specifically examined the link between anxiety, depression, and rumination and imaginative involvement. We selected surveys with demonstrated reliability to score survey participant’s level of anxiety, their temperament, level of imaginative involvement, and frequency of rumination habits (dwelling on negative events.) We surveyed 103 Westminster College students, many of whom were freshman and were therefore subject to experiences that might trigger anxiety. Through analysis of our data we found a strong, positive correlation between “negative fantasy” and rumination. We also found a strong correlation between rumination and anxiety, which we expected based on past published research. Therefore, we conclude that not only do those who ruminate often have more anxiety, but they are also likely to have negative daydreams- a result we did not expect to find. This data may allow psychologists to more accurately diagnose those with anxiety and depression.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Do Acronyms Improve Memorization
I tested 10 people using a random list of words and then a list of words with an acronym. After testing I measured if people memorized any better with acronyms. It turns out that 60% of people had improved memorization skills when using acronyms. It looks like acronyms could be a really effecient way to memorize.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Ready Steady Now...How Does Vision And Hearing Influence Reaction Time?
Reaction time is the time between the stimulus (a gunshot at the start of a race and the response (the person going). Reaction time is important for athletes. Reaction time is also important in other activities like driving and flying planes. My study examined whether reaction time is better when you can see and hear compared to when you can only see or only hear. My results showed that reaction time is better when you can use both your vision and your hearing. My conclusion is that if you want to have a good reaction time, then you need to protect your vision (wear goggles) and your hearing (wear earplugs around loud noises, have volume turned down to medium when you listen to music). It is best if you use multiple senses when you want to have a good reaction time (look and listen to everything around you when you are driving).

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] How Are Video Game Habits Of Boys And Girls Different
Boys and girls are different in many ways, including their video game habits. My survey of over 100 middle school students shows that girls play different types of games than boys. It also shows that boys and girls spend different amounts of time playing video games. Age has an impact on how much time boys and girls spend playing video games and also on what types of games they play.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Take It Or Leave It
My project was based on the theory of delayed gratification. I met with 6 children from grades Kindergarten through fourth, for a total of 30 participants. My procedure was for each minute the participant waited they received 1 gummy bear for each minute of the first five minutes, after which, they received 14 gummy bears for the 6th minute, 15 for 7 minutes and so on until 10 minutes (which was the maximum amount of time). I recorded how long the participant stated they would wait and then how long they actually waited. I also recorded their physical behaviors - such as facial expression, lying on the table, etc. .

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Is Tv, Music Or Video Games The Best Distraction For Pain?
Research has proven that distraction can be effective in coping with pain. Distractions that require more attention will be more effective. This study involved ten subjects who experienced the pain of having their feet in a bucket of ice water at three different times. The goal was to see how long the subjects could stand the pain for a maximum of fifteen minutes. At each sitting there was a distraction. The distractions used were TV, video games and music. The results proved that video games are the best distraction for pain. This information could be helpful to doctors and dentists where a distraction to pain could make the medical visit less stressful for the patient.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Quantifying Implicit Stereotypes Through The Cognition Of Ambiguous Speech
Unlike most creatures verbal language is our species most basic form of interaction. Communication controls how we accomplish everything in our lives, from paying a cashier to proposing a marriage is critical that what you articulate be fully understood. The advantages that communicating effectively can provide are nearly infinite and permeate into every aspect of a persons’ life. Recent developments in linguistics, many of which were oversaw by Stanford linguist, John Baug, shed light on an ancient human ability to pre determine a person’s ethnicity through incredibly minute tonal voice patterns and language syntaxes. Since then countless cases of minorities being denied loans, apartments, and job interviews has been directly attributed to racism incited through what has been deemed “linguistic profiling”. This study sought to discern how a speech sample completely stripped of racially differentiating factors would be comprehended when it was associated with contextually significant images. To quantify this, participants transcribed a computer generated voice listing examples of phonemes, the smallest perceptually distinct unit of sound. Subjects were led to believe these words were spoken by people of varying ethnicities, represented in photographs. Testing data shows a statistically significant disparity between the control and subjects who believed they were listening to someone of an ethnicity they self identified as. Furthermore, cognition was shown to be highly influenced by a hierarchy of factors such as language, age, parental education, and languages spoken. These large disparities exhibit how deeply ingrained implicit stereotypes have affected even the most basic level of communication.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Perception Of Time
The purpose of my project is to scientifically prove that each individual has his or her own perception of time or reality, and that their perception can differ in different situations. I researched my project by searching the internet for information on the affects of stress on the body. I found that stress can affect the body in many different ways so I decided to test the affects of stress on our perception using time as a constant. I collected the perceptions of time of thirteen different people in three different situations. Each person was asked to tell me when they thought five minutes had passed. I then recorded how much time had actually passed. By comparing the data from my research and experiment, I was able to prove that everyone does have their own perception of time or reality. This is important because it will help us better accept the reality or needs of others even if we don’t see the need ourselves.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Can You See, One, Two, Three
ABSTRACT Purpose: I never thought that people didn’t understand numbers greater than three as well as one, two, and three. My hypothesis is that people can’t understand numbers greater than three. I think that people can understand six and nine as well, because they are multiples of three. I especially thought six because it is a multiple of one, two, and three. Procedures: I took the black cards with 1 to 10 white dots and held them up for about 2 seconds each. The person I was testing had to tell us how many dots they thought were on the card and I had a paper to check if they got it right. How many they got right I turned it into a percentage and everybody’s percentage all together was the overall percentage. Observations/data: The key results were that one, two, three, and four were 100%, and then it kept getting lower till nine. Then when it hit the number ten the percentage went way up and I think it went way up because when people saw a big number they guessed ten. Conclusions: My conclusions is that people understand numbers up to four. After that the percentage recognized dropped for each number up to nine. Then there was a jump in percentage with ten. This was surprisingly high. My hypothesis was right on I thought one, two, and three was going to be the highest and I was wrong about six and nine was going to be as high as the one, two, and three.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] How Color Affects The Flavor Of Food
Studies have found that the color of a food can greatly affect how its taste is perceived. For thousands of years people have relied on the color of food to help figure out what is edible. The color of fruit can tell you whether it is ripe, the color of meat whether it is rotten. The color of food can also affect how you think a food should taste. How would you expect a bowl of yellow-colored gelatin to taste? You might think it will taste sour because of your experiences with other yellow foods that are sour, such as lemons and grapefruits. Or you could think it tastes sweet like bananas or pineapples. In a study by DuBose, it was reported that subjects identified the correct flavor more often when the drink had the expected color. For example, an orange-colored drink that was actually cherry flavored was often thought to taste like an orange drink. DuBose helped to show that the color of food affects the taste of food.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Pavlov's Fish
I wanted to find out if I could train a betta fish to come up to the top of his aquarium to eat when I ring a bell. This is based on Pavlov’s experiment, where a dog salivates at the sound of a bell when he is trained that he will eat right after hearing the bell. I conducted an experiment using a control fish (Mr. Bubbles) and my experimental fish (Hamlet). I rang a bell only for Hamlet right before I fed him for 10 days. On the eleventh day, I rang a bell for both fish but did not feed them and recorded their reactions. I did this for 3 days. I learned that my experimental fish (Hamlet) had been trained to come up and look for food whenever I rang the bell for him. My control fish (Mr. Bubbles) swam when he heard the bell, but did not come for food. My conclusion is that I did train my betta fish to come to the top of this aquarium to eat when I ring the bell for him.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Music To The Brain
This project determines what genre of music will improve test scores for males and females. We gave the test subjects a series of memorization tests. Then the subjects took the tests listening to different genres of music. We evaluated their tests scores to determine which genre improved test scores for males and females.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Processed Verses Natural
I chose to do this for my science because, I had seen that a lot of kids and adults would eat processed and junk food. So, I wanted to show that eating healthy was a better choice. I wanted to get some research to back up processed and natural foods (one for each side). So, I went online and looked at natural and processed reinforcements(with the help of my mom). I may encounter(and did encounter) some difficulties narrowing down my choices to make room for it to all fit on the board. I also, ran into another problem: figuring out how many things to make. Because not many people had responded I only made 16 of each, and still there were some that didn't get any! Before I had actually done the experiment I thought that more people would choose natural because, I would choose natural on all of the choices(except for the orange juice). All of the choices that I had people try were; orange juice, granola bars, oreos/cookies, soup, and applesauce. I was right! I think that by doing this science experiment that maybe more people will eat healthy and realize the importance of it. While doing this science project I learned some additional information: that people tend to like what they are used to eating.So, if you want to like another food better than you should eat it more. I hope that more people in the world will realize how important it is to eat healthy someday.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Blu Ray Or Dvd
Blu-Ray disks offer higher resolution video than DVD. They also cost much more. I wanted to know if people can tell the difference. I performed two different experiments to see if people could distinguish between the types of disks. First, I showed the same segment of the "Percy Jackson" movie on both Blu-Ray and DVD, and asked subjects to rate the video quality 1-10. I then showed pieces of 4 more movies ("Up", "Kung Fu Panda 2", "How to Train your Dragon", and "Cars 2") from one type or the other, and asked them to guess whether they were watching a Blu-Ray or DVD. In both experiments, people really couldn't tell the difference, at least on our setup, which included a 40" Sony TV and a PS3 connected with an HDMI cable.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Science T Shirts
My experiment was social-science in nature. I wanted to discover how specific groups chose pattern preference through survey and data correlation. The results were somewhat unexpected, in comparison to my hypothesis.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Does Color Affect Taste?
I wanted to know if the color of food affects the taste of food. I tested people using clear and colored sodas. Testers tried, in random order, a clear lime soda and a green lime soda; a clear cherry soda and a red cherry soda, and so on. Even though the flavors were exactly the same, it was almost always easier for testers to identify the flavor correctly if the soda was colored.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Jack Of All Trades...Master Of None
Multi-tasking--can the brain effectively concentrate on more than one task at a time

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Does Highlighting A Text Improve Students’ Ability To Remember It?
Does highlighting text improve students’ ability to remember it better? This experiment could help the studying tactics of students. Students were given a highlighted version of text to read. At the end of the given time, I had the participants fill out a quiz to tell what they comprehended from the text. Then, I gave the same number of students a non-highlighted version of the same text to read over. At the end of the same amount of given time, I had different participants fill out the same quiz. I found that highlighting text will increase the remembrance of the text. But, for females, highlighting text will not increase the remembrance of the text. In this experiment, I hoped to prove that highlighting will increase the amount of text comprehended no matter what the gender was. I proved my hypothesis because for males, the highlighting of the text increased the amount of text comprehended. But, on the other hand, the result for females wasn't as I predicted. I guess in some cases, I did meet my expectations, but in others I did not.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Advertising: Fact Or Fiction
Hypothesis: Product advertising, specifically that used for paper towels, is complete fiction. I specify each brand's claim and tested each towel for the main quality it was advertised to have. My conclusion disproved my hypothesis, the advertised claims seem to be true but exaggerated.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Are You Smart Enough To Pass?
Both my partner and me took a test to find out what our interests were. We both had different results. But we decided to ask adults whether they could pass a test or not. We think that adults cannot pass a middle school science test. Two out of 10 might pass the test. We think this because there’s been a lot of new information that scientists have recently figured out. Teenagers are much more likely to know the new information, because when many adults were in school the new research was unknown. We also believe that there will be more teenagers who pass the test because they are being taught science more everyday than adults. We made a 20 question test using two 8th grade tests. Then we printed the test out. We then gave it to 10 adults and 10 teenagers. Corrected the tests. Finally we told the test takers whether they passed or failed, they needed at least 16 questions correct. The independent Variable: The age range in people. The dependent Variable: The score that people get Our hypothesis was wrong. We thought that one or two adults would pass, and most teenagers would pass the test. In the results three out 10 adults passed the test and none of the teenagers passed the test. The reason for this might be that the adults took it more seriously than the teenagers. The brains of the adults matured over time and have learned to use this in daily life.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Synesthesia + Stroop
My experiment determines if the Stroop effect applies to an individual with color-grapheme synesthesia. I printed flashcards of letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9) whose ink is in the perceived color for each synesthete subject (control group). I also printed three sets of flashcards that are not the same colors as the synesthete’s normally perceived colors (experimental group). I attempted to determine if the synesthete takes longer to correctly read the colors on the experimental group flashcards than the control group flashcards. Of the three synesthetes tested, the strongest color-grapheme synesthete was about 50% slower when reading the colors of the experimental group cards than when reading the control group cards. The other two test subjects, which display several types of synesthesia and are less-strongly “in-tune” with their color-grapheme synesthesia than their other types, did not show any statistically significant difference in the time it took them to read both card sets. I conclude that even though the majority of the evidence leans towards my hypothesis being incorrect, the fact that the strongest synesthete was indeed faster, and consistently so, when reading the control group cards, suggests that the Stroop effect may actually apply to a color-grapheme synesthete. Further study is needed, with a larger pool of exclusive color-grapheme synesthetes.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Double Take
This is a social science experiment to find out if abnormal appearances would result a more negative reaction. How do people's reactions differ based on appearance? How would you react when you don't think anyone is watching?? In a semi-controlled environment, will the first impression and reaction to normal teens versus Emo/Goth & Pregnant teens vary? The semi-controlled environment chosen was the mall. The 2 team members dressed in varying ways (Emo/Goth & Pregnant) and went to the mall to record reaction/impressions by the public. The mall public's reactions prior, during, and after the encounter with the girls were recorded. Then in the same semi-controlled environment, the team members dressed as regular teens and were presented to the public again. All reactions were recorded, interpreted, and compared to previous data. The general "mall" public was very judgmental at their first glance of teens in the varying looks. Surprisingly, there was a differing reaction to the two appearances that were used. The Emo/Goth look, was very unsettling for most of the subjects interviewed upon her approach. However, there was an initial kindness to the pregnant teen followed by extreme judgment. It was surprising to find that the reactions to the varying "looks" were so different. A judgmental reaction was expected, however, the timing of the reaction as well as the attempt to hide the judgment was unexpected. Overall, the varying appearances resulted in negative reactions compared to the norm, confirming the hypothesis.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Escalation Innovation For The Visually Impaired
Our project focused on the effects of different lighting conditions on the ease of use of esclalating staircases. Through our research, we hoped to detirmine whether altering the lighting conditions around an escalating staircase would be beneficial to people with visual impairments. Our procedure involves setting up a lighthing system around the base of an ascending staircase, with three lighting conditions. The first condition is a staircase with no change to the lighting, the second an increased lighting situation where no shadow is created, and a third condition where lighting was added with the addition of a shadow. Participants are asked to wear goggles as part of the simulation, which either offer no change to the visual acuity or simulate a visual impairment of approximately 20/700 vision.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Orange Twist
This project investigates whether the color orange influences how we smell orange fragrance. I asked 20 subjects to rank plastic shot glasses that were in two groups of five. The experimental group had different shades of orange water in each shot glass along with a different amount of orange fragrance. The control group shot glasses all had the same shade of orange water and had different amounts of scent in each shot glass, the same amounts as in the experimental group. My hypothesis was that my subjects’ minds would be confused by the color, but my results do not support my hypothesis. My results show that the senses of sight and smell can work independently, but sometimes do rely on each other. This experiment could help scientists in the areas of psychology and neuroscience determine whether or not one sense manipulates another in real life events.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Memory Magic
I decided to do my project about memory. The question I decided to focus on was, how is your ability to memorize both visually and with text affected by your age? I wanted to do some research and found out that the ages 25 and 26 were typically the best at memorizing in general. My hypothesis was that I believe that the test scores of the age group 19-25 will be the highest combined score, because they have been in school the longest and many are still in school. I decided to test ages ranging from 8 to 50. I tested 6 to ten people for each age group: 8-11; 12-18; 19-25; 26-35; 36-50. I prepared a test with 24 random nouns that were pretty simple. Then I gave everyone 1 minute to try to memorize as many words as they could from the list. I gave them 30 seconds to write down as many of those words as they could without looking at the list. Next I showed them a tray of 24 random objects. I gave them 1 minute to remember as many objects as they could. They then had 30 seconds to write the objects without looking at the tray. I recorded their scores in a notebook. My experiment proved that my hypothesis was incorrect. I predicted the 19-25 age group would have the highest test score overall. The test results showed the age group 36-50 had the highest score.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] The Effects Of Neurological Processing Style On Academic Success
The objective of this experiment was to determine if students’ processing styles (sequential versus spatial) influence their abilities to achieve success in school and on standardized tests. Informed consent was obtained from 30 students who voluntarily participated in a validated survey to determine each subject’s neurological processing style, GPA, and standardized test scores. The GPAs and the scores were used to determine any correlation between academic success and a subject’s processing style. The results indicate that sequential processors score higher on Standardized tests and achieve higher GPAs, on average, than do Spatial Processors. This suggests that spatial processors are at a disadvantage in the current educational system as measured by important criteria looked at by schools and colleges (grades and test scores). Furthermore, the data indicates that sequential processors have fewer outliers in their group, making it clear that sequential processors are not challenged enough in the current educational system. In 2009, the National Academy set “individualized education” as one of their top goals for the next decade. The data shows that this goal has not been met, as spatial processors are at a disadvantage in today’s education system. This problem could be fixed by having two different classes for the two types of processors; for example, one math class for spatial processors and one for sequential. Because processing style does seem to influence academic success, the ability to individualize education based on students’ processing style could be the key to enabling all students to excel at their studies.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Stick Or Switch
An exploration of Monty's Dilemma via random survey and controlled experiment.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Can Attractive Packaging Lead To Healthier Eating?
Many foods are packaged colorfully to make kids want to eat them. Most of these foods do not have a high nutritional value for growing bodies. However, fruits and vegetables, which have the highest nutritional values, are not packaged brightly. This project looks at whether or not children would be more likely to eat healthy food if it is packaged attractively. We tested three age groups: Pre-school, 2nd grade, and 6th grade. We had a total of 118 participants. We tested participants using two types of bags: a colored/decorated bag or a plain brown bag. We labeled the bags to distinguish boys and girls. We then placed an unopened bag of carrots in each of the bags. In each age group we tested two classes. One class received the brown bags and one class received the colored bags. After a preset amount of time, we collected the bags and weighed them to determine the amount of carrots remaining. We had three hypotheses: #1) Kids will eat more carrots if the packaging is exciting and colorful, #2) Exciting and colorful packaging will affect younger kids more than older kids, and #3) Gender won’t affect the results. The experiment results supported our first and third hypotheses. The kids with the colorful packages ate more carrots and gender didn’t significantly affect our results. Contrary to our second hypothesis, our results showed that the packaging affected the older kids more than the younger kids.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] All Crossed Up
I chose this project because of my love for basketball and I find it easier to do projects on things I like. I wanted to know if hand/eye dominance had any affect on shooting free throws. My procedure was very organized and so were the surveys I made. Individual shooters had to complete a survey, take a simple test to determine hand/eye dominance, and then shoot ten free throws. The data which I found backed up my hypothesis that crossed-sided shooters had an advantage in basketball. 36% of free throw shots were made by shooters who were crossed-sided while only 34% of free-throw shots were made by uncrossed- sided shooters.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Music's Effect On Math Performance
We tested the effect that music had on people's ability to perform math problems. Participants were given three math quizzes of equal difficulty--one with no music, one with classical music, and one with hard rock music. We determined from our testing that performance is best with classical music and worst with hard rock music.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] The Effect Of Caffeine On Children
I had some cousins come over and we gave have caffeine drinks and the others caffeine free drinks. Every hour we tested there blood pressure and there pulse and asked them questions of how energetic they are.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Mental Health Screeners In The Teenage Population
Mental health screeners are questionnaires that tell if a person is considered at high risk or a low risk for a SMI(Serious Mental Illness). If you score below a certain score, called a cut point, then you are at a low risk for an SMI. The mental health community currently uses a mental health screener called the K6 because it is free easy to administer. The cut score for the K6 was made for adults. Is the current K6 cut point appropriate in its use in the teenage population? My hypothesis is that the cut score is incorrect, because teenagers interpret and answer questions differently than adults. In order to test this, I created a bubble sheet that contained the K6 and the YOQ30. The YOQ30 is a mental health screener meant for teens. Tests were given to a total of 43 6,8,10,11, and 12 graders. Assuming the YOQ30 is always correct, you can then calculate two numbers called sensitivity and specificity for the K6. Sensitivity is the percentage of those with an SMI that the K6 indicates at risk. Specificity is the percentage of people without an SMI that the K6 indicates as not at risk. Looking at the sensitivity and specificity of various K6 cut scores, 6 is a more appropriate cut score compared to the current cut score, 7. I then used the SHARP survey data which contains the K6, anti-social behavior scale, depression scale, and suicide scale. These scales confirmed my initial cut point of 6.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Sleep Vs. Math
In preparing for big tests, parents and teachers have always told me to get a good night's sleep so that I could score my best. I have wondered if it was true that if you have more sleep, you will score higher on your test. My hypothesis was that the more sleep you get, the better your test score will be. I used my classmates as my test subject. I made up a test with 100 random muliplication math facts. They had one minute to complete as many problems as they could. I asked them to record, on the top of the test, when they went to sleep and when they woke up. I repeated the test the next day, as a second trial. I scored the papers and figured out how many hours they slept. I graphed the results by grouping them by hours slept, then I calculated an average score for each grouping. It appeared that the very high and the very low scoring individuals were skewing the data, so I threw out the top two and the bottom two scores in hopes of a clearer conclusion. My tests turned out inconclusive, because it appears that a person's math ability matters more than the hours slept in this test. To get a better result, I should have tested one person over a longer period of time. This would have taken away the variable of individial ability and would have given me a better picture of how the amount of sleep you get affects your math scores.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Hang Up & Drive
What do you want to find out? How Does Being On A cell Phone Affect Driving? What do you think will happen? When Someone Is Distracted When Driving, They Will Crash More. What do you need to use? • Driving Video Game • Cell Phone • Pencil & Notebook To Record Crashes • List of Questions to Ask • 5 Volunteers What will you do to find out? 1. Choose a Video Game That Is a Driving Game In Which We Use A Steering Wheel. 2. Have First Volunteer Play the Video Game 3 Times To Get The Hang Of It. 3. Take a Short Break and Then Have the Volunteer Play The Game Three Times Not Distracted. 4. Have a Helper Record The Crashes of Those Three Games. 5. Repeat Steps 2 Through 4 with Four Other Volunteers. 6. Repeat Steps 3 Through 5 With All Volunteers While Talking On A Cell Phone & Being Asked Open-Ended Questions. 7. Analyze Results. What Happened? When volunteers were talking on the cell phone, they crashed 66% more than when they weren’t. What did you learn? It is very important to never, never, never drive while talking on a cell phone!!!

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Improving Refugee Care Through Data Collection
In Utah there are currently 35,000 to 50,000 refugees receiving some kind of support from an existing program. Refugees enter the U.S.A with high needs, both social and material. This project examines the services provided by the Utah Health and Human Rights Clinic and how refugees use the clinic services. This clinic specializes in treating refugee war trauma and torture victims. Our hypothesis was that women, children and the elderly would use services provided by clinics more often than men due to cultural permission to show their emotions. Data, collected from confidential files, was analyzed using Univariate ANOVA and T-tests and compared with individual psychosocial scores (a test that measures their mental wellbeing). The results did not support our hypothesis because gender was only significant where men had a high number in primary torture and women had a high number in secondary torture. Although gender did not make a big difference, there were other factors that were significant, such as marital status. Widows stayed in treatment longer than any other marital group, and married couples had a high psychosocial score which is good. We concluded that the Utah Health and Human Rights Clinic should focus their services more on widows.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Painless Tune
This experiment was about how music affects pain perception. A study was done where participants were asked to hold their arms out until they reached a perceived pain level of six. The time endured was recorded in sessions where the participants listened to music and when they had no music. The results showed that they could endure more pain with music than without.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] The Effect Of Music On Birds
to see if diffrent types of music would change the behavior of birds.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] How Does Color Effect Reading Comprehension?
This project is testing the effect that color has one of the most vital abilities of the human mind: memory. As we live in world where there is a constant stress to remember everything, it seemed only logical to test how to best improve this important skill.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Memory Madness: What's Going On Inside Your Head?
I asked people to study a sheet of randomly placed numbers and the see how many they could remember. I then asked them to study a sheet of numbers grouped in three and in straight rows and columns for the same amount of time and then see how many they could remember. I wanted to see if organization increased our ability to remember. I was most interested in part of my research that talked about "chunking." That is the grouping of numbers in to sets of three or four to aid memory. This is why phone numbers are grouped into three or four numbers. My hypothesis was proven correct. Most people could remember more numbers from the organized sheet.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Synesthesia And The Stroop Effect
Synesthesia is one of the most amazing areas of science and its field of study is constantly changing. This experiment is one of many that have furthered the knowledge of this perplexing phenomenon. I have found while researching for this experiment that this field of study is much bigger than it first appeared to be; there are synesthetes that associate letters and numbers with colors and personalities as discussed in this experiment, and there are others that associate tastes with sounds or days of the week, or spatial synesthetes who have places in relation to their body where music is located or months of the year reside, and on, and on. The possibilities of disparate association are seemingly endless. The field of synesthesia seems to get more and more complicated the further you look into it. To think that Wednesday could taste like strawberries to someone.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Mnemonic Magic
My project is to test wheter using mnemonics really help you remember things, to improve your accuracy of the phrase recalled and the time it takes you to recall the list accurately.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] A Look At Optical Illusions
People have seen and encountered many optical illusions throughout their lives, and these puzzles meant to fool your brain may indeed succeed with some people, but not with others…..So, in my science fair project I had 20 children (aged 7-12), 20 teenagers (aged 13-19), and 20 adults (aged 20 and over) take an optical illusions test with different types of optical illusions that are meant to fool your brain in different ways. The ways these optical illusions work is by your brain misperceiving information it is shown because of what you are used to happening and seeing. Your brain would then make it out to be what you are used to, and not what it really is. This is what the testers experienced, and though my hypothesis was right in saying that the adults would do the best. On some problems the simple mind of a kid was better than that of a calculating and diligent adult’s, in fact, it would not think of other possibilities, because it was not used to many things, and simply responded with the correct answer.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] The Effectiveness Of Direct Instruction Vs. Constructivism In Mathematics Instruction
In this study, the effectiveness of two different teaching methods, direct instruction and constructivist instruction, was compared in Algebra 2 classes. Constructivism is teacher-guided, discovery-based learning, while in direct instruction the teacher models all that is needed to be taught to their students with step-by-step instruction. Two teachers and their classes participated in this study. One teacher trained in direct instruction taught two classes of Algebra 2 students and another teacher trained in constructivist instruction taught two classes of Algebra 2 students as well. Students took a pre-test about the mathematical concept of completing the square, received instruction on the topic, took a post-instruction test and a satisfaction survey following instruction, and then a retention test a month after instruction. All tests contained the same questions, but the order of the questions was rearranged. Scores were collected from the tests and compared between the two groups. Results revealed that direct instruction students performed significantly better on post-instruction and retention tests than constructivist instruction students. There was no significant difference in satisfaction ratings between both groups.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] The Convincing Mind
What is the affect of placebos on your mind? In "The Convincing Mind", we prove that placebos have a huge affect on you by using Power Balance® wristbands and the placebo Baller Band wristbands. The result is quite astonishing.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Are You Distracted?
Survey 100 people ranging in ages from 9-40 and over. The survey asks questions about texting/emailing habits during activities including driving. Everyone knows that distractions cause accidents and problem, but people do it anyway. Texting is one of the main problems/distractions that result to accidents. Young people are blamed for causing accidents because they're distracted. We want to see if adults are just as guilty.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Experience Multicolor
The stroop effect was first discovered in 1935, but since then many different tests have been run to see if the stroop effect really exists. The purpose of this project was to see if it is harder for people to read and say a different color then what was spelt. I choose this project because I have taken these testes before and found it difficult to complete. I wanted to be better informed in this subject of the stroop effect. This lead to my hypothesis, which stated that it would take the subjects longer to finish reading the mixed matched words other then the colors and words that matched. The tests consisted of 100 colored words with either matched or mix matched words per test. My research stated it is harder to read mix matched words and colors because your brain receives different messages. The data that needed to be collected was the time it took each subject to read each test. The results of this experiment showed that both male and female found it took longer to read the colors and words that do not match. Also, there was no significant difference between both the male and female results in either test that was taken.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Blame It On The Weather
Does weather affect student's behavior in school?

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Pick A Winner
The purpose of my experiment was to determine the best picking device for a guitar which gives the maximum sound. I hypothesized that the thickest device would have the maximum sound. My independent variables were the various picking devices such as a pick made out of tortoise, a metal pick, a thick Fender pick and my fingernails. The constant variables were my guitar, strings, same tune, and cords. The other constant variable was the form of measurement I used which was GarageBand. This determined the wavelength of sound made by each picking device. In conclusion, the data proved that my hypothesis was correct as the metal pick measured the largest wavelength and was supported by my data. By completing this experiment, I will utilize a metal pick while playing my acoustic guitar. If I were to conduct this experiment again, I would complete the experiment on an electric guitar. I would like to determine if a metal pick creates the maximum sound on an electric guitar as well as the acoustic guitar.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Short Term Memory
Do 5th graders have a better short term memory than adults? Everyone needs to remember something for a short period of time, such as the groceries they need to buy or the homework they have been assigned. Can you remember your friend's phone number? We want to find out who has a better short term memory! We compiled a list of numbers and a few words and asked 5th graders and adults to take our test. We gave each participant a specific time to study the list and then asked them to recall the list of numbers and retell a few words. Let's find out which group of participants had a better short term memory!

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Charting The Affects Of Sugar Subsitutes In Sugar Cookies And Determining Whether Normal Eating Patterns And Preferences Affect How People Like The Sugar Cookies.
Every time I cook in the kitchen with my mother, we try to find a sugar substitute to make our desserts healthier, while keeping the same great taste. This purpose made me further wonder what would make a person like the healthier cookies more. As a result, the purpose then changed to seeing how eating habits are related to our taste for sugary foods. My hypothesis is that people who eat healthy will be more likely to like the sugar substitutes in the sugar cookies. In the project, I baked four batches of sugar cookies, purchased one batch of non-frosted sugar cookies, typed a short survey, found some people available to take the survey, and analyzed and charted the data in Excel. In my results, I found that the more sugary foods that you eat the more you will like the sugary cookies. Also, the more fruits you eat the more you will like the sugary cookies that have no sugar substitute. In my conclusion, my hypothesis was correct and my Null hypotheses was rejected.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Mystery Box
Will kids look in a box that says "Don't Peek?" Will more boys or girls peek? Will younger or older kids open it? Do older or younger kids require more supervision? A hidden camera was set up in a place where kids are not under strict supervision and no adults around. A box with the Don't Peek sign was placed there and the reactions were filmed. Only kids that actually noticed the box were included in the results.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Shoot For Accuracy
Which position is most accurate for shooting a gun. Standing, kneeling, lying prone?

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Mnemonics
In our science experiment, we wanted to find out if mnemonics, a technique intended to improve memory, could help improve short-term memory. We chose this topic because we wanted an easier way to study for tests and assignments for school. Our hypothesis was that mnemonics could improve short-term memory. Our dependent variables were just the everyday way to have them try to cram as much words as possible, so just trying to memorize as much as possible. Next our independent variable was mnemonics. We tested this variable on the experimental group. We wanted to see if it would make a difference.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Verbal Vs. Visual
Tested to see if memory serves better by hearing or seeing.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] The X Factor
Tested students to see if playing violent video games affected the brain's ability to focus by timing their speed doing sudoku puzzles after playing the video game in increasing time increments.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Fear Itself
Our project was designed to see if the age of a person would affect what kinds of fear they had. We predicted that the older a person was, the more they would be scared of learned, modern fears like the dentist, and the younger a person was, the more they would be scared of primal, survival-based fears like wolves. We tested this by showing subjects a PowerPoint presentation with 25 pictures of fears, along with the name of the fear, and having them mark on a survey how scared they would be if they were in that situation or saw that object. They rated their fears on a scale of 1-4, and also gave us their ages and genders. We had previously divided the fears into two categories: learned/modern and primal/survival based. We tallied the results (we tested 102 subjects) and discovered that there was no correlation between the age of a person and their fears – the data did not support our hypothesis. We decided that fears are affected by other factors like the person's cultural background, or what their childhood was like, rather than their age.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] Will Watching Sponge Bob Create Problems With Concentration?
A study was done out of Chicago that showed problems with concentration in 4 year-old children after they watched episodes of SpongeBob. I wanted to see if that was really the case with "age appropriate" children, kids 7 and up. I gave subjects a timed test, had them watch an hour of SpongeBob, and then gave them another timed test. My hypothesis was that the subjects would do worse on the second test, the one given after watching SpongeBob. The results showed that all the subjects actually improved on their second test! I didn't find that SpongeBob negatively affected their concentration at all.

[Behavioral & Social Sciences] The Anchoring Effect
Background: Many things influence our decisions and choices that we're not aware of. The Anchoring Effect is a theory that says giving one piece of information as an anchor will influenced the way people make choices. Method: I asked 58 people what age they thought Einstein died. For half of them, I started with a low anchor (before or after 55) and for the other half I stared with a high anchor (before or after 98). Then I had them say what they though his exact age was when he died. Results: Of the people who had the low anchor the average answer was 62.8. Of the people who had the high anchor the average answer was 83. Conclusion: The anchor question definitely influenced their answers.

[Biochemistry] The Lactase Race
The purpose of The Lactase Race was to test which lactase supplement worked the best in which type of milk. The hypothesis that was formed for the experiment was that the Lactaid brand supplement would work the best at increasing the amount of glucose in the different types of milk. Another part of the hypothesis was that the Lactaid milk’s glucose level would increase the least overall. To carry out the experiment, multiple tests were done on four different types of milk with three different brands of lactase supplements over a period of 120 minutes. Data was recorded within a 30-minute interval. The glucose levels of the milk were recorded before any lactase supplements were added in. The level of glucose was retested every thirty minutes after the crushed up lactase pills were added and mixed in. The results stated that the hypothesis that was formed for this experiment was incorrect. The Kirkland brand supplements were the most effective in countering lactose. The ShopKo brand came in next, and the Lactaid brand was the least effective in breaking down the lactose in the different types of milks. The level of glucose in the Lactaid milk was higher than expected. This shows that the Lactaid milk actually does have a great amount of lactose in it, even though the brand advertises that there is no lactose present in the milk.

[Biochemistry] Nature's Flashlights
The objective of this biotechnology science fair project was to investigate how the bioluminescence of the marine dinoflagellate Pyrocystis fusiformis is affected by changes to its light-dark cycle. My hypothesis was: if the light and dark cycles affect how much the fusiformis glow, then the fusimformis in 24 hours of darkness will have a different glowing rate than the fusiformis in 24 hours of light, as well as the fusifomris in 24 hours of a light and dark cycle. The procedure included acquiring the P.fusiformis cultures in test tubes from a laboratory, keeping them between 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 3 different light/dark conditions. There were 3 different conditions: 24 hours of darkness, 24 hours of light, and 24 hours of light/dark variance. Three separate trials were done of this experiment. The results showed that the group that glowed the least was the full dark (24 hours of darkness), and the group that glowed the most was the 24 hours of light/dark variance. The group in 24 hours of light glowed less than the light/dark cycle group and more than the full dark group. It was very interesting to study these creatures because they are very sensitive to their environment. They are affected by temperature, light and dark conditions, and mechanical stress. I look forward to learning more about how a glowing organism is important in nature. One example of how these creatures help humans is the use of glow-in-the- dark genes used in genetic research.

[Biochemistry] The Effects Of Altered Salinity Levels On The Lipid Content Of The Alga Dunaliella
In the past thirty years, research has been conducted to develop high lipid-content algae into a practical source of renewable transportation fuels based on the microalgae’s ability to produce natural oils. However, cultivation of microalgae for mass production of biofuel is not yet a commercial possibility. This study investigated the possibility of algae specifically grown in the Great Salt Lake as a realistic source of biofuel based on the lipid content. It was hypothesized that the stress of higher or lower salinity levels would show a parabolic relationship with an increased amount of lipids at the higher and lower salt levels. This would lead to a more efficient source of biofuel per algal cell. Tests were conducted on algae grown in seven different salinity levels ranging from 0 to 25 percent. The tests quantified lipid content in the form of triacylglycerides (TAGs), which are the main cellular lipids. It was found that a higher lipid content is produced at higher salinity levels and a lower lipid content is produced at lower salinity levels, as was partially hypothesized. Further research is necessary to determine a reliable method for measuring rate of growth and to evaluate if halophilic (salt-loving) algae grown at different salinity levels can be utilized for efficient biofuel production.

[Biochemistry] Fuels
I chose the question of which fuel can last the longest in a burning duration . I conducted this project by reasearching my topics before any further expiriments continuing with it i began to colllect my materials .I had hypothisised that the diesel would be the fuel that would last the longest , for the fact it was the highest octane rate , then for second gasoline , lastly enthonal would have the least time on fire . I decided to cute the cheese cloth in a porpitional measurment as well as the fuels in containers , after that i would line them in a way the contaption would and it would drop three whisks of fire at the same time , after that i would have myself and two participants time the burning of the fuels . i conducted the project in fifteen tries and writting down on my table . With the conclusion being i was partially correct diesel was the longest to burn , then the twist of enthanol bein second and last gasoline .

[Biochemistry] Turning Algae Into Biodiesel
The process of efficiently extracting oil from algae to be used as fuel, including fuel for transportation.

[Biochemistry] Grease Be Gone
I wanted to find out “what forms/types of enzymes are most effective in breaking down fat, oil and grease traps, and which are more effective enzymes or chemicals?” I decided that for my experiment I would use lipases enzymes, which break down fats, and amylase enzymes, which break down starches and sugars. I found that the detergent Tide contains lipase enzymes, and the detergent Gain contains amylase enzymes. I thought that the lipase enzyme would do the best because it breaks down fat. Over the course of 6 weeks, I researched what enzymes were, how many enzymes there are and what jobs enzymes do. I used the Internet, books and I talked with my teacher. I encountered a few difficulties, like where to get lipase and amylase enzymes, regulating the room to have a constant temperature for my experiment and finding out what enzymes were in each type of detergent. Also, once my first two experiments produced no real results, I modified my materials to ½ water and ½ detergent to see if that solution made a difference, and I tested a different type of chemical. My last two experiments proved my hypothesis was right by showing that the lipase enzyme was more effective in breaking down the lard, but my first two experiments did practically nothing, which made my hypothesis partially right. This information can help laundry detergent and cleaning companies in improving their products.

[Biochemistry] Exciting Enzymes
The purpose of this project was to see how enzymatic reactions change with different temperatures and pH. I researched potato catalase and hydrogen peroxide to know what to expect when conducting the experiment. To more fully understand these subjects I looked in college biology textbooks, as well as on the Internet.After researching I reached my hypothesis that when the buffer solution was added to the experiment, the experiment would continue to work when exposed to increasing amounts of acid. When conducting the temperature dependent experiment I found that the reaction had to be done at a moderate temperature around 21° Celsius. However when I conducted the pH dependent experiment, no foam was produced. In conclusion, I found that the temperature dependent reaction has to be done at a moderate temperature. I also learned that the phosphate buffer I used bound the calcium in the reaction, which is a needed part in the reaction.

[Biochemistry] Are Fingerprint Patterns Inherited?
The purpose of this Science Fair Project was to test and see if overall fingerprint patterns in families are hereditary. My hypothesis was that parents and their children would have the same main fingerprint patterns. To start off my project, I researched topics such as fingerprint patterns, gestation, fingerprint formation, genetics, and inheritance. These research topics have provided support on my hypothesis being, for the most part, correct. To collect my data, I fingerprinted families and recorded which parent and child the fingerprint belonged to. I then wrote down the overall fingerprint pattern and then distinguished whether or not the parents and the child had the same main pattern. With my data, I knew that some fingerprints may have been hard to distinguish from one pattern to another, so to minimize this problem, I got another person to also observe the fingerprints and got their view on what pattern it appeared to be to them. I then found the pattern most people saw from the fingerprint and used that pattern to compare the other family members' pattern. I expected that most of the parents and children had the same overall fingerprint pattern. After my analysis, I discovered that approximately 74% of the children I tested had the same fingerprint pattern as one or both of their parents. After this experiment, I can conclude that a majority of families will have children with similar fingerprint patterns as one or both of their parents.

[Biochemistry] Algae Biodiesel
Engines can be run on algae biodiesel instead of diesel, or gasoline. Algae can be made into an environmentally friendly fuel, since they do not compete with food crops as ethanol does. They also yield more energy than land corps. “Department of Energy, Gov of USA has reported that algae yield 30 times more energy per acre than land crops such as soybeans, and some estimate even higher yields up to 15000 gallons per acre.” (Oilgae, 2012). Algae biodiesel is a renewable energy, since algae can be re-grown. Algae will be of importance for the world’s future. “The latest measurements confirm that the world's oil and natural gas supplies are running out too fast. At some time between 2010 and 2020 the world's supply of oil and gas will fall below the level required to meet international demand.” (The Insider, 2012). Petroleum diesel comes from crude oil, a fossil fuel, and one day it will run out. The algae biodiesel also reduces pollution since during photosynthesis process algae eat nutrients and eat carbon dioxide. “DOE and USDA say biodiesel reduces life cycle carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, by 78 percent.1 Biodiesel also significantly reduces EPA-regulated emissions with direct impact to human health.” (National Biodiesel Board, 2012). “ Vehicle exhaust contributes roughly 60 percent of all carbon monoxide emissions nationwide, and up to 95 percent in cities.”(State of Utah, 2010). Since I am interested in renewable energy I decided to do an experiment to grow algae in three different media, and to evaluate in which media the algae grow the best, then extract oil from algae, and produce biodiesel from this oil. My prediction was that the highest concentration of algae per liter will develop in urine media, and that I will be able make biodiesel from algae oil. I proved my hypothesis.

[Biochemistry] Food Dye And Forensic Science: Gel Electrophoresis In Action
I wanted to better understand how the forensic process of gel electrophoresis works to effectively analyze DNA. After learning about gel electrophoresis, I built my own chamber and tested how different colors of food dye react to its electrical stimulus.

[Biochemistry] Don't Spill On Me
This experiment was designed to simulate an oil spill on live plants and to observe the impact of the oil spill. The hypothesis was that the oil would negatively affect the growth of the plants. The plants were ‘watered’ with the oil/water mixture every other day for one week. After that, they were watered with only water every other day for two weeks. Each week a photo was taken of the plants for later comparison.

[Biology & Biochemistry] M&M Survivor
I used colored paper to camoflauge M&Ms to compare how predators can find food.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Vocal Chord Testing
My question was, “What are some foods and drinks that are better for maximizing and minimizing your vocal range?” My hypothesis was, "“I think the citrusy and salty foods and drinks will be better for maximizing your normal vocal range, while dairy and sugar will minimize it.” I was interested in this topic, because I love to sing, and know many singers who have their own beliefs to what is wise to eat/drink before a performance, and what is not. I wondered if they were true, so I tested them like this: participants set aside four days in sequential order, no days in-between. On day one, they tested their normal vocal range. On day two, they followed the instructions I gave them on how to prepare the food/drink assigned to that day, and to either eat, drink, or gargle it. Same story on day three, just with the next food/drink. Also same story day four, just with the last food/drink. Each day they recorded their results, and I found the average notes gained or lost above and below middle C for each food and drink, and that gave me my results! I was surprised to find that lemon water made you lose the most notes on average both above and below middle C. I was also surprised to find that milk and salt water both made you have a higher vocal range. I was right in thinking that oranges would help, and M&M's and toast would not help at all.

[Biology & Biochemistry] How Well Do You Smell?
The purpose of my project "How Well Do You Smell?" was to determine wether or not the sense of smell increases or decreased with age. My hypothesis was that a younger sense of smell would be better. I had 44 people smell eight very common items while blind folded. Eleven boys and eleven girls ranging in age from 8-14, and eleven men and eleven women ranging in age from 18 to mid fifties (most were 30-45). The items smelled were vinegar, lemons, oranges, bananas, chocolate, coffee, cinnamon and peanut butter. Women did the best with a score of 80/88, men were next with 65/88, then girls with 63/88 and last were boys with 61/88. The adults totaled 145/176, the children totaled 124/176. My hypothesis was wrong, the adults sense of smell was better than a childs and the womens was best of all. If I were to do this project again I would include senior cittizens, to see if their sense of smell would continue to increase or decrease.

[Biology & Biochemistry] How Does Temperature Affect Yeast's Ability To Produce Carbon Dioxide?
From the process of dinner roll baking, I noticed that temperature affects yeast growth. I took this further as my experiment of how temperature affects yeast growth. My hypothesis was that the warmer the temperature is, more yeast will grow and more carbon dioxide will be generated. In my experiment, I mixed milk, water, and sugar into 4 bottles. Then, I pre-incubated each bottle in a water-bath of 40, 66, 105, and 128 degrees.Then I added yeast and tied a balloon to each bottle. I let the yeast grow in their desired temperatures for a period of time and recorded my observations. Finally, I measured the volume of carbon dioxide produced. To do this, I referred to this story: Once, someone named Archimedes had to determine the volume of a crown. There was no way to mathematically measure the crown’s volume,so Archimedes put the crown in a container full of water and measured the amount of water that overflowed. This was the crown’s volume. In my experiment, I put each balloon in a container full of water. I pressed a flat board onto the container and measured the amount of water that overflowed. This was the amount of carbon dioxide generated. In conclusion, my hypothesis was partially correct. From 40 to 105 degrees, as the temperature rose, more yeast grew and more carbon dioxide was generated. But as the temperature rose from 105 to 128 degrees, less carbon dioxide was generated.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Fingerprints Inherited Or Independent?
Fingerprints are unique to each individual. Genetical traits are inherited. Fingerprint patterns are genetically inherited.

[Biology & Biochemistry] The Effects Of Caffeine On A Daphnia's Heartbeat
Daphnia are small crustaceans common in freshwater environments. They are mostly transparent, which allows their heart to be easily seen. In this project, I studied the effects that different concentrations of caffeine had on the heart rates of two different species of Daphnia: daphnia magna and daphnia pulex. Because caffeine is a stimulant, my hypothesis was that caffeine would increase their heart rates, and that higher concentrations of caffeine would increase it even more. I made 4 solutions of caffeine and water with concentrations from 0.1% to 0.4%. For each trial, I placed a new daphnia into the solution for one minute, then put them under a microscope, and counted their heart beats for 10 seconds. When the daphnia magna were put in the caffeine solutions, their heart rates increased, but higher concentrations did not increase their heart rates any more. For the daphnia pulex, their heart rates did not increase in the 0.1% solution, but in the other solutions I found that the higher the concentration was, the more their heart rates increased, as in my hypothesis.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Why Did My Lettuce Turn Brown?
The purpose of this experiment was to see if a regular shopping bag, a green bag for produce, or a Ziplock bag would keep a head of lettuce fresh the longest. The three heads of lettuce were put in a Ziplock bag, a green bag for produce, and a regular shopping bag for a 5-day period. The hypothesis given for this experiment was that the green bag for produce would keep the lettuce fresh the best. To conduct this experiment, the heads of lettuce were put in the 3 different types of bags inside of the fridge for 5 days, and observations were recorded each day. The variables explored in this experiment were how long the lettuce was able to stay fresh, and which bag would keep the lettuce fresh the best over a five day period of time. Using these variables, the results of this experiment were that the regular shopping bag kept the lettuce fresh the best over a 5-day period. The hypothesis was not supported by the data. The reason that the regular shopping bag worked better than the rest of the bags was that it was more breathable, and let the ethylene that was produced in and out of the bag, slowing down the process of decay. In the future, this experiment may be conducted using different foods or different types of bags.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Bacteria
I thought natural cleaners would clean better than store bought cleaners. I gathered four cleaners and swabbed the toilet and phone and used sensitivity squares to put cleaner on to see what would repel the bacteria.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Sports O Zone Busted
Athletes may get infections from dirty equipment. Cleaning and sterilizing equipment can be difficult. The Sports O-Zone is a machine that claims to sterilize sports equipment using ozone gas. The purpose of this experiment was to test the germ killing ability of the Sports O-Zone. Our hypothesis was that the Sports O-Zone would kill germs. We went to Steiner Aquatic Center to test the machine using hockey equipment. We collected swabs of equipment and inoculated these onto sterile blood agar. We verified the presence of ozone in the machine. We exposed some plates to the Sports O-Zone and used other plates as controls. We counted bacterial colonies on both. The colony counts for exposed and unexposed plates were similar. The Sports O-Zone did not kill bacteria.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Bacteria
Where is the most bacteria in your house? This project tested five different high use areas in my house; remote control, bathtub, kitchen faucet, iPad, and door knob to the garage. My hypothesis was that the bathtub would have the most bacteria. I believed this to be true because the water would wash the bacteria from your body to the bottom of the tub. I grew bacteria in petri dishes for seven days. I recorded the results with a camera. I recorded my observations in a log. The results from the experiment did not prove my hypothesis. The location that had the most bacteria was the kitchen faucet. I was surprised when I saw the results. It is kind of gross to know there is bacteria all around you. The iPad had different types of bacteria colonies. The iPad is the item the kids played with the most. The experiment showed that it is important to wash your hands often during the day to get rid of the bacteria.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Dairy Microbiology: Dyeing For Oxygen
I hypothesize the number of microbes in milk will increase over time. In my experiment, I use methylene blue dye to test for the presence of oxygen on the pretense that microbes consume oxygen and the more microbes, the quicker the oxygen is consumed. The results of my experiment are inconclusive but tend to support my hypothesis.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Fingerprint Tracking
I collected all of the fingerprints of my family and extended family. I had 19 people do finger prints. I was trying to determine whether or not fingerprint patterns have genetic correlation. I learned that fingerprints don't change over your lifetime. My research supports my hypothesis that fingerprints are inherited. More research is needed to really support this hypothesis.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Mummification Of A Hot Dog
3 separate hotdogs. 1 in salt, 1 in baking soda, 1 in control. Which one is the best preserved?

[Biology & Biochemistry] Germs
I grew 3 of my germs at my house and then printed 2 other pictures at my house. I then researched the germs on various websites.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Which Hairspray Works Best
I curled hair, sprayed it and look at which hair spray works best.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Rotten Apples
Testing household products to preserve apple slices.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Play Land Germs
Propose To see if the top of play lands slides are dirtier than the bottom of the slides or the other way around. A lot of kids play in play lands and so with that, the germs on their bodies are spread. I selected 5 restaurants with play lands and went to each of them during a busy lunch time on a Saturday. At each restaurant I took one swab and a bottle of broth and dipped the swab in the broth and wiped the top of a slide. I would do the same process on the bottom of the slide. At home I took the broth and put about a teaspoon of it into a Petri dish, and labeled it ”top of slide”. I did the same thing on the bottom test. I put everything under a heat lamp and had it grow for 72 hours [three days]. After three days I looked at them and analyzed the results.

[Biology & Biochemistry] The Strength Of Gelatin Gels
Gelatin is used in medicines and tissue engineering so it is important to study it. We had two hypotheses. The first was that a more concentrated gel would be stronger than a dilute one. The second was that gels made with Type B gelatin would be stronger than those with Type A. We made gels with 4 different concentrations and both types of gelatin. We put a weight on the gels to see how much each would compress. We then found how much weight it would take to fracture each gel. Our first hypothesis was correct and our second was partially correct.

[Biology & Biochemistry] Cholesterol: Fad, Fact Or Fat?
I want to find out whether or not products have misrepresented facts about cholesterol and also whether or not there are other things (such as fats) which could be more harmful to the body

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] Searching For Fluorescence: A Possible Fluorescent Molecule In Physalia Utriculus
Fluorescent molecules are an important tool in biology and medicine. These molecules are used in deep tissue imaging. I studied Physalia Utriculus, the blue-bottle jellyfish, which researchers in Hawaii believe may have a fluorescent protein. I used DNA extraction and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to show evidence that the DNA sequence,in Physalia Utriculus, contained a fluorescent molecule. I looked at DNA quantity and quality. Degenerate primers were designed for PCR experiments using DNA sequences from other known fluorescent proteins. PCR was performed using six different primer pairs. Two primer pairs were made from known Physalia Utriculus DNA sequence. The other four pairs represented combinations of primers derived from known fluorescent DNA sequences. Initially, the samples were amplified and visualized on an agarose gel. A small portion of the original PCR was then amplified using the same primers to try to gain more specificity of the PCR product. PCR products were visualized and results were recorded. Controls were included. DNA from the Physalia Utriculus samples was of poor quality and very degraded. The initial PCR for all six primer pairs yielded non-specific product. The second round of PCR, gave products for three of the six primers. The evidence of PCR products as visualized on the agarose gels may suggest that the Physalia Utriculus samples do have a potential fluorescent protein that has some homology to other know fluorescent proteins. This experiment cannot distinguish whether Physalia Utriculus contains multiple fluorescent proteins or whether the fluorescent protein(s) are novel.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] The Olfactory Fatigue Experiement
The purpose of this experiment is to see how long it takes to reach thh olfactory fatigue for different scents and substances, and if gender plays a role in the response. My hypothesis is that women have a better sense of smell then men. For my experiment I got 4 different scents which were cinnamon, lemon extract, ground cloves, and almond extract. All 4 scents were tested by 20 people. They would hold it 6 inches from his/her nose and I would start the timer. They would tell me when the smell is gone or has weakened tremendously, and I would stop the timer. I recorded the time in my notebook. They would get a drink of water and a 5 minute break . Then we repeated the procedure with the other scents. In conclusion I found that my hypothesis was correct. Women do have better sense of smell then men.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] Inhibition Of Survivin In Melanocytes Using Si Rna
Cancer has hurt the lives of millions of individuals. For my project this year, I would like to inhibit Survivin using siRNA. Survivin is a gene in melanocytes that inhibits apoptosis. By inhibiting Survivin, I can make cancer cells commit cell suicide. I hypothesized that the method of siRNA transfection, Bradford protein analysis, and Western blots would be the optimal conditions for this experiment. My results show that my hypothesis was correct and Survivin can be inhibited in Melanocytes using siRNA.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] Cutting With Molecular Scissors: A Deeper Look At The Cutting Edge Of Dna
I asked whether or not the size of a DNA strand mattered in determining the number of restriction enzymes that could possibly cut it. My hypothesis was that the size would not be a prominent variable in the number of restriction enzymes used. My conclusion was contrary to my hypothesis, though. Through use of sufficient data, I concluded that the size of the DNA strand was a bigger factor in the number of restriction enzymes than I had previously thought.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] Girls Have Better Taste: An Analysis Of Correlations Between The Ability To Taste Ptc And Other Genetic Traits
The purpose of this experiment was to see if the ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) correlates with the phenotype of handedness. To conduct this experiment, 186 subjects were given a PTC test. The name, gender, dominant hand, and PTC phenotype of each subject were recorded in data tables. Graphs were produced from data to analyze trends. Percentages of PTC phenotypes in handedness groups are similar and the trends are generally the same. This suggests that there is not a significant correlation between the PTC phenotype and handedness. However, 53% of males could taste PTC, compared to 73% in females, suggesting a correlation between PTC tasting and gender. It can be concluded that PTC tasting is a sex-linked trait, and PTC tasting and handedness are not genetically related.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] In Vitro Protein Expression: Vacuolar Protein Sorting Associated Protein 1 (Vps1) In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
My experiment expresses the VPS1 protein from Schizosaccharomyces pombe in the eukaryotic expression host cell Saccharomyces cerevisiae. All experiments so far have been conducted in the prokaryotic host Escherichia coli. I selected S. cerevisiae as the expression host because its genome already contains an ortholog to VPS1. In order to save the time of adding promoters, genetic tags, and antibiotic resistance, I recycled a backbone from a previously successful S. cerevisiae construct by replacing the unrelated sequence with a VPS1-coding fragment using a Gibson assembly. The gel electrophoresis showed that the newly assembled vector was the correct size of ~9000 base pairs. However, after transformation into competent E.coli cells for growth, there were no colonies on the ampicillin agar plates after incubation. In theory, there should be colonies to incubate in LB and later harvest through a miniprep procedure before the transformation into competent S. cerevisiae. This does not, however, disprove the hypothesis because the VPS1 vector was never transformed into competent S. cerevisiae. The error might’ve originated from ineffective competent E.coli cells or from a mutation of the ampicillin-resistant gene in the backbone. To resolve this issue, I need to try both preparing new competent E. coli cells and to create my own custom backbone with the proper bacterial resistances.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] Clasp2 Run Amok: A Study Of The Clasp2 Gene And Cancers Of The Digestive System
The purpose of this project is to find any correlation between genes that are over-expressed and the presence of cancer. After finding the Cytoplasmic linker associated protein 2 (CLASP2) gene over-expressed in pancreatic cancer, other cancers of the digestive system (colon, esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, pancreatic islet and stomach) are studied to look for similar over-expression of the CLASP2 gene. Through research on gene expression and the different ways cell division becomes cancer, it was determined that pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer. Using the cancer Genome Anatomy Project tool, normal and a cancerous pancreatic tissue sample were compared and over-expressed genes were identified. Of these cells, the CLASP2 gene was the most significantly over-expressed gene between the two samples. Once the CLASP2 gene was identified and located in various parts of the body, normal and cancerous tissues in other organs related to digestion that carry the CLASP2 gene were compared and studied. The CLASP2 gene was found in normal levels in cancers of the esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreatic islet and stomach. There were insignificant levels of gene over-expression in colon cancer. Therefore, the hypothesis was not proven.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] The Cauliflower Mosaic Virus
When we started this project, we were very interested in GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). We had been learning about them in class and wondered which school lunches we could find them in. We expected most of the lunches to contain GMOs since corn - a very common ingredient - is nearly impossible to find in it's pure, original form. We started by choosing the lunches we wanted to test - ten total - and extracting the DNA from those lunches. We put them in these little tubes and mixed them with primers to help single out the part of the DNA we wanted, then used a machine to multiply that part several times to make it more usable. Then, through a process called electrophoresis, we conducted the actual test to discover which meals contained GMOs and which didn't. Surprisingly, most of the data was inconclusive. We only know of a couple of lunches that definitely contained GMOs and a few that didn't.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] A Novel Assay To Screen For Anti Cancer Agents Targeting Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Ron
An overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase RON (recepteur d’origine nantais) has been associated with many human cancer cell lines, including colon, breast, and pancreatic. Reduction of RON can be considered a potential mechanism for future anti-cancer drugs. I have designed and tested a new assay that will determine if new therapeutic agents can knockdown RON and potentially inhibit cancer development. First, an in vitro proliferation study was designed to test three colon cancer cell lines: HCT 116 (cells with high levels of RON), HCT116-shRON (cells with short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of RON), and HCT116-shSCR (control short hairpin scramble cells). Proliferation was examined by spectrophotometry. Second, an in vivo study involved subcutaneous and orthotopic tumor transplantation of both knockdown RON cells and scramble control cells into mice. Tumor growth after 35 days was quantified by luciferase bioluminescence. The two studies demonstrated that reducing RON expression in colon cancer cells effectively slowed growth, as measured in vitro and in vivo. Thus, my assay appears to be a valid method for testing the efficacy of future anti-cancer therapeutic agents.

[Cellular & Molecular Biology] The Role Of Beta Catenin In Melanoma Invasion
Beta-catenin is a protein that under normal circumstances, is degraded, meaning it is prevented from entering the nucleus. The serine/threonine phosphorylation of beta-catenin targets the beta-catenin protein for degradation; the prevention of this phosphorylation will stabilize the protein, and subsequentially, lead to its translocation into the nucleus. Given the modern technology that is available for use today, the LOX cells used (LOX is a line of human melanoma cells) were able to be manipulated to express a mutant, “stabilized” form of beta-catenin, in which serine 33 is changed to a tyrosine (S33Y). This stabilized form enters the nucleus to activate transcription. In melanoma, the role of nuclear beta-catenin is controversial. Some studies show that it promotes invasion and metastasis of melanoma, while others have argued that beta-catenin suppresses invasion. The objective of this project was to determine the role of beta-catenin in the highly invasive and metastatic human melanoma cell line, LOX. Data gathered for this project shows that in LOX human melanoma cells, stabilized (nuclear) beta-catenin stimulates invasion. This result suggests that inhibiting beta-catenin may help prevent disease progression in patients with melanoma.

[Chemistry] Electrolysis
My project is about hydrogen electrolyzing. Or, in simpler words, breaking up water into hydrogen and oxygen. What I wanted to ask was which would cause a greater increase in the production of hydrogen via electrolysis, an increase in the electrolyte (sodium chloride), or an increase in voltage. I wanted to do this project because last year I did a much simpler project about electrolysis, and really developed an interest in the topic. This year, right away I knew I wanted to further explore electrolysis, and create a very deep and educating project/experiment. I found that increasing the electrolyte is more effective in creating hydrogen via electrolysis. This went along with my hypothesis. In a real world sense, electrolysis will play a major role in the world's energy future. Hydrogen gas is a renewable fuel, and is environmentally friendly. These two factors are critical for a possible future energy source candidate. I know that I want to have a career in the science field, and i truly hope I can be a part of making electrolysis part of the world's energy future.

[Chemistry] Sour Oranges
Does the temperature of where you store your orange juice change its pH? I placed several kinds of orange juice at different temperatures and the pH change was measured over time.

[Chemistry] How Tempatures Effect Battery Life
We put batteries in dry ice and regular ice and left it at room tempature. Then we would record how long the car battery lasted.

[Chemistry] Electric Liquids
Which liquids are the most and least conductive?

[Chemistry] Cooling Sodas
You just come in from a hot summer day and you'd like a cold, refreshing drink. You find there are no soda's in the fridge, they are all still sitting in the cupboard at room temperature. What is the fastest way to get the soda down to a cold, refreshing temperature?

[Chemistry] Which Burns Faster?
We started out as just burning fabric, but well doing our research we found out that many children die due to the fabric they wear as pajamas. We wanted to figure out which of the common house hold fabric would burn the fastest to kind of solve this problem. We use 8 different fabrics and these were our "pajamas" that we put to test. For our fire substance we used a household lighter and for safety we went outside. We looked for time but what really caught us was the smell and the form of burning. Our hypothesis was that 100% cotton would burn and melt the fastest. But after the experiment it turned out that our hypothesis was incorrect. Instead of cotton being the fastest to burn, the one that burnt the fastest was rayon. The experiment also showed the different odors the fabric cause during and after the burning. Now the solution to the fabric burns from our data was that acrylic would be the safest fabric because it took the longest to burn and it didn't cause much damage to itself. Now on the opposite side; rayon, nylon and 100% cotton would be the most dangerous. Rayon because it took the most fastest to burn, Nylon because it drips when it's melting and 100% cotton because it made the most damage to itself.

[Chemistry] Sweetners And Yeast
I wanted to find out which sweetener made yeast rise the fastest. I had a control bottle that was just water and yeast, and then 4 different sweeteners. White sugar, Artificial Sugar, maple syrup, and corn syrup. Artificial sugar made it rise the fastest. But it also disipated the fastest. White sugar was the second fastest and it also lasted the longest.

[Chemistry] No Burn Zone
This project is testing different types of flame retardants and the effect they have on wood. We used 2 different spray-on types, and also a chemical called sodium silicate. The treated wood and the control pieces were put to the flame and timed to see how long it would take to start burning.

[Chemistry] Bubble
Project meant to determine what effects Corn syrup, and glycerin have on the out come of simple bubble solution. Do the adding of these ingredients prolong the "life" &/or size of the bubble.

[Chemistry] A Pretty Penny
The project determines whether the myth that taco sauce can clean a penny is true or false. It was proven to be true. It then discovers which ingredients or combination of ingredients does the actual cleaning. Equally tarnished pennies were placed separately into the three main ingredients of salt, vinegar and tomato paste. It was found that the ingredients alone had very little effect on the pennies. The pennies were then placed separately into a combination of two of the ingredients. The combinations were salt & vinegar, vinegar and tomato paste & tomato paste & salt. It was found that the vinegar and salt were the 2 ingredients that did the cleaning. The analysis was that salt and vinegar mixed create a chemical reaction. The vinegar dissolves the salt and breaks the salt down into sodium chloride ions. The sodium chloride ions work with the copper oxide to clean the tarnish. The conclusion was that you can use common household items to replace expensive cleaners.

[Chemistry] Bond Strength
The purpose of this experiment was to test which wood adhesive brand is the strongest at bonding wood. The hypothesis is Titebond Wood Glue will have the strongest bond strength. Elmers Wood Glue, Gorilla Wood Glue, and Titebond Wood Glue were each tested. Two eight inch pinewood boards were glued together, end to end, then clamped, and allowed to dry for twenty-four hours. Three test boards were made for each glue type. Two milk crates were set on the floor upside down. Next, the test boards were placed on the edges of the milk crates to form a bridge. A bowl was placed on the seam of the wood where the two boards were glued together. To test the strength of the bond, coins were slowly added and evenly distributed into the bowl until the bond broke. Then, the bowl of coins was weighed and the results were recorded. This procedure was repeated three times for each brand of glue to provide an average that would identify which brand could support the most weight. The hypothesis was incorrect; Elmers Wood Glue bared the most amount of weight therefore having the strongest bond. If this experiment were elaborated on in the future, there would be different strength tests to improve upon the accuracy of the results.

[Chemistry] Melting The Ice
I want to find out which substance will melt ice the fastest. I used "Ice Melt #1", "Ice Melt #2", pepper, sugar, table salt (with extra minerals), and a control to try to melt the ice. I think this project is important because it could help a lot with seeing which product would melt ice the fastest. This will help people not slip on ice in the winter time since the ice will be melted. I enjoyed this experiment and had a lot of fun!

[Chemistry] Metals And Liquids
This great project digs deep into the world of liquids and the effects that it has on metal. You will find it interesting to see what happened to the metal with the different liquids!

[Chemistry] Surprise Fire
The project is a Chemical reaction experiment and seeing if the temperature of one chemical affected the reaction time with another chemical. In this case we used the chemicals liquid Glycerine and the powder form of Potassium Permanganate. After heating or cooling the liquid glycerine, we timed how long it would take to react with the Potassium Permanganate and burst into flames. When recording the data and performing the experiment, we increased the Glycerine's temperature by 10 degrees Celsius. By placing 2 grams in mass of Glycerine and 4 grams in mass of Potassium Permanganate, we were able to time the experiment accurately. We also performed the experiment 3 times for every temperature.

[Chemistry] Fabric Burn Rates
Testing the difference between man-made fabrics and natural fabrics and the speed they burn comparing to each other to determine flammability. The same size samples with open flame to determine difference between the speed of burn and affects on different fabrics from melting, smoking and turning to ash.

[Chemistry] Calorimeter
Abstract: The science fair project chosen to learn and understand a method for measuring how much calorie of energy is available in different types of nuts. I built my own Calorimeter in home to capture the calories released by burning various nuts such as Almond, Cashew, Chick Pea Peanut and Walnut. In conclusion, I was able to calculate the number of calories in each nut. My hypothesis was that the peanut would possibly contain the highest number of calories per nut, but my experiment yielded the cashew nut being the highest of all the nuts tested.

[Chemistry] The Ice Cold War: A Salty Race To Safety. Which De Icer Melts Ice The Best?
There are over 1,500,000 weather related accidents each year. These accidents not only cause injuries and deaths but they also hurt the economy. Since winter road safety is important, cities and citizens alike use sodium and calcium chloride based de-icers to melt the snow and ice off of roads. This experiment was designed to test "Which De-Icer Melts Ice the Best?" There were three de-icers tested: Morton Salt; the City of Riverton Department of Public Works Mix and Redmond Mineral's Ice-Slicer; there was also a control variable which was no de-icer. There were 3 different phases of the experiment: Phase 1 - 60 minutes; Phase 2 - 45 minutes and Phase 3 - 30 minutes. There were 4 trials per phase. The hypothesis was that Redmond Mineral Corporation's Ice-Slicer would melt ice the best. The test results showed that Redmond Mineral Corporation's Ice Slicer melted ice the best. The Riverton City Mix melted the second most ice and Morton Salt melted the third most ice. The conclusion was that Ice-Slicer melted the most ice by .8 ounce over the Riverton City Mix and 5.6 ounces over Morton Salt.

[Chemistry] Tie And Dye
Question- 1. Do natural food dyes work as well as store-bought dyes? 2. Which fabric dyes better—natural or man-made? Hypothesis- 1. Food dyes are not as bright as store-bought dyes. 2. Cotton fabric will dye better than polyester fabric. Procedures- 1. Gathered materials: a. Onion skin water b. Beet juice c. Carrot juice d. Spinach water e. Kool-Aid f. Grape juice g. Coffee h. Tea i. Rit dye j. Vinegar k. Cups l. Rubber Bands m. Cotton fabric n. Polyester fabric 2. Prepared dyes: boiled onion skins for 20 minutes, added 1 T vinegar to all dyes. The vinegar acted as the mordant that makes the dye color fast. 3. Prepared fabrics: cut 4”x4” squares of cotton and polyester. Folded, twisted, and wrapped each square with a rubber band. 4. Soaking: soaked fabric squares in dyes for 30 minutes each. 5. Drying: dried fabrics squares until completely dry 6. Compared samples by observation 7. Recorded data Conclusion- As predicted, store-bought dyes produce a brighter color than food dyes. The dye color in a natural fabric, such as cotton, is brighter than a man-made fabric, such as polyester. I was curious as to why the cotton fabric had a brighter color than the polyester fabric. If I were to do this project again, I would test more different types of fabrics with one type of dye to see the effects of dye on more fabrics. I would test fabrics like silk, nylon, cotton, linen, and spandex.

[Chemistry] How Permanent Are Permanent Markers
Purpose: My experiment is to test how permanent is the permanent marker and validate manufacturer’ s claim. I will conduct a series of tests applying the marker on different surfaces and using different cleaners, observe how permanent they are and draw conclusions. Hypothesis: Permanent markers permanent?, How permanent are permanent markers? My hypothesis is that permanent markers can be removed depending on 3 variables: What material the permanent marker is applied to. What chemicals are used to attempt to remove the permanent marker. Does permanent marker color have any effect on how permanent the ink is on any material?

[Chemistry] Cool Blue Glowing Reactions
The hypothesis to my question, how does the type and amount of catalyst affect luminol reactions, was that one-fourth teaspoon copper sulfate will make the reaction be the brightest and the most rapid. Luminol is a chemical used in crime scene investigations to detect if blood was involved in the crime. This is detected by mixing a luminol solution in a spray bottle and spraying it over an area, and, if the area glows, they run several other tests to confirm the suspicion. Luminol glows by detecting the iron traces in blood, so, even if it’s washed down, it will still show. This and much other information about my experiment was gathered by the internet; I would type something in and look on a reliable website for the information. Then, to establish the information, I would look at other websites with the same information. I found out that, overall, the brightest glowing and the quickest reactions were produced with one-fourth teaspoon of each of the catalysts. At first, I had no way to test this, and with ideas from my family, I discovered that water was a key ingredient to help the chemicals spread out and react with one another. My overall conclusion was that my hypothesis was half correct; one-fourth teaspoon of the copper sulfate did produce the fastest overall reactions, but one-fourth teaspoon of bleach produced the brightest reactions. If I were to do it again, I would repeat it and find the brightest point within the reaction.

[Chemistry] Melting Crayons
For my project I melted crayons. I wanted to see if the color of the crayon affects how long it takes the crayon to melt. My hypothesis was that that darker the crayon, the faster it will melt. At 1 minute, none of the crayons had melted. At 3 minutes, red, green, brown, and black all started melting more than the others. At 5 minutes, blue and purple had caught up and started melting also. At 7 minutes all the colors were melted about the same amount. My hypothesis was incorrect because there was no significant difference in the amount all the different colors melted.

[Chemistry] Which Detergent Really Works?
Which detergent really works? If I were to put some greasy cloths into cups with 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 cups of detergent which one would work the best. I used the following detergents:Tide, Ultra Purex,Baking Soda,and Joy Ultra and mixed them in with the greasy cloths.I did three trials and then found out that Ultra Purex won. I measured how far the grease spread out and measured it in inches and ultra Purex had the least amount that was spreading out.

[Chemistry] Pop To The Oil
I LOVE popcorn but HATE all the old maids. So, I decided to do a science experiment to see if different oils pop more popcorn. My question was, “What is the effect of cooking oils on how many popcorn kernels were popped?” I got four oils with different smoke points: canola oil, olive oil, corn oil, and coconut oil. My hypothesis was that corn oil would pop the most kernels because it has the highest smoke point. I researched about it and found out a lot of cool things, like popcorn kernels have tiny drops of water in them so they can pop. When it was time to start my experiment, I did three tests for each of the four oils. When I was done with each test I would count out all the kernels that didn’t pop. My average results were: 60 for olive oil, 79 for canola oil, 69 for corn oil, and 56 for coconut oil. When I was all done I found out that my hypothesis was incorrect. There was no pattern in the oils smoke points and if they popped more kernels. This was a fun experiment. I learned a lot. The biggest thing that I learned though was what the scientific method is. Next time I would like to hold the doors of the popper down for like thirty seconds or a minute and see if that would change my results.

[Chemistry] Matrix Effect In A Bio Analytical Assayy
Acetaminophen (APAP) is a commonly used analgesic available in over-the-counter pain medication. It is safe in therapeutic doses, but in the event of overdose, centrilobular hepatic necrosis can occur. A biomarker assay of acetaminophen hepatotoxicity focuses on cleaving the proteins to which the reactive metabolite of APAP, N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI), has bound to the amino acid cysteine as APAP-cysteine (APAP-CYS). The APAP-CYS is then quantified in serum or plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS). We have observed a suppression of the limit of quantification of the biomarker assay when using mouse plasma compared to human serum. It was hypothesized that plasma exerts a matrix effect on the quantitative measurement of APAP-CYS with LC/MS-MS. To test this hypothesis, we measured APAP-CYS in mouse plasma, mouse serum, human plasma, and human serum and compared it to a neat injection of APAP-CYS. The results showed no difference between plasma and serum in the quantification of APAP-CYS. However, the recovery of APAP-CYS was greater from human plasma or serum than from mouse plasma or serum.

[Chemistry] Sweet Science
Hypothesis: I believe that extreme changes in temperature will affect the taste and texture of chocolate. I tested four batches of chocolate. The first batch I heated to 120 degrees F, then cooled at room temperature. The second batch I heated to 120 degrees F, then cooled in a freezer. The third batch was heated to 160 degrees F and cooled at room temperature. The fourth batch was heated to 160 degrees F and cooled in a freezer. I recorded changes to the taste and texture for each batch using two test subjects. Batch 1 resulted in the best chocolate. My experiments showed that my hypothesis was correct.

[Chemistry] Ring Around The Yolkie
Boil four different eggs in different ways. Boil them to see if the heat of the water or how long you cook an egg made a difference in whether or not there is a slight discolored green film on the egg yolk.

[Chemistry] Emulsifying Grease Which Additive Cuts Through Grease
I was cleaning dishes and noticed that peanut butter would not rinse off the dishes. I was curious about why soap made it easier to clean them and wondered what else would clean grease. My experiment tested my hypothesis that dish soap would break down grease the best. I began by researching the topic and communicating with experts who had knowledge of grease and chemistry. Then, I conducted my experiment. My experiment required careful attention to the controlled variable of water, including it's temperature and movement. I then added the same amount of grease to each water sample. I then added the independent variable, the chemical additive (coke, dish soap, and vinegar). I then shook the mixture and filtered all the water off the remaining grease by using a coffee filter. I then weighed and recorded the amount of grease that was left. My experiment showed that my original hypothesis was correct and that soap helped break down the grease the best. Through my research, I learned that it does that by making it more soluble and emulsifying the grease. The other additives didn’t do as much as the soap did. This experiment can be further expanded to assist with oil spill cleanup, cleaning at restaurants, and other jobs that include grease or oil. The results also left me wondering what would happen if a human drank soap? Would it have the same effect on the body and break down body fat? Maybe that is next year's project.

[Chemistry] How Permanent Are Permanent Markers?
Have you ever accidentally gotten permanent marker over plastic or glass and can't seem to get it off? With the help of our project, you can remove permanent marker ink stains from plastic or glass easily! It can help you with many things in life. Renata thinks acetone will help get that nasty stain out, but Hanin thinks hand sanitizer will! They both think the Sharpie Permanent Marker will be the toughest out of all the markers to get out! We took 3 different markers and drew 2 1/2 inch of a line, let it dry, then took a cotton swab and took hand sanitizer, acetone, and water, to try and remove all of the stain.We found out that Sharpie Permanent Marker was the toughest to remove off of the plastic and glass, water did not show any progress, and hand sanitizer showed the best progress. Acetone did not show too great of progress because Acetone is an acid, and acid burns things, so with Acetone you could possibly burn the plastic. So Sharpie was the toughest, water was the least progress, and hand sanitizer was the best progress.

[Chemistry] Shimmy Shimmy Soda...Sprite?
using the ingredients of baking soda, citric acid,sugar, lemon-lime mixture and water I made a more natural soda in comparison to sprite

[Chemistry] Which Temperature Is Best For Crystals To Grow?
We decided to experiment with crystals because we both interested in how crystals are formed in different temperatures. Our purpose is to find which temperature is best for crystals to grow. This is important because temperature affects the growth of Borax crystals; which affects how it cleans. Our question is which temperature is best for crystals to grow? Our problem was finding out which temperature would grow the most crystals. We hypothesized that room temperature would grow the most crystals. We took 3 glasses, filled them with saturated Borax solution, then placed strings hanging in the glasses and waited for 12 hours. We observed the crystal growth and found that the ice water bath grew the most crystals. Our hypothesis was incorrect. We believe that ice water grows crystals better because when the ice water cools, the microscopic pieces of crystals sink, stick to each other and build up faster more because of the cooler temperature. The application for our experiment is that Borax is more effective in warmer water because the borax crystals won’t stick together as much, making them smaller in size. This will cause them to be able to get in between smaller spaces in your clothing fabric, which will help Borax to clean better.

[Chemistry] Static Electricity
I decided to do this project to learn more about static electricity. I was curious to know what would happen if I rubbed a balloon more times if it would attract heavier materials by the static electricity. I did some research and found that everything is made of atoms and that inside those atoms there are even smaller particles called electrons, protons and neutrons, some materials have more tendency to loose electrons than others and they can interchange between materials. This exchange creates imbalance between negative charges the electrons and positive charges the protons. This imbalance is called static electricity. The negative charged materials would attract materials that are neutral or positively charged. They got to even stick to each other. My hypothesis was that if I rubbed a balloon more times it would attract heavier materials. The materials I choose to test where: another balloon, an empty soda can, a magnet, a kitchen faucet, a small stream of water, a sheet of paper, a sticky note , a one gallon zip lock bag ,a ¼ gallon zip lock bag and a piece of a kitchen plastic wrapper. I than rolled my sleeves and went to work. We eliminated some materials that were not attracted at all and worked with those that were able to be attracted. I rubbed the full balloon against my robe ten times, and tested all of the materials and took note of the results including pictures with the help of my mom. I did the same thing after rubbing the balloon twenty times and recorded the results. After that we did review the results, I made the conclusion and compared it with my hypothesis. I concluded that my hypothesis was correct. The more the balloon was rubbed the heavier materials it could attract.

[Chemistry] Effects Of Chlorine On Swimsuit Material
I am a swimmer and have wondered why my swimming suits seem to wear out so fast and whether some swimsuit materials last longer than others. There are three major types of material used for swimming suits: polyester, polyester-spandex blends, and nylon-spandex blends. My background research revealed that polyester is considered more resistant than other materials, but there was no data online about whether this resistance was in color-fastness, elasticity, or thickness of the material. I hypothesized that the polyester and polyester-spandex blend would be more resistant to multiple washings in chlorine than the nylon-spandex blend. I used our washing machine to agitate 12 gallons of water with different doses of bleach (1 cup, 2 cups, or 4 cups) and washed the materials on the vigorous cycle for different times (1 hour, 2 hours, and 4 hours). I controlled the experiment by using five equal 3-inch square pieces of black material of each type in each group (three material types, three doses, and three time points). I also tried pre-treating the material with Rit SunGard. I evaluated the color, the weight, and the elasticity of each square relative to the control samples that had not been treated with bleach. The polyester and polyester-spandex blend was more resistant than the nylon spandex in terms of color fading and elasticity, but the weight measures were inconclusive. The Rit SunGard made no difference in outcome. Future experiments would include exposure to sun or ultraviolet light to see if it makes any difference.

[Chemistry] Heat Vs. Pressure
Our project involves whether and in what degree relative to each other do heat and pressure affect basic chemical reactions, such as the baking soda and vinegar experiment and the slime (borax and glue) reaction.

[Chemistry] Using The Science Of Electricity To Remove Rust
I built an electrolytic de-rusting bucket that uses electricity to remove rust from metal objects. My experiment involved testing the effectiveness of the electrolytic de-rusting bucket versus the effectiveness of chemical stripper. My hypothesis was that the bucket would work better than chemical stripper. I used rusty horseshoes as the objects for rust removal. I tracked my results over 5 days and determined that my hypothesis was correct. The electrolytic de-rusting bucket I built worked better and faster than chemical stripper.

[Chemistry] Is Washability A Possibility?
For my project, I wanted to see if washable art supplies are really washable. I chose to do this because I'm always doing art and I wanted to know if the commercials are correct. To find this out, I washed denim, fleece, and cotton swatches with washable marker, paint, and crayon stripes on them. I also washed them in different temperatures of water and I used bleach in half of the loads. Once I washed them, I judged them using a one to four scale. One was the cleanest it could be, and four was only a little fainter than when I first marked it. To help me organize my results, I put all the numbers in a spreadsheet. I also totaled each row and column so I could compare each of the art supplies and fabrics to each other. As it turned out, denim and crayon were the least washable and fleece and marker were the most washable. Also, bleach didn't make a difference.

[Chemistry] Rockets Are Out Of This World
Our science project is about actual rockets,how they work, and what we learned about during making our rockets.Just to make sure our observations and test results were accurate we tested multiple times just to make sure.

[Chemistry] Does The Different Dye Make Our Water Dry?
For our project we tested which color of light has the most energy. We used red, yellow, green, and blue light bulbs to evaporate a liquid and recorded our results. We believed that if we tested this, that red light would turn out to have the largest amount of energy, and that blue light would have the least amount of energy. We put 100 ml of liquid directly within the rays of these same-brand, same-watt light bulbs, and waited for 24.5 hours, and then recorded our results. We were correct in our hypothesis about which would evaporate the most light, but not in which would evaporate the least. Red light evaporated the most water, 25 ml. This was followed closely by green light, which evaporated 24. Next was blue light, having evaporated 22 ml. Yellow light evaporated the least amount of water, at only 18 ml. Red had the most light energy, and yellow the least.

[Chemistry] Nail Busters
The effect that soda, particularly Cola's has on 2 different types of nails. Trying to prove, or disprove a common myth that Cola can eat away a nail in 4 days.

[Chemistry] Which Type Of Orange Juice Has The Most Vitamin C
We have researched which orange juice has the most vitamin C. We hypothesized that homemade orange juice that is freshly squeezed has the most vitamin C. In order to conduct our experiment we made the titration solutions first. We then treated three different types of orange juice. The final step of our experiment was setting up a proportion so that we were able to see exactly how much vitamin C was in each mg/ml of orange juice. Throughout the experiment the results indicated that the homemade freshly squeezed orange juice has the most vitamin C.

[Chemistry] Borax Crystals
Does the temperature of water make a difference in how crystals grow? If we mix borax in hot and cold water then the crystals will grow faster in hot water because it has faster moving molecules which are spread further apart than the molecules in cold water, and so more molecules can fit in between the water so more dissolves. The borax in the cold water doesn't dissolve because they are closer together.

[Chemistry] Does Salsa Eat Through Metal
I wanted to see if the salsa would dissolve metal nails. I put the nails in container of salsa and then put lids on the containers and put them in the fridge.

[Chemistry] Is Expensive Always Better?
We compared the effectiveness of different hair conditioners from the least expensive to the most expensive. We asked people to wash their hair using the same shampoo each time but changing conditioners three times. They then filled out a survey rating how their hair felt and looked. We found out that the most expensive conditioner was the favorite and at least in this case, expensive was better.

[Chemistry] Oh Baby I'm On Firre!!
Two types of fire retardants were compared in this experiment as well as a control. The retardants were sprayed on several branches and the branches were then ignited with flame. The two types of retardants were a commercial brand and the other was a home made. There was something else that was compared. The branches (all 45 of them) were dehydrated but each for a different amount of time. We dehydrated a section for 30 minutes, another for 60, another for 120, another for 240 & the last one for 480 minutes.

[Chemistry] Rockets
In our project, we found different ways to launch bottle rockets. We made three different rockets from soda bottles, one using baking soda and vinegar, one from Mentos and Diet Coke, and one from water.

[Chemistry] Which Grows Fastest?
Do crystals grow faster from a saturated solution or a supersaturated solution?

[Chemistry] Iodine Titratable Vs. Clorhine Dioxade
In my project I am testing which chemical purifies water quicker.My hypothesis was that the Iodine would purify quicker. My Hypothesis was incorrect.My water source that I used was snow melted into water.I found out that Clorhine Dioxade purifies water quicker. My project helps the world,because it helps campers know that the Clorhine Dioxade tablets purify water quicker.

[Chemistry] Absorption Power
I tested which paper towel brand was the most absorbent.

[Chemistry] The Briggs Rausher Reaction
My purpose of my project was that I wanted to see if I could make The Briggs-Rausher Reaction increase its cycles. Last year I took out every chemical inside the reaction, and saw that if I didn’t add the malonic acid then there would be no reaction. So after studying the reaction I found out that the malonic acid combines with the starch solution that makes that the yellow color turn to blue. So this year I wanted to see if adding more malonic acid would increase the number of cycles. So to do this I combined some chemicals in cup A, and some other chemicals in cup B. I would mix these chemicals together in another cup to see the reaction. I tested it four times with the same amount of malonic acid, and decreased and increased it. To conclude my hypothesis was correct, “If I increase the number of scoops of malonic acid in the reaction, then the number of cycles will increase.” As I did my experiment I did some mistakes. I added a little bit of manganese sulfate and the reaction had so many cycles. Another thing is that is that I added one more drop of the starch solution and there was no reaction. So for next year’s science fair project I will probably test this to see if increasing or decreasing these chemicals, will change the number of cycles.

[Chemistry] Mpemba Effect
My project’s purpose was to find out if there was such a thing as the Mpemba effect. The Mpemba effect is the phenomenon in which hot water can freeze faster than cold water. My project was to put different temperatures of water in to a freezer and time them to see how fast the water would freeze. First, using a Styrofoam cooler, a piece of glass, cardboard, and dry ice, I constructed a freezer that was designed to hold one glass test tube. When I ran the experiment, I would fill the tube with two tablespoons of water at a certain temperature, and time the water to see when it would cool to 32 degrees Fahrenheit. I repeated the process with three different temperatures (180, 67, and 43 degrees Fahrenheit) three times each and recorded the results of how fast the water cooled. The temperature units I chose were in Fahrenheit. My project’s final results were that the water pre-cooled in a fridge to 43 degrees ame to the temperature of 32 degrees fastest every single time - 8 minutes 31.8 seconds on average. After that, the room temperature water cooled next fastest - 21 minutes 52.8 seconds on average. The boiling water took an average of 43 minutes to freeze. This project is valuable because if hot water could freeze faster than cold water, then we could save energy because of using the freezer less. Another benefit is that you could freeze hot food faster.

[Chemistry] Ox See Day Shun
We did our project on the process of oxidation through apples and various plastics wraps. We wanted to find out which plastic wrap most effectively prevents oxidation occurring in apples.

[Chemistry] The Effect Of Water Temperature On Alka Seltzer Tablets
In this project, I will demonstrate how much time it takes for an Alka-Seltzer tablet to create a gas. I will do this by taking a plastic bottle, filling it up to a line with water, dropping a tablet in the water, twisting on the cap, and watching the pressure from the tablet push the end out of a syringe.

[Chemistry] How Sweet It Is?
I tested sugar density in soda and juice using a hydrometer.

[Chemistry] Show Your True Colors!
Chromatography is the study of chemicals within a colored substance. In this project, I researched which solvent best identifies the chemical mixtures in a different colored marker. My thought was if there are different pigments in colored markers, polarity of different solvents affect the rate, and if vinegar has the largest polarity, then I predict the vinegar will best solvent to identify the pigment in a colored marker. To test my hypothesis I first gathered all my materials, in which had included my six solvents; H2O, apple juice, sprite, alcohol, milk,and vinegar. Then, I used a black marker (an absorption color) to tests which of the six solvents would show the most colors. I had two trials, and after all my testing I resulted in accepting my hypothesis that vinegar is the best to show the colors because vinegar had the fastest rate with an average time of 1:81. The items that would have changed my project are; the solvents, and the items that wouldn't have affected my experiment would have been; the temperature of the solvents,time between trials, type of jar, paper, and marker. This topic helps and inspires me with my future because I would love to be a pediatrician and I might deal with a situation in which chromatography will be involved. Also,my teacher's daughter had done a similar project, and I was fascinated to see the differences between our projects. To improve my project for next year I will use more solvent and have more trials.

[Chemistry] Popcorn Wars
Josh loves popcorn and thought it would be fun to determine which brand of microwave kettle corn pops the highest percentage of its kernels. He chose five different brands of kettle corn, popped three bags from each brand, counted a lot of un-popped kernels and also performed mathematical calculations necessary to identify the winners and losers. Josh's analysis concluded that the Western Family brand was the "best value" because it had the second highest percentage of popped kernels and was the least expensive brand.

[Chemistry] Yeast Fermentation With And Without Aeration
My project will test the amount of carbon dioxide(CO2) produced during yeast fermentation in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.My experiment will have two conditions containing the yeast and sugar solution, one with oxygen and one with out oxygen.The amount of CO2 collected in the gas collecting chamber from each condition will determine which condition produces more carbon dioxide.

[Chemistry] Is Red Really The Hardest To Remove From Carpet?
I chose this topic because my mom always got mad at me when I spilled red punch on the carpet, because it never came out. I always wondered why red was so hard to remove from carpet and why other colors would come out of the carpet easier than others. So I decided to test different colors of food coloring for different amounts of time to see which one is really the hardest to remove from carpet and why.

[Chemistry] Electric Lemons
I hope to find a power source that is safer on the environment. We can learn many things by using the common household items around us. It is my goal to make a lemon battery that will light a low voltage LED. When two different metals are placed in an acid, such as citric acid, a chemical reaction causes ions to flow from one metal to the other and electrons to flow through the wires. How many lemons does it take to light a light bulb? Or would a tomato be better? Let us find out!

[Chemistry] Fizz Factor
will submit this evening

[Chemistry] Temperatures Of Explosions
The Mentos and Coke reaction was made famous by videos on YouTube, and the cause of it was highly debated upon among scientists. However, recently the answer to why this reaction happens has been revealed. Mentos have microscopic pits that are attracted to carbon dioxide called nucleation sites. When the Mento hits the surface of the soda, bubbles form on the Mento. The candy sinks, and all the gas is released. It pushes most of the liquid into an eruption. The question we tested was does different temperatures of Mentos and Coke affect the height of the eruption when the two are added together? If so, what combination of temperatures produces the tallest eruption? We originally believed that warm Mentos and warm Coke would produce the most height when added together because the heated molecules would have more movement, and produce more kinetic energy. Energy would make the eruption taller. We discovered that cold Mentos and warm Coke produced the most height of 391 cm, while warm Mentos and cold Coke only erupted 7 cm. In the end, we came up with an explanation to why this happens. Half of our hypothesis was correct. Warm coke helps produce the greatest height due to the molecules producing more energy. However, a cold Mento makes the eruption taller because of the size change when it is made colder. When the whole Mento shrinks, the nucleation sites are made deeper, therefore also being able to collect more carbon dioxide. Our experiment represents chemistry.

[Chemistry] Surface Tension
We used boats made of transparency paper and sponge to study the strong bonds formed between water molecules and to look at what kind of household products added to water would change its surface tension. We discovered that amphiphilic things (one end is hydrophobic and the other end is hydrophilic) had the biggest effect on the surface tension of water because hydrophobic part floats on top of the water while the hydrophilic part gets in between the water molecules

[Chemistry] Chemistry Kitchen
What effect do eggs have on a regular yellow cake?

[Computer Science] More Efficent Factoring
This paper will be discussing about the importance of factoring in modern day, because of encryption. The goal of the project was to create a more efficient proses of factoring by including the number filed sieve and threading. The project was done in c++ programming environment. The results of this experiment show that factoring even in its most efficient form still is extremely computer intensive.

[Computer Science] Website File Manager
A file manager is a program that a web host offers to let its users work on their websites by giving them features such as new, edit, rename, delete, and copying their website’s files. "Website File Manager" is designed to stop efforts to hack into website hosting services as well as prevent users from posting malicious codes, either purposefully or accidentally, which could compromise the safety and security of their host site. The file manager is constructed from PHP and HTML programming languages. ??The key to how this file manager works is in its ability to take information from the URL (address) of any web page as a parameter and store it as a variable within its source code. It receives information about a file and/or folder a user is working on as well as what that user wants to do with it from the URL. It combines this information with information "set in stone" located in fixed code variables which then place security restrictions on any additions or extensions added to host website addresses that might alter them and permit their corruption. ??I discovered that it is possible to hack into a host website using extensions or added figures. My original website file manager did not stop hacking by itself without the addition of filters. It was possible to prevent hacking by adding filters to the program. This was done by using filters that detect and remove forbidden paths and file extensions contained in the file manager's source code.

[Computer Science] Singing The Blues: Communicating Through An Android Device Via Bluetooth Radio
The goal of my project was to design a PC Layout and etch a board to connect a Bluetooth radio to an Arduino microcontroller. I then connected the radio to an Android device using Amarino, a pre-written tool that I found online. I then tested the communication, and developed customized software to transfer data that will eventually (in a future project) be used in a digital oscilloscope application. The software portion of my project consists of two parts: the first is written in modified C, and connects the microcontroller to the Bluetooth Radio. It handles the analog/digital conversion of the values, and sending them serially over a Bluetooth radio. The second piece of software runs on the Android device of my choice, and it uses the Bluetooth radio build into the Android device to receive the values, and then plot them showing how the amplitude changes over time. The most unique part of my project is the configuration of the Bluetooth radio to optimize the speed of the transfer of data. The hardware portion of my project involved laying out a design and etching it onto a copper board. This process was complicated and required some trial and error to etch a usable board. Overall I feel that my project was a success. I succeeded in creating both usable hardware and software pieces and developed a working project.

[Computer Science] Target Acquir3 D
Humans recognize objects all the time. They interact with these objects, on the sole basis of information received from images on the retina. They can easily tell what pieces of these pictures are objects of importance and what pieces are not. They recognize friends, foes, and furniture, and furthermore, understand what it means when any of these try to communicate (yes, even furniture). …But can a computer do this? Clearly a computer can take pictures. Clearly a computer can do many processing tasks. But can it extract a meaningful interpretation of these images? This is what our project aims to accomplish through a large construction based on several algorithms, and a collection of specifically trained neural nets and convolutions. Our setup uses dual cameras to perform stereopsis on offset images, producing a moderately accurate depth map. We then segment the images into pieces which correspond to distinct physical objects based on color, luminosity, and depth. At this point, we use a trained convolutional net to extract information pertaining to the types of objects, identifying them into categories, such as “chair”, “table”, or “human”. Motion is then classified in the same manner and use both of these as inputs to a gesture recognition system, which splits every few frames into a gesture piece, and then performs a last one-dimensional convolve to obtain full gestures. Furthermore, our project is a large step forward in computer vision due to our unique program flow, making all of the pieces interweave and work together.

[Computer Science] Password Safety
Nowadays, many users are trying to make the safest password for their online accounts. This project explores how the password length, randomness, and method used to hack the password affect the safety of the password. First, I researched the relationship between password length and the average number of password searches performed before the password is hacked, aka the safety index of the password, when the password is tested with brute-force attacks. I then tested common and random passwords for their safety index under a dictionary attack and a brute-force attack. Results show that when the length of a password increases by one character, the safety index of the password would multiply by the number of possible characters for each position in the password plus one. Common passwords are safer under brute-force attacks than dictionary attacks by having around 3.79 times the safety index. Random passwords result with around the same safety index under both attacks. Random passwords have around 5.96 times the safety index than common passwords under a dictionary attack and around 1.57 times the safety under a brute-force attack. I conclude that the increasing of the length of a password is an effective way to increase safety. Additionally, users should lean towards random passwords because they are much safer than common passwords under a very common hacking method, the dictionary attack. Lastly, choosing a random password will not have drawbacks in safety as the safety index of one is about equal to that of a common password.

[Computer Science] Produce Tracking System
My engineering project enhances food safety by tracking food from the grower to the grocery store. I have built a web site containing a database, and prototype application for an android phone. The android application scans a barcode on the produce, and then searches the database on the web site to find related items. Possible problems with the food item are reported to the user, and researchers can search the database to search for problem trends in the food supply. I used java and XML to write the Android application, and HTML and php to develop the web site. My data is stored in a mysql database.

[Computer Science] Periodica: An Interactive Periodic Table And Equation Balancer
Many learning and physically disabled students have the intellectual capacity to excel in higher level AP and IB Chemistry classes, but lack assistive devices that would make it possible for them to complete assignments in a timely fashion and to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the material in writing for their teachers. Most students who have a hard time writing use computers for their classes. However, it is prohibitively time consuming to search a word processing program for every Chemistry symbol necessary to complete advanced chemistry work. Periodica is a simple, easy to use Assistive Chemistry Reference and Work Production Application that does not require an internet connection to access data so that students can complete their homework when the internet is not accessible. The equation balancer allows students to click, drag and drop elements and ions or to type the element and ion names into the balancer, depending upon which method is more efficient for the user. I also designed a solubility checker that tests the solubility of ionic compounds. Finally, I am completing work on a Redox function that will significantly reduce the amount of time spent by students on each oxidation-reduction problem. Because Periodica adheres to the concept of Universal Design, it is equally useful and relevant for both disabled and non-disabled students.

[Computer Science] Cost Comparison And Analysis Of The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Using A Java Program
The nuclear fuel cycle used for civilian nuclear power generation is a complex cycle involving several actinides, especially uranium and plutonium that describes its flow throughout the processes for the various stages in producing nuclear power. There are two main branches of the nuclear fuel cycle: direct disposal of fuel, and reprocessing of fuel. An ongoing debate exists over the cost efficiency of these fuel cycles, as though reprocessing makes more efficient use of the fuel, the methods required to execute the process are highly expensive. The goal of this science project is to use computer programming and modelling in order to compare the different costs incurred by the two different major branches of the nuclear fuel cycle, and to analyse the effects of certain parameters such as uranium price in the final costs of nuclear power production under these cycles, and therefore study under which conditions is nuclear reprocessing cost-viable compared to direct disposal of nuclear waste.

[Earth & Planetary Science] Calcium Carbonate In Rocks
People love to enjoy the beautiful natural wonders in the great state of utah. But, do we really take the time to understand how some of these formations are created. This project looks at the natural phenomenon of white crystals growing on rocks in different areas of Southern Utah. It explored which rocks contain calcium carbonate and if all of those will produced the same or different reactions. Since the crystals all seemed to grow in the warmer climate of Southern Utah, the experiment also tested if a cooler temperature would produce those same results. My hypothesis was that all of these rocks would grow crystals since they all had calcium carbonate in common. The results did not support my hypothesis and showed that all rocks would not grow crystals and cooler temperature prevented the chemical reaction from taking place.

[Earth & Planetary Science] The Salt Of The Earth
What is the effect on the purity of solar salt crystals if the process for formation is altered by adding a catalyst (ammonia and bluing) or motor oil? The hypothesis was, If a catalyst (bluing and ammonia) or motor oil (to mimic an oil spill) is added to salt water then the solar salt crystal formed will not be as pure as it would have been if chemicals hadn’t been added, because the catalyst and motor oil will not evaporate and therefore become part of the solar salt crystal. Four different water samples were used for the experiment; water from the Great Salt Lake, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and Distilled Water. For each of the water samples, there was a control group (nothing added to the water) a catalyst group (bluing and ammonia added to speed up growth) and a motor oil group (to mimic an oil spill). Each solution was evaporated using heat, and solar salt crystals formed. Solar salt crystals were taken to Morton Salt laboratory where they were analyzed for purity.

[Earth & Planetary Science] The Correlation Between Rock Color And Its Element Composition Using Sem Examination With A Bse Detector And Eds X Ray
The purpose of this research project was to look in depth into the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of varying rocks. The SEM is capable of going into much greater detail of revealing the minerals and element of rocks, in comparison to the ordinary conventional microscope. Using the SEM, the elemental composition of these rocks were collected, processed and analyzed to establish a relationship with its elements. The colors of the elements of the geological samples were identified and matched with the actual color of the rock. There were 13 geological samples analyzed in the experiment. The main purpose of this study was the exploration of the SEM and its capabilities with geological samples, its element composition and color composition. The accuracy of the SEM, Energy-dispersive spectroscopy X-Ray (EDS) and Back-scattered electron (BSE) detector are tested in this study. Also, what this study does is open up the new research field of color composition and element composition with the use of the SEM. The new findings demonstrate that research using the SEM examination with the BSE and EDS can have a much more significant impact on the relationship between color composition and element composition of geological samples. With the versatility of the SEM, not only are geological samples capable of being analyzed, but also any object can be analyzed.

[Earth & Planetary Science] Effects Of Detergents On Plants
After the removal of phosphorous from detergents many brands started to market their product as "all natural" or organic. I wanted to test to see if their natural detergents had any effect different then the regular branded detergents. If they did have a different effect was it more ecofriendly or was it all a hoax.

[Earth & Planetary Science] Take A Tumble!
My project is based on the question; can I model the rate of weathering and erosion of rocks from the Wasatch Mountains using a rock tumbler? I started out by gathering samples all along the Wasatch Front. Once I gathered all the samples, I weighed them and added them to the rock tumbler along with sand and water. The rock types I used were sandstone, limestone, gneiss, granite, conglomerate, and marble. I hypothesized the sedimentary rocks: sandstone, limestone, and conglomerate. The other rock categories are igneous (granite) and metamorphic: marble, and gneiss. I hypothesized the sandstone would weather and erode the fastest because it uses less heat to be created appose to the igneous and metamorphic rocks. I further hypothesized the sandstone and limestone would erode the fastest because they have the smallest particles of rock unlike conglomerate. The results were very good, except I have one outlier. My outlier was granite, and maybe because it had a crack in it. My average mass lost was half a gram over a 14-day span, which I consider decent. I will further my studies by finding the slope of the trend line to my results. This way I can find how long it will take the rocks to erode into sand grain size without leaving the tumbler on forever. My hypothesis was proven correct and incorrect because the sedimentary rocks eroded fastest but conglomerate and sandstone eroded the fastest out of the sedimentary rocks, not limestone. In conclusion I learned about classification of rocks and how to find slope of a line.

[Earth & Planetary Science] Measuring Water Hardness: Calcium Levels In Northern Utah's Water Sources
The purpose of this project was to explore the differences in water hardness throughout Northern Utah. To perform this experiment, we first collected nine water samples from different water sources in Northern Utah. These sources were Birch Spring Draw, the Artesian Well Park, the Great Salt Lake, Red Butte Garden, Sugarhouse Park, the Cottonwood River, and the Green River, as well as testing tap water and Milli-Q water (ultrapure water used in scientific labs). Since water hardness in determined by the amount of calcium in it, we used test strips to measure the calcium content in each sample in ppm (parts per million). We poured on sample of water at a time into a clean cup and dipped the test strip in until it was completely submerged. After testing all the samples three times, we found the average amount of calcium in each sample.

[Earth & Planetary Science] Skyglow
Light pollution in cities causes limited sight in the night sky. This is the reason why most observatories are out in the dessert or in a higher elevation. Skyglow refers to the "glow" effect that can be seen over populated areas. It is the combination of all light reflection, being scattered by the atmosphere back toward the ground. This scattering is very strongly related to the wavelength of the light when the air is very clear. Or project tests this by asking if the further away from the brightest city lights, the more light pixels there will be. In each location, we took at least two pictures at different dates. Then, we used the computer program ImageJ to see how many pixels there are in each value. This is how we compiled the data to conclude our project We deduced that the further away from city lights you go, the more stars you can see and at a brighter value.

[Energy & Transportation] Warming A Room In Winter: A Simple Solar Sponge
Introduction: Utah has long and cold winters. We wanted to reduce our heating bills by building a simple solar air room heater from household items. Materials and Methods: The materials used were a styrofoam board, black paint, paint brush, plastic wrap, string, pushpins and duct tape. The control unit was not painted with black paint. We mounted the experimental solar air heater (painted black on the window facing side) on a south facing window of a bedroom. We recorded the temperatures of the upper and lower vents of the styrofoam box on sunny and cloudy days. We also recorded the difference in temperature of the room. The same was done with the control unit. Results: We found a one and half times difference in average temperature between the upper and lower vents of the sample solar heater on a sunny day while the difference in temperatures in the control was marginal. On a cloudy day there was no difference in temperature between the vents on the control as well as the sample heater. On a sunny day the sample solar heater could increase the temperature of the room by 2 degrees F which did not happen on a cloudy day or using the control solar heater. Conclusions: We were able to build a simple solar air heater using household items and observed that it could increase the temperature of a room on a sunny day.

[Energy & Transportation] Wave Speed
This project measures the dependence surface wave speed on temperature, depth, and density. Three hypotheses were tested: 1. When the water is deeper, the wave will travel slower. 2. When the water is warmer, the wave will travel faster. 3. The denser the water is, then the slower the wave will travel. A paddle in the water is used to make waves. Dividing the distance that the wave traveled by the time it took to travel that far measures speed. The conclusions that were drawn from the results are: 1. The deeper the water, then the faster the wave. Hypothesis 1 is false. 2. When the water is warm the wave travels slower. Hypothesis 2 is false. 3. When the water is denser, the wave travels slower. Hypothesis 3 is true. The results of this project can be used in many ways. Scientists could find the average wave speed of an area and create better electricity generators that are powered by those waves. Wave powered electricity generators can help stop global warming by not using large power plants. When the property of the water is known, then tsunamis can be better predicted. Scientists could predict how fast the wave will travel, and how much time there is before it hits land.

[Energy & Transportation] Batteries & Flashlights
To determine which AA Alkaline battery would last longest in a flashlight out of Duracell, Energizer, and Rayovac. Then I did some research. My hypothesis was: Based on the Rayovac advertising I think that the Rayovac AA Alkaline battery will last the longest. Next I got my experiment plans. Then I did my experiment, Then I did my observations. From this I learned that the Duracell AA Alkaline battery lasted the longest in a flashlight. Last I did my conclusion/analysis. I think that it will be better to buy Duracell AA Alkaline batteries because they last longer.

[Energy & Transportation] Power Up!
Solar panels are currently only 14-22% efficient when they attempt to convert sunlight into usable energy. As solar panels are often called the energy of the future, I thought that there must be a way to make them more efficient. That thought lead to my question: By using different configurations of reflective surfaces, is it possible to increase the maximum power output of a solar panel? Since using mirrors would have been very expensive, I constructed three different structures covered with reflective Mylar that I believed would increase the maximum power output of a solar panel. The first type was four 45? reflective surfaces, one attached to each side of the panel. I believed they would increase the surface area of the solar panel, in a cost-efficient way. The second kind was two upside-down “L” shaped reflective surfaces, attached to opposite sides of the panel. I believed they would reflect the unabsorbed sunlight back onto the panel. The last configuration was a parabola-shaped reflective surface, which surrounded all four sides of the panel. I believed this shape would focus all light to a vertex that would generate a tremendous amount of additional power. After three different days of testing, I concluded that the four 45? reflective surfaces worked the best, averaging a 28.3% increase in power output. The parabola was second best, with an average power increase of 22.5%. The two upside-down “L” shaped reflective surfaces performed the worst, averaging a 30.7% decrease in power.

[Energy & Transportation] It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's...Gone?
Stealth technology refers to the methods used to conceal military vehicles from radar.Since World War II, military engineers have been searching for ways to make aircraft invisible to radar. Several have succeeded, but stealth technology is still a work in progress. The purpose of this experiment was to determine which geometric shape, material, and paint finish scatters the most light. My hypothesis was if I measure which 3-D geometric shape, material, and paint finish scatters the greatest amount of light, then I can determine which combination is the hardest to detect by simulated radar (reflection of light). In this procedure, the 3-D geometric shapes that were constructed and tested included cylinders, “V” shapes, and “W” shapes. Each was made using wood, aluminum, and fabric. The shapes were tested in a test box with a flashlight and lux meter to measure illuminance and simulate radar. After the unpainted shapes were tested, they were painted with a matte black finish and tested again. This procedure was repeated using satin black paint, and high gloss black paint. One finding was that the unpainted shapes had significantly higher lux readings than the painted shapes. Another finding was that the “V” shapes consistently had the lowest illuminance readings regardless of material or paint finish. Thirdly, the overall illuminance was not greatly affected by the material used to construct the shape. The information from this experiment is important because military stealth is still developing, and it reinforces the principles needed for an effective stealth vehicle.

[Energy & Transportation] Distracted Driving
The experiment was to see how texting affects someone, while they are playing a racing video game.

[Energy & Transportation] Green Electricity
I raise turkeys and have lights on in the shed at night, that can be expensive. Turkeys will eat at night if they have light and they will grow bigger. In order to save money I am investigating how to use wind power to generate electricity to charge batteries to light the shed. Spending money to buy a large windmill would not save money so I am looking for a way to use recycled materials as much as possible. That will be better for everyone. I have experimented with turning electric motors into generators and have built a model to show that it can work. In order to show this will work in my turkey shed I am experimenting with different motors to find how much energy each can generate. Using constant rpms I can can turn different motors to find a generator that will produce enough electricity to charge car batteries. I use electric drills to turn the motors and I use a multimeter to measure how much electricity they generate.

[Energy & Transportation] Cold Is The New Hot
In my project I wanted to find out if the temperature that a battery is working affects how long it will work. Batteries are very expensive and I thought people would want to know this so they can save money and decrease waste. I thought that hot and cold temperatures will change the outcome of the batteries life because heat is energy and cold sucks energy. To do this expirement I placed four flashlights in different temperatures and turned them on. I watched to see which flashlight went out first and so on. I had a flashlight in a freezer, refrigerator, oven (with a space heater with a thermostat to keep it at a consistent termperature), and one at room temperature. My hypothesis was incorrect, I thought heat would make the flashlight go longer but the freezer flashlight stayed on the longest so I learned that cold is better for batteries that heat. This was consistent with my research which explained that batteries work by a chemical process which is slowed down the colder the temperature. It appeared as though the warmer temperature the brighter the light which was what my research said would happen. It would be interesting to do another test to measure the total amount of energy pulled from each battery at different temperatures to see what the most efficient temperature is.

[Energy & Transportation] Gallons For Gallons
I am a huge milk fan. One day while at the grocery store, I was thinking about how the grocery store got its milk because we usually buy our milk from Costco. I noticed that the Smith’s grocery store I was in had milk stacked in plastic crates. There were 4 gallon containers of milk per crate. I then thought about when we buy milk from Costco. Costco milk is packaged with 2 gallons of milk per box. The boxes are then stacked on pallets. I wondered if there was a way to get milk where it needs to go more efficiently and with the least amount of cost. I did an experiment to simulate transporting milk in different ways. First I transported milk in crates, then milk in boxes, and lastly as new style of milk containers. This new style of milk containers would be more square so that they could stack on a pallet, like the boxes, but it would be more efficient and environmentally friendly because it would eliminate the excess packaging and allow a customer to only buy one gallon of milk, instead of two. I did calculations to determine which way was the most fuel and energy efficient based on miles per gallons of gas and gallons of milk.

[Energy & Transportation] Magnetic Propulsion Vs Gravity Propulsion
This project compares the propulsion differences between a magnetic powered gauss gun and a gravity powered gauss gun.

[Energy & Transportation] Crashing Cars
The purpose of my experiment is to find out if talking on a cell phone affects how you drive. My hypothesis is that cell phones will distract the driver and cause him to crash. For my procedure, I tested three friends on Mario Kart with the same person, cart, and driving course each time. I tested them three times without the cell phone and three times with it using the Wii wheel. What I noticed as I did my experiment was that the cell phone distracted the driver causing him to crash more often. I also noticed that the time when they took out the cell phone, they crashed the most. While they were doing my experiment, they swerved the car a lot while talking on the phone. My hypothesis was correct. The cell phone did affect drivers based on my test. Based on my experiment results, I discovered that talking on a cell phone made people crash more often or lose control.

[Energy & Transportation] Storing Static
Storage of electricity is useful for a wide variety of applications. Capacitors store electricity, like a battery, but without the potentially dangerous chemical reactions. In this experiment I tested how much electricity is stored by using aluminum foil, tap water, and salt water as the inner conductor in a type of capacitor known as a Leyden Jar. The test method could be used to test many different materials to determine their suitability for storage of electricity. My hypothesis was that aluminum foil would store the most electricity.

[Energy & Transportation] How Shapes Demonstrate Stealth Technology
In this project I took different shapes made out of paper and put them in an controlled environment where I could test their aerodynamics by using a LUX meter and flashlight. I then took the readings and made my conclusion that the shape with the most defined edges would be best for aerodynamic and stealth technology research in the future.

[Energy & Transportation] Put Your Water To Work
Waterwheels powered the industrial revolution. Waterwheels were abandoned in favor of large scale dams for hydroelectricity. Though waterwheels seem obsolete, they are a viable source of small scale renewable hydro power. I compared the two most efficient placements of the wheel in the water, overshot position, and backshot position. The results of my tests showed that the backshot position was more efficient for a given amount of water flow. I believe this information will help people to generate the most electricity with their water.

[Energy & Transportation] Rocket Fuels
My project is asking the question - if adding an increased amount of mass to the exhaust of a model rocket engine would increase the force exerted. To test this I used one combustible fuel and one non-combustible fuel.The combustible fuel I used was flour (easy to obtain and met the criteria) and the non-combustible fuel was baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). As in the formula F=ma both the mass and the acceleration play a part in the force exerted. I assumed the gasses released from the combustion of the flour would increase the acceleration.

[Energy & Transportation] Energy From Waste: Wasted Energy?
I am always open to finding energy sources that are clean and sustainable, so I decided to experiment and see if energy from waste could be substantial in comparison to traditional energy sources. To experiment, I used charcoal as my control, and banana peel and paper briquettes as alternate fuel. I bought the charcoal from the store. To make the paper briquettes, I packed water and shredded paper together and added sawdust. To make the banana briquettes, I packed ground up dried banana peels and wet banana peels, and also added sawdust.I would add a small amount of lighter fluid to the fuel, burn the fuel underneath a can of water, and see how much the temperature of the water changed over time. I also measured temperature change per gram of the briquette. I did 3 trials, one briquette per trial. After experimenting, I found that banana heated fastest, but was the least efficient (it would take a lot of briquettes to make enough energy). Charcoal heated more evenly and efficiently, but not as fast as banana. Paper had the same efficiency issue as banana, and didn't heat very fast or evenly. As a conclusion, banana can make a good fuel source if we can find an efficient way to use it, and obtain enough.

[Energy & Transportation] Pennies And Boats
The capacity of clay boats with different shapes

[Energy & Transportation] Brake!
Is it possible to slow down or brake a bike using Lenz’s Law, Eddy Current, and two Faraday disk generators while generating electricity? I believe that a bicycle that is rigged with two faraday disk generators, on a downhill course, using gravity to move forward will slow down, or stop. I believe this will happen because, when the copper disks spin around the magnets, the magnets will create an electrical current in the copper. The current’s electrons will create a magnetic field that opposes the magnets’ magnetic field; this will cause the copper disks to slow down the bike while also generating electricity. I tested my hypothesis by sending a bicycle with two faraday disk generators attached to the front and back, on a downhill course. I tested it a total of six times. I performed three tests without the magnets attached to the bike (this test will be my CONTROLL TEST). I then tested three more times with the magnets attached to the bike (this will be the MAGNET TEST). I measured the slowing of the bike’s gravitational descent by timing it with a stopwatch. To measure the electrical output of electricity I used a multi-meter. The results showed that the MAGNET TEST bike went slower and actually stopped before crossing the finish line. The CONTROLL TEST flew by the finish line and had to be stopped using the bicycle’s brake. I believe the MAGNET TEST was slower because the copper’s electrons became excited, and while they were moving in the copper they created their own magnetic fields, which opposed the magnets and slowed the copper disks down. As for generating electricity the bike did generate electricity, but it was a very small amount. I believe this is a result of the copper brushes that I made. They were a problem, they kept slipping off the copper disk, vibrating, and breaking contact with the disks, but the data still supports my hypothesis.

[Energy & Transportation] Passive Solar Energy
Abstract: Use of passive solar energy in buildings and exploring if it is really possible to use Sun’s Energy to heat and cool buildings simply and economically? Avoiding or reducing use of heavy-duty mechanical and electrical systems and equipments for the purpose of easy maintenance and operation. In the process saving energy and keeping the environment clean, because of its abundance, simplicity, low maintenance, and most important it’s free!

[Energy & Transportation] Got Pressure?
While campaigning for the Presidency of the United States, Barack Obama said in a speech that if people would keep their car tires inflated and service their cars we would be able to save a lot of energy and need to use as much oil. Many people criticized him for this statement and thought it was a joke. Sophie’s dad is a bike racer, and he was told that having less air pressure in your tires actually allows you to go faster using less energy. We decided to test these theories to find out if using proper air pressure in tires uses less energy by rolling better. We thought it would be a good idea to test this on both cars and bikes. We read multiple studies that said a properly inflated car tire rolls around 3.3% better than under-inflated tires. We tested cars and a bike at different air pressures, through multiple tests, on varying terrains. Our tests showed that properly inflated tires do actually use less energy because they roll better. This is a good reminder to keep our tires properly inflated, not only for safety reasons, but because we can also save energy.

[Energy & Transportation] Wing Design
How does wing deisgn effect lift

[Energy & Transportation] How Do Different Air Speeds Affect Lift Of A Rotating Cylinder Vs. A Regular Wing
The goal of this project was to determine how different air speeds affect the lift of two different airplane wings, a rotating cylinder and a regular wing. This was tested by measuring the lift at different air speeds for each wing. The results show that the rotating cylinder produces more lift at slower air speeds, while the regular wing produces more lift at faster air speeds.

[Energy & Transportation] How Temperature Effects Cfl Type Light Bulbs
Test the amount of time it takes for a Compact Fluorescent Lamp to reach full brightness when the starting temperature of the lamp is at room temperature, -17.8 Celsius, and near 54.4 Celsius. Luminous flux (LUX), Watts, Volts, and temperature, were monitored and recorded throughout testing.

[Energy & Transportation] Copper & Salt: Utah's Untapped Energy
Copper and salt are two of Utah's natural resources. By combining copper and salt in a kinetic energy experiment as well as using a volt meter in a separate experiment, I wanted to find out if a clean energy source could be generated. Using five different salinity levels (including a sample from the Great Salt Lake and distilled water as a control), I combined different metals (copper, gold, aluminum, magnesium, silver, zinc), carbon and each water sample to try and generate energy. My kinetic energy experiment combined a carbon plate, four metals, each water sample and a motor to run wheels on a small car. My voltmeter test measured volts created when a combination of two metals were immersed in each of the five water samples. Aluminum with the highest salt water solution was the only metal that worked on the kinetic energy test. Copper, carbon and a 12.5% salt water solution worked the best, and copper and silver with the Great Salt Lake water sample worked second best on the volt meter test. I discovered that two minerals mined in Utah, copper and silver, did create energy when used with salt water as a conductor. My project showed how resources found locally can create clean energy.

[Energy & Transportation] Biodiesel Microfluidic Effectuator
Traditional biodiesel processors require the heating of reactants (usually to 55.0 – 60.0 ° C), are stationary, and require grid electrical energy. The purpose of the continuation project, “Biodiesel Microfluidic Effectuator,” is to create a tangible, low-cost, portable, off-grid (powered by a 15 watt solar panel) processor that incorporates novel microfluidic reaction technology as well as a new method of separating out biodiesel from glycerol utilizing expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE). The purpose of the processor is to carry out the biodiesel reaction at ambient temperatures (such as 22.0 °C) to limit energy input and hence maximize energy output. Additionally, it is designed to be a continuous flow process with minimal manual involvement in generating biodiesel from vegetable oil, methanol, and potassium hydroxide. The general conclusion of the research is that Biodiesel Microfluidic Effectuator (Bio-ME) is a plausible, tangible biodiesel processor. It generates biodiesel from either clean or used vegetable oil and separates out the generated hydrophobic biodiesel from the hydrophilic glycerol by-product utilizing porous ePTFE microfluidic tubing. The biodiesel reaction can be carried out at ambient temperatures (such as 22.0 °C) due to the microfluidic tubing causing the reactants to be compressed together and react. Bio-ME is a continuous flow process that has limited manual involvement in biodiesel generation and is powered by a 15-watt solar panel attached to the top of the processor.

[Energy & Transportation] Thunder Bird Super Sonic Catapult
Me and my partner Jakob Fulton had desided to have our project Thunder bird catapult from the internet cause we had no ideas.Thunderbird jets are real in fact it is a very easy way to do transportation sure it dosnt go that far but the real deal is super fast but the project we are doing goes 28 feet and 2 feet out of bounce but yes it was a easy project to do all we really needed was the jet launcher.

[Energy & Transportation] The Suitability Of Algae Protein Residue As An Effective Biofuel
The dependency on non-renewable resources for fuel and energy is harmful and unreliable. Resources such as fossil fuels are in a finite amount as well as damaging to the environment. Biofuels are an excellent source for renewable resources. Algae are aquatic plants that are used for lipid extraction and then for production of ethanol. Algae has a wide range of areas to grow in and it cleanses waste water. After lipid extraction, protein residue can be used for further energy production through pyrolysis. Through the use of a TGA, dehydrated algae samples were tested to measure the change in weight in relation to change in temperature The algae were left with a remaining mass percentage after TGA. Data is significant in that other commonly used feed for pyrolysis, such as rice straw or wood chips, have no mass remaining (when left untreated) at lower temperatures. The focus of algae production for biofuels can be algae extraction and pyrolysis of protein residue as well.

[Energy & Transportation] Boat Races
The purpose of this project is to find out which boat material will go the farthest. Three different boats with different material basswood, plastic folder, and paper folder. The hypothesis was that the plastic folder will go the fastest. We made the boats then we put them in the water and timed them. We put out three water tubs and put one boat in each. Then timed them to see how fast they went by using detergent as a motor. We found out that our hypothesis was refuted. The basswood boat went the fastest and the plastic folder went the slowest. The basswood average travel is 15.75 seconds fast.

[Energy & Transportation] Friction Rubbed Me Wrong
In the project, Friction Rubbed Me Wrong, the question is how friction affects the movement of wheeled or magnetically levitating vehicles. The hypothesis for this experiment is that a levitating vehicle using magnetic fields will travel faster than a wheeled vehicle on a ramp. The independent variable is whether the vehicle uses wheels or magnets. The dependent variable is how fast the vehicle travels. The project required building an inclined track and a wheeled and magnetically levitating vehicle. The vehicles were tested on a three foot long ramp angled at 12.5 degrees. Photogates were used to record the vehicles’ velocity. Variables that were controlled included the vehicles’ weight, the photogates and computer, and the track. The levitating vehicle was faster than the wheeled vehicle by approximately 0.07 m/s at the first photogate and 0.15 m/s at the second photogate. Neither vehicle was very efficient compared to the calculated velocity of a frictionless vehicle at each photogate. The vehicles were approximately half as efficient as the frictionless vehicle. Calculating two standard deviations from the mean velocity for each vehicle showed that there was no overlap in values. This indicates a statistically significant difference in the velocity between the levitating vehicle and the wheeled vehicle. In conclusion, this experiment shows that a magnetically levitating vehicle is faster than a wheeled vehicle on a ramp. But, neither vehicle is efficient compared to a frictionless vehicle.

[Energy & Transportation] Here Comes The Sun
My project was a study about the angle of a solar panel, the direction it is facing, and how those factors affect the amount of Voltage that is produced. I found out that the amount of Voltage that is produced is affected by the direction that the solar panel faces, and the tilt angle. The highest Voltage is produced when the panel is facing east, at a tilt angle of fifteen degrees.

[Energy & Transportation] Give Me Your Best Pitch....
I built a wind turbine out of PVC pipe and a small DC motor. After researching that the two main components of producing the most power from a wind turbine is the wind speed and the pitch angle of the blades. Therefore, I wanted to see how the pitch angle of the blades had an effect on how much power the wind turbine made if I kept the wind speed the same.

[Energy & Transportation] Insulation Madness
Introduction The purpose of my research was to determine which type of insulation maintains temperature best. Insulation helps stop this natural movement and keeps the warm air in your house when it is cold outside.  There are five types of insulation used for buildings. I have chosen to compare three types of insulation:  fiberglass batting, rigid insulation, and cellular plastics spray insulation.   Hypothesis I predict that the fiberglass insulation would maintain heat inside the box the best. I based my prediction on the information, that fiberglass insulation is one of the newest and most improved types of insulation currently made. Experiment I compared rigid polystyrene, cellular plastic foam and fiberglass batting insulation by lining the inside of each box and left one box empty for a control. Each box was placed in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and  temperatures were recorded every 5 minutes.  At the completion of three runs, I calculated an average temperature for each timeframe. Analysis In my hypothesis I guessed fiberglass batting insulation would hold heat better than the others.  After analyzing the data I found the fiberglass perform better than the rigid insulation but the cellular plastic spray performed best in maintaining the heat within the box.   Conclusion I believe the cellular plastic spray must have a more air tight seal than the other types of insulation.  There are several other insulations used for homes I did not compare. Therefore, I cannot conclusively say plastic spray is the most efficient.

[Energy & Transportation] How Does Friction Effect The Speed Of A Toy Car?
My Project is on the study of how different material surfaces effect the speed of a Toy Car. Each of the different surfaces used,has a different amount of friction with the wheels of the Toy Car. To Test each material I sent the Toy Car down the ramp from the top to bottom. Three different materials were used in the testing.(Carpet, Sandpaper, and Aluminum Foil.) Each of the surfaces provided a very different result. The smoothest surface tested was the Aluminum Foil, which had the least amount of friction with he Toy Car's wheels. As a result the Aluminum Foil had the quickest time. The most rugged surface tested was the carpet, which had the slowest time. As a result, I am here to say,"Friction DEFINITELY Effects The Speed of a Toy Car."

[Energy & Transportation] Paper Airplane Test
The student made ten different paper airplanes, each with a different size paper weight, and folded design. The student then decided on one plane, which would fly the furthest. Then four individuals threw each plane four times. The flight distances for each plane were then averaged out. To show which plane truely flew the farthest, the student constructed some graphs, and charts to show the results of the flights.

[Energy & Transportation] Blow Up Before You Fill Up
The purpose of my project was to know how proper tire pressure affects gas mileage. I thought the pressure in the tires would make a difference in gas mileage because if the pressure is high the tire is harder so it would get better gas mileage and if the tire pressure was low it would sag, which would make it harder to move which would make the car slower and the gas mileage would be worse. I did this project by tracking the gas mileage in six cars over a three week period. My data after the three weeks showed mixed results. To look at just the test you would think the recommended pressure of 35 psi would be the worst on your gas mileage. However, the car that we didn't change the pressure on, still had change to its gas mileage. This would lead me to believe that something outside of changing the tire pressure was having an affect on the gas mileage during the test. In order to have a more consistent test I would have to either find a way to make things like, type of driving, weather, weight(full car vs. empty), gas (the octane mixture), and length of test, the same or run the test long enough that these affects would average out. In conclusion, tire pressure may have an effect on gas mileage but it was not a large enough effect to be seen in my expirement. My findings were inconclusive.

[Energy & Transportation] Going Bananas For Renewable Sources
Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to determine other suitable fuel resources that are renewable. Procedure: Dried banana peels were chopped and fresh banana peels were pureed. Using the pureed banana peels as glue we molded them together to make a briquette and compared times and temperatures between wood, coal and my homemade banana briquettes after setting them on fire with equal amounts of lighter fluid. We measured the temperatures with an infrared camera at 15,30,45,60,90,150,210,270 and 300 seconds. Observation: Wood, coal and banana briquettes all performed well. The coal recorded the hottest temperatures and maintained a good flame throughout the burning cycle. The flame began large then seemed to distribute across the briquette. The lowest temperature was recorded by the banana briquette. At the end of the 5 minute cycle the banana briquette completely went out. The wood held a medium temperature but seemed to have a higher flame throughout. Conclusion: The most effective fuel source appears to be the coal. After coal, wood held the next highest temperature. Last but not least was the banana briquette. They all put off temperatures that exceeded 600 degrees Fahrenheit. The wood and coal were the longest burning with the banana briquette losing its flame at exactly five minutes.

[Energy & Transportation] Up, Up, And Away
Using my knowledge of the four forces of flight and Bernoulli's Principle I wanted to know which geometric wing design would generate the most lift by observing and recording flight characteristics; it's time of flight and landing coordinate.  I tested my hypothesis by launching planes under controlled conditions and recording which designs demonstrated the best of characteristics of lift.   I tested six different wing designs with varying size, shapes, winglets, and flaps.  I hypothesized that the plane with the best lift would be a design with wider wings.  I believed this to be true because of my knowledge of a plane called the Piper Warrior, which is designed for new pilots.  It is designed for improved lift to assist in lift off.  After testing the planes I found that my hypothesis was indeed correct, the geometric wing design with the most lift was the plane with fat, wide, thick wings.  To expand on my experiment  I am testing the affect of camber on each wing design as predicted by  Bernoulli's Principle. I will do this by adding camber of a wing in an wind tunnel with dry ice and observing the way the air travels over the camber.

[Energy & Transportation] Solar Cells Salts Vs. Salts
Which salt is better for a homemade solar cell? My hypothesis states that: I believe that iodized salt will produce the most output voltage (mV) from my homemade solar cell. Both my testing and research support my hypothesis. Iodized salt will produce the most output voltage (mV) from my solar cell.

[Energy & Transportation] Battery Life
I wanted to see what brand of battery would last the longest. I thought that Rayovac would win. After I conducted my tests Duracell actualy won. I took a survey and most people thought that Duracell would win and they where right.

[Energy & Transportation] Rocket Aerodynamics
When adding weight to a rocket, what affect does it have on how long the rocket stays in the air? My experiment tested to see how weights would affect the timing. My hypothesis is, if I add more weight to the rocket before launch, then this decreases the total time it stays in the air before landing on the ground. This is important to see how much or little a rocket should weigh to get up to space faster. All the engines were bought at the same time; at the same place. We launched the rocket three times with the same weight and timed from launch until it landed. We added three nails to the nose of the rocket. Luanched it three times and timed the flights. Our third set of three launches had 6 nails in the nose. Our fourth set of three launches had 9 nails in it. I noticed that the parachute did not always open the same way or fully for every flight. Rather than averaging the three flights per set, it makes more sense to take the longest flight in each set. When looking at the longest flight in each set, it supports my hypothesis, that more weight means a shorter flight. My hypothesis stated that, as I increase the mass of the rocket by adding weight it wouldn't go as high and the flight time would be shorter.

[Energy & Transportation] Hovercraft Time
I build 2 sizes of hover crafts and used 2 different sizes of ballons to find out which combination of air force and size of hovercraft would hover the longest.I wanted to find out if the amount of airforce would make a difference in how long they would hover.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Woofers Play Bass. Tweeters Play Treble. How Do They Know The Difference?
My science fair project will investigate how different capacitors can filter out frequencies such as in a radio tuner or television de-multiplexer (i.e. DIRECTV receiver). I will use a simple circuit to determine what capacitors filter out what audio frequencies. I will filter out low, medium, and high frequencies. Then I will combine three of these circuits to flash LEDs to music when a certain frequency is filtered out. I prototyped circuits on a breadboard and a circuit simulator and tested them with different capacitors. I also used mathematical formulas to determine what frequency responses each capacitor would have. The results showed that the smaller capacitors passed higher frequencies and the larger capacitors passed lower frequencies. Finally, I built a version with 3 channels and high brightness LEDs, so I could demonstrate my results. There where 4 LEDs for each channel (treble, mid range and bass). Each channel had its own color (Bass-blue, Mid range-red, Treble- yellow) and lit up when the correct frequency was put into the filter.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Which Cup Keeps Your Cocoa The Hottest?
I was determined to find out which cup to use for my hot cocoa. I hate drinking hot cocoa and before I am even close to being finished it goes cold.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Best Airplane Design: What Wingspan Flies The Best?
Paper airplanes are a common toy for boys to play with. It's a boys dream to have an airplane that flies farther than anyone else, since that's what makes it fun. I thought an airplane with the longest wingspan would fly farther than shorter wingspans. However, my hypothesis was incorrect: the shortest wingspan flew the farthest. So, if you want to have the longest flying airplane, the wingspan must be short.

[Engineering & Computer Science] The Electric Motor
This project shows the complexity of the electric motor. Electric motors can be made using insulated wire, conductive wire, magnets, and batteries. The current comes from the batteries. It passes through the conductive wire and then the insulated wire to complete the circuit. The insulated wire is attracted to and repelled by the magnets. The insulated wire rotates in a clockwise direction. This project proves and demonstrates the concept of the electric motor.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Compressing Columns
I completed this project because I wanted to understand what affects the strength of columns and foundations built under buildings and bridges. I tested the strength of columns using various materials inside a toilet paper roll. I was hoping to find a material that would support my weight and I did. I learned that smaller the particles and the more compact those partials can be made the more weight the column will be able to support. I observed the angles of stresses in the columns and the way the columns collapsed. I found that large smooth hard objects were unable to interlock together to support loads. I also observed that hollow columns were most likely to collapse in on themselves. During my experiment I found that some softer materials like cookies performed better than harder materials like beans and marbles. The beans and marbles were not able to interlock and transfer my weight, the pressure caused them to press out against the toilet paper roll and split the roll. Sand was the best filler material I tried in my experiment. I was even able to get the sand filled toilet paper rolls to support the weight of my dad.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Shapes Of Chutes
I wanted to test different shaped parachutes to see if the shape mattered in the effectiveness of it slowing the fall, and what shape would be most effective. I tested a circle,square,and triangle in the same environment and eliminating all outside influences-weather,ect. I had fun and learned that my suspicion of which was most effective was correct!

[Engineering & Computer Science] Perfect Personal Protection
There are many different types of body armor that are designed to protect the human body from impact. The three I used in my experiment are: high density foam, Hexpad and now a new product on the market called D3o. The reason why I chose to do my experiment on testing different armor is because my family has a business that sells armor to people needing or wanting top quality impact protection. We sell our armor to special education teachers that have problems with aggressive students that bite, punch, kick, and even throw things at them. We also sell our armor to Hollywood stuntmen and famous actors. I wanted to know which armor would provide the best protection against impact. I used 1/4 inch thick ceramic tiles to simulate human bones or any fragile parts of the body. I then dropped 6 ounce weight tied to the fishing line from varying heights to determine which pad protected the tile from breaking. I was able to show that D3o protected the tile at more than 4 times higher than the traditional pads provided yet D3o was thinner than the other pads.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Kill Your Vampires
The differences in power consumption between a computer that uses a screen saver and one that uses a sleep/hibernation mode.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Robotic Arm Strength
My project involved finding out what the maximum weight a Lego Mindstorm servo motor could lift and what the effect of adding additional motors and changing the power settings would have. I believed that by adding each motor that the amount of weight the robotic arm could lift would be doubled. My conclusion was that the increase in the number of motors amounted to almost double with each added motor. I learned what the maximum capacity of each motor was and was surprised by how little the motors could actually lift.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Block The Sound
I was curious to see how much certain materials block sound. First, I measured a constant sound with a sound generator and sound meter. We cut a slit in a styrofoam box to slide a 3mm piece of cardboard, Plexiglas and wood. We placed each one in the slit one at a time and re-measured the sound several times. I learned that Plexiglas blocked the most sound and therefore was the most dense material of the ones I chose.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Lego Structures & Earthquake Survival
What type of Lego structure can survive the best during an earthquake (lateral movement)?

[Engineering & Computer Science] Blade Vs. Material
The title of my progect is Blade vs. Material. My question was out of Dyneema, Polyester, Kevlar, Tuff'n'lite what is the most cut resistant? I thought that the tuff'n'lite would be the most cut resistant because it was a level 5 cut resistance and everything else was level 4 or lower. The way I thought of this project is that when I was getting my speed skating equipment I learned that there is a variety of cut resistant materials used. But the main reason I did this project is safety. J.R. Celski nearly died because he was only wearing a thin skin suit. He got cut by a deadly sharp blade that almost hit his main artery. If he had have been wearing a safer suit he may not have gotten cut at all. From then on it has been required that you wear a cut resistant suit underneath your clothing. My conclusion was incorrect because the Dyneema was the most cut resistant. There is no clear reason why the dyneema was the best. It could have been some small variable had a huge impact and somehow caused the dyneema to work the best. Either way the Tuff'n'lite was a level 5 cut resistance and should have worked the best.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Cold Temperature Vs. Curing Concrete
The reason I chose this for my project was because I was walking my dog and asked my dad" Why are some driveways cracked and brittle and some driveways are new even though they are old" my dad said "Maybe the cracked and brittle driveways were curing in the winter and the new ones were cured in the summer". For my project I got cement and put them in the fridge, freezer and my dad's office(three of each)to cure. After one week I took one brick from each position and tested its sheer strength. After another week I took one from each position then tested it then the last week was the same, but not the same results. My results were that the room temperature was the strongest and the freezer was the weakest.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Faraday Fanatics: Can Vibration Harvest Energy?
This science fair project is centered on the use of vibration as an alternative energy source. One particular technology that is demonstrated to ‘harvest’ vibration energy is a Faraday device. It is based on the concept of Faraday’s Law and is summarized by the fact that a magnetic source moving through a coiled wired will induce a current. With focus on applications that use a Faraday Device, the project team was interested in how the movement of the magnet through a coiled affected the current induced. This led to the team’s hypothesis: How does the speed of a magnet through a coiled wire affect the current measured? Based on this information, the team could gain insight on the types of vibration sources that are best candidates for harvesting vibration energy – whether natural or man-made.

[Engineering & Computer Science] How High Will My Hovercraft Go?
In this project,I built a hovercraft using vacuum cleaner engines and then I did experiments to test how high my hovercraft can go. I used different weights and even made a smaller version of my hovercraft to test my hypothesis.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Seeing With Sound: Using Ultrasonic Sound Waves To Create A Near Field Radar
The goal of my project was to create a visual map of proximate objects using high frequency, or ultrasonic, sound waves. It measures the distance, and then converts and plots it into rectangular coordinates. I programmed a microcontroller to control the sweeping motion of the sound measuring device so that both an angle and a magnitude could be obtained. This is a continuation of my project last year, where I used sound to measure distance. This year I am using a different sensor, and I have added programming to move the sensor and to read the angle and magnitude in order to then plot it in rectangular coordinates. It has been challenging to find a reliable ultrasonic sensor to use with my design. Most of the sensors within my price range are of low quality and can only measure at short distances. I will probably continue this project next year by researching and developing my own ultrasonic sensor design in the hope of making a more reliable sensor that works at greater distances. This years project was successful. I have created a device to measure and plot vectors. However, there is more that I would like to do in the future.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Fluids In Hydraulic Systems
I chose to do my Science Fair Project on fluids in hydraulic systems. I chose this topic because I wanted to learn how hydraulics work and I wanted to make a hydraulic system myself. Hydraulic systems are used in airplanes, automobiles, earth moving machines, and manufacturing equipment. I was trying to find out if water, canola oil, and diet Pepsi would produce the same hydraulic power in a hydraulic system. My hypothesis was that the Pepsi was going to have a different result from the oil and the water because of the carbonation. I made a system with syringes and surgical tubing for the experiment. I attached the system to a base that I made and put a scale under the system. I tested each liquid and read the force produced by the system in pounds on the scale. After three tests of each liquid I averaged the data and found out that the water and the oil made about the same pounds of force. The Pepsi’s power expanded dramatically during the experiment from 13.6 pounds of pressure to 36 pounds of pressure and the Pepsi’s power was 66.2% higher than the oil and the water. I did some research and found out that the carbon dioxide in the Pepsi was expanding inside the syringe because it was outside the high pressure of the can. The extra carbon dioxide added volume to the syringe which made higher pounds of force when the plunger was pressed.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Which Robot Program Will Best Shovel Snow
I. Purpose The purpose of this experiment is to find which program will work the best for a robot to shovel the driveway. II. Procedure 1. Build and program the robot. 2. Lay down duct tape on the ground to make a rectangle. 3. Place cotton balls on the area inside the duct tape. 4. Have robot shovel driveway three times for each program. 5. Determine which program did the best by getting an average. III. Results After doing the experiment you could easily spot the difference in each program. The color program had an average of 85% cotton balls cleared. The timer program had an average of 66% cotton balls cleared. And the remote control had an average of 95% cotton balls cleared. IV. Conclusion The remote control program had the highest percent making my hypothesis true. Therefore if I had enough money I could build a bigger robot and use the remote control to shovel my drive way.

[Engineering & Computer Science] What Goes Up Must Come Down
My project was to determine which type of building would best withstand an earthquake. I built a shake table and designed different buildings, then tested each design on the shake table.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Title..."Is Your Home Quake Safe?" Or The Offical Testable Question..."How Can You Make Your Home Less Vulnerable To An Earthquake?"
We wanted to learn more about and see how a structure could withstand an earthquake. On a cub scout citizenship outing, we visited the newly retrofitted Salt Lake City Capitol building and saw their giant base isolators used as part of the foundation. We met with the engineer that worked on this project and he taught us about the "rolling" effects of base isolators. This design keeps a structure more secure during an earthquake by allowing the building to move along with the lateral forces a foundation would experience. Since SLC sits on a fault line, we learned more about building codes and what our environment might be up against someday for residents in SLC and the Wasatch bench area. It could even affect the Wasatch Back area where we live in Park City. We each did an individual base isolation experiment at home. Some variables that were tested were height of structure, materials of the structure and how those materials were put together. Another test involved how many base isolators might be needed to support a structure. We met with a builder who helped us put together a reinforced concrete foundation (with rebar). He showed us how to build a shear wall panel that attaches to this foundation. This wall uses hold downs to minimize any lateral movement that might be experienced during an earthquake. A simple leverage test taught us about the relationship between the height of a structure and the strength of the corner hold downs that structure would need.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Crystal Radio
My science project is on how do radios work and are radio waves affected by the weather. These questions came about when my CD player quit working. So I unscrewed the bottom of my radio and inside I saw a lot of neat little things. I began to wonder how my radio worked, so I started to do research on radios. I have learned a lot about the history and components involved as well as several vocabulary words. I have made a crystal radio so I can demonstrate the basics of a radio and hopefully pick up a radio station.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Jug Drop
I wanted to find which brand, out of three different brands, makes the strongest milk jugs. The brands I tested were Hy-top, Mountain Dairy, and Kirkland. To test this, I filled milk jugs of the three different brands with water and left them overnight in a refrigerator set at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. In the morning, I took them outside and dropped them on concrete at successive increasing heights in half-foot intervals. When the jug broke, I recorded it. Finally, after I had dropped several of each brand, I averaged the height at which jugs of each brand broke. I found out that Hy-top was the strongest brand, with an average height of 2.6 feet. This is applicable in real life because when people carry milk from the store, they will know how high to carry the jug and not have it break. Also, people will know what brand to buy if they want to avoid breakage.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Where's My Wifi?
Wireless internet connections are everywhere, from the home to the fast food restaurant. What types of materials can block or reduce the power of a wifi signal? This project looks at six different types of materials, wooden crate, aluminum foil, stoneware pot, metal pan, plastic container, and compared them to a control test to determine how they impact the signal strength of a wifi access point. My hypothesis was that the thick wooden crate would have the greatest impact on the wifi signal. My results showed that my hypothesis was incorrect since the aluminum foil had the greatest impact on the wireless device.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Cracking The Arch Mystery: The Strength Of Eggshell Arches
A few months ago, I went to see the LDS Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I was told the design of the Tabernacle was inspired by an eggshell. I was interested to know how the Tabernacle stayed standing and how eggs played a part of its design. I was surprised to discover that there is something about the structure of an egg that makes it very strong. An egg is arches of varying shape connected together. I wanted to see which side provided the most strength.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Cup O' Danger
In the USA hospitals and emergency rooms see a lot of injuries from instant soup cups because they can be easy to tip over. I was interested in finding out which brands of cups tip over most easily and the angle they tip at. I hypothesized that taller, skinny cups with a high center center of gravity would tip over the easiest. I measured the angle seven different kinds of instant noodle cups tipped over when full.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Can The Shape Of A Building Minimize The Impact Of A Tsunami
This experiment was created to find out if there are ways to make stronger and safer buildings in tsunami areas. The building designs were based on the theory of aerodynamics, except for our control building which was a rectangular prism, a basic building design used today. The amount of damage and number of deaths can be reduced significantly if buildings in tsunami areas can be designed to redirect the water. A tsunami was simulated by making a wave tank with a wooden plank that created a powerful wave that struck the shore which was simulated by using a Styrofoam base (compact earth) covered with an inch of sand. Variables included experimentation with sand, gravel and Styrofoam to find the most accurate representation of the shore. Based on the results the next stage of the project should be to test variables of rebar and the foundation.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Aerodynamics
My project is about different airplane wings and how they do under certain categories. I tested lift and drag just two of the four components of a wing profile. I tested six different wing profiles out of Styrofoam and constructed an armature to hang out our car to test the profiles lift or drag as we drove. For every test I drove at the same speed to make sure there weren't any profiles that did better under higher speeds.

[Engineering & Computer Science] Fun With Bridges
The purpose of this project is to find out weather triangle bridges are stronger than square bridges. The hypothesis is that triangle bridges would resist higher loads than the square bridges. To prove this hypothesis both bridges were tested three times using different materials. For the tests the bridges were loaded until they collapsed. All three times the results proved our hypothesis correct. Triangle bridges are stronger because their parts only carry tension and compression forces and it is harder for them to break.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] The Efficiency Of Water Flowing Through A Generator From Different Heights
Which is more efficient? To run water into a generator from an increased height, such as a waterfall, or a more gradual incline, such as a river or stream?

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Easy Pickings
In my science fair project I try and find out the fastest method to pick a lock. the methods I tested were: Single pin picking, Raking, bumping, modofied bumping, and jiggleing.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Increasing Motor Glide Efficiency: Moving Motors
This experiment investigates a way of mitigating losses in a permanent magnet motor due to various magnetic and electromagnetic forces, particularly eddy currents, hysteresis losses, and other core losses. In a permanent magnet motor, strong permanent magnets are used in conjunction with electromagnets in order to spin, however, when power is not being applied to the motor but the rotor is stills spinning, the motor generates electricity, but also loses momentum. Eddy currents are the stray currents that are induced along the wire by the magnets. Magnetic hysteresis is the slight tendency for induced magnets to retain their previous polarity. Both forces cause drag when the rotor is spinning, and are directly caused by the movement of a magnetic field near a wire. This experiment seeks to reduce these losses by moving the magnets away from the coils when power is not being applied. This should allow the rotor to spin more freely, and allow the motor to glide further. Our results confirmed this hypothesis and showed that the rotor turned more freely without the coils near the magnets.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Is Light An Energy Thief?
The purpose of my project is to help the environment, starting with our energy at home. I wanted to test different types of light sources used everyday in our homes to see how much energy we are wasting on a daily basis. I specifically wanted to test LED lighting since I believe it is the way of the future.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Networking Nuances: Implementing A Microcontroller Version Of The 802.3 Protocol
This project is a continuation of last year's project involving the creation of an ethernet shield for an arduino microcontroller. Whereas last year I created a breadboard workup for an ethernet shield, this year I created the actual PCB board layout. This required a great deal of research and trial and error, because there are few layout programs available and they are very complicated to use. It took several tries to complete a working layout. I then etched my own microcontroller board sample, and also sent my layout off to two companies to be professionally produced. I also wrote software to interpret the Touch OSC commands that are sent as UDP Packets so that I can send information to an Arduino from an IPod Touch or Android device. This will allow me to wirelessly remote control something using my Ethernet shield interface. I also began the process of developing sample software that others can use with my device. I plan to open source my code and make it available on the internet so that others may use both my hardware design and my software to develop their own 802.3 protocol projects. My project was successful and I have made great progress. I plan to continue this project next year by developing more extensive software to use with the device.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Hydroelectric Energy
My project is about hydroelectric energy, and finding new ways to create renewable energy without polluting the air. There are many ways such as using air, water, steam, and other fluids. Hydroelectric power is a form of energy or a renewable resource. Hydroelectric power plants do not use up resources to create electricity nor does it pollute the air, land, or water, as other power plants may. Hydroelectric power comes from flowing water that comes from a dam, or streams from the mountains after winter. Water, when it is falling by the force of gravity, can be used to turn turbines and generators that produce electricity. A turbine looks like a mini fan that moves rapidly to make energy.A typical hydropower plant is a system that has three main parts: a reservoir where water can be stored, a dam with gates to control water flow, and a power plant where the electricity is produced. A hydropower plant uses the force of flowing water to produce electricity. A dam opens gates at the top to allow water from the reservoir to flow down large tubes called penstocks. At the bottom of the penstocks, the fast-moving water spins the blades of turbines. The turbines are attached to generators to produce electricity, which is transported along transmission lines to a utility company.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Focusing Internet Signals
This project is about using parabolic reflectors to focus web signals. A parabolic reflector is a specially designed tool that is used as a satellite most commonly. We chose it for how it takes in signal and sends it back complete

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Using A Fractal Antenna To Improve A Tv Signal
Can a fractal antenna be used to receive the signal so it is better than a standard antenna of similar size? If a fractal antenna design that’s for a TV is used then it will get better signal than a standard antenna. The hypothesis was that the original fractal antenna design for the TV would be the best at receiving a signal. The hypothesis was proven because over all the original design did the best. The purpose of the experiment was to see if an antenna could be made that could receive a good signal. My experiment showed that shape matters more than size. The carefully formed antennas did better than the bigger and poorly formed ones. It also showed that the position of the antenna changes the reception. By positioning the antennas more carefully there was more accurate scientific data because they worked better. The fractal shaped antennas were able to pickup the signal better because they were the right shape to catch the radio waves. In the experiment it was not expected for the custom antenna to do as well as it did. Occasionally, the antenna was not at the antenna at the right angle, so it had to be readjusted and retested. Next time I should use more antenna shapes and sizes. By doing the experiment, it was found that the custom design was in the middle of all the antennas tested. The design that was made for the TV was the best.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Designing And Building A Solar Emergency Kit
The use of fossil fuels as energy sources has added to our Earth's problems. Clean and renewable energy sources such as solar do not add to the earth's greenhouse gases. Our goal was to design and build and test an emergency kit that could be fueled by solar energy. We were successful in our attempt. Our solar panel successfully powered the emergency kit appliances.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Feroomagnetic Matchup
Electromagnets have become critically important to our modern world today. Many of our technologies use electromagnets to create a magnetic field that can be quickly activated and deactivated. As such, any experiment involving electromagnets is very pertinent to today’s technology. For our science fair project, we decided to test how varying the size of the iron core used in the electromagnet would affect its magnetic field. To do this we plan to test otherwise identical electromagnets with different size cores. We will measure the field’s strength by the mass the electromagnet is able to pick up. We predict that electromagnets with larger iron cores will produce a stronger magnetic field. This project will help demonstrate how to produce stronger electromagnets, necessary in today’s world.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Affording The Sun
The Earth is running out of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels also contribute to global warming. Renewable energy is necessary and solar energy is an important part of that solution. But solar energy is expensive. Especially the cost of photovoltaic solar cells. The problem under investigation is the cost of solar cells and to see if there is a way to reduce the cost with mirrors. The hypothesis is what is the most cost and energy efficient ratio of parabolic mirrors to photovoltaic cells since mirrors are much cheaper than photovoltaic cells. Some basic materials are an Arduino micro-processor, a computer, an Arduino USB cable, some 22-gauge wire, a switch, a photovoltaic cell, a holding base, a parabolic mirror, black concentric cardboard circles, a halogen lamp, a electrical multi-meter, 120V, 60 Hz electricity, painter’s tape, and string. The procedure was to measure the output of the photovoltaic cell by itself and compare it to different sized parabolic mirrors. The experiment was done in a dark room and the halogen lamp was moved in a semi-circle. The results were that the most energy that was collected was using a solar panel on its own. The lower energy that was collected from different sized parabolic mirrors did not vary much. The conclusions drawn from this are that the parabola did not reflect all of the light that hit it and gave lower energy readings. The parabola reading were all close together because of all of the ambient light that the halogen lamp emitted.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind
The purpose of this experiment was to find the number of blades on a windmill that would be the fastest and most efficient in turning a windmill to produce power. To determine which number of blades was the fastest and most efficient, a windmill base was constructed with interchangeable dowels that varied in the windmill blade number (between 0, 2, 3, and 4). The windmill was placed in front of a fan and each windmill blade configuration was tested to see how fast it could lift both a 6 gram weight and 12 gram weight at separate times. The hypothesis was that the 4-bladed windmill would be the fastest and most efficient in lifting the 6 and 12 gram weights. In the end, it was found that in tests of both the 6 and 12 gram weights, the 4-bladed windmill proved to be the fastest and most efficient- coming out with an average of 4.20 seconds to lift the 6 gram weight and 6.33 seconds to lift the 12 gram weight. In conclusion, this experiment met the desired objectives in design and execution, and proved my hypothesis to be correct.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Oops! I Crashed A Roller Coaster.
We wanted to know if the shape of a roller coaster track would affect the speed of the roller coaster so we built two differently shaped tracks out of plastic tubes and rolled marbles down to see which would be faster.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Best Direction To Place A Solar Panel
Solar power is a renewable energy source that does not produce waste for the environment. For solar power to be effective it needs to produce power for when it’s consumed. My problem question is, what it the best direction to place a solar panel for when the power is needed on a residential home? Right now solar installers place solar panels, for homes, facing south. I hypothesize that placing a solar panel to the west will produce the most power for when it is needed. To test the hypothesis I placed a solar panel on the roof of my house facing to the south and west. I measured voltage produced from the panels with a volt meter every thirty minutes from 9am to 9pm on a hot July day. I compared the voltage measurements to residential power usage. I found that the south facing panels had its peak production around lunchtime and the west had its peak around 7-8pm which according to Rocky Mountain Power is the peak residential energy use. I concluded that the south facing panels produced more electricity in total throughout the day but the west facing panels produced more electricity during peak power use. Solar installers should install panels facing the west to help meet the peak energy demand. It is during the peak energy demand that traditional power costs the most to produce.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Spare Parts Power
The purpose of this project was to determine which wind turbine design would be better suited for a small, rural environment and could be made from commonly available parts. Two designs were compared. One design had a central generator, while the other design had magnets at the edge of its circle of rotation that passed near copper coils. It was hypothesized that the wingtip generator design would be more difficult to build, but yield far better results because the magnets move further at the outside of the circle of rotation than at the inside. To make the central generator design, a bicycle wheel with Plexiglas attached between spokes was attached to a treadmill motor. For the wingtip design, the same bicycle wheel blade design was used. Eight magnets were attached to the rim, and six coils were attached to gutter hangers on a piece of plywood. The coils were wired together using a Star pattern. Each design was placed varying distances from a secure leaf blower that simulated wind. A laser tachometer was used to measure RPMs, and a Multimeter was used to measure voltage output. The voltage output of the two designs were extremely similar. The wingtip design was much more complicated to make, more expensive, and had less-available parts. In the future, more designs could be tested, and the designs could be made more suitable for real-life conditions.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Rocket Fin Shape And How It Affects Altitude
The project purpose was to investigate how fin shape affects the altitude a rocket reaches. We had some trouble at first when making the three rockets. The reason was because we had to make the fins ourselves because the pre-made fins were weak and prone to breaking and did not have the variety of shapes we needed. We feel that our project was successful even though we faced these problems. We hypothesized that the square fin would go the highest and we were right. I had a few ideas from what I had learned from Boy Scouts and thought it may work but we both agreed we wanted the closest estimate. We decided to make devices that would use protractors and stakes to accurately measure the rockets height. We then proceeded to test the devices by setting up an object and knowing its height beforehand. We then measured its height in degrees and used this equation h=L tan a sin b/sin(b+c) to calculate the actual height with the rig; we used a calculator to do this. When launching the rockets three times each; we measured them with the device and collecting al the measurements, we used the equation before to find out the altitude of each rocket and which went the highest. We collected the data and found that rocket one with the trapezoid fins went 226 feet, rocket two with the upside down fins went 265 feet and the square fins had an average altitude of 282 feet.

[Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical] Homemade Water Vortex Power Generator
This homemade power generator demostrates that a low cost, environmentally friendly vortex power generator may be used instead of traditional dams to produce power. This vortex power generator has the advantage of using a very low head (drop). This generation requires only 2 meters of water drop, which makes this form of power generation available to slow moving rivers which, up until now, have been largely unused. Because of the turbine of this generator, oxygen is added to the water passing through the machine. The oxygen helps the algae clean pollutants and clears the water in the river or stream. There is also more oxygen produced for fish life. Using this generator, fish can swim up through the bottom of the generator and exit the top without harm to the fish or the generator. According to U.S. data, I can produce energy for 22 homes using my model made of popsicle sticks if built to full scale. The cost of an optimal generator is about $30,000 dollars and can produce enough energy to power 80 homes. The Jordan River running through Salt Lake is polluted and currently unused for power generation. The vortex power generator could help clean up the river and produce power for homes up and down the Valley for minimal cost.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Sand, Popsicle Sticks, And A Whole Lot Of Glue!
Building bridges to hold the maximum amount of weight. Rebuilding and modifying each bridge after it breaks to increase the amount of weight it holds.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Picture This! Heat Retention And Insulation
Which surfaces and materials retain heat for the greatest amount of time? What surfaces are the most efficient and cost effective for home owners, builders, etc?

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Keep That Noise Down
What materials helps to reduce sound levels the best? I tested 4 different materials to find out which one would best reduce decibel levels. I used styrofoam, rubber, sheetrock and plywood. I built a test box and recorded the sound levels from different distances. I lined the box with each of the materials and recorded the decibel levels for each material used. I compared the differnces in decibel levels to see which material worked the best at reducing sound. The information collected could be useful in sound proofing buildings or in sound barrier walls on freeways.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Construction And Structural Testing Of A Bamboo Bike
Bamboo is used for all kinds of things. It is used when dry as scaffolding in Asian countries; it is also used to make clothing. Bamboo is strong and used for wood flooring. Generally bamboo can be used in place of any slow growing tree. The one thing that I am interested in is the use of bamboo for bicycle frames. I think that with the bamboo the bike frame will weigh less than a steel bike frame. The bamboo is also one of the fastest growing plants making it more eco friendly.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Splish Splash
This experiment was designed to compare the splashes between liquids of different viscosities using high-speed photography. I built a microcontroller-based (Arduino) set-up to capture the splash of a falling drop into a basin, an image of what can happen in 1/11,000th of a second. After collecting 100's of photos of paint splashes at three different dilutions, I was able to describe both qualitative and quantitative differences in the splashes, each correlated with the viscosity of the sample. The more viscous sample produced a smoother splash crown with more numerous finger-like projections. The splash crowns of more dilute samples were much more irregular.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] The Breaking Point
For my experiment I chose to test the strength of six different kids of paper. To do this I dropped a water bottle, filled with different amounts of water, from a hight of two feet onto the paper. My hypothesis was that the card stock would do best followed by sketch, that construction would do the worst and everything else would do poorly. My hypothesis about the card stock was correct but nothing else turned out at all how I expected. The sketch paper also held up all the weights. Construction paper did not do the worst Recycled newsprint did and every thing else held up a sup rising amount of weight. Overall I found that the weight of the paper does not affect its performance.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Insulators
I wanted to see the most efficient type of insulation to keep a cup of cold water the same temperature for an hour. To test this question I had to come up with a way to test it. So i thought of a plan to build a wooden box with three sections in it. Then I filled all three sections up 6 1/2 inches with different forms of insulation. The types I chose were sawdust, newspaper, and cotton batting. I chose all these because they are all generally good insulators. Then I tested my question by putting 2/3 cup of 66 degrees Farenheit water in a paper cup and put it in each section. I then measured the temperature every 15 minutes for an hour to see how the temperature differed from the beginning. My hypothesis was, that the cotton batting would insulate the most efficiently. I was way off, it actually ended up being the least efficient. The one that worked really well was the sawdust. Then I thought, well there has to be other types of insulation that would insulate just as well as the sawdust did. So I decided to take my expiriment a little bit further and test some types of insulation that were a little better than newspaper and batting. I decided to use sawdust again, thinly shredded paper, and tinfoil. I did this part of my expiriment just because I was curious to see what would happen. The tinfoil worked best and the sawdust was the worst.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Bridges
Purpose: To determine which design of a single piece of paper could hold the most weight across a span. Methods: Five bridge designs were tried and pennies were place on the paper spans until the bridge collapsed. Results: Paper folded lengthwise in an alternating triangular patern held the most weight. Conclusion: A simple triangular design was the most effective at supporting weight across a span.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Paper Bridge
A few years ago, my scout troop took trip to New York. The city was great and all, but what was really interesting was the bridges. There are amazing ones around New York City; however, when you get closer to the country, things change. We came upon an old rusty bridge that didn't look to stable. Gladly we made it across safely. This experience got me thinking, shouldn't this be replaced with a better bridge. So, I started designing a new bridge. Eventually, I found a Pratt would fit best. Next up was to build it. I constructed the bridge out of Manila folders and card-stock. Once the bridge was complete, I tested its ability to hold weight. In the end, my bridge was a success. Holding up ten pounds with little signs of stress. Although, i didn't force it to its breaking point. Although it is fun to watch, that's not what engineering is about. Engineers don't build bridges to watch be destroy, they build them to solve problems with margins for problems that could occur. In the end, I am proud with how my bridge turned out.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] As Far As This Can Reach
My project is on a trebuchet catapult. I tested it to see if a change in arm length would make the projectile go farther. I used a 35", 40", and 45" arm.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Big Bounce
My project involves the study of how the density of different surfaces affects how high a basketball will bounce.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Our Flammable Secret Recipe
Abstract Model rocket engines bought at a hobby shop can get rather pricey, so we use home made sugar engines. But which type of sugar fuel works best? This project tests regular powder fuel and rocket candy in terms of the power each fuel supplies and how long they burn. We tested them by making the PVC engines push a rocket car, so it could be easily measured. Our hypothesis was that the rocket candy would be more powerful and it would burn longer. The rocket candy was extremely powerful but didn’t burn nearly as long. R-candy was able to push the car as far as 45 feet, burning only about 1-2 seconds, versus the powder fuel which burned 18-25 seconds and went only 3-15 feet. The R-candy didn’t burn all of the way through, because it was still wet. If it was able to dry better, it would have burned longer and pushed the car farther.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Strong Shapes
The purpose of this project is to see what shape of beam can hold the most weight. The beams are all the same length and use the same amount of wood. The experiment will tell will tell us the most effective beam. My hypothesis was; if you apply pressure to the top of each shape of beam, than the I-shaped beam will be the strongest. We designed the experiment to test the strength of each of the 50 beams by clamping one beam into the base and place base with beam on digital scale. I used a 15 foot aluminum lever and placed the end of lever under large heave fork lift to hold in place during test. Then I slowly apply pressure on top of beam until the breaking point. My hypothesis was not correct but was a very close second to the half beam. The half beam held the most weight. I was surprised that the half beam did so well compared to the I-beam. I feel that because the I-beam and the half beam data were so close, that they are around the same strength. However, the I-beam was harder to make and the half beam would be stronger and cheaper.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Stealth Shapes
My project was about stealth shapes and how they deflect radar (light is substituted in the project, they function in the same basic way), and which shapes deflect the radar the best. In order to test this, I built a "black box", which is, as the name entails, a black box. It's designed to keep out light. I cut a hole in one side and inserted a flashlight and taped a meter that registers light (AKA: a lux meter) into the box in the same basic area as the flashlight. The lux meter display hung out of the box. I then made 4 shapes, a V-shape, a W-shape, a cylinder shape, and a crumpled cylinder shape. I found a spot where the light was concentrated enough to be useful, but not right in front of the meter, either. I tested each shape 5 times at the same distance from the light each time.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] The Effect Of Cloth On Liquifaction
The purpose of my science fair project was to see if cloth between soil layers would affect liquefaction in a positive or negative way. Liquefaction, the phenomenon that makes soil act like liquid, affects the stability of structures all around us. When water gets in the pore spaces in between each soil grain and gets shaken, the soil becomes unstable. This phenomenon happens all around us because of natural weather patterns and therefore, requires human involvement to prevent the effects of liquefaction. My hypothesis is that the stabilization of the soil is effected by the use of a ground cloth, specifically the ground cloth, netting. Within my experiment, the jar size, soil types, amount of water and time of vibration were kept constant. I changed the type of cloth in each of my groups except for the control group, which had no cloth at all. Once vibration started, I measured my dependent variable by recording how long it took for the simulated building to fall over. The results of the gathered data showed that the simulated building on the soil combination in the jars with netting stood longer than the other combinations. These data support my hypothesis, crediting netting for stabilizing soil liquefaction. Further study of this project might include varying the hole size of the netting.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Rocket Flight Science
My Hypothesis: How does different rocket fin shapes and number of fins affect a rockets flight and aerodynamics, is there also a best fin shape? I thought it would be interesting to learn how different forces affect a rockets flight. Fins produce lift; they affect center of Gravity and center of pressure; their foil affect air flow and stability, and balance. I built three rockets, I made a control rocket. And I modified the fin shapes and numbers on two others, to produce two test rockets. One rocket with 3 extra fins, the third rocket with 33% increased fins. After flying all under the same weather condition, and in 37f degree weather, I calculated interesting results. Observations: Using a B6-4 and C6-5 rocket motors, an altimeter, and a stop watch, I flew all three rockets without any flight problems, weather condition scrubbed a test. The data made for some interesting and unexpected results. Conclusion: My hypothesis was correct that fin size and shape does affect the way a rocket fly's. It changes the center of gravity making the rocket more stable, even in colder air. Also test rocket 1with three extra fins helped the center of pressure and center of gravity keeping the rocket stable, in flight helping it achieve over 600 ft on every test flight. Test rocket 2 flew higher than projected on the final test.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Rocketry
building the rockets testing to see if they work as we tested the rockets finding out that each of the three did not react the same when we tested them gathering the data and putting the report together

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] You're Really Shaped For Speed!
This project asks which hulls of boats are faster. Are modern ship hulls better than those used in past? When the test was run, the flat bottom boat was definitely the fastest, but when you gave it too big of a push it would steer out of control and not even hit the other end of the bath tub. So it ended up being the slowest. But if the boat had had an outboard motor, it would be the fastest on a real lake. So it was decided that the flat bottom boat would only be tested at four centimeters of force on the rubber band so that there would be at least some data on this boat. The other two boats had partial keels, so they went straight and hit the other side of the tub. They were tested at a greater force because they did not spin out. The results were surprising because some of the options had not been considered as deeply as the others in the hypothesis. Under certain circumstances the displacement hull which was predicted to be slowest was actually faster. The hull thought to be fastest (flat bottom) didn’t even reach the other side of the tub because it spun out of control. The boat that was supposed to be second fastest (v bottom) was usually the second fastest, with some exceptions. The answer to the question stated above depends on what the situation is and what you define as “fastest”.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] The Comparison Of Strength In Balsa Wood Bridges
When dealing with physics, a fracture is when a material breaks. The 3 types are compression, tension, and shear. This project deals with compression and tension. An example of compression is squeezing a tennis ball. An example of tension is stretching a rubber band until it breaks. Different materials have different tensile and compressive strengths. Concrete has a high compressive strength and a very low tensile strength. This project tests the amount of weight a bridge made of 42 inches of balsa wood can hold before it shows signs of breaking. The different designs of the bridges change their total tensile and compressive strengths. Bridges are compared by their structural efficiency which is the ratio of load to their mass.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Are There Advantages To Using An Aluminum Bat Versus A Wood Bat?
I hypothesized that if I measure the distance the ball is hit with the aluminum and the wood bat, I can determine the advantages of using them. I think the aluminum bat will be the best because any variation of metal seemed to be stronger than wood, and have a bit more “pop” when striking the ball on the tee. I also predict that the wooden bat would be more consistent when we measure the distance the ball traveled. My independent variable is the weight and substance of bat. My dependant variables are the distance the ball is hit, and the consistency the ball is hit. I built a mount with 3 wooden boards, a metal pipe, and a couple radiator clamps. I set the mount with the bat with ample space of about 100 feet. Using a tape measure, I marked every foot for 100 feet. I used 3 aluminum bats, with different lengths and weights, and one wooden bat that was the heaviest bat out of the four. I recorded 10 trials for each bat and made sure to pull back to the chalk line every single hit. My results showed that the blue aluminum bat went on average, farther than the wood bat. But, the wood bat went farther than the yellow bat, so my hypothesis was correctly and incorrectly proven. With my results, I can conclude the heavier the bat, the more force is applied to the ball when it is not accelerating.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] The Effect Of Various Materials On Sound
• In my experiment I will try to find a cost efficient way of shielding sound in the work place. • In fact, sound is the biggest exposure in a work place. The average work place will have a peak noise level of about 120 dBA. The OSHA exposure limit is 90 dBA. With a 105 dBA sound source, I need to bring it down 20 dBA. • I first placed 1ft3 of packing peanuts, newspaper, polyester fiber fill, denim, or memory foam in a 1ft3 box made of MDF boards. I placed a sound source of 105dBA under the box with the dBA sound level reader in a hole at the top. I recorded the dBA reading after the sound had reached a steady rate. After comparing the results, I engineered an easy to use, cost effective sound barrier material.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Don't Shoot Your Eyes Out.
Don’t Shoot your Eyes Out! Which lens is the most impact resistant or the toughest? Is it glass, CR-39 (plastic), or polycarbonate? My science project is based on three types of materials available for us to use in lenses. The most impact resistant material is also considered the safest material. According to my research, the safest material to put in lenses for people to use should be tough, impact resistant, and will not break in frames while you wear them. I think that over all, polycarbonate will be the toughest and impact resistant. I think that glass and plastic (CR-39) will break easily. This is my hypothesis. My research shows that glass is the most dangerous material you can ever put in your frames to wear on your face because it breaks easily. According to Wikipedia, “glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid material. Glasses are typically brittle, and often optically transparent. Glass is commonly used for windows, bottles, and eyewear.” Glass is also known for being heavy in weight. Plastic or what we call CR-39 is also not very safe and will eventually break. “CR-39, or allyl diglycol carbonate (ADC), is a plastic polymer commonly used in the manufacture of eyeglass lenses. The abbreviation stands for “Columbia Resin #39” because it was the 39th formula of a thermosetting plastic developed by the Columbia Resins project in 1940.” Plastic is light in weight. It was first used in fuel tanks for the B-17 bomber aircraft in World War II because of its reduced weight and increased range of bomber. “Polycarbonate or poly lenses are thinner and lighter than regular plastic lenses” Polycarbonate lenses are usually used for safety glasses, sports and children’s eyewear because they are tough and safe.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] To Freeze Or Not To Freeze?
Our project is an experiment to test various home insulators, as a way to inform home owners which is the best option for their home.

[Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering] Geodesic Domes
In order to find the best, most structurally sound type of geodesic dome, which are used as supports, buildings, bunkers, homes, and observatories, I will conduct a series of experiments to find the most efficient triangle to sphere ratio by constructing three different domes with the same radius, but different sized triangles, and different amounts of material to find which system of geodesic dome is best. In order to test the efficiency of the domes I will test how much weight each can hold on their own, then I will compare how much weight is held to how much material was needed in a ratio that will be compared amongst the three domes, in order to determine what size of triangle is the most efficient

[Environmental Management] Gray Water Greenery
This experiment was about how plants grow in certain conditions. The purpose of this experiment was to test the effects of gray water on plants. The hypothesis was, “If we test the effects of gray water on plants, then laundry water will cause the plants not to grow because it is made to fight stains and has more chemicals than hand soap.” The question was tested by watering plants (green beans, radishes, and marigolds) with household gray water (from bathroom sinks and from doing the laundry). There were three cups of each kind of plant, with three seeds in each of the cups. The cups were all watered with the same amount of water every other day. The gray water was made from a certain recipe to assure that there was consistency. The variable was the type of gray water. The data showed that watering plants (all types tested), did not grow well when watered with laundry gray water. It showed that the best way to water plants was with regular tap water. The difference was more drastic than predicted. Hand soap gray water was not as good as tap water, but better than laundry water. The data supported the hypothesis. The chemicals in the soaps must have a lot to do with how the plants survive. If this project were to be expanded upon, different kinds of plants would be used and more precaution for the plants safety would be taken, due to some slight issues.

[Environmental Management] Goo Be Gone
My partner (Megan Welker) and I decided to do our annual science fair project on oil spills because we’ve been hearing a lot about the Mexico Bay Oil Spill. We chose jean material (denim), cotton, coconut husk, and towel material. Our hypothesis was that the coconut husk would absorb more oil because it’s thicker and denser than the rest of the other materials. Our eyes searched sciencebuddies.com and we found the project idea there. We would put the sorbent, as the materials are called, into a coffee filter and dunk it into a carefully measured oil and water mixture for thirty seconds, record the remaining water and oil levels after removing the gooey mess, and then compare the results. One of the hardest parts was cracking the coconut husk, getting enough oil, and pouring the oil into the water without getting to many bubbles. We’d have to wait about twenty minutes for the bubbles to disappear or just start over, therefore wasting vegetable oil and time. The bubbles will mess with the measurements if we don’t restart or wait. We found, after many dedicated hours and some serious math skills, that the coconut husk was the least absorbent of all, and your jeans will pick up more oil than anything we tried. This is because of the cotton in your jeans which came second in the list. In conclusion our hypothesis was dead last! We had so much fun working together and doing the experiment that it really didn’t feel like school work at times!

[Environmental Management] Just Add Water! Using Environmentally Friendly Methods, What Does It Take To Make A Battery Capable Of Running An Average American Home?
The goal of Just Add Water is to discover how to make the most suitable environmentally friendly battery for the modern average American home- primarily considering the water battery model. It would be ideal to create an environmentally friendly battery that has voltage equal to that of a AA battery. To achieve this, liquid solutions (water, salt water, lemon juice, and red wine vinegar) will be paired with charcoal, copper, and galvanized nails in a cell. The result will be recorded by use of a volt meter. Whichever produces the highest voltage has the most potential. Considering the high acidities of lemon juice and how well the Baghdad battery did with an alkaline electrolyte solution, they may produce a higher voltage when reacting with the other materials. I expect the high acidity will create a greater contrast will the basic carbon and cause faster currents with higher voltage. These solutions are expected to at least reach 1.0v.

[Environmental Management] Banana Peel As A Potential Biosorbent For Sequestering Heavy Metals From Wastewater
To reduce the cost of heavy metal removal using conventional methods, minced banana peel was used to remove heavy metals e.g. Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni), and Zinc (Zn), from wastewater. The objectives of this project were (1) to investigate the effects of different factors, e.g. pH, particle size, reaction time, and temperature, on heavy metal removal using banana peel and (2) to apply the optimal conditions for heavy metals removal using banana peel from the electroplating wastewater. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of different factors on heavy metal removal. The results indicated that heavy metal removal efficiency reaches equilibrium at pH 6 and reaction time of 30 minutes. The particle size effect results showed that the percentage of heavy metals removed was over 80% for the smallest particle (0.15-0.25mm), while it is only over 70% for the largest particle size (0.6-2mm). It was shown that the percentage of heavy metal removed ranged from 82% (Ni) to 99% (Pb) at 37 ?C and it only varied from 66% (Ni) to 95% (Pb) at 22 ?C. The optimal conditions were applied to remove heavy metals from five electroplating wastewater. It showed that copper removal efficiency was greater than 90%, 71% for chromium, 56% for zinc, and 50% for Nickel. Furthermore, Cu concentration in wastewater was reduced from 57ppm to 2.34 ppm. In conclusion, banana peel is not only a potential biosorbent but, it is a sustainable material to remove heavy metals from wastewater.

[Environmental Management] Just Wing It!
The purpose of this experiment is to find out which shape of an airfoil has the least amount of drag when pulled underwater. To set up this experiment we made three different types of airfoil out of plexiglass. The first shape was a thin airfoil, the second was a medium sized airfoil, and the last was a large cambered airfoil. We then pulled each size through the water three times and collected data in grams of drag. The data showed that the thinnest airfoil had half the drag of the other two. The widest had the most drag

[Environmental Management] The Effects Of Dissolved Oxygen And Archaea On Methylmercury In The Great Salt Lake
Mercury ends up in lakes after it’s released into the atmosphere from coal mines and other sources. While in the Great Salt Lake bacteria convert it to methylmercury. The Great Salt Lake has among the highest levels in the country. My project is how I can stop that from happening with archaea and dissolved oxygen (DO). So I made 4 groups of Great Salt Lake samples: spiked archaea low DO, spiked archaea high DO, untouched except for extra DO, and control group. I grew the archaea in a liquid broth using the strain called the Halobrum Salsosis. In order to add the archaea to some samples without introducing oxygen, I cut a hole in a brine bag and hooked it to a nitrogen gas so oxygen wouldn't get introduced. After 2 days I used the CVAFS (Cold Vapor Atomic Florescent Spectroscopy) and measured the methylmercury content in picograms. In order to ensure my data was accurate I used a matrix spike to see if samples with extra archaea were read correctly. Because my matrix spike wasn't accurate samples with extra archaea were doubled to ensure accurate data. According my data the samples that had spiked archaea and extra dissolved oxygen had more methylmercury than the other samples, which meant they were making more methylmercury. This goes against my hypothesis that they would stop methylation but shows that archaea might be a main source of methylation in the Great Salt Lake.

[Environmental Sciences] Pollution: Where Will It Strike Next?
My question for this project was how does pollution affect plant growth. I thought of this question when I realized how much pollution we deal with everyday, and it's not only us, it's plants too. When I decided what types of pollution to use for my project, I decided to use what first comes to mind of most people when they think of pollution: litter, car exhaust, and storm water runoff. The litter was easy to imitate. Throughout the soil of the plant, I placed paper napkins, plastic cutlery, paper plates, and Styrofoam plates. These items were placed at the bottom, the middle, and the top of the soil. These items were supposed to imitate people's litter from a picnic that they didn't clean up afterwards. The water pollution was almost just as easy, but didn't smell very good! In a three liter bottle, I put in a teaspoon of gasoline, antifreeze, car oil, hydraulic oil, and a half of a teaspoon of dishwasher soap and trisodium phosphate. After all the ingredients were added, the mixture turned out to be a light pink in color. The car exhaust pollution was harder to imitate. What I did was take two soda bottles and cut off the ends of both and the top of one. They were then taped together, and a tube was placed inside the bottle and the other end in the car exhaust pipe. I had three control plants, all given normal conditions. One plant was given all three.

[Environmental Sciences] How Cold Is It?
The purpose of this experiment was to see if windchill affected how fast water would cool. This was accomplished by boiling water and varying the wind speed. The wind speeds were none, high, or low. The beginning temperature was 201.3 degrees Fahrenheit. I measured the time it took to get down to 73 degrees Fahrenheit. The average of the control tests was 232.5 minutes. The average of the high wind speed tests was 59.75 minutes. The average of the low wind speed tests was 79.75 minutes. The results showed that the higher the wind speed the shorter the cooling time. This was a result of both convection and evaporation.

[Environmental Sciences] Can Wind Transported Dust Cause Snow To Melt Earlier?
Previous studies have shown that since the 1800s, dust levels are five times greater than during the past 5,000 years. In the San Juan Mountains, snow is now melting 18 to 35 days earlier, which is attributed to dust. Based on this, my question was: Can wind transported dust cause early snowmelt? My hypothesis was that dark materials absorb more heat from the sun, so dust-covered snow will heat up and melt faster than clean snow. My method was to compare both snow temperature and quantity of melted snow using clean snow and snow with dust on it after leaving containers out in the sun for three hours. My results showed that snow containers with dust heated more quickly, then got cooler as they began to melt. They also showed that snow samples with more dust melted faster. In analysis, snow with dust heated more quickly, but then got cooler as it began to melt. This is because while the snow was in frozen form, there was warm air in it, but compressed when it began to melt so I was only measuring the temperature of the cold water. Also, to heat snow by one degree celsius takes 0.5 calories of energy, but to melt it takes 80 calories. Therefore, my samples would take 240.6 calories to melt from the starting temperature to 0, but to melt completely would take 12,832 calories. In conclusion, my hypothesis was correct. Therefore we need to reduce the amount of dust in our atmosphere.

[Environmental Sciences] Waste Not, Want Not
Are you flushing electricity down your toilet? Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology uses bacteria to change organic waste material (most often raw sewage) into electrical energy. MFC technology could offer an alternative to burning coal or gas. In addition, the process is environmentally friendly and allows the utilization of organic waste to produce electricity. How does this work? Essentially as the bacteria replicates, the MFC will produce power indefinitely providing there is a food source to nourish the bacteria. In this science fair project, an investigatiion of the ability to generate electricity from waste water was conducted. The material used was benthic mud and water from a secondary water system. Benthic mud contains a large amount of decaying material such as plants and bacteria that feed on them. The bacteria, through their digestion process produce electrons and protons. These negative and positive charged particles then seperate. The negative charged particles (electrons) pass through a salt bridge and into the water side of the fuel cell while the positive charged particles (protons) remain in the mud side of the fuel cell. The seperation of these particles create an electric potential and resembles a battery in how it functions. After construction of the fuel cell, voltage readings were recorded on a daily basis to monitor voltage produced by the fuel cell. Additionally, (over time) I introduced different variables (food sources) to my fuel cell to determine if I could produce a change of electricity.

[Environmental Sciences] My "Dense" Science Projecy
I went to Hawaii last year on a family vacation. I could not wait to swim in the ocean! When I got in the ocean I found that I floated like never before! Do objects float better in salt water versus fresh water?

[Environmental Sciences] Evaporating Utah Waters
I was curious to see which of the waters Utah citizens had to be worried about evaporating the fastest because we live in a desert climate where it does not rain much. The first step of my experiment was to collect the water. I went to the Spiral Jetty area of The Great Salt Lake and got 2 liters of salt water. Then I collected samples of both Jordan River water and mountain stream water to use in my experiment. The final sample I used was Draper City water run through the filter on my refrigerator. I set the samples in one place in my house for three weeks, taking daily note of the temperature, humidity, and water levels in the measuring cups I had placed the four water samples in. The data I collected illustrated the rate of evaporation for the four types of water I used in my experiment. The data showed that the Jordan River evaporated the fastest, proving my hypothesis to be incorrect.

[Environmental Sciences] Get Down & Dirty
Background: The Salt Lake Valley has frequent winter-time inversions leading to accumulation of pollution that looks very much like a bowl of soup. I wanted to know how the pollution varied in the soup bowl by elevation and traffic volume. Since the inversion pollution appears to worsen at lower elevations, I called this "Get Down & Dirty". Methods: I made pollution detectors from plastic squares cut from a milk carton. I covered these on one side with petroleum jelly. I hung them from trees along 45th South every 5 blocks from 5th West to 40th East. I also put one in my backyard (25th East) and bedroom for control groups. They hung for two weeks (12/22/11 - 1/5/12) during an inversion. I collected them and then had 5 independent observers rate the pollution on each detector on a scale of 1(least) - 100(most). I averaged the results and presented the data. Results: Pollution levels were highest at the lowest points in the valley (5th West=82, State Street=100, 5th East=84). The levels were the lowest at higher elevations (40th East=30, 35th East=17, 30th East=46). The bedroom detector was the lowest at 1 and the backyard detector was also low at 26. Conclusions: Pollution on the detectors is dependent on street elevation and traffic volume. State Street had the most pollution due to the most car traffic and low elevation. Inversion pollution varied by elevation since the inversion haze became heavier as one goes down the 45th South hill.

[Environmental Sciences] Snowmen Dressed For Success
Determine if dressed snowmen melt faster or slower than naked snowmen.

[Environmental Sciences] Pass On That Gas
How do elevated levels of environmental carbon dioxide gas affect plant growth? CO2 is a component of global warming which may impact plant growth in the future. To test elevated CO2 levels on plant growth, three containers of radish seeds were grown in plastic bags with different levels of elevated CO2 gas (generated from dry ice) in each bag. A group with no added CO2 was used as a control. The plants were seeded and sprouted and then placed within CO2-enriched environments for 12 days. Afterward each plant was weighed,leaves were counted, and leaf and plant height were measured. Research indicated weight is the best way to assess how external variables affect plant growth. After 20 days of total growth, the control group plants were the heaviest, followed by the plants with the least amount of added CO2, then the second least amount, and finally, the greatest amount of CO2. These data seem to be contrary to conventional wisdom which says that increased access to CO2 should result in increased, not decreased, growth. The results can be explained by the imbalance of Carbon and Nitrogen within the plants. Although small increases in CO2 can be beneficial to growth, studies have shown that too much interferes with the plant's tissue Nitrogen concentrations leading to lower growth. The results of this experiment appear to support those findings.

[Environmental Sciences] Lead Contamination In Freshwater Lakes And Rivers
In my experiment I decided to test the amount of lead that would be released into one liter of water after letting some amount of lead fishing weights sit for a week. I chose this project because I became curious about the potential danger of losing fishing supplies (made of lead) in the environment and water. For my experiment I planned to set out six buckets each filled with one liter of water, then I placed the following amounts of lead weights in its own bucket 0,1,5,10,15,and 30 weights. My hypothesis was based off of prior experiments I had found and research I found. I believed that the outcome of my experiment would show that bucket A with 0 lead weights in it would have 0ppm, bucket B with only 1 weight would as well have 0ppm, and that buckets C and D which have 10 and 15 weights would also have no measurable amount of lead in its waters; however, I believed that buckets F and E would later have 5ppm and 10ppm. After testing the water after a week the results showed that my hypothesis was correct for buckets F and E except that bucket C had 2ppm, bucket D had 3ppm, E had 5ppm, and bucket F had 10ppm. With these results I hope to bring awareness about lead contamination in the environment and I recommend using alternatives to the traditional lead fishing supplies.

[Environmental Sciences] An Analysis Of Crude Oil And Artemia Salina
Our experiment was designed around oil spills, more specifically, the 2010 Chevron oil spill in Salt Lake City, UT. We wanted to know what effect crude oil had on brine shrimp, a vital part of the ecosystem in the Great Salt Lake area. We believed that the brine shrimp that were exposed to even a small amount of crude oil would die from contact or consumption. We wanted to find the LD50 of the crude oil on the brine shrimp. We tested with several standard doses, all of which would be possible within the real world. We worked with doses ranging from .01% all the way to 10%. We left the brine shrimp contained with the crude oil for 24 hours. We came back to observe that the brine shrimp were all alive. We assumed that they would die within 3 days. 3 days later and the control with no crude oil had evaporated leaving us with only the tests with the crude oil. The brine shrimp died in a unique and unexpected way; the lower the dose, the more that were dead. We were astounded at this unique turn of events. We believe that the brine shrimp may have been consuming the crude oil and breaking it down through the process of respiration.

[Environmental Sciences] Leaking Fertlizer
I wanted to see if inorganic liquid fertilizer seeps through soil and changes the pH level of ground water. My hypothesis was that the fertilizer would affect the pH level because it contains many different chemicals, which mix into the groundwater. To test this, I made a special container to simulate soil and groundwater, which were separated by a shade screen to filter the soil from the water as it soaked through. I made four of the bowls, and added fertilizer to two of them and used the other ones as the controls. I monitored the pH levels of the water for three weeks, and found that the fertilizer did cause a change in the water I added it to. The water I did not add fertilizer to did not have a significant change. My hypothesis was correct, and inorganic liquid fertilizer causes the pH level of groundwater to rise.

[Environmental Sciences] Nine Mile Canyon Dust Suppression: Good For Rock Art, Bad For Invertibrates?
Nine Mile Canyon is located in eastern Utah near the city of Price. There is great value in this place, especially the rock art created by the Fremont who lived in Utah hundreds of years ago. Additionally, large deposit of natural gas is buried under the canyon. The natural gas is transported by trucks, which makes dust float around, stick to rock art, and destroy it. A chemical is sprayed to suppress the dusty roads, but the components of the chemical spray are uncertain. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the toxicity of this chemical and its possible environmental impact. My hypothesis is that increasing amounts of chemically contaminated soil will cause increasing their mortality rates in Drosophila melanogaster. For this experiment, Drosophila m. was given a constant amount of food, but exposed to different amounts of chemically-contaminated soil. Mortality rates were recorded after 24 and 48 hours. Another facet of the experiment sought to identify the concentration of magnesium in the soil using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The result from first experiment shows that contaminated soil amounts are directly proportional to mortality rates. The spectrometry showed that the average concentration of magnesium of soil is 14.57mg/L. In conclusion, chemically contaminated soil is clearly harmful, but this experiment did not reveal exactly what chemical component is causing mortality.

[Environmental Sciences] Renewable Energy I'm A Big Fan!
Wind Energy- Understanding Bernoulli's concept & equation,which blade shape will produce the most energy?

[Environmental Sciences] Can The Semiaquatic Plant, Elodea, Remove Hazardous Chemicals From Water?
First, take five Elodea plants and set them each into five different jars, each filled with 600mL of water. The next step is to label each of the jars with tape and a permanent marker. One will be labeled canola oil, another is gasoline, the next is engine oil, after that will be kerosene, and the last is labeled water. Then take the five chemicals: canola oil, gasoline, engine oil, kerosene, water and put 15mL of each chemical into their corresponding jar. Cover each of the jars with plastic food wrap and poke multiple holes in the top. After that, place all pf the jars under a window so they can receive sufficient sunlight. Check daily; after one week, see if any of the plants have absorbed the chemical assigned to them. Record all of the data collected. After one week, check on the Elodea plants. They were dead and yellowed with all of the chemicals still in the jar. The one one that survived was the control, the jar filled only with water. They had drank some of the water in the jars, but none of the hazardous chemicals. It turns out that this plant can not soak up oil, but is just meant to look pretty.

[Environmental Sciences] Air Polution
The purpose of this experiment was to test the air quality of the salt lake area. There were six posters that tested the air quality that we hung around the salt lake area. The goal was to find out the air quality of Salt Lake City. The hypothesis was that the air quality would be worse in areas with more traffic. The posters were made out of six small squares of white poster board. Right before they were hung up, Vaseline was put on them. They were taken down in a week. The hypothesis was that emigration canyon would be one of the least dirty. It was not. The studies underestimated the amount of traffic in Emigration canyon. There is actually a highway on the other side of the canyon. The hypothesis was partly right because it said that the areas with the most traffic would be the dirtiest. It was right because Costco has the most traffic and Costco is the dirtiest. It was wrong because Emigration canyon was the second dirtiest, and studies underestimated the amount of traffic.

[Environmental Sciences] Oil Spill
Oil spills are happening all the time, so what would be the best sorbent to clean up the oil? I tested five different sorbent materials to see which one would absorb the most oil while leaving the most water. We had three cups of water and one cup of oil. We tested each material three times and then averaged out their ratios. Ratios are the remaining water divided by the remaining oil. My hypothesis was that the polyester would win because it is made with petrolem product which is made with oil and oil sticks to oil. We averaged out their ratios and the polyester had the highest number so it won. (If the number is lower than three, then it absorbed more water than oil. If it is higher than three it absorbed more oil than water.) This experiment proved that polyester was the best material for cleanig up oil on water.

[Environmental Sciences] Washing Green For Life Downstream
Are “green” laundry detergents less toxic than conventional detergents, as measured by the mortality rate of earthworms exposed to various dilutions of conventional detergents and detergents that claim to be environmentally friendly? I hypothesized that the mortality rate of worms living in soil soaked with various dilutions of conventional detergents will be greater than the mortality rate of worms living in soil soaked with the same dilutions of “green” laundry detergents. To test my hypothesis, I used two conventional and two “green” detergents. I created the following dilutions for each detergent: 100%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%, 6%, 3%, and 0% (water). I then put 50 grams of soil into 28 labeled styrofoam cups. I added 10 mL of dilution into the assigned cup (seven different dilutions for each of the four detergents). Next, I added four earthworms to each cup and covered each cup with foil. The cups were put in the refrigerator. I recorded the number of dead worms in each cup after 5 days and after 7 days. I repeated the experiment twice. I proved my hypothesis correct, but not to the extent I expected. In the lower dilutions (3%, 6%), there didn’t seem to be a significant difference in mortality rates. Beginning in the 12.5% dilution, however, there was a lower mortality rate among the worms in the “green” detergents compared to the conventional detergents. This was also true for the 25% and the 50% dilutions. The data suggests that “green” detergents are less toxic than conventional detergents.

[Environmental Sciences] Seismic Waves And Soils
I tested 4 different types of soil ( gravel, alluvium, bedrock and sand) with test houses and a shake table that I made. The test houses were made with sugar cubes stuck together with peanut butter and the soil from mixtures of cornstarch and water, grape-nuts and playdough. I determined which type of soil is best to build a house or building on if there were an earthquake using 3 trials per soil and 20 seconds of shaking. I counted the number of walls that fell down during each trial and averaged the three numbers to reach my conclusion.

[Environmental Sciences] Oil In The Soil
OBJECTIVE: In 2010 there was a significant oil spill in Red Butte Creek, in Salt Lake City. We wanted to find out whether the soil in Red Butte Creek changed after the oil spill and its cleanup. Our hypothesis was that it had. PROCEDURE: We collected soil samples 1 mile upstream from where the spill occurred as our control, as well as from 3 sites downstream (just below spill, 1 mile downstream, and 1 ½ miles downstream). To test for oil, we visually inspected the samples for an oily sheen. We used a soil testing kit to test for pH, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus levels, to find out if the spill affected these at all. RESULTS: We saw oil in every single sample. We saw the most oil in the soil just downstream from the spill. The soil upstream, our control, had the next largest amount. The sample about 1 mile downstream was next, and the one 1 ½ miles downstream had the least. The pH of the soil was generally neutral to slightly alkaline. The nitrogen and phosphorus levels were very low (more so below the spill), and the potassium levels were high. CONCLUSION: We found out that our hypothesis was correct. We think that low nitrogen and phosphorus levels may have been caused by the spill. The oil upstream might have come from oil shale, a naturally occurring rock. Most importantly, we learned there is still oil in the soil in this area.

[Environmental Sciences] Which Color Of M&M Candies Melt Fastest? Does Color Make A Difference?
You often hear the saying the m&m's melt in your mouth, not in your hands. I have twin baby sisters who got into my m&m/s recently. The m&m's did melt in their little hands and they had blue and red coloring all over. This got me thinking. The purpose of my project was to determine if one color of m&m melts faster than another. I wanted to see if the color of the m&m made a difference. I put each color of m&m on a clear dish and put them, one by one under a reflector microscope. The light from the microscope converted to heat and caused the chocolate to melt. I timed each m&m with a stopwatch to see how long it took for each to begin melting. I performed my test five times for each color and took the average to determine my results.

[Environmental Sciences] To Be Restored Or Not To Be
The reason our project is important is because many people care about the Jordan River. Some people think it’s just a piece of trash. We are trying to show them that it has a giant human footprint and that it's pollution affects wildlife. We could save the lives of animals by restoring and taking better care of the river. We studied bird guides, mammal guides, track books and bird calls. We went to the Jordan River once or twice a week and observed and recorded the animals or animal evidence in both the restored and unrestored areas. We graphed our data and compared the numbers of animals on both the restored and unrestored part of the river. We ended up seeing that the restored area had more overall diversity than the unrestored side. We believe this is because the restored area was taken care of and had greater plant diversity and bank area.

[Environmental Sciences] Dissolved Oxygen Concentrations Of The Great Salt Lake
My project was about how the dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Great Salt lake were affected by the increase of nutrients in the water. I made 5 different types of concentrations and used a Vernier Lab quest machine including a Dissolved Oxygen probe to record data, it was a seven day period test and I did 2 trials. My hypothesis was supported

[Environmental Sciences] A Study Of Arsenic Levels In Apple Juice
With more and more contaminants appearing in our water supply, companies have designed kits to detect some of these contaminants in water. One of these test kits is designed to detect the poisonous kind of arsenic in water. According to recent claims by medical doctor, Dr. Oz; troubling amounts of poisonous arsenic were found in apple juice. In my project, I was attempting to see if I could use the aresenic detectors designed to detect arsenic in water to detect arsenic in apple juice.

[Environmental Sciences] Somewhere Over The Prism
The purpose of this experiment was to see how the light source affected the spectrum produced by a prism. To do this experiment a prism box was made. The box was lined with black paper with a piece of white paper along the bottom. The prism was placed in a hole in the side of the box. Each of the three light sources were then shined on the prism creating a rainbow spectrum. The spectrum was then compared to a numbered color wheel. The color changes were recorded in the data. The data showed that sunlight produced the brightest color intensities. For the candle the spectrums' colors were in between. The light sources did affect the spectrums' color intensities.

[Environmental Sciences] So His Cactus Walks Into An Oil Spill...
There are alot of oil spills around the world.There are some plants that can soak up oil and not die right away. Oils spills hurt a lot of things including environments. And if plants can soak up the oil and not die right away then people can plant these plants where an oil spill happens. All you have to do is pour the same amount of oil and water into the plants' roots. Measure regularly. So the plants that were tested were cacti, leafy palm, and pansy flowers. The hypothesis was that the leafy palm would live the longest.The flowers died first, then the cactus started to dry out. And the leafy palm is still alive.The conclusion was that the leafy palm lived the longest and the healthiest.

[Environmental Sciences] Geothermal Heat Transfer
My science project is about geothermal heat transfer. I demonstrated how different materials affected the efficiency of a geothermal heat pump system. I did this by creating seven different earth bin models with a heat source and water tube, each containing a different earth material; water, sand, gravel, stones, clay, woodchips, soil. I found that gravel was the most efficient material because it created the most even surface and was one of the best conductors. This information has direct applicability to the real world by making geothermal heat pumps more efficient.

[Environmental Sciences] Windtastic
Our purpose is to find out if the number and shape of the blades used affects the voltage of a windmill. If it does, what is the best result. We will change the number of blades, and the shape of the blades, in our experiment to create data that will support our purpose.

[Environmental Sciences] How Does Road Salt Affect The Development Of Fescue Grass?
Our project was about how road salt affected the development of Fescue grass. We chose this project because in the state of Utah, road salt is heavily used as a method of snow removal. Up to 210,000 tons of salt is used each year, and no measures are taken to remove it. We chose to use Fescue grasses because they are commonly used in lawns, golf courses, and erosion control. For the experiment we watered 6 different groups of grass with different levels of salinity, from our control (distilled water) to up to 8000 ppm of salt. We began watering the grasses before they started growing, to see how the salinity would affect the germination rates. Results were recorded for two weeks. After the two week period, we found that the grass watered with more salt germinated slower, grew shorter, and was less dense. Overall, we found that road salt delays the germination and growth of grass.

[Environmental Sciences] How Liquids Effect Erosion
This project was designed to investigate the effect of certain liquids on the erosion of different rocks and minerals. Three hypotheses were tested: 1. The softer rocks and minerals (according to Mohr's Scale) would show the greatest effect of erosion; 2. The Orange Juice liquid would have the greatest affect; and 3. Specimens placed in the containers with "flowing" liquid would show the greatest difference. This experiment was conducted over 21 days. Five different rocks and minerals were tested in two liquids: Coke and Orange Juice in both stagnate and "flow" states. Results proved the hypotheses correct. Both of the softest rock specimens (Sandstone - hardness zero) showed the greatest erosion affect. Secondly those in Orange juice, especially in the "Flow" OJ containers showed the greatest affect or change. Thirdly, three of the specimens in the "flow containers"; especially orange juice developed an interesting slimy substance that both clung to the rock, and built up in the container. This study is useful to understand how more acidic conditions in liquid form, such as acid rain and in our water supply can contribute to a greater erosion of the softer rocks and minerals in our planet.

[Environmental Sciences] How Does Soap Affect The Growth Of Plants
I chose several plants to use biodegradable soaps vs non-biodegradable soaps to see the effect on how soaps damage the environment. Every morning, I would add 1 t of soap and 1/4 c water into each plant, except the control (just water) and observe what the soaps did to each plant for seven days. I would measure heigth, observe leaf damage, and mark it down in my journal. The harsh chemical detergents killed the plants quickly while the biodegradable plants sustained live, even today.

[Environmental Sciences] What Wood Would You Use?
I compared four different wood products(Cedar, Pine, Thermally Modified Wood, and Plastic Wood) to see how they would react to different conditions in the environment. I performed six tests on the wood inluding heat, temperature, and stress tests. I determined which wood products would be most reliable in which applications and environments.

[Environmental Sciences] Magnetic Growth
Plants need water and warmth to grow. Each seed has the potential to grow but it is dependent on it's environment. What would happen if each seed is placed on a magnet or frozen before it is planted? Thats what I wanted to see when I did my project on plants. I found out that the magnets actually help the seeds sprout faster and made the roots stronger. This technology would help plants live in a harsh environment. The seeds I put in the freezer did well but had shorter roots and a weaker stem. In my research, I found one person actually planted their tomato plants with a cow magnet in the ground with the plant. He reported that the fruit grew quicker and that the taste was better. with all these benefits, magnets could help grow crops in desserts and harsh environment and aide third world countries who struggle with food production.

[Environmental Sciences] The Effect Of Pollution On Organisms In Haight Creek
Is is true that people and their yards cause pollution to creeks? This project looks at five different sites (independent variable) along Haight Creek and tries to tell which one has the most pollution by looking at what organisms are sensitive to pollution (dependent variable). First, 100 aquatic organisms were gathered from each site and identified. Then, they were assigned a water quality rating based on how sensitive they are to pollution. Finally, the ratings for each site were compared. My hypothesis is that the sites before the subdivision would have organisms that are more sensitive to pollution when compared with the sites downstream. The results of the experiment support my hypothesis because the organisms become more pollution tolerant as the creek goes through the subdivision. Further research needs to be done to identify what kinds of pollution are in the creek and where they might be coming from.

[Environmental Sciences] Lead Lead On The Range Where The Deer And The Antelope Roam
ABSTRACT: In 2011 Soil at the Bountiful Lions Club firing range was found to be contaminated according to a study done by AMEC Earth & Infrastructure Inc. Soil at the gun club is contaminated with higher-than-acceptable levels of lead and arsenic. The club is on the city’s east bench at 1350 N. Skyline Drive, near the B on the mountain. The city owns approximately 1,680 acres, an area that has been called “environmentally significant” on the mountainside, east of the city. My project investigates whether or not soil containing lead from the toxic gun range is moving down the mountainside.

[Environmental Sciences] Does The Type Of Tree Effect How Quickly It's Leaves Fall Off?
My project is about if the type of tree really influences how fast it's leaves change and then fall off. I started by collecting leaves from ten different trees. I then found out what type of tree they were from by going online and comparing the leaf shape, size, color, and texture. Once I got the scientific names, I watched each tree as it changed. Some trees changed a lot faster than others, while some didn't change at all. I researched what caused the trees to change their leaves and found out that trees have an internal core. This core helps the tree to gauge how much sunlight hours there are. As the sunlight decreases, the tree will start the process of hibernation. It's leaves will start to lose their nutrients as the tree cute off the flow. Slowly, the tree shuts itself down and drops it's leaves. Then it is prepared for winter. By studying each tree, I was able to figure out around the time when each tree would start to shut down and how long that process would take. I took pictures of each tree about every three days. By looking at the beginning pictures and the ending pictures, I was able t o see how many leaves fell off and how quickly they fell off. After I did my tests, I gathered all of my data together and made a small notebook of all my observations and pictures I took. I also made a chart that had all the tree names and scientific names pasted on. Then I put my whole board together.

[Environmental Sciences] Soil Profiling And Characterization: Investigation Of The Effect Of Depth, Location, And Soil Texture On Soil Properties In Utah
In order to observe the properties of soil in a cumulative study: Soil classification, also termed soil taxonomy, is used as the scientific discipline to deal with the grouping of soils into soil types, according to similar or comparable soil forming properties. This cumulative project begins with the three-fold objectives: 1. To observe the effect of depth on soil properties. 2. To observe the effect of location on soil properties. 3. To observe the effect of different soil compositions/ texture on porosity and permeability. In order to evaluate these three objectives, soil samples, profiles, or types were retrieved arid desert (Mivida soil located in the Southeastern part of Utah), lake/steam (RiverCreek), potting soil, sand, silt, and clay. Soil properties tested during the first two objectives involved: • Horizon depths • Soil structure • Soil color • Soil consistence • Soil texture • Roots • Rocks • Carbonates For the third objective, only the properties of porosity and permeability were tested. Apart from detailed analyses for each soil property, in conclusion, for the first two objectives, soil properties were found to vary along depth with also relative similarities between the soil profiles of arid desert and lake/stream. Differences in soil properties were also observed due to different locations and were analyzed apart from the first objective. For the third objective, there was an inverse relationship between porosity and permeability due to different relative sizes of sand, silt, and clay.

[Environmental Sciences] Measuring Static Electricity
Many people wonder about the amount of static electricity in certain things. In this experiment I took some items and tested the static energy of them. The experiment was done by rubbing a balloon on hair, polyester, carpet, cotton, nylon, and ceramic tile. Then I tested the number of paper pieces the balloon could pick up after being rubbed on these items. My hypothesis was that after rubbing the balloon on human hair it would pick up the most pieces of paper. My hypothesis was proved right. Human hair had the most amount of static electricity. My hypothesis also showed me that tile had close to little or no amount of static energy.

[Environmental Sciences] Develop A Low Cost Water Filter For Developing Countries
In many developing countries citizens have access to very poor quality of water. During my last visit to India my grandma got bottled water that said "purified" and yet she boiled it. That made me wonder why she did that? I found out that the water quality there was really poor, and causes a lot of people to get sick. I decided to better understand the environmental health effect of water quality, and build a water filter that is inexpensive so the poor can afford to have clean water. I also decided to test the water before and after it is filtered to ensure that the water is potable.

[Environmental Sciences] Absorbent Colors
The purpose for doing this science fair project is to see which color absorbs the most heat out of eight colors: white, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green, and black. This project will help to choose what to wear on a cool or warm day. This experiment is trying to solve which color absorbs the most heat and which color absorbs the least heat. There was different color construction paper wrapped around eight different jars. The jars were filled with water and measured for the starting temperature of each jar. After thirty minutes of being under a lamp, the after temperature was recorded. The hypothesis was that black would absorb the most heat and white would absorb the least heat. The hypothesis, after being tested twice, was incorrect. Purple had the highest average increase of heat. Yellow had the least average increase of heat. This project was enjoyable because it didn't cost a lot of money and it was interesting to know which color would absorb the most and least heat.

[Environmental Sciences] Eco Foam Friendly Or Not?
Is eco-foam really environmentally friendly to our water ways?

[Environmental Sciences] An Incontestable Experiment To A Deliberate World Of Stratospheric Contamination
This project compared the level of particulate matter air pollution in City Creek, Emigration, Mill Creek, Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood canyons. It was hypothesized that the busier canyons will have more air pollution. Particle catchers were made and hung at the five canyons. These consisted of two Vaseline coated slides taped inside of plastic cups from which two sides had been cut out. The catchers were changed at the beginning and end of two successive weekends. The number of particles on each slide was counted with a microscope and reported as particles per hour of exposure time. The highest particulate rate was recorded at Little Cottonwood Canyon and the least at Mill Creek Canyon. There was more particulate matter observed during the weekend then during the week. The data from the experiment supported the hypothesis that more traffic in a canyon correlated with a greater particulate count.

[Environmental Sciences] Gas Or No Gas
My project was on testing the soil around gas stations for gasoline. I thought that gas stations would have gasoline in the soil compared to my house. To get the soil sample i pounded a PVC pipe into the ground around the gas stations 6 in. the pipe fills up with soil that can be pushed out into collecting jars to be tested. I went to three different gas stations and got three soil samples from each gas station. I put the soil into collecting jars with enough water to completely submerge the soil and have at least another half an inch above the soil, and then i shook them to get the gasoline out of the soil with the water. I let them sit for 24hrs. or until they separated out. The gasoline is lighter than water so it will float on top of the water. I measured the amount of gasoline and tested it with gas gauging past. All of the gas stations had gasoline in their soil. The purpose of this project was to see how polluted the soil is around gas stations. My methods of research were the internet and a person that actually did this for a job. some difficulties I ran into were first the ground was frozen and second the first gauging paste i tried didn't work. My conclusion was that gas stations have gaoline in their soil.

[Environmental Sciences] Magnetic Wind Energy
I built a permanent magnet wind generator and tested what would happen if I changed the amount of enamel-coated magnet wire coils. I wanted to know how many volts each number of coils(1, 2, and 3) would generate, as well as the brightness of the light-bulb with each number of coils.

[Environmental Sciences] Volt Smart
ABSTRACT for Volt Smart By Alex Gonzalez and Steven Dent We chose this project because our school the Salt Lake Center for Science Education received a grant from the “Solar for Schools Program” for solar panels. They were installed during the 2010-2011 school year. So we thought “how can we, as a whole school, help the environment and help the school’s power costs and power consumption go down. We were curious about the amount of energy a laptop consumes when sleep mode is turned on vs. when sleep mode is turned off. We decided to use kill-a-watt meter to measure our laptops’ power usage. We chose to have each trial run for 1 hour. Measurements of voltage where taken every 10 minutes. We discovered that when you have a laptop in sleep mode you save more power than when just turning sleep mode off! This made us even more curious; we decided to do an extra test with the laptop off. We found that we saved more power when we put the laptop in sleep mode than when we just turned it off! This means that Energy Star’s claim that you can save energy and money by putting computers to sleep is correct.

[Environmental Sciences] Ethanol: The Future Fuel
The purpose of this experiment was to find which type of fuel produces the least amount of carbon dioxide, the highest energy output, and burned the longest. My experiment tested three types of fuels: ethanol, gasoline, and diesel. When I burned each fuel I would look for the difference in how each fuel burned. My results were that ethanol burns the fastest, has the highest energy output, and the lowest amount of carbon dioxide output. Diesel, as I predicted, was the longest burning and had the worst carbon dioxide output. Gasoline, was second in all the tests except in the energy test. It was the lowest in the energy output test. Though gasoline came in second place for carbon dioxide, it released much more carbon dioxide than ethanol. Lastly, diesel released more carbon dioxide than gasoline and ethanol.

[Environmental Sciences] The Biogas Contest
We were seeing which combination of biomass, (or trash that can't be recycled) would make the most biogas. The combinations were cow manure, cow manure and vegetable peelings, and cow manure and mashed bananas. We put the combinations in soda bottles with each combination having three bottles. Our hypotheses is that we thought that the combination cow manure and mashed bananas would produce the most gas because bananas rot quicker than vegetables do, so we thought that with cow manure and rotten bananas working together would produce a lot of biogas. We then put the bottles in the garage and kept them there for a couple of days. The bottles didn't produce very much gas at all, so we moved them inside the house. They started producing gas, and soon, to our surprise, the cow manure combination produced the most biogas. We think this happened because of the cold temperature. We think that because it was cold, the bananas and vegetables didn't rot very much.

[Environmental Sciences] Is There Acid In My Water
Batteries are often thrown into the garbage and into landfills. My hypothesis is batteries leak acid into the soil in the immediate area and cause changes in water acidity. I put different types of batteries into terrariums with soil and seeds and watered them weekly. Over a period of one month I tested the pH of the ground water. My results showed regular batteries caused a lowering of the groundwater pH but rechargeable batteries did not.

[Environmental Sciences] Filtering Filters From The Landfill
The effectiveness of a reusable furnace filter compared with a disposable furnace filter is shown. To do this a paper towel was attached to the end of a vacuum acting as a secondary filter. Simulated dirt was placed under the filter and vacuumed through it. A Vernier Light Probe was used to measure the amount of light that would transfer through the secondary filter indicating how much had made it through the actual filter. Results of the light transfer were compared between the disposable filter and the reusable filter.

[Environmental Sciences] Go Green... Get Green
I did this project so i could learn ways to save the environment and money. I remember as an elementary student there were days where we couldn't play outside because of the polluted air. Recess was my time to run away from the work waiting inside. I didn't want that happening to my younger siblings I wanted to change something, but what? Maybe how i lived. I thought if someone saw things from my perspective they would want the same. They would want a cleaner and safer environment. So what was my idea to this big change. Solar panels! With this idea in the twenty-first century we use them to conduct electricity from the sun. My hypothesis is if we do put solar panels on our school's roof we would be using green energy and the school's budget would increase to the amount where we can hire a n extra teacher. What about the unused electricity on weekends, breaks,and the summer? Rocky Mountain Power would buy back the unused electricity from our school.I used East High School's solar panels data from their website to calculate how many kilowatts my school would need and how long would it take to pay off the debt of the solar panels? I found out that it would need a 1.7 kilowatt per year. It would also take a nine years to pay off the debt and for 11 years it would be free. Results showed that my hypothesis was right. East high schools CO2 counter a 1.7 kilowatt solar panel display saves 1,746.5 pounds of CO2 per year. Which means installing at my elementary school it would save 34,930 pounds of CO2 per year.

[Environmental Sciences] Is The Green House Effect Real?
The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the greenhouse effect is real. The greenhouse effect makes the Earth livable but an enhanced greenhouse effect is a problem for living things on Earth. If more people understand how greenhouse gases build up, then maybe more people can help cut down the energy they use. The steps for this experiment were to make a model representing the build up of greenhouses gases using a shoebox, black paper, electrical tape, three sheets of glass placed at different levels inside the box, and three thermometers. The temperatures in each chamber of the model were recorded at three different times each day. Room temperature was recorded too. When recording the temperatures it was noticed that, in direct sunlight, the top thermometer was the hottest. But, when there were clouds or pollution, the middle thermometer was the warmest. The bottom thermometer was always the coldest.

[Environmental Sciences] Little Cottonwood Creek Water Quality
Little Cottonwood Creek is a nearly pristine mountain stream that flows into the Salt Lake Valley. The water quality is high in the mountains, urban storm water runoff enters the creek in the valley and introduces various pollutants. During the spring and summer, high mountain runoff makes it difficult to measure the true amount of urban pollution due to dilution from the mountain runoff. Winter provides an opportunity to measure valley storm water pollution because typically all mountain runoff is diverted prior to flowing into the valley. Winter time valley creek water is entirely due to urban storm water runoff. In this condition true water quality measures can be performed and compared to mountain water. About 215 water quality tests were performed at 18 sample sites along valley creek locations and one mountain control location. The data from these tests provided an interesting perspective on the creek's water quality. In general, no dangerous levels of water quality were found, although pollutants in some areas were at unacceptable levels. It was hypothesized that water quality would decrease with downstream flow due to pollutant increase. This happened with some pollutants, but not all. Some pollutants, including nitrates and phosphates, tended to concentrate in certain areas and were diluted with downstream movement, causing spikes in the downstream water quality. The spikes tended to coincide with specific inflow culverts associated to large residential areas and contain fertilizer runoff. This information would help to better educate homeowners with runoff related fertilizing risks.

[Environmental Sciences] Rain, Rain, Go Away!
My science project is about the effect acid rain has on the environment. As we continue to pollute our air by our use of fossil fuel (factories, cars, motorcycles, etc.), our rain will become more and more acidic. My project illustrates the environmental damage that can be done by even a small amount of acid in our rain. Why should you care?! During the winter season, Salt Lake City has one of the highest pollution rates in the country. Hypothesis: Even a small amount of acid in our rain will destroy our environment. I used five different types of solutions with different percentages of acid to test what affect acid would have on a sea shell, representing our environment. Sea shells are composed of calcium carbonate, a common element found in many different types of stones, and rocks. I observed and recorded my observations of the shells in their solutions over a period of 10 days. My results show that if our rain has even a small amount of acid in it, it will cause damage over time. The solution that was 100% acid caused the sea shell to dissolve in under 20 minutes. Through my research, experiment and display, I hope to raise awareness about how much irreversible damage can be done by the pollution in our air. We all need to make efforts to reduce pollution in our community.

[Environmental Sciences] What Is The Best Lint Paper Product
A poster

[Environmental Sciences] The Role Of Insulation & Heat Loss
The purpose of our project was to test different types of insulation to see which would perform best in retaining heat. This is important because insulation is used in nearly all homes in America. Our hypothesis was that the insulation with the highest "R Value" would perform the best in regards to heat retention. An R Value is a numeric measure as to how efficient an insulation type is in retaining heat. A higher R Value equates to higher efficiency. Specifically, our hypothesis claimed that closed cell foam insulation would retain the most heat because it had the highest R Value. Our hypothesis was proved false through two testing trials where Rock Wool insulation out performed the other insulation materials including the closed cell foam. We created a sealed cardboard chamber with an insulated roof that we heated for specific times and then measured the temperature change over a 10 minute period with intervals every 1 minute with the use of a digital thermometer. In conclusion, we determined that R Values are very important, but equally important is the installation and proper fit of the insulation materials in determining its capacity for heat retention as determined by our results

[Environmental Sciences] Toll Creek Vs. East Canyon Creek
My project compares the aquatic health of two local streams, one that has remained untouched and the other that has been the focus of a stream restoration project. I used several methods to assess the health of these streams. First, I tested the water in each stream for dissolved oxygen, pH level, and iron content. Second, I looked for signs of insect life and other life that would indicate a healthy stream environment. I assessed this by searching for insects and insect larvae both in the stream and in the grasses bordering each stream. I looked especially for the presence or absence of pollution sensitive insect life. I also fly fished in each stream. In addition, I observed characteristics of each stream, looking for such things as water clarity and litter. I took samples from each stream over a period of a month, always taking samples on the same day from each stream. Then I compared my data and observations to determine which stream was healthier.

[Environmental Sciences] Green Clean: Dish Washing Detergents Break Down Oil In Water
Oil is the largest pollutant of water in the world. Oil impacts the survivability and health of the organisms inhabiting the oceans. Oil is usually removed mechanically, chemically, and biologically. After mechanical cleanup, chemical methods, requiring detergents to emulsify the oil into small, degradable molecules are used. Though the oil is converted into a safer form, the detergent’s residues known as dispersants are still toxic to marine life. The goal of the experiment was to test the effectiveness of chemical methods of removing oil from fresh water and salt water through dishwashing detergents; the experiment also measure the toxic effects of oil and detergent on brine shrimp. The hypothesis is that green detergents will be less effective than other conventional detergents at emulsifying oil, but they will have lower toxicity. The hypothesis also states some dishwashing detergents will not be effective in salt water. The performance of the five dishwashing detergents was tested in three conditions: in fresh water, in salt water, and with brine shrimp for toxicity. The effects of changes in temperature were also investigated in the freshwater tests. In conclusion, the hypothesis was supported by the results of most of the experiments. This experiment shows the significant differences in detergent effectiveness at breaking down oils in different circumstances and their effects on the environment.

[Environmental Sciences] Storm Windows Vs. Double Pane Windows
The topic of this experiment is environmental windows. This was an experiment to see what window was more effective. The project was considered an attempt to see if Storm Windows were more effective than Double Pane Windows. The problem statement was: “Which is more effective in heat loss and insulation: Storm Windows or Double Pane Windows?” The project was mainly to educate the public. The method that was used was: Use two model homes, one with a Storm Window, the other with a Double Pane Window, and both with a light bulb inside. See which window traps more heat into the box. The controllable variables were considered and abolished, although the final data did not support the hypothesis. The results proved that Double Pane Windows are more effective than Storm Windows.

[Mathematical Sciences] Quincunx
A Gaussian device was used to measure a normal distribution and demonstrate a bell curve. A Quincunx is a triangular array of pegs. This project proves that when 300 marbles (150 dark and 150 light) are dropped through a Quincunx they accumulate in the bottom (in 9 bins) and form a bell-shaped curve. But, when the data for the dark and light marbles are separated out, the bell-shaped curves are different from each other. When the numbers aren't perfect you get a skewed version of a bell-shaped curve. The marbles are dropped into the device and every marble hits the first peg at the top and then falls through more pegs until they get to the bins at the bottom. The pegs are arranged in a formation of eight rows and nine columns. The pegs are offset every other row, in the shape of a triangle. As the marbles hit each peg they have a 50-50 chance of falling to the left or to the right of that peg. The 300 marbles were dropped through the device ten times. The light and dark colored marbles were separated and counted after each test. Data was collected for the total in each bin, and also the total dark marbles and total light marbles in each bin. A mathematical equation was used to validate the results from the device. The results were different than the calculated outcome, but overall the test results supported the hypothesis. Each test resulted in a bell-shaped curve.

[Mathematical Sciences] Is It Really Fair?
Is flipping a coin really fair? And what if you don't have a coin so you flip some other random object, is that fair? The answer is no, flipping a coin or another random household object is not fair. "Is It Really Fair?" proves this, and gives the reasons why.

[Mathematical Sciences] How Accurate Is A Formula For Estimating The Weight Of A Smallmouth Bass Based On Length And Girth?
My Science Fair Project was ‘How accurate is a formula for estimating the weight of a smallmouth bass based on length and girth’? My problem question is also the title for my project. My research section includes uses of the formula, how the formula cam about, and how I plan on testing the formula. I recently found a use for this formula. The Division of Natural Resources (DNR) of Wisconsin shows the residents of Wisconsin this formula to help calculate the weight of smallmouth bass. The formula is as follows: (L^2 G)/1200=W Where: L=Length (in) (from the close lip to the tail squeezed together) G=Girth (in) (the measurement around the fattest part of the fish) W=Weight (lbs) I was testing to see if this formula was really accurate enough to find the correct weight of a fish. My hypothesis was ‘I hypothesize that I can verify the accuracy of the assumptions of the formula for the smallmouth bass or improve the formula to estimate the weight. The independent variable of the experiment is the dimensions of the fish. The dependent variable of the experiment is the volume and mass of the fish.’ I started off with a first experiment that didn’t go so well. The numbers I was getting were not possible. I rescheduled with Mr. Larson and retested the whole specimen. Finally, the numbers I was getting were making sense. I did not have any trouble make graphs this year like I did last year. The one place that I think that I really grew on was the conclusion. Most all of the conclusions I have written were weak. This year, after all of the edits I had, I really learned what it takes to write a good conclusion. You can’t be short and sweet. You have to be a “wordsmith”, or at least act like one. The key is not to make your judges or fellow people interested in your experiment “wade through your data”, just explain it in your conclusion. Another thing that I learned this year had nothing to do with my experiment. I learned how much science depends upon math. I had heard Mr. Larson preach about it, but I never fully understood until this project hit me. There were many good lessons in this project. I think this years experiment was way better than last years experiment. The experiment this year required less building and more mental thinking. Also, because I wasn’t doing three different experiments last year, there was a lot more time this year to do everything. I would like the thank Mr. Larson very much. He helped me along the way, especially in things I did not understand. This was a good experiment.

[Mathematical Sciences] Predicting Variations Of Pascal's
I found the equations of the diagonals in the original Pascal's Triangle, as well as the variation of 1&3. I immediately noticed a pattern in the diagonals and used that to predict a 1&2 triangle. I then checked it by hand and it was correct. Using the pattern I had seen and checked, I entirely standardized Pascal's Triangle (including the equations.) Finally, I found the equation of the standardized equations in the diagonals.

[Mathematical Sciences] Recovering The Effective Thermal Conductivity Of Simba Sea Ice With A Composite Material Model
The global climate changes we observe can be linked to the rapid reduction of sea ice in recent years, and the thermal conductivity of sea ice plays a prominent role in the studies that aim to identify the causes. However, sea ice is a complex, composite material consisting of pure ice, brine, and air inclusions, whose size and geometry depend on the ice crystal structure, as well as the temperature and bulk salinity. In this study, a composite material model, which describes the heat transfer within the medium, is used to estimate the effective thermal material property by solving an inverse problem. Sea ice thermal array measurement data from the ``Sea Ice Mass Balance in the Antarctic'' (SIMBA) project is preprocessed with the Kalman filter to reduce measurement noises. The thermal conductivity estimated from the model compares well with the direct measured data set.

[Mathematical Sciences] Dice Probabilities
My experiment was based off of rolling dice. My basic question was that if you rolled 5 six sided dice like the ones you find in monopoly and 3 ten sided dice, which set of dice out of 100 rolls would roll any of the numbers from 18 to 30 more often.

[Mathematical Sciences] Tessellation Observation
After the investigator folded many copies of the spread hexagon tessellation according to Eric Gjerde’s instructions (Origami Tessellations, 2009), it became clear there must be a way to predict the size or surface area of a piece of isometric paper needed to fold a complete spread hexagon pattern containing a given number of layers. The hypothesis held that a recursive formula might be developed to predict the surface area necessary to fold a spread hexagon pattern in successive layers. After several false starts, the investigator switched perspective to the rings of equilateral triangles surrounding the primary hexagon. When folded, some sizes of paper produced either incomplete patterns or left an excess of paper. The equation (r-1)mod2 can be used to eliminate sizes that yielded either incomplete patterns or an excess of paper. The equation’s predictive value was tested empirically down to down to the eighth ring.The explicit version of the formula could be derived from the results. The data showed that not only is it possible to create a recursive formula to predict the required surface area of the paper but also to make that formula explicit. The area of the isometric paper is determined by the number of rings of equilateral triangles around the primary hexagon.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] The Grease Effect
Which chips contain the most grease,and which ones have the least amountof grease.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Power Balance Bands: Fake Or Real
My science project is about whether or not Power Balance Bands enhance your athletic ability. I tested several different people doing different activities not knowing whether they had a Power Balance Band bracelet on or just a plastic bracelet. As you look at my project you will find my answer to this question.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Eat Like A Mouse
Everyone knows diet is important, and that poor diet can lead to obesity, diabetes, and other physical problems. But how far-reaching are the effects of a bad diet? Do they extend all the way to our brains? I hypothesized that a diet high in sugar, white flour, and salt would negatively affect the memories of mice. I fed one set of mice healthy food and one set unhealthy food for two months. Then I tested them running a maze for several days. I discovered that my hypothesis was correct, and that the healthy food mice performed amazingly better than the unhealthy food mice. Assuming that human results would be similar, we all have another very important reason to eat well, since healthy food equals a healthy brain.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Balance To The Beat
Do dancers have better equalibrium than non-dancers? Our eyes, ears and muscles make up the sense of equilibrium, which is balance used in every-day activities, and if dancers have tons of practice with all of these components, then I predict that dancers have better equilibrium than non-dancers.As a dancer/ I decided to perform my own series of visual (vestibular-ocular reflex), physical balance (somatsensory) and hearing (vestibular system) tests of subjects who were dancers and non-dancers to determine if dancers have a better balance than non-dancers. I gathered all materials needed, had subjects take a survey, completed all test with each subject, recorded the data and observations from the results of the tests. Based on the results of all the test given I concluded that I accept my hypothesis that dancers have better equilibrium than non-dancers. For every test I did with the subjects, the dancers were overall scaled higher than the non-dancers were.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Bacteria In Mascara
Is there bacteria in mascara before application? What type or brand of mascara grows bacteria in the shortest amount of time? Those were my problem questions. I hypothesized that if I tested the mascara before and after application, I would be able to see if there was bacteria before you apply the mascara to your eye. I also tested different types and brands to see which would grow bacteria the fastest. The mascaras I used were Maybelline Great Lash, Mineral Fusion Mascara, Ultimate Mascara by Mary Kay, L’Oreal Voluminous, and Covergirl Curved Brush Smudgeproof Mascara. My research was a vital part of my experiment. The FDA says to only keep your mascara for 2-3 months, and I learned that if you keep it too long you can get diseases from the bacteria. I started off just testing the mascara after application, but that led me to expand. I tested five mascaras before application, then applied them to my eye, and tested them after. I found out that there was bacteria before you apply the mascara. Also, that the amount of bacteria grows over time. I observed that the thicker the mascara, the more bacteria grows. I hypothesized that the organic mascara had the most bacteria because it contained no preservatives. If I were to continue to develop this experiment I would try to figure out a way to eliminate the bacteria before application. Also, I would work towards creating a drop that would eliminate bacteria in mascara before application.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] My Water's Blue How About You
Every country needs clean water. This experiment was designed to find the best way to get purify water for developing countries. The experimenters wanted to know which water purification method killed the most microorganisms, was least expensive, and required the least amount of work for all developing countries. The purification method was the variable. There were five methods to be tested; SODIS (Solar disinfection), boiling, iodine, chlorine and seychelle. The control had no purification method done to it. The hypothesis was that SODIS would do best because sun is free, it cost no money and many microbes have difficult time surviving the sun. The data did not support the hypothesis. In fact SODIS was one of the worst methods. This might be because SODIS could have done better during a different season. When doing the live microbe count under the scope, as expected, the control had the most microbes with 12.666 on average. SODIS was the worst purification method with an average of 4 microbes. Iodine was quite effective at purifying water having only 1.3 average live microbes found on average. Seychelle and boiling was a tie with an average of 1 microbe. It is recommended that people who don’t have access to clean water to boil their water because it is free, everyone can do that and it is one of the most effective methods. In the future other water purification methods could be examined.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] The Swimmer's Dilemma: Will Going For A Dip Make You Sick?
Because people love to swim in many environments,I want to discover if harmful microbes lurk in bodies of water. My hypothesis was that harmful microbes will be present in untreated freshwater. I thought salt water & hot springs would not have dangerous microbes and warm climates would have the most. I traveled to Northern Utah and a Hawaiian island to take water samples from two climates. I filled mason jars with water and sediment and tested 4 controls using treated tap water from different areas of Utah and Hawaii. This proved water treatment does kill microbes. I took experimental samples in two states from rivers, streams, a waterfall, lakes, and beaches. I tested samples for pH and minerals using home water quality test strips and then a microscope to look for microbes. I took photos and videos of the microbes I found so I could identify them. My experiment proved my hypothesis was partially correct: Salt water had the least harmful microbes with the ocean having the cleanest water of all. Chemicals in hot springs did not prevent harmful microbes from growing, and climate made a difference. Tropical freshwater had the most dangerous microbes of all my samples (Twin Falls Waterfall). I found chemical problems in two different bodies of freshwater in Utah and dangerous microbes in all my freshwater samples. My project proved it is not safe to swim in untreated freshwater, but the ocean is very safe to swim in. I recommend swimming in swimming pools or the ocean.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] P.E. 4 I.Q.
In my project, I wanted to see if exercising would affect academic test scores. I tested to find out if exercising before a test would affect how well you would perform on the test.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Cerebral Cavernous Malformations: A Study With Gene Technology
Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCMs) are lesions consisting of leaky blood vessels in the brain (Gault, Sarin, Awadallah, Shenkar, & Awad, 2004). The pathologic pathways are determined by three different genes: CCM1 (Krit1), CCM2 (OSM), and CCM3 (PDCD10) (Dashti, Hoffer, Hu, & Selman, 2006). Loss of any of these genes from the endothelial cells of a mouse results in CCM-like lesions in the brain. The presence of hemorrhage in other organs in mice leads to the question: is loss of CCM genes linked to abnormal angiogenesis in organs outside of the brain in mice? If true, the mouse model differs from the human model, hinting at the pathways affected. After Krit1 was knocked out, various organs were dissected out of mice, preserved in formaldehyde, and fixed in paraffin. I sectioned the organs into thin slices and stained using hematoxylin and eosin. I inspected the slides under a microscope for anomalies in the organs of interest. The results indicated systemic bleeding, though defects were not noted in the spleen or kidney.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Cancer Genome Anatomy
Our project asked us to identify different genes that are over-expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues by using bioinformatics as a tool. We went through the slide show and learned how to read the charts that would be throughout the website. Our hypothesis indicated that we believe that over expression of genes related to protein receptors are found in more than one tissue because over expression causes cancer cells to duplicate and increase rapidly, taking over almost any part of the human body. As we searched through data that would prove our hypothesis, we came across fourteen main genes to analyze. We compared them in a ratio of normal vs. cancer. We found charts that showed normal tissues and infected tissues to use as comparisons. We also used a Virtual Northern graph which measures gene expression levels in different tissues, with a key that stated the darker the circle was the more over expressed the gene was and the lighter the circle, the more under expressed it was. When we had accumulated all the information on these fourteen genes we came to the unanimous decision that our hypothesis was correct. Eleven of the fourteen protein receptors that we researched came out with more that one over expressed tissue, therefore making out statement true. In conclusion, our project was mainly to learn the basics of the beginning stages to solving the cure for cancer. Now that we understand how the disease works we are more aware of how complicated the process really is and can continue researching other types of cancer in the future. Bailey Greer and Hanna Gregerson

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Caffeine And You
The purpose of my project was to understand further the effects that caffeine has on a person's reaction time correlated to rise in heart rate. To research my topic i found information on the amounts off caffeine and other ingrediants in energy drinks. I also researched tests that have been done that relate. The data I collected from each of my test subjects was their age, gender, weight, how often they drink energy drinks, their test results for reaction time and heart rate before and after consumption of drink. I encountered difficulties with subjects not filling in all of the data and with test results having to many factors and hard to distinguish. From my data I have found that the biggest contributing factor to test subjects having a rise in heart rate is how often they drink caffeinated drinks on a weekly basis.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Burned
Which level of spf sunscreen protects the best against skin cancer.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Can You Taste What I Taste?
I wanted to know if you can taste foods better with or without your nose plugged? To do that I had to find out how the nose and mouth work. The nose has many hairs that help you to smell certain odors. Also your nose has a mucous membrane that warms, moistens, and filters the air before it enters your lungs. Your mouth had papillae, and inside your papillae is your taste buds. First I gathered all my research and found out some very interesting things on how the mouth and nose work with the brain and with each other. Then I made my materials list, which included food, a blender, and some volunteers for the tasting. My procedure consisted of tasting, asking questions, and recording all my data. Then I made my graph and made all of my conclusions. In conclusion I figured out that you can taste better with out the nose plug than with it. That’s why when your sick you can’t really taste anything!

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Practice Makes Perfect?
Our question was "Does how often you practice push-ups affect how many you can do?" We got together 12 people who could do at least 5 push-ups each. (6 girls and 6 boys). We divided them into 3 groups randomly. Control Group: they did as many push-ups as they could on the first and last day of the 10 day testing period; Every Other Day Group: they practiced about 80% of their first day max every other day; and 6 Days a Week Group: they practiced about 80% of their first day max 6 days a week. We sent home instruction papers that told what group they were in, how much to practice, and it gave a place to fill in the data. We collected the results (some over the phone, some by collecting the sheets) and found the average of each group on how many push-ups they could do at the start and the end. Then we found the difference. The group with the greatest difference improved the most. The 6-day group improved by far the most.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] School Lunch; What Are Our Kids Really Eating?
Kids take in one third of their daily calories at school, and they get to choose what they eat. Even if they purchase a balanced meal they may be throwing most of it away. We visited a local elementary school, McPolin, to observe and take notes on what the children threw away. We paired this data with the school food ingredients and lists the lunch ladies compiled daily and on what was taken. We used this to try to determine what kids are really eating and whether or not it is healthy.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Deficiency Of Robo4 Confers Susceptibility To Diabetic Nephropathy
Diabetic nephropathy is kidney damage that occurs in people with diabetes, which result in lot of plasma proteins leak into urine. Endothelial cell is one of three components of glomerular filtration barrier and its dysfunction plays a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. It is known that Robo4 exclusively expresses in endothelial cells and functions as endothelial stabilization and vascular integrity. We hypothesis that decrease or deficiency of Robo4 function is involved in the proteinuria development of diabetic nephropathy. In our study, we used diabetic Robo4 gene knockout mice as a model to test this hypothesis. Diabetes was induced in mice by STZ injection. Urinary albumin excretion and blood glucose level are observed. We found the level of albuminuria is higher in Robo4 -/- diabetic mice than wild-type diabetic mice since one month, and up to ten folds in three month, but there is not difference in blood glucose level between the two groups. The results indicated Robo4 may protect kidney against high glucose induced injuries. It may play a critical role in maintaining normal function of glomerular filtration barrier. Strengthening of endothelial function may be a new therapeutic strategy.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Floating Bodies
How does body fat percentage affect the human body's ability to float?

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Antioxidants; Fighting Rad Radicals
The purpose of this science fair project is to find antioxidants that fight free radicals. Oxidation occurs all around us, from metal that rust to scabs that turn brown. One of the most common occurrences, however, is when cut apples turn brown. This project, therefore, will be to see which kind of fruits and vitamins will best prevent an apple from browning. This gives a visual indication of what kind of antioxidants would be best for human bodies.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Side To Side Sight: A Journey Through Peripheral Vision
The purpose of this experiment was to see the effect of light levels and eye color on peripheral vision. To test this, we created a trifold that could control the amount of light and measure the length of peripheral vision. We did the test with three different light levels and recorded the participants' eye color. The results of this experiment showed that eyes with the least amount of color had the highest range of peripheral vision. Also people could see side-to-side better when more light is present.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Sugar Vs Sugar Substitutes
OBJECTIVE: To find out if sugar and sugar substitutes taste the same. METHOD: Without knowing which cup was sugar and which was sugar substitutes, testers drank Kool-aid made with sugar and sugar substitutes. RESULTS: 28 Tests. Two testers said the Kool-Aid tasted the same. One tester said sugar substitutes was sweeter and the rest chose sugar. CONCLUSION: In this taste test sugar was found to be sweeter than sugar substitutes when mixed in Kool-aid.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Who Has A Larger Lung Capacity: Swimmers Or Non Swimmers
I wanted to know who had a larger lung capacity: swimmers or non-swimmers. While researching lung capacity on the internet, I discovered how to build a homemade spirometer, an instrument which measures lung capacity by displacing water with air. Friends and teammates, both swimmers and non swimmers, volunteered to have their lung capacities measured using my spirometer. I made up a questionnaire to collect personal data, amount of exercise, and whether they train and swim competitively. I created a spreadsheet and organized the data. Through my analysis, I noted that lung capacity increases with height, true for both swimmer and non swimmer. In conclusion, I found that swimmers have a larger lung capacity than non-swimmers.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] The Effect Of Preservatives On Vitamin C Over Time
The purpose of this project was to determine whether or not preservatives affected the level of Vitamin C in fruit juices over time. The procedure was to put drops of fruit juice into a homemade indicator solution in order to tell what the Vitamin C content of the juice was. The indicator solution was made using cornstarch, distilled water, and tincture of iodine. We placed 5 ml of solution into three test tubes. The fruit juice was then added to the solution in drops through a pipette. The solution turned clear. Once it was completely clear, we determined the Vitamin C levels by measuring the amount of fruit juice added. Two preservatives were then added to separate samples of the juices and tested. All of the juices were refrigerated for a week and tested again. The results of the experiment showed that the level of Vitamin C varied depending on the type of fruit and preservative added. For example, one preservative made the Vitamin C level increase in one juice while it decreased it in another. Because there was a variety of a fruit juice involved, the data showed different results with each fruit juice and preservative. For example, in a majority of the trials, the potassium sorbate caused the Vitamin C levels to increase over time, leading us to believe that there may have been another variable involved. With a better understanding of the effects of preservatives on Vitamin C, consumers could make healthier choices about fruit juices.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] That Fish Needs Air!
As a member of a swim team, I wanted to know if there is an optimal ratio of strokes per breath for a 50 yard freestyle swim. I had thought that 3 strokes per breath would be the best. I tested 10 swimmers with 1, 2, 3 and 4 strokes per breath and found that for 70% of the swimmers, 3 strokes produced the fastest time. However, for the three fastest swimmers, 4 strokes per breath produced the best time. While my hypothesis was correct for 7 of the 10, I would like to continue my testing to determine whether the same results would be true for longer swims (100yd, 200yd).

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Slippin' Through Your Fingers
This project is a study of reaction time.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Title: Electromagnetic Pollution: A Look At Body Voltage In Your Sleeping Area
Some doctors say that sleeping near too many electrical fields increases your risk of chronic illness. This increases body voltage (BV), which hurts your sleep. BV accumulates when electrical fields from house wiring and electronic appliances couples onto your body. Because restful sleep is critical to good health, I wanted to study what affects BV in the bedroom. I predicted that BV will be: less if the room power is off; higher in a bed with metal (springs, frame) than one without metal (futon, wood frame); and higher near a cell phone or plug-in appliances. I also predicted that different plug-in appliances would add different amounts of BV. Using a BV meter with hand probe, I tested BV of four people in beds with and without metal. For each person in each bed, I tested with room power off and on, and with different plug-in and battery operated appliances by the bed. BV is about the same in both beds when room power is off, but goes up 200-300% in the bed with metal when it’s on. Plug-in appliances increase BV, even when off. Battery operated appliances hardly change BV. Different plug-in appliances increase BV by different amounts, but the cell phone did not affect BV. The highest BV was with the power on, in the bed with metal, with several electronic appliances plugged in. By using battery operated devices and sleeping in a bed without any metal, people can reduce BV significantly, and lower their risk of chronic illness.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Does Your Gender And Age Have An Effect On Your Memory?
I wondered if my age or gender affected my short term memory. At which age is your short term memory best, and do males or females have a better short term memory? In a box I put 40 random items. I then tested people's short term memory by allowing them to look at the contents of the box for 45 seconds. Then, I gave them 1 minute to write down as many items as they could remember. My results showed that memory was best in the age group 26-35 year old men, peaking at age 27. I found out that your memory increases until late 20's and gradually declines as you get older. Women had a better short term memory in every other age group, especially as they aged.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Let The Chips Fall Where They May
I looked at the amount of grease found in one serving from four popular brands of potato chip/potato crisps and researched the daily amount of fat allowance found in a serving of chips, the effects of eating too much fat, and it's relation to obesity.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] P H Balance And The Body
Exploring how pH levels change after eating or drinking different substances and how it affects the body.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] What Does Soda Do To Your Teeth?
My mom is always telling me that soda pop is really bad for you. I thought I would see if she was right. I chose to do an experiment with soda pop and teeth. The dentist tells me sugar is bad for my teeth and soda has lots of sugar, so I decided I would see what soda pop does to your teeth. I found out that eggshells are very similar to your teeth and eggshells were easier for me to get than teeth, so I poured different types of soda pop over eggshells and let them sit for 7 days. I checked on them daily and made observations. I found that soda pop is bad for your teeth and that some are worse than others.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Do Sight Or Sound Affect A Person's Balance?
I had 20 people participate in my experiment. I had each person balance on one foot, then balance again with earplugs, then balance again with a blindfold. This was repeated three time for each person. I then compared the results to see if vision and hearing affected balance.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Phenytoin Injections Through Iv's
My hypothesis is to find out what the best IV fluid to dilute phenytoin, the generic name for Dilantin, in is without causing damage to the vein. Mountain West Hospital in Tooele agreed to let me use their pharmacy to carry out my project. They supplied me with all of my materials and answered any questions that I had. I injected 750 ml of the drug phenytoin, an anticonvulsant, into five different IV bags containing different solutions. I determined that the only solution that did not crystallize was the 0.9% Sodium Chloride. This solution would be the only one that is safe for phenytoin to be diluted in without causing damage to the vein.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Effects Of Methamphetamine (Meth) Pretreatment On The Dopamine Transporter, Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (Gfap) Immunoreactivity, And Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase (N Nos) Activity
Methamphetamine (METH) is a huge public health concern due to its highly addictive properties and its ability to cause long-term damage to dopamine (DA) systems. However, the mechanism through which METH exposure results in this damage has yet to be discovered. The hypothesis being examined was that increases in nNOS activity and astrocyte reactivity would be associated with METH-induced DA depletions and that prior METH-induced DA depletions would block these changes as compared to animals with no previous METH exposure. To test this, rats at post-natal day (PND) 60 were injected with METH or saline. Rats were then injected again 30 days later. The brains were taken out, sectioned, and then stained using different methods (DAT, GFAP, NADPH) to show dopamine depletions, astrocyte activity, and nNOS activity after METH administration. It was true that rats who received a second regimen of METH did not show additional DA depletion (they were resistant to more acute toxicity) as compared to the first regimen, but no visible effect was seen on nNOS activity or and astrocyte reactivity.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Beat Of The Music
This project has been chosen to understand what type of music would be best to listen to when sleeping and what music would be best to listen to when exercising. The big difference between the two was the heart rate so it was decided to see which music raised / lowered the heart rate most. Test subjects’ heart rates were measured. They were then measured again after playing a genre of music. The dependent variable was the resting heart rate of the test subjects. The independent variable was test subjects’ heart rate after listening to a different genre of music. Most and least favorite genres of music were not included in the data analysis, for it would be changing another variable. The data shows that the genre of music that most lowered the heart rate was pop. Pop lowered the heart rate by an average of 7.77 BPM. Blues raised the heart rate by an average of 6.77 BPM. The data shows that the genre of music that most lowered the heart rate was pop, and the genre of music that most raised the heart rate was Blues. Girls’ heart rates were generally higher than the boys’ heart rates. Favorite and least favorite genres of music affected the heart rate. These results may not change the world, but they were still successful. It will help many people get better exercise, and will help people fall asleep faster.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] What Is The Affect Of Grooming A Horse After A Ride
I wondered if grooming a horse was relaxing to a them or if it was a task to keep a horse clean. I decided to do a project to see if grooming a horse after a ride made their heart rate lower than with no grooming at all. I rode 5 different horses, two different times, on different days. The first time I took the horses heart rate right after a ride and then groomed it for 5 minutes and then took the heart rate again. The second time, I rode the horse, I took the heart rate, and then waited for five minutes and took it's heart rate with no grooming after the ride. I found that grooming the horse lowered it's heart rate more quickly than with no grooming, by at least two beats. So, grooming a horse is important not only for keeping it clean and healthy, it helps it to relax as well.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Does Proteins Or Carbs Win The Race?
Runners and coaches are constantly looking for ways to run faster. Our project describes how carbs and proteins can help the body during a short run (specifically 1 mile). We combined our results with our background research and found that carbohydrates are better for long distances and proteins are meant for long distances. Our runners said that when they ate protein for a day they felt heavy and tired. Carbs made the runners feel more energized but their legs hurt more. This showed that protein is for short distances and carbohydrates are for long distance. We took 7 subjects and made them run one mile each. The first day they ate only proteins. They ate carbs the second day. This was going to show us how carbs and proteins effected the runners we picked. Our hypothesis was that the protein would be able to run faster and easier because it strengthens yours muscles. Our results supported our hypothesis because the protein did make our subjects run faster. The protein made their muscles stronger which made them less tired to run. Although, runners should not solely eat proteins because then they wouldn’t have any energy to run. This experiment shows coaches the types of food they should give to their runners.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Stop Dizziness
My project investigates the human mechanism of balance as it effects the brain and motion sickness. I used nystagmus as my objective measurement of dizziness, twirling in place as my motion and observed/measured/documented the amount of dizziness when testing subjects with both keeping their eyes open and closed during twirling in place.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Can Playing Exergames Be Considered A Form Of Exercise?
It's a proven fact that people are more likely to exercise if they are doing something that they enjoy so I decided to see if by playing exergames you can raise your heart rate enough to be considered exercise. When I play exergames on the Xbox Kinect my heart is always beating fast so I believe that most of the kids will meet their target heart rate. I tested eight kids on the same game for 20 minutes. First I took their resting heart rate before playing, then took their pulse again immediately after playing, (controlled variable). I found out each person's target heart rate based on their age and resting heart rate. I also tested these same eight kids on the elliptical trainer for 20 minutes on a different day to compare, (experimental variable). In my experiment, I found that five out of the eight volunteers met their target heart rate on Xbox Kinect Boxing and only four out of eight met it on the elliptical trainer. So my hypothesis was correct that it can be considered exercise although it is still important to get exercise in other ways also.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Assault On Cilia
This study was develped to determine the percentage of teenagers that listen to their iPods at sound levels that can damage their hearing. Research states that listening at levels above 85 decibels for long periods of time causes noise-induced hearing loss by flattening microscopic hairs called cilia which line the inner ear.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] How Much Sugar Are Kids Eating?
Have you ever wondered how much sugar kids are eating these days? My project will tell you just that. I went around to kids about my age and asked them what they had eaten throughout the day and/or the day before. We logged in snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner and look to see how much sugar they had. The answers will surprise you. You can also stop by my project to learn about sugar and how it effects the body.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] To Breathe Or Not To Breathe?
Salt Lake City, Utah is the fifth most polluted city in the United States. So, how does that affect us? The goal of this experiment was to determine the effect of inversion air quality on our lung function. My hypothesis was that poor air quality would have a major effect on the way our lungs work, with “green” air days having a positive effect and “red” air days having a negative effect. Participants each received one Peak Flow Meter (donated by McKesson and Microlife), a device used to measure the strength of a person's lungs. When you exhale forcefully into a Peak Flow Meter, it measures your Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF). Peak Expiratory Flow is an objective indicator used to determine the power of a person's lungs. Each participant measured their PEF every evening from October 15 through December 15 and recorded their score. At the end of the testing period, the data was analyzed and compared against the air quality on the given day. We measured the data three ways. In every test, the results were the same. Children and adult women had higher PEF scores on the days with better air quality, which conformed to my hypothesis. Adult men, however, had higher scores on days with worse air quality. I believe that may be because adult men generally spend more time indoors at work, and therefore are less affected by the quality of the outside air. Most people had better PEFs on days with less pollution.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Development Of A Gene Therapy For Retinitis Pigmentosa: Knockdown Of Rhodopsin By Rn Ai
Mutations in the rhodopsin gene account for 25% of patients with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP), the leading cause of blindness worldwide. To explore a long-term gene therapy for rhodopsin-associated adRP, we tested whether shRNA (short hairpin RNA)-based RNA interference (RNAi) could efficiently suppress expression of the mutated gene, rhodopsin in vitro. We designed five shRNAs specifically targeting the rhodopsin mRNA, and tested their knockdown efficiencies by cotransfecting the shRNA expression plasmids into HEK293 cells with GFP (green fluorescent protein) fusion wild type and P347L mutant rhodopsin expression plasmids, respectively. Direct fluorescence microscopy and Western blotting assay were performed to examine level and localization of wild type and P347L mutant rhodopsin proteins expressed in the transfected cells. Three out of five rhodopsin-specific shRNAs efficiently suppressed rhodopsin expression in the cotranfected cells. This was observed by direct fluorescence microscopy. The results showed that shRNA-based RNAi can efficiently suppress expression of the rhodopsin gene in vitro. It will be a potential strategy for development of gene therapy for the patients suffering from rhodopsin associated adRP disease.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Who Is The Most Full Of Air
Trying to decide who has a bigger lung capacity. Both Males and Females were tested and of varying ages. I used a spirometer and had each person perform 4 different tests to determine their lung capacity for each. I then tallied the totals to determine my findings.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] How Well Do You Know Your Burger?
My project is about what hamburgers do to your health. I took three of the same burgers from four different places and I weighed each burger. I then put the hamburger patties on a paper plate and heated them in the microwave to render the fat from the patties. The paper plates absorbed the grease and the grease stains expanded bigger than the patties. I then weighed the hamburgers again and compared the weight from before. After I researched what grease was and I figured out that it was a type of lipid and a lipid is a type of fat that comes from an animal. It comes in all dairy products and meat. If you have too much cholesterol than it can clog your arteries and lead to heart desease. Your liver, produces about one thousand milligrams a day! You consume about one hundred-fifty to two hundred-fifty milligrams just by a regular diet. There are two types of cholesterol, (HDL) cholesterol and (LDL) cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is the worst for you because it clogs the bloodstream. Then, the HDL cholesterol goes into the bloodstream clears out the LDL cholesterol and send it back to the liver, then the liver processes it and sends it back out to the bloodstream. And that's what hamburger or any greasy food does to you.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Step To The Beat Of My Heart
I did my project based on heart rate and exercise because I exercise alot, so I thought it would be good to learn more about it. My hypothesis is that jumping rope would make heart rate change the most from the resting heart rate. To investigate, I tested each person's resting heart rate. Next, I had each of them do exercises, then I tested their heart rate again and I recorded it on a graph. Next, I looked at the graph and decided which exercise changed heart rate the most. After my tests were over, I made my conclusion. My conclusion was that I was incorrect. Jumping rope did not make heart rate the highest, it was actually jogging.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] What Are We Putting Into Our Bodies?
Our project was titled “What are we putting into our bodies?” We wondered if the things we drink affect our bodies like food does. And they really do. We tested six different drinks. We tested Gatorade, Kool-Aid, Iced Tea, Diet Pepsi, Coffee and Water. Our hypothesis is that after doing four different tests the results would say that Kool-Aid is the worst. The four tests that we did were: read a paragraph, do a long division math problem, Run 100 yards, and try and catch a ball ten different times. We collected the data and did a graph for each subject. We had two subjects. First, we drank eight ounces of a drink, did the four tests. Then after the tests we waited about a half an hour to an hour. Then did the same thing with another drink, and then repeated for the four other drinks. Our conclusion was that Diet Pepsi was the worst drink for our reactions. Gatorade turned out to be the best. Kool-Aid (our hypothesis was that it would be the worst) was the second best. Our hypothesis was way off. We had a lot of fun doing this science fair. It was very informing. We are now very much more aware of what we put into our bodies because not only does food affect our senses. But drinks do too. People around us are now also more aware because of the project that we did informing them about everyday drinks.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] The Effects Of Consuming Vegetables
For 5 days I consumed only vegetables and water, I wanted to see if vegetables are really as healthy as stated. It occurred to me that I should eat only Organic Vegetables, but I learned that companies can make Organic Pesticides. Hypothesis: If eating vegetables are really as healthy for you as stated, then for 5 days recording you B/P, Pulse, Weight, Water% and Fat%, your B/P should decrease, your Pulse should increase, your Weight should decrease, your Water% should increase and your Fat% should decrease. Results/Procedure: I had three meals a day for 5 days, with the requested amount of water intake (7-8, 8oz glasses) per day. The Vegetables I ate were what the USDA classify as Vegetables. Over the days my B/P raised by 28/15mmHg, my Pulse raised 25BPM, my Water raised by .9%, my Fat% lowered by 1.2%, and I lost 5.2lbs. Conclusion/For Further Research: Eating only Vegetables can be dangerous and I now know that eating an exorbitant amount of Vegetables intake can be damaging to my body and most likely others, I will eat the MyPlate diet for 5 days, and see if the MyPlate diet is really as healthy for you as the USDA states.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] My Plastic Brain
Neuroplasticity is a scientific term that can be defined as: the property of the brain to continue information processing and the ability to adaptively change in a new environment, including post trauma survival. In some cases, entirely new connections are formed in the brain. In others, existing connections are enhanced, or improved. This project will examine if existing neural connections in the areas of sensation, hand coordination, and balance be enhanced over an hour period? I hypothesize that subjects will demonstrate an improved sense of motor control/hand coordination, balance and sensation after an hour of practice when compared to a control group doing nothing. I further hypothesize that subjects of a younger age will show a larger improvement. 26 subjects were randomly assigned to 4 groups as follows: a) Vision restricted, no activity for 1 hour (control) b) Vision restricted, activity for 1 hour (test) c) Dominant hand restricted, no activity for 1 hour (control) d) Dominant hand restricted, activity for 1 hour (test) Groups a and b were pre-tested for sensation, using a sandpaper test, and balance using either a straight line test or standing balance test. Groups c and d were tested for hand coordination using a Nine Hole Peg Test. The control groups b and d were led through functional activities for one hour.All subjects were then post-tested. Results demonstrated that subjects in the test groups improved more in balance and coordination than those in the control groups. Younger coordination subjects also improved more.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Got Lead?
My project is on what works as good as led to sheild X-rays. There isnt but their are some that are very close like wood,steel, and medal.I also took pictures of everything we did. We used steel,medal,wood,cotton and of course led.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Does Caffieine Affect The Human Heart Rate
My project was about how caffiene affects the human heart rate. It does, I've found out that it does because the caffiene acts as a stimulate.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Cognizance Of Norovirus In Utah
This research focuses on public's general awareness of Norovirus and misconceptions related to common diseases and prevention. Norovirus, a highly infectious (and often overlooked) disease can be nearly 100% preventable with knowledge on how to prevent infection. A survey will be generated, including questions based on awareness of Norovirus, misconceptions and disease prevention. Results of these surveys predict the general knowledge participants have on questions in survey. Effective efforts to spread information on prevention of disease (and diseases like Norovirus) will be generated, as well as revealing relevance of SLVHD Flyers (on prevention of Flu). Results of study reveal participants who did not observe Flyer, scored higher on survey. A solid conclusion can then be made stating that the “poster method” the Health Department relies on for distributing information is completely ineffective.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Balancing Act
The purpose of my project is to see if using different arm positions or holding poles of different lengths would affect a person's balance. I think that holding a longer pole would help someone keep their balance like how tight rope walkers use long poles to help their center of gravity while balancing on a little rope, so it would probalby help people too.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] What Video Game Makes Your Heart Beat Fastest?
My purpose for this experiment was to find out how your heart rate changes when you play video games, and what Wii video game makes your heart rate raise the highest between "Big Brain Academy", "New Super Mario Brothers", and "Excite Truck."

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Peripheral Vision
I researched peripheral vision. I formed a question, which is "What color is easiest to spot with peripheral vision?" My hypothesis was that people could see yellow most easily, then orange, green, and finally blue. I conducted the experiment with a vision protractor. I asked people of different ages to hold the protractor to his or her nose. I asked each volunteer to focus on a red tack on the protractor while I moved colored objects around the protractor. The volunteer was to tell me when he or she could see the object and when he or she could see the color. I noticed the angle where the object stopped when the volunteer saw it. The I recorded the results in a notebook. Usually people could detect the object first and the color second. My hypothesis was found to be mostly true. On average, the volunteers saw the colors in this order: yellow, orange, blue, and then green.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Do Certain Foods Affect Your Heart Rate & Blood Pressure?
This study analyzes how foods from different food groups affect heart rate and blood pressure for people of different ages.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Heartrate Increase
Thet determined which activity increased their heartrate the most.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Lazy Skills Vs. Crazy Skills
How does fatigue affect people while participating in fine motor sports skills?Does accuracy in sports specific skills increase or decrease as we become increasingly fatigued?

[Medicine & Health Sciences] The Brain: A Journey To Recovery
I collected data and compared the recovery rates of Traumatic Brain Injury patients. I compared Gun Shot Wounds (Penetrating Brain Injury) and Motor Vehicle Crashes (Concussive Brain Injury) to find out the similarities and differences between the two.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Breakfast...Does It Matter?
Many teenagers skip a vital meal: breakfast. Breakfast has many physical and mental benefits. The purpose of my experiment was to see if breakfast really matters. I took a series of tests with my fellow students, some with eating breakfast and some without. My hypothesis was that breakfast helps in school and does matter. The results of my experiment show that this is correct.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] How Does The Dancers'average Heart Rate Compare To Other Athletes?
How do dancers’ heart rates compare to other athletes? If I collect the heart rate of dancers and other athletes then I can determine which sport produces a higher or lower heart rate. I predict that a dancer’s heart rate is equal to or greater to the heart rates of other athletes. You will need: 6 Suunto chest strap heart rate monitors 6 Suunto wrist watches Put the heart rate monitor around the athletes’ or dancers’ chest and attach the watch to their wrists. Start the watches to find their heart rates. Once you find their heart rate start the time for 30-45 minuets. With the information I have gathered I was able to prove my hypothesis correct. I measured the heart rates of dancers and athletes and come to conclude that dancers had the highest heart rates out of all 27 of my subjects tested. During this study I’ve learned about the three different kinds of heart rates and how to measure them. In addition, I’ve learned how to manage long term projects, and more about the Scientific Method. For further study, I would test more subjects from different sports and compare the distance walked by each dancer or athlete. I would also like to test the subjects during a game or performance to see how their heart rates may differ under pressure.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Is Bottled Water Really Better For You To Drink?
Most people think bottled water is better for you to drink than tap water. I wanted to find out if this was true. Using nutrient agar plates, I took samples from a bottle of Arrowhead Spring Water, water from my kitchen sink, and water from a Brita filtered pitcher. I watched the samples for three days and took pictures each day to see if there were any changes. There were changes to the bottled water.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Can You Read This
When you see an object, the light reflected off of it enters your eye. As the light passes through the lens, it is focused at a certain point, called the focal point. The closer this focal point is to your retina, the better your vision, or visual acuity, is. Some people have deformed lenses, which results in light being focused farther away from the retina and means that corrective lenses are needed. But what about colors? Does the fact that different colors have different wavelengths affect the focal point? The purpose of this experiment is to find out whether visual acuity changes when the eye absorbs only a single color. To accomplish this, subjects will be given eye examinations while using red, blue, and green color filters.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] The Dissolution Rate Of Various Brands Of Ibuprofen
We investigated whether or not there was any variance in the dissolution rates of different brands and different types of ibuprofen. We measured the time that it took to dissolve various types and brands of ibuprofen in simulated stomach acid (HCL solution). We discovered that there is quite a large variance in dissolution times. The Advil brand of liquigels was the quickest brand and type of ibuprofen to dissolve. When choosing an ibuprofen product for pain relief, we recommend using Advil liquigels for the quickest pain relief.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Effects Of Melatonin On Sleep
Everyone loves sleep and never can seem to get enough of it. We wanted to see how well the natural hormone Melatonin can effect the quality and amount of sleep a person can get. Subjects were given Melatonin or placebo. Amount and quality sleep were measured and charted over thirty days. Interesting data was observed.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] Fingerprints
I wanted to find out if fingerprint patterns are influenced by genetics or randomly created. I took fingerprints from pairs of siblings and pairs of unrelated people. They stamped their fingerprints on a chart I made and then I categorized them and identified them. When I was finished categorizing and identifying the fingerprints patterns I compared the results. Twelve pairs of siblings didn't have matching fingerprint patterns, nine pairs did. Nine pairs of unrelated people didn't have matching fingerprints, twelve pairs did. In conclusion, fingerprints patterns are randomly created.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] The Tooth Shows The Truth
Abstract Our family was always debating which mouthwash we should use to have whiter teeth. I was observing some TV commercials and compared the ingredients. Based on comparison of the mouthwash ingredients I predict that the “Act Total Care” will work best against stained teeth than its competitors. I decided to do an experiment to check if my hypothesis is correct. After talking to the dentist I found out that the egg shells and porcelain will not stained as well as the real teeth, so I decided to do the test on real human teeth. Collected teeth were matched with the dental shading guide then they were placed in the coffee. After approximately 48 hours the teeth where removed and the shades where again compared with the dental shade guide, there was a two or more shade increase which meant they got stained. After the shade where taken the teeth were placed in cups of mouthwash to see which one was the best at stain elimination. After the experiment we found that the three top whitening mouthwashes are: ? Scope White ? Equate Whitening ? Listerine Whitening I decline my hypothesis that “Act Total Care” would whiten the teeth the best. My analysis is that the mouthwash that has hydrogen peroxide, sodium hexametaphosphate (salt) and alcohol worked better for whitening. If I was to conduct this experiment again, I would get more types of mouthwash.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] What Can You See Out Of Your Periphery
The purpose of the experiment was to test the eyes peripheral vision. It was to find out about our peripheral vision and what shapes it sees. The question was what shapes are most correctly and quickly identified out of your peripheral vision and if gender or corrected vision had any effect on it. The hypothesis was that triangles and squares would be identified quicker than the rest and that girls and people with corrected vision would be able to see better. The experimenter put a half circle of cardboard under the tester’s nose. The tester was to look at the ninety degree mark while the experimenter moved Popsicle sticks with yellow shapes around the perimeter of the half circle, moving it slowly to the center. The experimenter used the same colored paper but different shapes in the experiment. Some of the experimenter’s data supported and refuted the hypothesis. The data showed that gender didn’t affect peripheral vision and that contacts didn’t improve the vision out of the corner of your eye but that made it worse. It also showed that the shape seen the fastest and identified correctly was the triangle followed closely by the square. The triangle was the shape that most people identified correctly and promptly on the half sheet of paper. Contacts and glasses did not help your peripheral vision and gender didn’t matter.

[Medicine & Health Sciences] What Increases Pain Tolerance The Best
My project tries to determine which will increase pain tolerance the most, a visual distraction or an auditory distraction.

[Microbiology] Darkness Vs. Light: Does Light Affect The Rate At Which Food Spoils?
Abstract Does Light Affect The Rate At Which Food Spoils? Three pieces of each food were tested to see how much bacteria was on the matter that was exposed to light and food not exposed to light; the two foods were cheese and meat. Six pieces of meat where used in this project; three pieces of meat where zip locked into a bag and put into an area with a lamp over the food, while the three other pieces of meat were in a dark area. There were six pieces of cheese total; three were put into an area that was covered by a lamp, and the other three were in a dark area. The foods were all put into a the same closet. They were left out to spoil for 1 week. After the week passed, loops were used to get the bacteria off the spoiled foods and put the bacteria into the agar filled Petri dishes. In the end, it was found that all of the foods that were exposed to light, had a drastically high amount of bacteria compared to the food that was not exposed to the light. Since food is usually put into a refrigerator, a dark, cold storage area, and this food was put into a light-filled area, that might have changed the outcome. Overall, all the food that was put under the lamp had the most bacteria.

[Microbiology] Earring Bacteriophobia
Yuck! Have you ever encountered the remains that your earlobe leaves behind on your earring? Oh come on, you know what I’m talking about. It’s either dark or light-colored and it usually reeks like moldy cheese? Well that’s what I was looking at for my experiment. The purpose of this experiment is to see how different types of metal can affect the ear piercing’s total amount of bacteria. To set this experiment, I gathered 12 willing volunteers to test earrings by placing a certain type of metal earring either gold, sterling silver or nickel, into their earlobe piercing for 5 days. The earrings were first sterilized with alcohol, as well as the piercing. After that, it was just patience. After the 5 days I swabbed the bacteria onto blood-agar Petri dishes and placed them into the incubator. I checked the dishes everyday until a good amount of bacteria was visible, which was about a week. Observations I noticed throughout the experiment on the Petri dishes were mostly yellow globs, gooey-looking colonies and gross circles of mold which made me gag. The colonies were counted very carefully. My data showed that sterling silver produced less bacteria and nickel produced more. The averages for each metal earrings are based upon the 4 trials. This project deals with the icky, but get’s the question solved.

[Microbiology] Spice It Up! The Inhibitory Effect Of "Cooked" And "Uncooked" Spices On Salmonella Enterica Lt2
In a previous project done last year, five different spices were tested against E. Coli D31. The top three effective spices were bay leaf, star anise, and cinnamon. In this experiment, these spices were tested against Salmonella Enterica LT2 to see if "cooking" the spices would be more effective in killing bacteria rather than not "cooking" the spices. The design uses the three spices mentioned above, added to LB media (made of Trypton, yeast extract, sodium chloride, and then autoclaved. It's a liquid-like substance that allows bacteria to grow and can be used as agar) to extract the spice essence, and is then divided into two different groups so that a portion of each spice would be heated to simulate cooking time. Salmonella is added to each liquid, given a day to rest, and then added to petri dishes with LB agar. It is allowed to grow for about a day, and then is counted by colonies per milliliter. Based on data collected, cinnamon not boiled will produce the best results in inhibiting the growth of salmonella with an average of 633 colony forming units per milliliter. The second best results was cinnamon that was boiled with an average of 13,900 colony forming units per milliter. The third best result was star anise unboiled with an average of 345,000 colony forming units per milliter, although it only had two trials. As proved in experiments performed before, cinnamon has been the most effective spice in preventing bacterial growth.

[Microbiology] What's In Your Milk?
Amelia grew bacteria in Petri dishes from Raw (unpasteurized) milk, and from Pastuerized milk, over a period of three weeks, in (3) different environments (fridge, room, incubator). She grew (3) samples of each type in each enviroment. She charted and graphed the results, analyzing the data, and drawing conclusions about same. The judges at the district competition thought she did a good job, but told us she would be disqualified at the regional level because she grew her bacteria at home! They recommended her for entry in the SLCSEF, but she has to re-grow her samples, etc. - Art Dyck (Amelia's Dad)

[Microbiology] Killer Breath

[Microbiology] A Coiled Coil Mutant Designed To Target Bcr Abl
The oligomerization of Bcr-Abl through the coiled-coil domain is correlated with the tyrosine kinase activity resulting in oncogenesis and CML. The disruption of the oligomerization can reduce the tyrosine kinase activity and lead to apoptosis in CML cells. This oligomeric disruption can be achieved by utilizing the Bcr-Abl coiled-coil domain. A mutant of the Bcr-Abl coiled-coil domain was previously designed and tested for improved binding to Bcr-Abl and reduced self-oligomerization. Here we studied the ability of this mutant coiled coil to induce DNA segmentation, an indication of apoptosis, in cells negative and positive for Bcr-Abl. When transfected into Bcr-Abl positive cells (K562) this mutant coiled coil induced DNA segmentation. However, when transfected into Bcr-Abl negative cells (1471.1) the amount of DNA segmentation was not statistically different from the negative control (EGFP). The specific interaction of the mutant coiled coil with Bcr-Abl was also demonstrated through co-immunoprecipitation. This oligomeric disruption of Bcr-Abl through the mutant coiled coil is an alternative approach that can be used to treat CML.

[Microbiology] A Tale Of Two Alleles: A Study Of The Htl Gene Using Drosophila Melanogaster
Advances in technology have made it possible to study genetics in more depth than ever before. One animal used in such genetic studies is the fruit fly, or Drosophila melanogaster. Some scientists have researched and created a table detailing various genes involved in cancer. One such gene is the htl or heartless gene, which is involved in brain cancer. Several crosses were done in order to determine what phenotype is associated with each of two htl alleles – htlAB42, and htlScer\UAS.T:?\cI-DD. It was hypothesized that there would be a higher ratio of non-wild type to wild type embryos in the htlScer\UAS.T:?\cI-DD self-cross than in the htlAB42 self-cross. Based on data collected so far, this hypothesis appears to be supported.

[Microbiology] H2 O No!
I tested different water sources to see which one has the most bacteria. I hypothesised that out of five barn hoses, refigerator spouts, drinking fountains, and bathroom sinks, the barn hoses would have the most bacteria. For my procedure, I swabbed all the sources with sterlie materials and I labeled all the dishes. I measured the bacteria on the dishes two days after I put them in the incubator. my results showed that the refrigerators grew the most bacteria, the hoses had the second most, the bathroom sinks had the third most, and the drinking fountains had the least. The refrigerators probably grew the most because they are cleaned infrequently. The barn hoses were exposed to manure and other bactria in the ground. I'm unsure why the sinks grew so much bacteria, but I think the fountains grew so little because of the amazing janitorial system at our school. My hypothesis was proved incorrect, but I was close. If I were to redo this experiment, I would measure the bacteria using the actual dishes and not pictures of them. Overall, I thought I had a successful project.

[Microbiology] The Identification Of Bacillus Globigii Within Dugway Proving Ground Soil
My project is specifically orientated to the identification of Bacillus Globigii within Dugway Proving Ground soil. The project covers a broad array of concepts throughout biology.

[Microbiology] Invasion Of The Mold Spores
The purpose of this project was to find out which natural preservative (garlic, honey, lemon juice, ginger, and cinnamon) works best to prevent bread from molding for the longest amount of time. First, 6 loaves of bread were made, each containing one of the preservatives (one without preservatives being the control). Next, the loaves were cut into three slices; each slice was put into a separate bag. Over the next few days, the bread was monitored, and when visible mold-growth appeared, it was recorded. At the end of the thirteen day time frame, the average number of days it took each differently preserved loaf to mold was recorded. Honey turned out to prevent mold for the longest amount of time.

[Physics & Astronomy] Ski Wax
how ski wax affects the speed os a ski

[Physics & Astronomy] The Death Of An Orange
I wanted to know if the temperature of water would affect how fast a human body would lose heat. So instead of using a human, ?I used some oranges. I heated up six oranges to 100ºF (around normal human temp) and put three oranges in 60ºF water and the other three in 44ºF water. The oranges in the 44ºF water lost a lot more heat faster than the oranges in the 60ºF water. I calculated the rate of change in both instances. The oranges in the 44ºF water lost about 3.17ºF of heat per minute. While the other oranges in the 60ºF water lost about 2.54ºF of heat per minute.

[Physics & Astronomy] Magnet Vs. Heat
Purpose: What affect does temperature change have on magnetism? Will it permanently affect the magnet or only temporarily? I hypothesize that heat will weaken and permanently affect the strength of the magnet. Method: I attached two slabs of dry ice tightly secured to either side of a magnet and I connected a line of steel BBs to see how many the magnet could hold. I also heated the magnet with a soldering iron with optional heat settings to test how many BBs would hold at different levels. After the magnet was heated with the soldering iron I returned it to room temperature to see if I could restore any of the lost magnetism. I recorded the data in the experiment. Data, Observations, and Analysis: I was expecting a steady decline in the number of BBs on the line the hotter the magnet got and that expectation was met. The number of BBs unexpectedly dropped when the dry ice was applied. I believe this was caused by the small, but effective, vibrations that transpire while the warm magnet and cold dry ice fight to reach equilibrium. Conclusions: I can conclude from this data that heat lowers magnetism and if hot enough, will cause permanent damage. I cannot, however, officially conclude that cold will raise the strength of the magnet due to technical difficulties faced in the experiment.

[Physics & Astronomy] Photography Science
I have been interested in photography since I was very young. Recently I realized how much science goes into photography. I decided to do this project to learn about the science I have been doing for years without realizing it. The reason for choosing aperture out of all of the many things that there are with cameras was when I noticed different apertures made things more in focus and less in focus. I wanted to learn really what was going on and how I could use this to my advantage while photographing. With my experiment I have learned the bigger the aperture the more that is in focus. While the smaller the aperture the more selective you can be with your picture. Now I can use my new knowledge of aperture in my photographing outings.

[Physics & Astronomy] Lighten Up
The goal of my science fair project was to improve the flash on my Dad’s DSLR Camera. I tested different kinds of paper to see which one reflected the flash the best. I used a light meter to test which paper was best. I tested wax paper, a business card, tinfoil, and photo paper by taping them across from the flash. Out of 10 trials the wax paper had the best average by far, proving my hypothesis that the tinfoil would be the best wrong.

[Physics & Astronomy] Cans Can Cool: Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics by definition is the science concerned with the relations between heat and mechanical energy or work. What color (black, green, red, silver, white, blue/yellow) of aluminum soda can will have the fastest/slowest rate of cooling 90°C water in thirty minutes? What homemade insulator (cloth, Play Doh®, foam, newspaper, wet string, soft insulating cup, hard insulating cup) will have the fastest/slowest rate of cooling 90° C water in thirty minutes? The white cans will have the fastest rate and the black cans will have the slowest rate. The newspaper will have the fastest rate and the red insulator cup will have the slowest rate. The first test I did was a color test, to test the rates of the different colors. The second test that I did was an insulation test. I insulated the cans with different household insulators and insulated the cans. I boiled water to 90 degrees Celsius and put the hot water into the cans with a funnel. I put the temperature probes in each of the cans and recorded the temperature every three minutes for thirty minutes. After recording all the data, I made charts on Microsoft Excel to chart the data. I then recorded that data on graphs using Matlab. I concluded that my hypothesis was incorrect in both cases. For the color test, the silver can was the slowest and the green can was the fastest. For the insulator test, the wet string was the fastest and the foam was the slowest.

[Physics & Astronomy] Does Tapping A Soda Can Really Prevent Explosions?
Does tapping a soda a can of soda really prevent explosion, or is it the time while tapping that affects it? The purpose of my experiment was to test the myth "tapping a can of soda prevents explosions." To test this I took twelve cans and half of them I shook then tapped and the other half I shook and let sit. I weighed each can before and after opening. My hypothesis was that tapping has no effect on the explosion of soda cans. That even if it appears to be that the tapping helps, it is just the time the can sits while you are tapping. My results showed that the tapped cans exploded more then the untapped cans. One reason that I could have gotten these results is that when you're tapping the can you're disturbing it further. Whereas when you let the can sit, you are giving it time to settle down.

[Physics & Astronomy] Radiation Shielding: What Kinds Of Materials Block Radiation The Best?
In my project, I used different materials as radiation shields in order to find out which kind of materials block radiation the most completely. So, I set up a rig using a ring stand, a radiation meter, and a gamma radiation source. I attached a Ludlum model 2360 (the radiation meter) with a 44-9 probe to the ring stand a few feet from the bottom. I then placed a gamma radiation source (cesium 137) inside an empty paint can under the probe. I stacked different shields, one at a time, on top of the paint can. As I stacked one more shield on top of the source, I took a reading of how much radiation got though the material. I did this about twenty times for each material. The meter counted radiation amounts in counts per thirty seconds. The data showed that as I began to stack more shielding between the source and the probe, the amount of radiation that got through dropped. I saw trends in the data that showed that the denser materials, such as steel, blocked more radiation than the less dense shields, such as masonite. With these results, I was able to conclude that thicker, denser materials shielded more total gamma radiation.

[Physics & Astronomy] The Effects Of Temperature On Magnetism
Does temperature affect magnetism in magnetic materials, such as iron (Fe)? This experiment determined the effect of temperature on ferromagnetic materials, including iron-based materials and Nickel.

[Physics & Astronomy] The Red Stain Caper
We were looking to do a project having to do with forensics. The real forensic science, not the media portrayed version, like, for example, CSI. After some searching, we finally found, with the help of our wonderful science teacher, a project on blood splatter patterns. That was something that seemed very interesting, so we looked for more information. We found that there is a whole team dedicated to checking out the blood splatters in a crime scene investigation. That was very cool, so we wanted to test how it works exactly and if it made a difference on different surfaces. Our question was: What is the correlation between the number of satellite spatters (a part of a blood drop), the number of spines (another part), and the size of the parent drop (the biggest drop) on blood splatter dropped from different heights and on different surfaces?

[Physics & Astronomy] Does Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitations (Pnf) Stretching Affect Impulse Or Speed?
My problem question was: Does Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitations (PNF) Stretching affect your speed or impulse? I hypothesized that if ten gymnasts sprint down the vault runway, do PNF stretches, and sprint again, the second sprint would be slower. I also hypothesized that if I had the same ten gymnasts do a simple take off of a force plate, do PNF stretching and repeat the take off, the second would have less impulse as well. Impulse is the product of force multiplied by time. PNF is a type of stretching that involves a partner and athlete. PNF uses both contraction and stretching of muscle groups being used. It lengthens the muscle. Research has shown that PNF decreases strength up to 9% for at least an hour afterward. In my experiment I found that PNF does affect impulse and speed negatively. Both of my hypotheses were proven correctly. Seven of the ten gymnasts in the speed test’s speed was reduced. In the speed test, the gymnasts ran more upright after stretching. This is due to the large and small muscle groups being stretched to exhaustion, preventing quick muscle twitches. In the impulse test eight out of ten gymnasts’ impulse reduced. This was also a result of the quick muscle twitches. Possibilities for further study would be to study the body structure or flexibility of those gymnasts who did better or close to the same on both tests. You could also see if they work out differently than the majority of other gymnasts.

[Physics & Astronomy] Through Thick And Thin
We tested Viscosity in different liquids by testing and comparing wave lengths in the ripples.

[Physics & Astronomy] Kinetic Energy In Different Masses
I explored the relation between potential and kinetic energy by measuring the kinetic energy of a marble at 2 points along a track.

[Physics & Astronomy] The Perfect Pipe
I used three different types of pipe, insulated them and put them in the freezer. I wanted to know which one would freeze first. I used PVC pipe, copper pipe and steel pipe. My hypothesis said that the PVC would freeze first. The copper pipe actually froze first. I checked them every two hours.

[Physics & Astronomy] Does Temperature Affect The Strength Of A Magnet
For our experiment we heated or cooled a magnet to test whether the force it could withstand changed. We had the magnet attach to a steel plate with an aluminum pan in between the magnet and the steel. We would then test the strength by pulling parallel to the ground with a spring scale until the magnet separated from the steel. We did this for various temperature with fixed time intervals

[Physics & Astronomy] Warning High Voltage
Warning High Voltage The purpose of this experiment was to find out how many AAA batteries it took to equal AA, C and D batteries. It was decided to make battery packs and test them with a volt tester and an electromagnet. The volt tester to check the volts in 4 battery cell packs and 6 battery cell packs. The electromagnet was used to test the strength of the battery packs, by recording the number of nails picked up. The hypothesis was that it would take more AAA batteries to equal the volts and have the same strength as the larger batteries. The experiment proved the hypothesis wrong. The various battery packs performed according to the volt measurement, not size. During the testing the AAA and AA battery packs became hot. Maybe the size is due to more insulation?

[Physics & Astronomy] How Gliders Can Give Air Travel Some Lift
My experiment is designed to see if glider designs can outperform the design of a powered aircraft, and if they can, how elements from glider design can be used to improve the design of a powered aircraft. My reason for doing this experiment was because of fuel. As of this moment, fuel is becoming more costly, and has several environmental problems associated with it. I decided to look at gliders, due to their sleek design and large wings and because gliders use no fuel at all. I believed that if a glider could outperform a powered aircraft under the same conditions, then its design could be analyzed to improve powered aircraft performance. If it turned out incorrect, then it would most likely mean that aircraft design is as good as it can be for the time being. I designed a control model, a to-scale model of a Boeing 757-200, along with three glider wing designs and three different tail designs. I hung them in a wind tunnel, connected a force probe to the bottom, and turned the power up to 100%, using the probe to measure the lift. After I had performed the tests, I discovered that the powered aircraft had performed the best out of all of the airframes, and that swept wings and conventional tails are the best performance choices. I concluded that overall, aircraft design is in the best place it can be for the time being.

[Physics & Astronomy] Pinhole Photography
My project involves the use of camera obscura. It is the most simplistic type of method for transferring images. “Camera Obscura” is a Latin term meaning “Dark Room”. It is the projection of an upside-down image of what is outside of a dark box or room through a very small hole onto a surface on the interior of that room. I wanted to do this experiment because I did not believe that you could get a copy of a scene outside from nothing more than a very small hole. I wanted to obtain a basic understanding of how cameras function. I decide that I would try to find out if a smaller pinhole size or a larger pinhole size would create the sharpest image. Initially, I was going record the projected image with a digital camera inserted into a light-tight hole built into the box where the image would be visible. Unfortunately the digital cameras could not be adjusted to a long enough exposure time and I could not capture a clear image. I had to start over with the project and make an entirely new camera that relied on film to capture the image and had a shutter that you needed to open and close by hand. I used the internet and several library books for research. My hypothesis was that the smaller hole would produce the sharper image but, in my experiment, the opposite was true. This was caused by the limited strength of the light source.

[Physics & Astronomy] B.E.E.F.F.
The purpose of this experiment is to see how foot placement affects the probability of making a free throw. To set up this experiment, we measured the distance from the hoop to the free throw line, marked the different foot placements and gathered 30 test subjects. We checked for the subject’s dominant foot and put them in the proper shooting position, asking them to shoot ten times with their dominant foot forward, 10 times with their dominant foot back and 10 times with their dominant foot side. The order of foot placement was done differently for each subject and numbers/percentages collected were recorded. Our data showed that when dominant foot was placed forward, there was a greater percentage of free throws made. The total free throw averages were 14.12% of free throws made for dominant foot front, 7.55% of free throws made for dominant foot back and 11% of free throws made for dominant foot side. Our data showed that free throws made with dominant foot placed forward equaled a higher probability for making a free throw than when dominant foot was placed back or side. When dominant foot was placed forward, 42.34% of “dominant foot forward/front” free throws were made and 14.12% of shots from the total free throw averages were made. This was in comparison to when dominant foot was placed back, 22.62% of “dominant foot back” free throws were made. Also, when dominant foot was placed side, only 33% of “dominant foot side” free throws were made.

[Physics & Astronomy] How Mass Influences Precession
This experiment is about gyroscopes, and whether or not changing the mass of a gyroscope will affect how it reacts to change in orientation. Hypothesis: If the gyroscope’s mass is decreased, then the gyroscopic action will decrease. Experiment: Two gyroscopes are tested before the reduction of mass. Both are found to have the same rate of speed. Gyroscope A is then reduced. Both gyroscopes are spun with an air compressor for 10 seconds at 100 pounds per square inch. As soon as the airflow to the gyroscopes stopped, the orientation was changed. The force of the precession was evaluated. The evaluation of gyroscope A, (which was reduced in mass by .5 ounce by filing it down) showed a reduction in resistance to the changing of orientation. The evaluation of Gyroscope B (which was not reduced) showed a significantly higher resistance to change of orientation. This experiment was performed 5 times per gyroscope, for accuracy. Results: In conclusion when a gyroscope has a reduced mass, it also has a reduced procession force.

[Physics & Astronomy] How Attractive Are Magnets When You Change Their Temperature?
I hypothesis that the magnet enduring heat will work best because of how particles work. My independent variable will be the change in temperature and my dependent will be the magnetic strength of the magnets. I will do this by taking some neodymium magnets and changing their temperature. To cool my first magnet I will dip it in liquid nitrogen for 5 minutes. Once cool I will test its strength by seeing how close I have to move the other magnet to the one dipped in liquid nitrogen. Now ill wait till the magnet is at room temperature. At room temperature I will wrap it in tin foil at set in the microwave till it reaches 350?f My data was not what I expected. The magnets the endured the heat literally stopped working. In my hypothesis I said that the cold water would do worse then anything else but I was proved wrong. The cold magnets did the best out of all of the tests. My hypothesis stated that when I heated the magnets that their strengths would change and make them stronger then room temperature. My hypothesis was proven incorrect. The magnets that were heated up did worse then any of the other magnets. I learned more about magnets and their magnetic forces and more on how particles react when put into different temperature environments. In the future I would like to have a uninterrupted data collection session where I can test everything without having to take day brakes.

[Physics & Astronomy] The Big Thaw:Which Method Of Thawing Frozen Poultry Is The Quickest And Safest?
My problem question is: Which method of thawing frozen poultry is the quickest and safest? I hypothesized that if I thawed three types of poultry using three different methods, I could draw conclusions regarding the temperature of the meat vs. the time it takes to thaw. I thawed nine birds with three different methods, and used a LabQuest to measure how long it took for each to thaw. I wanted to prove that it isn’t safe to thaw poultry on a countertop. I proved that it is not safe to thaw poultry on the countertop because the exterior reached 40º F for more than 2 hours prior to the interior thawing. It is safe to thaw poultry in a water bath, but it is tedious as the water has to be changed every 30 minutes. Thawing poultry in a refrigerator is the easiest and safest, but this method takes the longest time. I also drew a trend line with this data and developed formulas that indicate how long poultry of any given weight will take to thaw in the refrigerator or a water bath. The water bath formula is: y=.46x+.32, where y is the time to thaw and x is the weight of the bird. The refrigerator formula is: y=3x+9. I proved that it isn’t safe to thaw poultry on a countertop, and the quickest and safest way is in a water bath.

[Physics & Astronomy] Just The Right Note
I wanted to figure out which notes on a piano induce the best sympathetic vibration. I tested my project on my grand piano by having my dad as a volunteer to hold down the lower C note in a C octave. Then, my volunteer would press a key on the piano from the C scale including all the sharps and flats. Then I listened to how long each note would make the lower C note play. This is a sympathetic vibration. I did this test three times and found the average of all of them. I did this for every note in the octave. Then I used my information from that octave and used some formulas to find frequencies in the different notes. Using this information after the calculations, I predicted what would happen if I moved up an octave. I did the same test I did earlier and just did it the next octave up. At the end of the test, I found that the G note caused the longest sympathetic vibration because the G and the C note share at least three frequencies. Next was the F note because it shared one frequency with the C note.

[Physics & Astronomy] Pumped Up! Optimum Air Pressure. Optimum Distance.
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the optimum air pressure of the soccer ball in order to achieve the greatest distance in the air. This was accomplished by building a machine to kick a soccer ball with a consistent force. The ball was filled with four different air pressures (4.05. 6.05, 8.05, 12.06, 16.05 psi) and kicked twenty times at each pressure. The ball was covered with a blue chalk to be able to measure the exact spot where the ball landed. The distance was measured to the trailing edge of the chalk and recorded. It was discovered a ball inflated to 8 psi travels to a farther distance than when inflated to the other air pressures tested.

[Physics & Astronomy] The Effect Of Solar Flares On Temperature
The Sun constantly releases energy. The Earth absorbs 70% of this energy. This study was set up to see if when the sun releases larger amounts of energy during a solar flare it affects temperatures on Earth. The magnitudes of 51 solar flares were recorded. The temperature 9 days after each flare was also recorded in four different locations on Earth. The data does not appear to support the hypothesis but more data is needed to really understand how solar flares affect temperature.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Shape Up Or Ship Out
My project involves the making and testing of balsa wood boats with three differently shaped hulls to determine the shape that is most hydrodynamic (moves through the water with the least resistance). I tested the boats using the same mast and sail on each boat and the same "channel" of water in a vinyl rain gutter with capped ends. The "wind" for the sail was produced by a gauged air compressor so that each boat was acted upon by equal wind forces. Several tests of each boat, proved that the boat with the triangular bow is the most hydrodynamic.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Incline Planes Simple Machines That Aren't So Simple.
Can two incline planes work together and will one dominate the other?

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Parachute Plunges
What is the effect of different sized parachutes on flight time.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Vortex Velocity
When an air vortex occurs, it is because a puff of air is released. The puff of air is called a vortex. An air vortex pushes air out its center forward and then sucks it back inside through the other end while moving forward. The velocity and acceleration of the rotating part of an air vortex is quite high but the exact calculations are yet to be found out in this experiment.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Fabric Shrinker
This project discusses what fabric type (100% -cotton, rayon, nylon, polyester, and wool)shrinks the most when washed and dried and under what type of washing and drying conditions the fabrics shrink the most. The different conditions I used was hot water vs cold water and air drying vs dryer drying. I also tried to answer if repeated washing and drying would continue to shrink the different types of fabric.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] What Makes The Utah Olympic Oval The Fastest Ice On Earth?
Research into what makes the Oval ice so fast. Experiment 1 shows how hot water freezes clearer than cold water to make the ice faster. Experiment 2 shows the purity of the water used to make the ice at the Oval also making the ice faster.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Parachutes: Does Shape Matter
Does the shape of a parachute effect the time of it's descent? To answer this question I selected four parachute shapes, formulated equal surface areas for each shape, and prepared each parachute. I conducted five timed trials with each parachute, calculated their averages, and determined that yes, shape does effect the time of a parachutes' descent.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Mixing Light To Make Color
The purpose of this project was to find out how the cones in our eyes produce different colors. When we were deciding on a project, we looked on sciencebuddies.com. It gave us a list of things to choose from. The one that we picked was “Mixing Light to Make Colors”. For the experiment, we used flashlights, colored transparencies, food coloring, plastic cups, water, and wax paper. We used websites such as… askabiologist.asu.edu and www.exploratorium.edu. We needed to find out what cones and rods were and how they worked. We also needed to find out what caused them to work. We thought that the experiments would make different colors just like wavelengths and cones. They did end up making different colors, but when we dimmed some of the colors; it made an entire different color.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Weight In A Gravity Sport
The Olympic sport of Luge is a gravity based, timed speed sport where it is assumed that the heavier you are the faster you go. This experiment attempts to test if this assumtion is true and if so how much does weight really matter (in terms of time). My experiment took place at the Olympic Luge Track in Park City over a 3 week period. I took 14 runs, 7 with an additional 9 kilogram of weight and 7 without. The times were then analyzed to see if there was a benifit to having the additional weight. I found that there is a significant benifit. The additional 9 kilograms of weight allowed me to me travel an average of 0.808 seconds faster per run. In a sport timed to the thousandths of a second the weight provided a huge time benifit.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Surprising Strength
Arches have shown to be the typical shape of many bridges. From research this seems to be that the pressure from weight on an arch pushes not only down, but outward as well. In this experiment this was put to the test by seeing how much weight three eggs could hold since eggs have an arch shape to them as well. Eggs were placed in a triangle using 2 liter bottle caps as stabilizers. Weight was then applied 2 to 3 pounds at a time until the eggs broke. Time to consider; how much will three eggs hold?

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Red Laser L Ight Absorption
A red laser was used to determine if it could pass through different colors of water. This was done by placing drops of food coloring in a plastic cup filled with water. The laser was turned on and a black box was was placed behind the cup to help see the laser light. A picture of the laser light was taken after each food coloring drop was added. The images were opened with Adobe Photoshop and a formula was used to calculate the intensity of the light based on the RGB (Red, Blue, Green) values. The results were shown in a graph which displayed how the intensity of the laser light was affected by the colored water.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Pack It Or Crack It!
We decided to do our science fair project because we wanted to see what packing materials would protect fragile things the best. Hannah also has a brother who is in Seattle. She ships him a lot of things, some which are fragile. Also, shipping and mailing is a big part of American lives. If we didn't have mail it would be really hard to communicate over long distances. The reason we chose the materials we used is because bubble wrap is used a lot, and also shipping envelopes are often lined with bubble wrap. Styrofoam packing peanuts are used a lot as well. We used newspaper because when people move they pack their fragile things like dishes and vases in newspaper and it never seems to break. So for our project we tested eggs because they're fragile like vases and break if dropped. (We figured it was a fair constant). When things get shipped they go through a lot of turbulence, shipping and handling. They also go through the truck drive and somethimes the flight from an airplane.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Crazy Rockets
Objective: I wanted to know if the amount of water in a bottle rocket would affect how high the rocket would fly. I thought that the amount of water would affect the height. I thought that it would go the highest with ½ quart or two cups of water. Materials and method: I used yarn, 100 ft. tape measure, one empty two liter bottle, rocket launcher (made from PVC pipe and a valve stem), water, measuring cup and thermometer. I gathered the materials above; then measured the water to the specific levels. I then launched the rockets, six times per amount of water. Measured how high the rockets went by holding onto the yarn as the rocket flew, then measured the length of the yarn using the tape measure. Finally I made a graph showing the comparisons. Results: After testing each amount of water, the rocket with four cups in it went higher on average than the others. Followed by two cups, six cups, one cup, no water and three cups. Conclusion: My hypothesis was right and wrong. The amount of water did affect the height, but my guess was wrong. I got an average of 60 ft. with four cups. My guess was that it would go the highest with two cups.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Force A Nail Into Wood
I am testing the amount of force needed to hammer a nail into different types of hardwood, using a hammer appartatus.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Secrets Of Magnetism
My project's question was how many paperclips can I pick up with 1 magnet, 2 magnets, and 3 magnets in 2 different ways-vertical and horizontal? And which way will pick up more? Around the board I should have pictures of my tests, trivia about magnetism, facts, and the question, hypothesis, procedure, analysis, conclusion, and research background information. Also a small booklet on how to make an electromagnet. Thank you! :)

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Light
In this experiment I sought to determine what amount of light is lost in reflecting a laser beam off of mirrors. When a laser hits a mirror there is a certain amount of refraction, absorption and dissipation of the light. I estimated I could refract a laser at least 25 times. I created a stable test environment out of wood. Cardboard was too fragile. I painted the box black to absorb any refracted light. I noticed each time the laser reflected off the mirror it lost some light. I observed some of the light would pass through the back of the mirror. Some would dissipate as it refracted in various directions. Light was observed in other areas of the box other than its direct course. Glass is not completely clear and some light was filtered out. I anticipated that I could not get a beam of light to send a steady beam off of more than 25 mirrors. From my experiment my conclusion was that the laser beam cannot continuously be refracted by mirrors and dissipates at a rate to where little or no refraction is found visually at somewhere between 24 and 32 reflections. A fog machine assisted in determining what amount of light was lost. As the light was refracted on the mirrors it would become dimmer. I also found the fog machine caused a dimming of the refractions as well and I was unable to get as many reflections of the laser with the fog machine.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Angle Of Incident Light Vs The Solar Power Output
The purpose of this experiment was to determine what angle of incident light striking solar cells produces the most electricity.The apparent motion of the Sun, caused by the rotation of the earth about its axis, changes the angle at which the direct component of light will strike the earth. This apparent motion of the Sun has a major impact on the power received by the Solar collector. When the Sun's rays are perpendicular to the absorbing surface, the power density on the surface is equal to the incident power density. As the angle between the Sun and the absorbing surface changes, the intensity on the surface changes, the intensity on the surface is reduced. When the module is parallel to the Sun's rays the intensity of the light essentially falls to zero. The angle of incident is very important as the earth is constantly rotating around the Sun and during winters, the solar energy output from the Solar cell is very less. So the Solar panel direction needs to be adjusted such that the angle of incident is always equal to or close to 90 degrees

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Does Helim Affect A Note Played On A Wind Instrument?
People always laugh about how Helium makes your voice sound high pitched and funny, but what in you inhaled Helium then played a note on a musical instrument? This would tell us more about the properties of Helium. I learned, after some research, that the density of Helium is less, allowing the sound waves to resonate at a higher pitch. So my hypothesis was, if you inhale Helium, then play a note on a musical instrument, the note will be a higher pitch, because the density and mass of Helium is less than that of air letting the sound resonate higher. First I had to get Helium balloons, and then I got some people that played some instruments. They first made sure they were in tune and then they inhaled Helium, without taking another breath they played the same note they tuned to. I recorded the notes down on a notebook. All of the instruments we tested required air to function. The results were that 100% of the instruments were supportive of my hypothesis. Some instruments were better than others according to how their personal type of instrument worked, but still the answer was unanimous. My conclusion was that I was right. Everything supported my hypothesis, which is, if you inhale Helium, then play a note on a musical instrument that requires air to function, the note will resound to be higher, because the mass and density of Helium is less allowing the note to resonate at a higher pitch.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Slippery Slope
My project involves testing four different sled types under different snow conditions to determine which sled was the fastest. I timed the sleds using the same distance and slopes. Each time was recorded as were the snow conditions. Several tests of each sled proved that the blue sled had the average fastest time.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Basketball Surfaces
To play a game of basketball it requires very little equipment. You need a ball, a hoop, and a flat surface to play on. Different types of surfaces can have an impact on the bounce of a ball in a game. Throughout my study I compared concrete, asphalt, carpet, wood flooring and grass. I learned that basketballs bounced higher on hard surfaces like concrete, asphalt and wood. I learned that carpet and grass will absorb the balls energy and cause a lower bounce. The best surface to play basketball on outside is concrete. The best surface to play basketball on inside is wood flooring.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Magnets Vs Temperature
I tested how temperature effects the strength of a magnet. I put a magnet on dry ice for 2 minutes and tested how many paper clips it would pick up. I then did the same test with the magnet at room temperature and then the magnet in boiling water. I learned that the colder the magnet, the stronger its magnetic force is.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Bounce Back
For my project I wanted to see if temperature has an effect on a basketball's bounce. To find that out I used the Scientific Process to help me through this project. I took two basketballs and made them both bounce to the same height. After that I made one cold (by putting it in 33 degrees fahrenheit) and one hot. (by putting it in 80 degrees fahrenheit) I then bounced them and measured how high they bounced. I repeated this two more times to make sure my data was correct. I learned that temperature has a great effect on a basketball's bounce. I am really glad I chose to do the science fair, it will end up helping me in the long run. In conclusion I really enjoyed doing his project and I hope you enjoy listening to it!

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Ready, Aim, Fire!
This project was about testing how tension and angle would affect the distance of an object shot from a homemade catapult. The experiment varied some factors at the same time to test for interactions. Randomization was also used. These two principles helped answer the question.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Up, Up And Away
Does a cardboard airplane launched by hand fly farther than one launched via a rubber band?

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] A Light Out Of Darkness
Having a basic understanding how traditional Generators work, (moving conductors through a magnetic field or passing a magnetic field thru conductors to produce electricity), upon seeing a rather unique toy that can be manipulated to perpetually drive spinning metal and plastic rings around a larger ring, an idea to somehow turn this phenomenon into a new type of generator developed. The toy is started by hand to get the smaller rings rotating around the larger ring. Once the smaller rings are started they will continue to spin as long as the larger ring is kept turning at a rate that matches the falling of the smaller rings. Our first goal was to prove that ring magnets spinning or rotating around a conductor can produce electricity and discover whether it was Alternating (AC) or Direct (DC) Current. If voltage is measured, a circuit would then be made to include a light bulb of a corresponding voltage to test if it produced usable electricity. Our experiments did not produce the expected results. Further investigation revealed our ring magnets were not the proper type for there was no magnetic field through the hole of the magnet. Our magnets were Axially magnetized. In order for the experiment to work, Diametrically magnetized ones would have to be used. Diametrically magnetized ring magnets are rare. There are companies that make this kind, but they are not the size and shape needed for our experiment and our time and resources were limited.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Steel Tongues
My project was on the tuning fork and whether temperature affects the frequency. My hypothesis was that as the temperature increases the frequencies would decrease. I tested this with a tuner and holding the tuning fork up to it and changing the hertz up and down until it said it was perfect. I then graphed my points and it proved that my hypothesis was correct. This project could help musicians, cops, and doctors. It would help these people because cops use tuning forks to calibrate their radar guns and musicians use to tune and this could affect the outcome.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Building Substructure
Tested who buildings reacted on soil, rock & clay against earthquake, tsunami & fire.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Heads Or Tails
Does the face of the penny weigh more then the tail side of the penny?

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] That's The Way The Ball Bounces!
My project was "How high a basketball will bounce on asphalt, concrete and high-density board"? The reason I picked this project was because I love basketball. I used the computer, my father and grandfather's knowledge on the subject. It took a while to find all the information I needed. The information I found was actually more helpful than I anticipated. My researching had quite a number of problems. First, I had to find all the elements of the three surfaces. The data I collected was actually very different than what I expected in the beginning. I thought the concrete would bounce higher because it had more ingredients than the other two surfaces. As a result, I thought that since there were more elements that the molecules were tighter together to form a more solid and thicker surface for the ball to bounce on. The way I pre-formed this experiment was I took a pvc pipe four feet tall and bounced the ball from the top of it onto the three different surfaces. I repeated the process six times on each surface to make sure I had the right results. The ball had a psi of 9. The ball was made of composite leather and was a woman's size 6 basketball. I had trouble trying to find what asphalt was made of, so I did asphalt concrete. My conclusion was that the basketball bounced on the asphalt and the high-density board the same height. The ball bounced lower on the concrete.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Drown The Sound
Our project was designed to see what sort of sound insulation would block pitches of high, medium and low frequencies to most effectively. We hypothesized that the tradition acoustic ceiling tiles would insulate the best. However our results were very different. We first build a box to simulate a house frame. We placed the computer speakers inside the box. We then place a sound insulator around the box. Using a computer program to generate pitches, we played the sounds at a consistent decibel. We measured the decibels for each pitch on the uncovered box as a control. Then we tested each insulation with all three pitches. A Vernier sound probe was used to get accurate readings. In the end, different insulations produced different results. The best general sound insulator was egg cartons.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Gelatin At Its Fastest
The purpose of my project was to find out if a laser light travels faster through gelatin with different amounts of sugar in each mixture. Parts of this project help to find the purity of water. Also, some parts are involved with GPS technology. This would also play a part in space exploration. My hypothesis was that light would travel faster through the gelatin with the least amount of sugar because there is more matter blocking the way of the light. I needed to shoot the laser light through the different mixtures of gelatin. Then, I needed to record the exact angles at which the light came out. These angles would lead to finding the speed of the laser light. Then, I took the angles and calculated the Index of Refraction on each one. This formula would go into the formula v= c/n. V= the speed of light in the gelatin, C= the speed of light in the air, and N= the Index of Refraction. My results were that my hypothesis was correct. I discovered that the higher the angle is, the slower the light traveled. The average speed for the 0 cup sugar was 2.463x10*8. All other averages were slower than this speed. This project reaffirms the law of refraction and the speed of light through a medium.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Paper Airplanes
does the wing span of the paper airplane effect how far the paper airplane flies?

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Which Golf Ball Goes The Farthest
This is a project the tests the distances golf balls go when hit with a consistent swing speed. The variable is the compression rating of the golf balls from softest to hardest.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Diode Vs Crystal Radio
Build a radio and see which is a better receiving instrument, germanium diode or a crystal.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Exploding Sticks
A stick bomb is a weave of sticks that creates tension. When released, it creates a burst of kinetic energy. I got the idea from a show with a guy who made sticks bombs for entertainment. I wanted to see if I could make a stick bomb better than the original one I learned from the Internet. I built different stick bombs, using different kinds of sticks, and compared how high the sticks went. I found the bombs made of tongue depressors with the sticks closer together went the highest.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Melting Ice
We were testing to see if different types of light bulbs would melt ice cubes faster. We used regular light bulbs and energy saving light bulbs.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] What's Your Ball?
I compared three different golf balls with different swing speeds to see what ball was right for a slower swing speed. The three tests I performed were a drop test, a cutting test, and a swing test. Four and eight feet were the heights used for the drop test. Then for the cutting test I cut each of the balls in half. For the swing test I took a fast swing player and a slow swing player and had them hit each of the balls five to six times.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] What Types Of Materials Block Radiation The Best?
In my project, I tested different types of materials to see which ones blocked radiation the best. I tested three types of radiation: alpha, beta, and gamma. I set up a test area with a radiation source, a test stand, the shielding material, and a radiation meter. Then for each radiation source, I placed the shielding material over the source then took a reading with the meter. I tested several types of materials, including wood, paper, aluminum foil, masonite, steel, glass, plastic, and lead. I found that for alpha radiation, all of the shielding materials worked. For beta, everything blocked the radiation source except for paper and 1 sheet of aluminum foil. For gamma, nothing worked except for a thick chunk of lead.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Which Rocket Engine Is The Most Fun?
Which rocket engine is the most run for a child to use in an average Utah park? By fun, I mean the engine that gets your rocket to the highest altitude with the lowest risk of you losing your rocket. Using three standard engine types, I calculated the average crash site open area required for a commonly used model rocket. I then calculated the average open space found in Salt Lake County Parks and found that only an A8-3 size engine will allow you to launch your engine without likely losing your rocket in trees, on top of houses, etc. With this information, I discovered that although a size B6-4 and C6-5 engine will go higher, an A8-3 rocket engine is the most fun because you are less likely to lose your rocket.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] To Infinity And Beyond
My project tested whether the weight, length, or diameter of a model rocket affected the altitude that the rocket would travel. My hypothesis was that none of the three factors would affect the altitude because each rocket would use the same type of B6-4 engine for each flight. I tested my hypothesis using four different types of rockets and launching them in three flights. To calculate the altitude of the rockets, I attached an altimeter inside each rocket and drilled holes in the rockets so that the altimeter could calculate and record the altitude through the changes in air pressure during the flight. The first flight was the control flight and each rocket was launched as built without modifications. In the second flight, I modified the rockets attaching nuts and bolts to the inside of the rocket, until they were all the same weight prior to launch. In the third flight, I removed the weights and instead combined all my rockets with the loadstar nose cone which was a specialized payload nose cone. My analysis of the flight data demonstrated that my hypothesis was wrong. Instead of the altitudes being the same, the experiment illustrated that they changed during each flight. My conclusion then became that weight and the length do affect a rocket’s altitude.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Blue, Black, Orange: How Much Light Do Colors Absorb?
In this science project, I will discover how much light is absorbed by the colors purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, white and black.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] She Shoots! She Scores!
The purpose of this experiment was to analyze five possible angles from which a soccer ball could be kicked at the goal and determine which angle was the best to kick from in order to score a goal in soccer. We conducted some background research and learned that professional soccer players are trained to kick the ball from the “sweet spot,” which is straight in front of the goal. We agree. Our hypothesis was if you want to score a goal in soccer, the best angle for scoring the most goals is straight in front of the net, at a 90°angle, because in this central area the net is wide open and the shooting area is larger. The next steps we followed included writing an experimental procedure, gathering materials and subjects. On the day of the experiment we used a protractor to measure five, shooting angles. The angles measured in relationship to the goal were: Left 30°, Left 60°, Center 90°, Right 60°, Right 30°. Each angle was marked with a cone. From each angle, each of the 12 subjects took five shots, totaling 60 shots from each angle. Their scores were recorded and added together. Finally, the data was used to create a table that showed the results of the experiment. In conclusion, an analysis of the data proved that our hypothesis was correct. It showed that from the 90° angle position, 73% of the shots were successful.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Batter Up
I've always wondered what size baseball bat would be best for me. For this project, I compared two new, wooden baseball bats that were identical except for their size.The small bat was 28 7/8 inches long and weighed 22 ounces, and the large bat was 31 inches long and weighed 27 ounces. I hit a total of 720 baseballs off a tee; half with the small bat and half with the large bat, and measured the distance the ball traveled each time. The baseballs were all new when I started, and I kept many variables constant (warm-up routine, tee height, batter stance, grip on the bat, etc.). My hypothesis was that I would hit the ball farther with the shorter/lighter bat because I'd be able to swing it faster. The results of this experiment supported my hypothesis -- I hit an overage of 4.4 feet farther with the small bat.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Boat Hulls
The project I have chosen focuses on a boat’s hull. My hypothesis will give you a general idea what this project is about. If I make a multi-hull boat, a round bottom boat, a flat bottom boat, and a vee boat of the same weight and materials, then the multi-hull boat will hold the most weight because its two sides will balance the cargo. I decided to do this project because it seemed like a fun thing to do. When I started this project I made four boats (listed up top). They consisted of craft sticks, tin foil, and glue. I weighed them to make sure they were equal. Once I finished this step, I filled a tub with water. Then I was ready to put my boats in the water. In my first test I realized that when the boats sunk once, they got waterlogged faster in the next tests because my glue wasn’t waterproof. I did three tests on each boat. The boats all weighed 17-18g to begin with. After finishing my experiment I discovered that my hypothesis was wrong. The round bottom boat held more coins because it held more air. I think the multi-hull boat didn’t hold as many coins because it couldn’t go as low in the water as the round bottom boat and the vee boat. The round bottom boat turned out to be the best type of hull for a boat to hold cargo because it had the largest volume.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Whirlybirds And Drag
This project simulates drag using whirlybirds.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Floating On Air
I decided to build a hovercraft. I wanted to find out on which surface it would float farther on. The surfaces I used were a tennis court, black top, and grass.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] You'll Get A Charge Out Of This
The purpose of this experiment was to find out if the speed of rotation of a magnet inside a wooden electric generator affects the production of electricity. The hypothesis was the turning the magnet in the rotor faster will produce more watts of electricity and make the light bulb shine brighter and/or blink faster. The only variable in the experiment was the speed of rotation of the magnet. The control was the wooden generator (and all materials used to build it) was the same in all experiments. The conclusion was that turning the rotor faster does produce more electricity by making the light bulbs blink faster and more often.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Race Car Marbles
This project is a study of kinetic and potential energy of marbles. The marbles are tested on two different tracks to determine which track has less friction.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Which Paper Airplane Flies The Best?
We tested how many folds it takes to make the most aerodynamic paper airplane.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Keep Everything Cool
My question was what would keep my popsicle from melting in the sun. Conducters let heat go through the objects and insulators don't let heat go through. I found that cotton kept my popsicle from melting in the sun, so it is an insulator.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Domino Dilemma
We wanted to test if dominos will fall faster when they are farther apart or closer together.

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Mass In Motion
what flies farthest? does mass effect the flight of a projectile

[Physics, Astronomy & Math] Skittles Statistics
Are there the same number of red, orange, yellow, green and purple skittles in each candy container? Using statistical data from a sample of 10 Skittles containers, I will examine color frequency and explain my results the way a statistician might!

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Magnetism And Its Effect On Plants
I wanted to see if using magnets would help plants to grow better and faster. I discovered that the location is very important. Depending on where the magnets are placed you can make plants grow better and faster.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Are The Beans Ready Yet?
I wondered why they sell dry beans at the store. How much water do they need to rehydrate? How much water does a bean hold? The purpose of this project is to study how much water beans can hold. I will do this by measuring how much water is absorbed by the beans in different time frames. I will repeat this test three times to determine the amount of water the dry beans absorb. My hypothesis is that I think the beans will soak up a little water but that they need at least three days to be ready to eat. In my experiment, I labeled six cups (one for zero minutes, 20 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, 9 hours, and 27 hours) and measured 50 grams of pinto beans in each. I then added 100ml of water to each except the zero cup. When the time was up, I dried off the beans, put them in a clean cup and measured them on the scale. I recorded my findings of the weight change and how they looked for each. I did this test three times. Based on my findings, my hypothesis was proved wrong. The beans were edible after 27 hours, not three days. However, the beans were not ready at 20 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, or 9 hours. So in that regard, my hypothesis was right. For future considerations, one could use different temperatures of water and different types of beans to see if it changes.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Baggin' Those Plants
World hunger is a global issue that should not still be in existence. Plastic waste is contaminating oceans and creating a worldwide problem. The purpose of this project was to explore a growing method that could be used in other countries who have a difficult time growing either due to drought or flood as well providing an alternative use for plastic bags. The experimenters wanted to determine if growing in plastic bags would conserve water and if the sprout rate and biomass of plants would be impacted. Plants were grown in a flat to represent typical ground growing. Water from all planters was caught and measured. Daily sprouts were documented. A living biomass was taken of all plants grown. This experiment proved that growing above the ground saves water and those plants sprouted earlier and at a faster rate. Lastly, they had a significantly higher biomass. This might be because the bags work as a mini green house and were also able to create their own water cycle. Future projects would like to explore the chemical makeup of the bags and find what is released as the bags decompose to ensure the food grown is safe. Due to the success of this experiment, a local non-profit organization will be taking our model and using it in a Cambodian village this summer where mass flooding prevents planting. In this village malnutrition is the number 1 cause of death. So hopefully growing in bags will impact their lives in a powerful way!

[Plant & Earth Sciences] We Put The "Pee" In Plants!
The purpose of this experiment was to find out whether urine can or cannot be used as a healthy fertilizer. This project is important because in developing countries people don’t have access to store fertilizer. This project can help those people in developing countries have access to healthy food to eat. For this project the hypothesis was that diluted urine could be used as a healthy fertilizer when mixed with water at the proportion of 50ml urine to 150ml water (1:3). To test urine as a fertilizer the first step will be to bake the soil. Make the urine fertilizer while the soil is baking. The amount of urine that will be used for each mixture is 50 ml. The amount of water that will be used for each mixture is 50 ml times the proportion number (3, 6, and 9). Also fertilize plants with 100% Urine, no fertilizer, and store bought fertilizer. Water each plant regularly with water. Measure the plant’s biomass in mg. The controlled variable is the plant without fertilizer. The independent variable is the fertilizer type. The dependent variable was each plants biomass. The data partially supported the hypothesis because the proportion of 1:3 urine to water did better than the control, but did not do the best. In the future, a good idea would be to repeat this experiment for a longer period of time. Another idea would be to compare male and female urine.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Beanstock Maze Experiment
My project is about how a plant will curve around obstacles to get to the sun. I used a bean plant in a box maze with a hole at the top. My plant curved around the cardboard obstacles and got to the top of the maze.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Do Magnets Have An Effect On Plant Growth?
I wanted to see if magnets helped plants to grow. I planted 3 different pots: one with a magnet on the bottom, one with magnets on the sides and one without any magnets.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Egg Vs. Water
Since moving to Utah, I was curious about the Great Salt Lake and why objects float in the salt water. I researched the information on it and found that you needed to make the density of the water heavier than the density of the object, and increase the mass.I qustioned:"How much salt it would take to float an object in water?" You actually could use other things than salt but salt was my choice. I chose an egg, and hypothesized that it would take 2 tablespoons of salt in two cups of water to make the egg float. I took 4 eggs, 4 glasses of water, salt and all of the my stuff needed for measuring. I carefully measured the water in each glass, and the water was the same temperature for each glass. Time for salt! I tried dissolving one tablespoon of salt and the egg sunk quickly to the bottom. Two tablespoons of salt gave the same result. Three tablesppons of salt was the key. The egg started to sink like before, but then floated to the top. When I dissolved 4 tablespoons of salt the egg float right to the top and showed more above the water than before. For fun, I tried sugar. It took twice as much sugar to get the same result but the egg did float. I learned that is why it is easier for me to swim in the ocean than in a fresh water lake, although it does taste worse!

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Going Bananas
We were curious where bananas would ripen fastest and why. We thought bananas would ripen fastest in heat and light. We placed green bananas from the same bunch in different spots (dark/warm, dark/cool, dark/cold, light/warm, light/hot, light/cold, dark with another fruit, etc.) and took pictures and recorded whether they ripened or not for 10 days. We also researched why stores receive green bananas.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Talking Plants
Does talking to plants from the time they are seeds through their lives help them grow?

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Vitamin Plants
My science project is on plants and the effect of vitamins on them. What I do is get three plants and label them A, B, and C. The plant I used was called the “Red Lion”. My materials included three plants, two types of vitamins, soil, sunlight, water, a measuring cup, and love. I chose two types of vitamins. To water the plants I crush up the vitamins and mix them with water. Then water the vitamin water to plant B and C and water plant A with water. The plants were watered with 1\3 cup of water for four weeks. My question is “Will vitamins affect the growth plants?” I hypothesized that the plants with vitamins would bloom faster. The plant that I think would bloom fastest though is plant B with vitamin A. My hypothesis was supported. I guessed that plant B would bloom the fastest and at the end it did. I enjoyed this experiment because it was exciting and fun to do.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Fizzy Growth
My project is the effect of carbonated water on plant growth. My hypothesis is that carbonated water will not effect the growth of plants any differently than tap water. After 6 weeks of growth the results proved my hypothesis correct.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Egg Tastic!
Our project is testing the density of salt water in a cup to make an egg float. We tested different amounts of salt water in each cup, ranging from all salt water to no salt water. The cup with all salt water has a higher density than the cup with no salt water at all. The more dense the water is, the better the egg will float.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Beansprouts
My science fair project is about bean sprouts. It is very nutritious and has lots of protein. My science fair project was very fun because I get to use two different type of beans and I get to guess on if the bean sprout will grow and if it has enough warmth also. My favorite part was when I found out my conclusion . My conclusion was that the mung bean grew faster than the soy bean but I think that was the climate that made the soy bean not grow. I hope you enjoy this summary to my science fair project.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Growing Vines
Experiment to see if vines grow faster on organic potato or unorganic potato.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Yuck, What Happened To My Apple?
I tested 4 types of wrapping (wax paper, tin foil, plastic wrap, plastic bag) to find out which wrapping kept apples freshest after they have been cut. I used Gala apples with and without lemon juice brushed over the top. Over the 20 days, I photographed all of the apples after 1, 10, and 20 days and rated them on a scale of 1 to 10 according to how much decay they had. After the 20 days, I came to the conclusion that plastic wrap kept the air from deteriorating the apple the best. My original hypothesis was that the tinfoil would be able to work the best because it could keep the air and any kind of light from entering the apple. My hypothesis was proved wrong. The plastic wrap with the lemon juice kept the apple freshest because it created an air tight seal better than the other wrappings, which was the main factor in keeping the apple from decaying.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Brown Apples
What types of kitchen products affect the amount of time it takes to turn an apple brown?

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Blown Away
I have been interested in tornadoes since I was five years old. So, when I did my science project, I knew I wanted to explore how tornadoes form and what weather patterns affect their size. My question is "Is the size of a tornado affected by water temperature?" A tornado forms when there is a strong current of warm air that produces an updraft, with a cold front of air from the north producing a down draft, and a strong jet stream of wind moving at least 150 mph. When these three forces collide, a tornado is formed. With the help of my dad I built a tornado chamber using a bathroom exhaust fan to act as the strong jet stream of wind, a pan of water of different temperatures to act as the warm air updraft, and dry ice to act as the cold air downdraft and to let me see the diameter of the tornado. I used all of these things to test my hypothesis that the size of a tornado is affected by the temperature of the warm air updraft. Maybe by measuring the temperature of the air, meteorologists will be able to predict the possible scale of a tornado and be able to warn people about how big the tornado will be.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Plants Need Love, Too.
I wanted to determine whether positive energy/negative energy had an impact on the growth of three bean plants. I nurtured each plant differently: one with love, one with hate, and the last with indifference.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Liquefaction Reaction
Question: Will the soils around Oakridge Elementary and the Salt Lake Valley liquefy during seismic event? Hypothesis: Liquefaction will occur in soils around Oakridge and the Salt Lake Valley, results will vary during a seismic event, depending on slope, type of soil, water saturation and other conditions. Research: Identify the Problem: During this time I thought about what would be an interesting science fair project. Primary Research: Interviewed Professionals Collected soil information, soil maps and brochures about Utah’s soil.Secondary Research:Internet Articles,Images,Magazine Articles, Studied Liquefaction Maps Set Up Shake Table for Experiments Obtained Field Study Soil Samples, Brochures and Pamphlets Experimental Procedures:I collected four soil samples from the Salt Lake Valley. I tested the four soil samples by placing them in shallow plastic tubs. The tubs were each placed on the shake table and shaken to see if the soil sample would liquefy. I tested each tub three times and each soil sample had the same results each time. Objects were placed on the surface of each soil sample and observed for signs of soil liquefaction. I rated the liquefaction level of each soil sample and recorded the data.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Plants And Caffeine
I performed an experiment to evaluate the effect of caffeine on the growth of plants.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Plant Growth
My project is about how soil and lighting affect plant growth.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] The Wonders Of Soil And Fertilizer
I want to know what mixture of soil and fertilizer will work the best to grow tall and healthy wheat grass when taking care of the plants all the same way.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Monitoring The Effects Of Drought On Tree Mortality
The purpose of this project is to monitor the effects of drought on tree mortality. The reason I chose this project was because when I was 5 years old a tree in my back yard died. An arborist said it was suffering from drought, sending off pheromones, attracting bugs which killed the tree. I chose a study area in the Northern Uintas with a lot of tree death. I collected drought history and aerial imagery from four different years. I randomly selected 50 plots within my study area and categorized about 35 points inside each plot showing how many trees had died each year. I entered my information into a database and created graphs and charts explaining my research. 76% of the land in my study area was forest, 52% of the trees died from 2004-2011, and there was a noticeable delay between prolonged drought and tree death. I thought that extreme drought would kill the majority of trees. The data did and did not support my hypothesis. The data supported my hypothesis because extreme drought came before the trees died. The data did not support my hypothesis because major death did not come right after major drought. This study indicates that when the drought was prolonged and intense, the trees stressed, sent off pheromones attracting bugs that killed the trees. I conclude that what the arborist told me about the tree in my back yard was true and is happening at catastrophic levels in our forests.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] If I Ran The Aquarium
Plants and animals exist in a cycle, with the waste products of one supporting the life of the other, all driven by energy from the sun. Last year, I did a project that demostrated that a common water weed, Elodea, grows more rapidly in a tank that contains fish than it does in a tank without fish. The growth rate was proportional to the number of fish in the tank. After I reported my findings, some of my classmates asked whether it was the carbon dioxide that fish produce, and plants need for photosynthesis, that caused the Elodea to grow more rapidly; or if it was the nutrients that the fish introduced into the water, which plants also might need to grow (fish poop). This year I constructed an experiment to test which factor, carbon dioxide or animal-produced nutrients, was most important for plant (Elodea) growth. I set up 4 standardized tanks, with equal water and sunlight, that contained all possible combinations of carbon dioxide and animal-produced nutrients: (1) (-) CO2, (-) nutrients; (2) (-) CO2, (+) nutrients; (3) (+) CO2, (-) nutrients; and (4) (+) CO2, (+) nutrients. I used 3 standard sprigs of Elodea per tank to measure growth. My results showed that the nutrients produced no measureable growth, while the Elodea that received CO2 showed large rates of growth. I concluded that carbon dioxide is far more important than animal-derived nutrients to produce plant growth.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Do Soybean Plants Pump Iron?
Soybeans have the highest protein content of all beans, and are very low in fat. Soybeans are even used to make nonfood products (oil, ink, plastic, etc.). In 2011, the U.S. exported 1.53 billion bushels of soybeans to other countries, bringing more than 18 billion dollars into the U.S. economy. Now there is a shortage of soybeans. One reason is iron deficiency. My science project will try to find the amount of iron that should be added to water to maximize soybean growth. My hypothesis is that if I add iron to the water, then soybean plants will grow better, but if I add too much iron, the soybean plants will die. To test this, I grew soybean plants with water, water with 0.25 mg/L iron, water with 0.5 mg/L iron, and water with 1 mg/L iron. My results are that plants with 0.25 mg/L of iron had the highest germination rate, grew the longest roots, and grew the most number of leaves. The plants with 0.5 mg/L iron grew the longest stems. The results supported my hypothesis. Farmers should use 0.25 mg/L iron to water their soybean plants during the whole growth period.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Hydroponics And Ozonated Water
My report is, “Will ozonated water with bubbler and nutrients help plants mature quicker?” My hypothesis is ozonated water with air bubbler will help the plants mature the quickest. My family wants to grow a hydroponics farm, so I’m going to help them by figuring out my question. That’s why I chose my project. I used six palm plants growing in hydroponics test tubes. I also compared my results to my last year’s experiment in which I used three hydroponics test tubes with bean plants. My conclusion is ozonated water with bubbler and nutrients grew the largest, tap water with nutrients grew second largest, and surprisingly ozonated water without bubbler or nutrients grew the third largest.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Evidence Of Alpine Glaciation On Mount Olympus
During the last period of glaciation, glaciers formed in the Wasatch Mountains immediately east of Lake Bonneville. Two canyons above Olympus Cove, Neff’s and Thomas Fork Canyon, show clear evidence of extensive alpine glaciation. In contrast, the canyon directly east of Mount Olympus, North’s Fork Canyon, and the East and West Gullies on the north slope of Olympus are reported not to have experienced glaciation. The tendency of Mt. Olympus to “catch” modern storm clouds led us to hypothesize that North’s Fork Canyon and the two gullies may have also experienced glaciation. To test this, we looked for moraine deposits and U-shaped valley profiles. We also compared the density and toughness of the lower Tintic Quartzite to the quartzite found in the moraines. We found strong evidence of a medial moraine and weaker evidence of lateral, terminal and ground moraines in lower North’s Fork. We also saw a U-shaped valley in upper North’s Fork. On the slopes below the East and West Gullies we observed small lateral, medial and ground moraines. These moraines are composed of quartzite that is both denser and tougher than the quartzite of the Upper Tintic, suggesting that the “moraines” are not a result of land slides from the adjacent Upper Tintic, but derived from the elevationally higher, cliff forming Lower Tintic. These observations suggest North’s Forks Canyon and the two gullies of the north face of Mt. Olympus experienced glaciation.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Dirt And Worms (And Their Poop!)
Worm castings are a great way to fertilize plants. I wanted to find out if worm castings affect the growth rate and size of plants. I also wanted to find out if there was a difference in the size and growth rate between plants that use worm castings to fertilize them versus those that do not use any fertilizer. I conducted this experiment by getting 3 different types of seeds: marigold, garden bean and radish. I used two pots per seed. In one pot I planted 5 radish seeds without worm castings and in the other pot I planted 5 radish seeds with a 1/4 inch top layer of worm castings. I did the same with the marigold and garden bean seeds. After the seeds were planted, I measured the growth of the plants daily and recorded them in my journal. I measured the plants for 20 days. From the data I collected, I discovered that worm castings do indeed affect the growth rate and size of plants. I also noticed that the leaves of the plants using worm castings were noticeably bigger as well. It was a very interesting experiment!

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Do Ants Tunnel Better In Cold/Dark Or Warm/Light
I wanted to see whether ants would tunnel better or make more tunnels in a warm/light environment or cold/dark environment.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Plant Growth And Wavelength Of Light
The purpose of the two experiments was to find out "under which color of light do plants grow best?" In the first experiment, the procedure was to place cellophane paper(red and green) on the pot of the plants and to place the pot under the incandescent light bulb. For the second experiment, we placed the plants under the colored fluorescent light bulbs (red, yellow, green, and blue). The first experiment failed because the cellophane paper was too thin, so the white light was still able to go through the cellophane. In the second experiment the plants grew best in the order of red, yellow, blue, and then green light. For this experiment, the graph shows the growth in ratio. Because every plant was in different sixes at the starting point, we converted the lengths of every plant into 1. Then the ratio of the growth is calculated for every plant. The data went red, yellow, blue, and green light. The plants grew the most under red light, then yellow, blue, and green was the least. Hypothesis in this experiment was that the best light for plants to grow under is red light, and the result was red light. So the hypothesis in this experiment was right and the result for this experiment is that the red light is best color of light for plants to grow. We should research about why the plants grew best under red light.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Rainbow Plants
Sunlight contains many different colors of light, but which color provides the best growing conditions for bean plants? This project compares bean growth under red, green and blue lights versus growth under a multi-spectrum grow lamp. The plants are placed in banker boxes to make sure the plant only receives light of the color lamp and the lights are placed on timers to give them light for an identical amount of time. My hypothesis was that the plants would grow best under the green light. The experiment showed that I was incorrect in my hypothesis because my data showed that the beans under the blue lights grew taller and kept growing while the green light plants and the red light plants started out well but stopped growing. It is my conclusion that the grow lamps must have a balance toward blue light in order to provide the best growing conditions for plants.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Green+Blue+Red=White Light
White light is created by combining green, blue and red light in an overlapping pattern. This theory was used in the creation of computer monitors and TV screens. Astronomers also use this theory to determine the temperature and chemical make-up of stars.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Do Seeds Need Soil To Germinate?
Purpose: I like plants and I wanted to find out if seeds can germinate only in soil. The germination process is very important in the plants growth. Do seeds need soil to germinate? Hypothesis: Yes, because it won’t germinate without soil. You always see plants in soil. Procedure: -I planted different kind of seeds in different materials; like different soils, sand, water and on wet paper towel in plastic bags. -Tested how long it took to sprout. -Tested, if temperature matters in sprouting. -Learned about seeds from books and mom. Results: -Seeds did germinate on wet paper towel and even faster than soil. It also germinated in sand. -Seeds did germinate in soil, but took longer. -Warmth plays a big role in germinating. Seeds in warm places were faster than in cold places. Conclusion: Seeds don’t need soil to germinate! They can start growing without soil. There are so many different seeds and each has different times and conditions to germinate. It was fun to do this project, because I found out seeds can sprout on wet paper towel. Next time in the spring I can try to do this with our plants. After they germinate, I can transfer them carefully in a pot of soil for further growing. I do think plants need soil for a stable growth and production of plant.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] How Does A Different Percent Of Carbon Dioxide Affect Plants?
If you change the percent of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a plant (5%, 2% or 1%), how does that affect a plant's growth?

[Plant & Earth Sciences] The Science Of Wood Combustion
Im unsure of what project abstract means.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] How Road Salt Affects Plants
I had 2 sets of plants and sprayed one group with water and the other with a mixture of water/road salt. I took pictures on a regular basis to measure the changes and differences.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Orange Vs. Grapefruit
If I weigh an orange and a grapefruit, dry them out and weigh them again the orange will have the higher percentage of water in it because oranges taste juicier when I eat them. I went to the store and picked a similar sized orange and grapefruit. I weighed each fruit in grams and found the starting weight of the orange was 258 grams, the grapefruit was 256 grams. I cut the fruits into thin slices placed them on tinfoil and put them in front of the fireplace to dry. I added a small fan to help in the drying process. After 96 hrs the fruit was completely dry. I weighed them again and got the following results. The dried weight of the orange was 58 grams. The dried weight of the grapefruit was 52 grams. Using the following formulas I discovered that the orange was (258-58)/258= 77.5% water content The grapefruit was (256-52)/256= 79.6% water content. The grapefruit had 2.1% more water than the orange. My hypothesis was incorrect. The grapefruit contained more water than the orange.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Weather Or Not
In December there were many days that were very cold and foggy outside. The weatherman called it a “Temperature Inversion”. He said that a warm layer of air up high held in the cold air below where we live. This doesn’t make sense to me. When I fill up the bathtub, I add hot and cold and it mixes and becomes warm. Why doesn’t the air outside do the same thing? I decided to make an experiment out of it. Since it is hard to mix air and see it mix, I decided to use water instead. For my procedure I got cold water and put ice in it to make it as cold as I could. For the hot water I boiled it on the stove to get it as hot as I could. I filled plastic bottles with the cold and hot water. I added 5 drops of blue food coloring to the cold and 5 drops of yellow to the hot. I put a thermometer in each bottle to record the beginning temperature of each. Here’s the tricky part. I had to turn one upside down and put it on top of the other. I waited to see if they would mix. I watched the colors change from blue and yellow to green and recorded the end change in each bottle. When hot was on top the colors wouldn’t mix. When cold was on top they quickly mixed.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] How Fertilizer Affects The Growth Of Grass
Fertilizer is expensive, and it is used in all fields of agriculture. There fore it affects all walks of life. Many of the books on plant growth simply state that we should fertilize at the manufacturers suggested rate. That might sound good in print, but how is that rate established? Can we just trust the manufacturer, or should we have an unbiased opinion? My experiment shows that it is not a good idea to fertilized before germination. This is important because, fertilizer is expensive, and time is limited in our growing environment. I had expected to see the fertilized plants to exceed the growth of the non-fertilized plant. My research supported that hypothesis, however, the fertilizer significantly delayed the germination process. The only variable in my experiment was the amount of fertilizer. The first pot having none, and each subsequent pot has an additional dose of the recommended fertilizer rate. Using the information in this experiment, our society could save thousands of dollars in fertilizer every year.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Roly Poly Bug Home Preference
Would a roly poly bug prefer to live in a dark area, a moist area, a food area or a sheltered area? I thought that the roly poly bugs would be in Section #1, Darkness, the most because they are nocturnal. Also, they were probably scared from being taken out of their natural habitat. My hypothesis was incorrect because the roly poly bugs were in Section #3, Shelter, most often. I know this because when I calculated the percentage of roly poly bugs in each section during observations, the results showed that Section #3, Shelter, had the highest percentage at 42%. Section #2, Food, and Section #1, Darkness, came in second at 26% each. Section #4, Moisture, came in last with 7%. I learned that roly poly bugs prefer to live in or under rocks, bark, and other sheltered areas. Water is important, but too much water is not good for roly poly bugs. If I were to do another experiment with roly poly bugs, I would like to build a larger testing habitat, and keep and observe the roly poly bugs for a longer period of time.

[Plant & Earth Sciences] Plants On Vitamins
We planted Basil seeds and watered the with 5 different water mixtures containing plain water, vitamin B, C, D and a kid's multi-vitamin. Our hypothesis was that vitamin D would make the plant grow the best because vitamin D is in sunlight and you need sunlight to grow plants.

[Plant Sciences] Simply Bananas!
We are testing the claims major companies make by saying they can slow down the ripening process of fruits and make them last longer. We decided to put test some myths and brand names by putting the ripening systems of bananas to the test. We set up our project by putting green bananas in saran wrap, brown bags, and Debbie Meyer's Green Bags and let them ripen at the same speed. Each day we tested a banana for their sugar molecules using a refractometer. The more sugar in the banana, the riper it was. With an accurate measuring from the refractometer, we were easily able to see the method that kept the bananas from ripening the longest.

[Plant Sciences] Defense,Defense,Defense
Our project is about how plants defend themselves from pest. They defend themselves by toxins in there body called secondary metabolites. These toxins are very toxic to humans,animals,and fungi. It is in the leaves of the plant. We took the leaves of the plant and did some chemisty and figured out how much toxins were in each plant.

[Plant Sciences] The Soil Found Under A Chicken
I researched and learned about the effects of old and fresh chicken manure acting as fertilizers in soil. After becoming familiar with several terms and useful information concerning composting and soil nutrients, I produced an experiment that involved testing water samples with soil and types of chicken manure consistencies in them. Contrary to both of my hypotheses that chicken manure both dry and fresh would have a positive correlation with the nutrients in soil, the controlled soil’s nutrient levels remained higher than either manure in each test on average, and the old chicken manure had some of the most negative effects on the soil nutrients throughout the entire experiment as well. With my results and a few errors I had made kept in mind I concluded that for my experiment at least, regular soil has higher Phosphate and Nitrogen levels than either of the fresh and dry chicken manure mixtures that I tested.

[Plant Sciences] Musical Plants
Our project was to see if music affects plant growth. Does music affect plant growth? Our hypothesis was: If we play three kinds of music, classical, hip-hop, and rock n’ roll, during plant growth, then hip-hop will be most stimulated and grow the most. After we wrote the hypothesis we bought: four flower plants, a packet of English Ivy seeds, soil with fertilizer, gallon of water and C.D.s to go with the music choice. Then around my house, my partner and I set up the plants all around the house. The plants were far enough that if we play one type of music the other ivy wouldn’t be affected. The first week, we labeled the plants: classical, hip-hop, rock n’ roll, and no music. Then we planted the English Ivy watered it and let the plants listen to the music for thirty minutes. For the next five weeks, we watered the plants every other day. Everyday, the English Ivy got 3 hours of light and thirty minutes of music. At the end of each week, the plants would get measured and would be recorded and then compared. During the comparison, charts were drawn to show which was growing faster and which was growing slower. In the end plant classical had the best growing results and looked the healthiest. The hypothesis was proven wrong.

[Plant Sciences] The Suitability Of Elaeagnus Angusifolia As A Bioindicator Of Sulfur Dioxide In The Ambient Atmosphere
For several decades, trees have been used as bioindicators of air pollution, specifically sulfur dioxide. Many studies have found that a correlation exists between the pH of tree bark and sulfur dioxide levels in the atmosphere. However it is unknown if Elaeagnus Angusifolia, commonly known as Russian Olive, is a suitable bioindicator of sulfur dioxide in Utah. This study hypothesized Russian Olives would be a suitable bioindicator of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere because trees in polluted areas would have a lower pH then trees in less polluted areas. To determine if this was a good hypothesis, Russian Olive bark from three locations were ground and soaked in distilled water. The pH of the bark solution was measured with a pH probe. The pH of the bark was then graphed against the sulfur dioxide concentrations from the collection sites or the Russian Olive bark. The data that was collected did not support of refute the hypothesis that Russian Olive trees are a suitable bioindicator of sulfur dioxide. More data will need to be collected to in order determine this.

[Plant Sciences] Bubbleponics Introducing Oxygen To Plants Grown In Water
Will forcing air into the water of hydroponically grown plants give enough oxygen to the roots to keep the plants healthy? I rinsed off the soil of six house plants, measured the roots and stems and counted the number of leaves. I placed three plants each into two tubs of nutrient enriched water. In one tub, I introduced oxygen into the water with an air pump. The other tub had no air. I observed the plants over 39 days and took notes on their overall growth and health. At the end of the experiment I measured the stems and roots and counted the number of leaves to compare to the beginning measurements. The results showed that the stems of the experimental group grew, on average, .33 inches less than the control group. The roots of the experimental group grew, on average, .18 inches less than the control group. (This partially supports my hypothesis because the roots of hydroponic plants do not have to grow as much to find water an nutrients as plants grown in soil.) The experimental group grew, on average, 6.08 new leaves more than the control group. The data partially supports my hypothesis. Both groups grew taller and grew new leaves and roots. One of the plants appeared to be dead during the first part of the experiment; it started to grow after being put directly into the stream of bubbles (supporting my hypothesis). It appears that bubbleponics may be an effective way to grow plants.

[Plant Sciences] Which Water Is Best For Germinating Carrot Seeds?
I studied which water would cause carrot seeds to germinate the fastest, have the highest germination rate, and have the longest average sprout length. I used carrot seeds in cups with a wet paper towel to germinate my seeds. I thought that distilled water would give the best results. The most successful water was soft water, which was the top in every single category. Soft water has sodium in it and maybe that helped in germination. I think that soft water is the best water for germinating carrot seeds.

[Plant Sciences] Corn Crazy: An Isotopic Analysis Of C4 Producers And Student Prefrence
We began by gathering school lunches from three schools. Using surveys and analyzing the date, we determined which of the foods we tested were preferred by students. Then, using a mass spectrometer, we analyzed the Carbon-12 and Carbon-13 ratios in each food to determine the amount of corn and sugar in the food. Corn plants and the plants from which sugar is derived are C4 producers. Most plants are C3 producers, which take in less Carbon -13 than corn and sugar plants. This makes it possible to measure the amount of corn and sugar, relative to the amount of other plant products, in foods. Then, using various methods such as surveys and analyzing data, we found how much corn and sugar was in the foods preferred by the students. We expected to find that students would prefer food with more corn and sugar in them, because most people like sweets and foods with more corn byproducts are often more processed and contain more added sweeteners. After analyzing the data, we found that students don’t really prefer foods with more corn. We also found that foods contain less corn and sugar than most people think they do.