What should i do for science fair? QUICK!?

Question

i have no idea what i want to do for science fair and my proposal for it is due in a few days. i want to do something that hasn't been done before, or at least something that's not done all the time. any ideas? by the way im a junior in high school

Answer 1

I won first prize in my school a few years ago with this.  You'll need a group of people.  Take lemonade or juice and dye one bottle of it a strange or gross color.  Leave the other normal.  See how many people DO or DON'T drink the dyed drink because it looks gross when the other is normal.  Record the results and put them into a graph.  It's about if appearance determines what you do.  Pretty much judging a book by it's cover.  Good Luck!

Answer 2

Here's an experiment someone did at my school once. They put a button in a public place, with big letters saying "DO NOT TOUCH". They then recorded how many of the people who went up to it touched it, or left it alone. It tests human impulsiveness and willingness for mischief.

Answer 3

Ask the smartest kid what he is doing.  Then do the same thing.

Answer 4

Science fairs can give you back a lot more than you put into them if you're willing to do some work and can get some help.  At the upper levels there is a lot of scholarship money floating around and even doing well at a local level is something you or your parents can brag about and can get you into college a lot easier.  They can also be a lot of fun!

To pick a good topic, remember that the whole scientific process is just a way of solving problems.  See any problems in the world? Energy costs are pretty high.   If you're interested in a bit of chemistry, you might want to try something with biodiesel.  There is a great Yahoo group on this and TONS of resources on the web.  Making the methanol for biodiesel by doing a destructive distillation of yard waste might be a good part of the problem to work on.  

If you're feeling more biological, how about aging?  Might not seem like such a problem to you yet but I guarantee your teachers and judges will see it a little more seriously.  You could use sunburn as a model and try out different potential remedies to see if they help heal sunburn faster.  This could be followed up with much more advanced science with the right help.

If you want to win and not just be another average contestant you will probably need some advanced scientific methods.  Don't be shy about asking for help or enlisting your parents to find help for you once you get started.  Local colleges are a great place to look for help.  If you are serious and want my help, contact me at [e-mail].

Hope this helps.