Friday, October 23, 2009

Pelé (1940 - ) Was Born

Edison Arantes do Nascimento is a Brazilian football (soccer) player, best known as Pelé by which he has become a sporting legend. He was given the title "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee. In 1999 Time Magazine named Pelé one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Test if air pressure will affect the dynamics of a soccer ball bouncing.
Subject: Sports engineering
Grade level: Elementary School Grades 4-6
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Buddies
Description: Different soccer (football) ball pressures will be measured with an air pressure gauge. Then the bounciness of the ball will be tested by using a video camera with a tripod and a metric plastic tape measure.
Link: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Sports_p007.shtml

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Thomas Alva Edison, the Inventor of the Light Bulb, Died

Thomas Alva Edison (1847 – 1931) was an American famous inventor, best known for the invention of the light bulb, phonograph, motion picture camera, power station and other 1093 patents and inventions.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Does an incandescent bulb produce more heat than a fluorescent bulb?
Subject: Electricity
Grade level: Middle School Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2005)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2005
Description: Incandescent and fluorescent bulbs were lit in an insulated box for same periods of time; temperature measured.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2005/patt5e0/public_html/

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

2009 Nobel Prize Winners in Chemistry are Announced

The winners are Americans Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas Steitz and Israeli Ada Yonath for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome (composed of RNA) that translates the DNA code into life.

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Modifying Plant Characteristics Using RNA Interference
Subject: Biology / Biotechnology
Grade level: Middle School - Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Advanced
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: High
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2008)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2008
Description: The objective of this project is to demonstrate how RNAi modifies the expression of genes which affect pathogen growth during plant infection.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2008/adam8s2/

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

2009 Nobel Prize Winners in Physics are Announced

Charles K. Kao was awarded for his contribution involving the transmission of light in fiber optics; Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith were awarded for inventing the CCD - the Charge-Coupled Device, an electronic light sensor used in digital cameras.

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Investigate the CCD: Heart of the Digital Camera and other Optical Devices
Subject: Electronics
Grade level: Middle School - Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2006)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2006
Description: Main topics: digital photography basics, CCD basics, timeline of digital photography, movie and digital photography glossary.
Link: http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2006/krol6s2/47AD999D-2AC3-4F47-A948-436A1318840A.html