Avi Cohen, best known for playing football for Liverpool, England, was killed today in a motorcycle crash.

Cohen began his playing career with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Israeli national team, before joining Liverpool for a fee of £200,000 ($450,000) in July 1979, and became the first Israeli to play in England. He struggled to establish himself as a regular at Anfield and was released in November 1981, rejoining Maccabi. On 20 September 1980, Cohen stirred up controversy when he decided to play in Liverpool's away fixture versus Southampton, which fell on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

Liverpool FC marked the death of Cohen with a period of applause before their Premier League match against Wolves on 29 December 2010.


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Science Fair Project Information
Title: How to throw a football
Subject: Engineering
Grade level: Middle School - Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimenta
Cost: Medium
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2005
Description: The objectives of this project are to determine the: proper location of the ball prior to cocking the arm, the best place for the quarterback to situate his hand along the laces, the ideal distance between the feet before releasing the ball, wrist flicking motion.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2005/papi5s0/public_html/

3,000 people were killed by a major eruption of Mount Vesuvius, on this day, in 1631

Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum that were never rebuilt. The towns' locations were eventually forgotten until their accidental rediscovery in the 18th century.

On December 16, 1631, another major eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried many villages under lava flows, killing around 3,000 people. Torrents of boiling water were also ejected, adding to the devastation.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Understanding Volcanoes
Subject: Earth Sciences
Grade level: Middle School Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Thinkquest
Year: 1998
Description: Main topics: plate tectonics, volcanoes, volcanic database.
Link: http://library.thinkquest.org/17457/

 

Samuel Johnson, best known for his dictionary of the English language, died on this day, 226 years ago.

After nine years of work, Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755; it had a far-reaching effect on Modern English and has been described as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship." Until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later, Johnson's dictionary was viewed as the pre-eminent British dictionary.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Statistical estimation of the the growth of the English language vocabulary over the years.
Subject: Statistics / Lexicography
Grade level: Middle School - Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Fair Projects and Experiments (juliantrubin.com)
Year: 2010
Description: A statistical estimation of the No. of headwords in a dictionary, the size of your vocabulary and the growth of the English language vocabulary over the years. This is achieved by using the systematic sampling method by counting the number of words on dictionary pages placed at regular intervals from each other, beginning at a random page number.
Link: http://www.juliantrubin.com/encyclopedia/mathematics/dictionary_statistics.html

 

The 2010 Mount Carmel (Israel) Forest Fire

The Mount Carmel forest fire was a deadly forest fire that started on Mount Carmel in northern Israel, just south of Haifa. The fire began at about 11:00 local time on 2 December 2010, and spread quickly, consuming much of the Mediterranean forest covering the region. The fire claimed at least 42 lives, making it the deadliest in Israeli history. The dead were mostly Israel Prison Service officer cadets, as well as three senior police officers, among them the chief of the Haifa District. More than 17,000 people were evacuated, including several villages in the vicinity of the fire, and there was considerable property and environmental damage. The fire was defeated on 5 December after raging for four days.

Israel Police suggested that the fire was caused due to a bonfire that was lit by local residents and not extinguished properly and in time.

The main cause for the large-scale fire was an unusually warm autumn and dry conditions Israel had been experiencing.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: The relationship between global warming and the emissions of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) by forest fires.
Subject: Ecology
Grade level: High School - Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Medium
Awards: 2st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2003)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2003
Description: Fuel moisture determines a forest fire's depth of burn. Fires will burn deeper into the ground where global warming causes drought. Organic matter samples from different depths were burned to analyze the amount of carbon dioxide released. It was concluded that more carbon dioxide is released per unit volume of soil the deeper a fire burns.
Link: http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2003/vanfr3j/public_html/

 

The Antarctic Treaty was signed, preserving the Antarctic continent for scientific research, 51years ago

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The treaty, entering into force in 1961 (opened for signature on December 1, 1959) and eventually signed by 47 countries, sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on that continent. The treaty was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat headquarters have been located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since September 2004.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Will Ice Melting at the North or South Poles Cause Sea Levels to Rise?
Subject: Earth Sciences
Grade level: Primary School - Grades K-3
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Buddies (Author: Kristin Strong)
Description: This project demonstrates that melting ice cubes elevate water level in a container.
Link: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/OceanSci_p015.shtml

The First Manned Hot-Air Balloon Flight Was Made 227 Years Ago

On Nov 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created on Dec 14, 1782 by the Montgolfier brothers.

King Louis XVI had originally decreed that condemned criminals would be the first pilots, but de Rozier, along with Marquis François d'Arlandes, successfully petitioned for the honor.

The first military use of a hot air balloon happened during the battle of Fleurus where the French used the balloon l'Entreprenant as an observation post.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Which Material Is Best For Hot Air Balloons: Nylon Or Polyester?
Subject: Aviation
Grade level: Elementary School Grades 4-6
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Selah Junior High School
Year: 2000
Description: A countersink was dropped on the stretched tested materials, nylon or polyester, and the number of impacts it took to tear the fabric were counted. Then the samples of the same materials were heated in an oven and the tests were run again.

Link: http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/SOAR/SciProj2000/HeatherK.html

 

Johannes Kepler, the Astronomer Who Discovered "Kepler's Laws", Died 380 Years Ago

Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution. He is best known for his three laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works that also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.

Kepler's laws give a description of the motion of planets around the Sun.

Kepler's laws are:

1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci.
2. A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.
3. The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Stars And What They Can Become
Subject: Aviation
Grade level: Primary School, Grades K-3
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2008)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2008
Description: Main topics: How are stars born? What different types of stars are there? How do stars die? What are binary stars? All about our sun.

Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2008/lafl8s2/

 

115th Anniversary of the Discovery of X-Rays

On November 8, 1895, German physics professor Wilhelm Röntgen stumbled on X-rays while experimenting with Lenard and Crookes tubes and began studying them. He wrote an initial report "On a new kind of ray: A preliminary communication" and on December 28, 1895 submitted it to the Würzburg's Physical-Medical Society journal. This was the first paper written on X-rays. Röntgen referred to the radiation as "X", to indicate that it was an unknown type of radiation. The name stuck, although (over Röntgen's great objections) many of his colleagues suggested calling them Röntgen rays. They are still referred to as such in many languages, including German and Russian. Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Research the technology and applications of today's modern forms of diagnostic imaging (X-Rays, CAT Scans, and MRIs).
Subject: Medicine
Grade level: high School - Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2004)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2004
Description: Main topics: X-rays: discovery, physics, protection; CAT scan: invention, technology, procedure, applications; MRI: procedure, compared to X-rays and CAT scans, safety and risks, applications.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2004/sitt4b0/public_html/

 

George Boole, the Founder of Boolean Algebra, Was Born

George Boole (1815 – 1864) was an English mathematician and philosopher. As the inventor of Boolean logic—the basis of modern digital computer logic—Boole is regarded in hindsight as a founder of the field of computer science.

Boole proposed that logical propositions should be expressed as algebraic equations - logic is reduced to algebra. Boole replaced the operation of multiplication by the word and and addition by the word or. For example, if x is the set of all brown cows and y is the set of all fat cows, then x+y is the set of all cows that are brown or fat, and xy is the set of all cows that are brown and fat.

Let z = the set of all Irish cows. Then z(x+y) = zx+zy; in other words 'the set of Irish cows that are either brown or fat is the same as the collection of cows that are Irish and brown or Irish and fat'.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Implementing Logic Gates With Relays
Subject: Mathematics / Electronics
Grade level: Middle and High School, Grades 7-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Medium
Affiliation: Science Fair Projects and Experiments
Description: For beginners: Build from relays common logic gates and demonstrate their truth tables with LEDs or suitable bulbs connected at the input and output.
For advanced students: Construct from relay logic gates half or full adders and demonstrate their truth tables. Adders are central components in any modern computer's ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit - the main part of CPU). Build from relays alarms, counters etc.
Link: http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/zusecomputer.html

The first transcontinental telegraph message was sent in 1861, bringing to an end the Pony Express

The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 1860 to October 1861. It became the west's most direct means of east-west communication before the telegraph and was vital for tying California closely with the Union just before the American Civil War.

This original fast mail Pony Express service had messages carried by horseback riders in relays to stations across the prairies, plains, deserts, and mountains of the Western United States. For its 18 months of operation, it briefly reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about ten days, with telegraphic communication covering about half the distance across the continent and mounted couriers the rest.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Build Your Own Morse Telegraph System
Subject: Electromagnetism
Grade level: Middle School, Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Building project
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Fair Projects and Experiments
Description: A very basic and simple apparatus consisting of a morse key, battery, bulb or LED, buzzer and an electromagnet.
Link: http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/morsetelegraph.html

2010 Nobel Prize Winners in Physics Announced

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"

Graphene is a one-atom-thick planar sheet of carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. The term Graphene was coined as a combination of "graphite" and the suffix "ene" (containing a double carbon bond).

The possible practical applications (though most of them sill not realized) for graphene include microelectronics, composite materials, solar cells, mobile phones, and more.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Does radiation from cell phones affect our health?
Subject: Health
Grade level: Elementary School Grades 4-6
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2005)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2005
Description: Main topics: Why does your cell phone emit radiation? Is this radiation dangerous for our health? How to fight cell phone radiation.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2005/lamn5n0/public_html

Chile's Trapped Miners are Free!

On August 5, 2010 33 Chilean miners ranging in ages from 19 to 63 became trapped 700 metres (2,300 ft) below the ground surface in a copper and gold mine located in the Atacama Desert. The trapped miners gained contact with the outside world 17 days after the mine collapse through a 3-inch diameter hole that was drilled to reach the trapped miners. Through this hole, the trapped miners have received food and other supplies. A video message released to the public on August 26, 2010 showed the miners living conditions 2,300 feet below the ground surface.

At approximately 11:30 pm on 12 October 2010 (Eastern Daylight Time) the first of the trapped miners reached the surface, after an approximately fourteen-minute ascent in the rescue Fenix capsule. All of the remaining miners were rescued successfully within 21 hours of the first miner's arrival on the surface.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Diamonds Around the World
Subject: Chemistry
Grade level: Elementary School Grades 2-4
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2006)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2006
Description: Main topics: How diamonds are formed, diamonds in Saskatchewan, Canada, production, uses, how is the value of diamonds evaluated, crimes, wars, legends.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2006/malh6d2/

2010 Nobel Prize Winners in Chemistry are Announced

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki for the development of palladium-catalyzed cross coupling.

Carbon is a stable element and carbon atoms do not easily react with one another. In this method carbon atoms bind to a palladium atom, an act that brings together the carbon atoms and starts the reaction that ends up with a new carbon-based material.

This chemical method is very useful for the electronics, platics and medicine industries.

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Toxicity of Carbon Nanotubes in Daphnia magna
Subject: Chemistry / Material Engineering
Grade level: High School, Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Advanced
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Medium
Awards:
2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2010)
WWSEF Life Science Gold Medal
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2010
Description: The main goal of this project is to test the toxicity of carbon nanotubes by exposing Daphnia magna to solutions of carbon nanotubes and humic acid.
Link: http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2010/kimexe2

Ford Motor Company Was Founded, on this Day, 107 Years Ago

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales. Based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, the automaker was founded by Henry Ford, and incorporated in June 16, 1903. Ford now encompasses many brands, including Lincoln and Mercury of the U.S. and Volvo of Sweden.

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's methods came to be known around the world as Fordism by 1914.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Explore Automotive Seat Design
Subject: Automotive engineering
Grade level: High School - Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2005)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2005
Description: The main goal of this project is to study the factors that cause seating discomfort, and what health hazards sitting in a car imposes.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2005/fung5b0/public_html/

2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup - Begins

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 19th and current FIFA World Cup, the premier international association football tournament. It is being held in South Africa, where it began on 11 June and is scheduled to conclude on 11 July 2010. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. As such, it matches the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.

The FIFA World Cup, also called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Total Soccer: The Online Soccer Resource
Subject: Sports
Grade level: Elementary / Middle School, Grades 4-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Affiliation: ThinkQuest
Year: 2001
Description: Main topics: how to play soccer; soccer history; soccer health, nutrition and injuries; soccer today.
Link: http://library.thinkquest.org/C0127282/

Dennis Gabor, Inventor of Holography, Was Born

Dennis Gabor (1900 - 1979) was a Hungarian-British electrical engineer and inventor, most notable for inventing holography, for which he later received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: The Effect of Different Isolation Tables and Developing Times on a Hologram's Range of Color.
Subject: Optics & Light
Grade level: Middle School Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Selah Junior High School
Year: 2002
Description: The independent variables are the isolation tables and the developing times. The dependent variable is the range of color in each hologram, which is measured in nanometers.

Link: http://share3.esd105.wednet.edu/mcmillend/02SciProj/AshleyD/AshleyD.html

World Hypertension Day 2010

World Hypertension Day is a day designated and initiated by The World Hypertension League (WHL), which is itself an umbrella to organizations of 85 national hypertension societies and leagues. The day was initiated to increase the awareness of hypertension. This was especially important because of the lack of appropriate knowledge among hypertensive patients. The WHL launched its first WHD on May 14, 2005. Since 2006, the WHL has been dedicating May 17 of every year as WHD.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: The Effect of Exercise on Blood Pressure
Subject: Medicine / Human Anatomy
Grade level: Elementary School, Grades 4-6
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Mid-Columbia Regional science fair
Affiliation: Selah Intermediate School
Year: 2002
Description: After step testing blood pressure was taken by a portable wrist blood pressure monitor. The results were graphed and analyzed for the entire group and by gender.
Link: http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/SOAR/SciProj2002/KiereaM.html

Richard Feynman, the originator of the Feynman diagrams, Was Born

Richard Phillips Feynman (1918 - 1988) best known for his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics for what Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. He also assisted in the development of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: The science behind nuclear energy
Subject: Nuclear physics and energy
Grade level: High school, grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2007)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2007
Description: Main topics: Nuclear energy basics and prospects as alternative energy, safety, pollution hazards, the CANDU Reactor.

Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/math7n2/Report.html

William Shakespeare Died this Day in 1616

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

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Literature Fair Project Information
Title: William Shakespeare Works
Subject: William Shakespeare
Grade level: High School, Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, arts and literature, ThinkQuest (1997)
Affiliation: ThinkQuest
Year: 1997
Description: Main topics:
Tragedies: Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, King Lear.
Comedies and Histories: Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, Merchant of Venice, Henry V, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, Twelfth Night.
Resources: for teachers, for students, life of the Bard, pictures, theatres and festivals.

Link: http://library.thinkquest.org/10502/main.htm

2010 Volcanic Eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland

The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull are a series of major volcanic events at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. They caused significant disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe in 2010.

Seismic activity started at the end of 2009, and led to a volcanic eruption on 20 March 2010 whose Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) was 1. The plume of ash from a later ongoing eruption beginning on 14 April 2010 led to widespread disruption of air travel in Europe from 15 April, grounding planes and affecting the travel plans of millions of passengers worldwide. The aftermath of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruptions adversely affected travel around the world, with air space across more than 20 European countries remaining largely closed until April 20.

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Science Fair Project Information (Idea)
Title: The 2010 Volcanic Eyjafjallajökull Eruption
Subject: Earth sciences
Grade level: Elementary, middle and high school - Grades 4-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Description: Main topics: Eyjafjallajökull volcanic history, science, and adverse effects on environment, air travel and economy.
Resources:
2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull
Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
Aftermath of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
Frequently Asked Question on the Eruption in Iceland
Information about eruption on Eyjafjallajökull: University of Iceland
Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety

Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, 2010

Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura, known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its accessories, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day and public holiday. It is held on the 27 Nisan (April/May). In other countries there are different commemorative days.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: The Holocaust in Romania
Subject: The Holocaust / World War II
Grade level: High School, Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: Honorable Mention, ThinkQuest International (2007)
Affiliation: ThinkQuest
Year: 2007
Description: Main topics: The Holocaust in general. The Romanian Holocaust: The Antonescu's regime and the Jews; The extermination of the Jews in Basarabia, Bucovina and Transnistria (1941-1942); The situation of the Jews from these territories after 1942; The Holocaust in the Northern part of Transylvania.
Link: http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/02467/Index2.htm

 

NASA launched the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which reached Mars and transmitted photos back to Earth.

2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA with an expected cost of $ 297 million. Launched April 7, 2001 on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and reached Mars orbit on October 24, 2001. Its mission was to use spectrometers and electronic imagers to hunt for evidence of past or present water and volcanic activity on Mars. It is hoped that the data Odyssey obtains will help answer the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars. It also acts as a relay for communications between the Mars Exploration Rovers and the Phoenix lander to Earth. The mission was named after the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Mars Science Fair Projects and Experiments
Subject: Astronomy
Grade level: For Elementary, Middle and High School Students and Teachers
Academic Level: Ordinary, Advanced
Project Type: Experimental, Descriptive
Cost: Low, Medium, High
Affiliation: Science Fair Projects and Experiments
Description: A collection of science fair projects about Mars including: topics, ideas, resources and sample projects for elementary, middle and high school students and teachers
Link: http://www.juliantrubin.com/fairprojects/astronomy/mars.html

 

Eiffel Tower Was Inaugurated on 31 March 1889

The Eiffel Tower is a 19th century iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris that has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris, is the single most visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: The Shape And Strength Of Towers (in English & French)
Subject: Engineering
Grade level: Middle School - Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2003)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2003
Description: Straws are used to build different tower shapes like square and octagone. Weights, in increments, were placed on top the constructions till they collapse.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2003/ngoke3k2/public_html/

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, One of the Most Disastrous Environmental Catastrophes, Occurred

The oil tanker Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in the Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters ever to occur in history.

The region was a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals and seabirds. The vessel spilled 10.8 million U.S. gallons (about 40 million litres) of crude oil into the sea, and the oil eventually covered 1,300 square miles (3,400 km2) of ocean.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Compare the absorptivity of different sorbents used for cleaning up an oil spill in water.
Subject: Environmental Sciences
Grade level: Elementary School, Grades 4-6
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2009)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2009
Description: Oil motor is poured into an aluminum foil tray; different materials, like a sponge, are placed into the tray for one day; amount of oil absorbed is calculated.
Link: http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2009/shah9a2

Albert Einstein, Originator of Relativity, Was Born

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) is a Jewish German-born Swiss-American theoretical physicist, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential and best known scientists and intellectuals of all time. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. Best known for his special and general theories of relativity, and especially his famous equation E=mc².

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Explore Einstein's famous equation of E=mc².
Subject: Physics
Grade level: Middle School, Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2004)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2004
Description: Main topics: origin of the equation, parts of the equation, application, glossary, quiz.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2004/gupt4s0/public_html/index1.htm

Wilt Chamberlain scored a record of 100 points in an NBA game (March 2, 1962)

Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, named by the National Basketball Association as one of its greatest games, was a regular-season game between the Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks held on March 2, 1962 at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The Warriors won the game 169–147, setting what was then a record for the most combined points in a game by both teams. The game is most remembered, however, for the 100 points scored by Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain. This performance ranks as the NBA's single-game scoring record; along the way Chamberlain also broke five other NBA scoring records, of which four still stand.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Does Crossed Hand/Eye Dominance Affect Basketball Shooting Percentage?
Subject: Sports
Grade level: Middle / High School, Grades 6-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Buddies
Description: Determine whether 50-100 volunteers have crossed or uncrossed hand and eye dominances - procedure explained. Calculate the average shooting percentage for the participants with uncrossed and crossed hand and eye dominances.

Link: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Sports_p021.shtml

Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) Was Born

Galileo Galilei was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, the falling body theoretical experiment and support for Copernicus' heliocentric model. Stephen Hawking says, "Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science."

Best known for supporting the heliocentric view which placed the Sun at the centre of the universe. Galileo's views were met with bitter opposition from some philosophers and clerics and as a result he was brought before the Roman Inquisition.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Galileo Galilei: The Falling Bodies Experiment
Subject: Physics
Grade level: Middle / High School, Grades 6-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Fair Projects and Experiments
Description: Dropping a coin and a paper disc to demonstrate that both objects will reach the ground at the same time. More advanced experiments, to demonstrate further the topic, include inclined plane and pendulum experiments.
Link: http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/galileofallingbodies.html

Mark Spitz Was Born

Mark Andrew Spitz, an American swimmer, the first athlete to win seven gold medals in a single Olympics (Munich, 1972). This achievement was surpassed only by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Does a swim cap reduce drag and help a swimmer swim faster through the water?
Subject: Sports
Grade level: Elementary School, Grades 4-6
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Awards: 1st Place, 6th Physical Science, PCA Science Fair (2006)
Affiliation: Phillipsburg Christian Academy (PCA)
Year: 2006
Description: A wig and a swim cap are mounted on a honeydew melon (simulating the human head); drag is measured, in flowing water, by measuring how far an elastic band, attached to the melon, stretches; results compared.
Link: http://www.fellowshipch.org/pcasftyler06.html

Wayne Gretzky, Ice-Hockey Greatest Player of All Time, Was Born

Wayne Douglas Gretzky, (born January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario) is a retired Canadian-American professional ice hockey player. Best known for his NHL records for points (2,857), goals (894), and assists (1,963).

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: The Slingshot: Improving the Modern Hockey Stick
Subject: Sports Engineering
Grade level: Middle School, Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Medium
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2008)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2008
Description: The purpose of this project is to investigate the relationship between the weight distributions within a hockey stick’s shaft and the energy that the stick can generate when used. In order to test hockey sticks, in this respect, a pendulum mechanizm was constructed.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2008/chon8n2/

Robert Boyle, Discoverer of Boyle's law, Was Born

Robert Boyle (1627 – 1691) was a natural philosopher, chemist, physicist and inventor. He is best known for the formulation of Boyle's law - one of several gas laws. Although his research and personal philosophy clearly has its roots in the alchemical tradition, he is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Boyle's Law: Pressure vs. Volume of a Gas at Constant Temperature
Subject: Chemistry
Grade level: High School, Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Affiliation: Science Buddies
Description: A simple repetition of Robert Boyle's classic experiment in which he discovered the relationship between pressure and volume of gases; basically using a manometer, a device used to measure pressure.
Link: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Chem_p011.shtml

Giuseppe Verdi's Opera ll Trovatore Premiered in Rome in 1853.

ll Trovatore (The Troubadour) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare and Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez.

- Wikipedia

Social Science Fair Project Information
Title: The Cantonese Opera
Subject: Performing arts / vocal music
Grade level: Elementary School, Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: Honorable Mention, ThinkQuest International, Spring 2004
Affiliation: ThinkQuest
Year: 2004
Description: Main topics: The origins of Cantonese opera, history, development and change, make-up, costumes, music, Cantonese opera and the local community.

Link: http://library.thinkquest.org/04apr/01272/

Albert Schweitzer Was Born

Albert Schweitzer (1875 – 1965) was an Alsatian German-French theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician.

He received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of "Reverence for Life", expressed in many ways, but most famously in founding and sustaining the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, now in Gabon, west central Africa (then French Equatorial Africa).

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: What is Leukemia?
Subject: Medicine
Grade level: Middle School Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2009)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2009
Description: Main topics: different types of leukemia, symptoms, treatments, future possible treatments, video.
Link: http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2009/liuv9v2

Stephen Hawking Was Born

Stephen William Hawking (born 8 January 1942) is a renowned British theoretical physicist. Best known for scientific contributions to black hole theory, theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Investigate the Cosmological theory of the Big Bang
Subject: Physics / Astronomy
Grade level: High School Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2004)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2004
Description: Main topics: The Big Bang theory, Hubble's theories and space telescope, subatomic background information, einstein's relativity, Stephen Hawking's contribution, theories of cosmology, criticism of the Big Bang theory.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2004/khak4a0/public_html/

Elvis Presley Was Born 75 Years Ago

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American popular musician, film actor and an cultural icon. He is widely known as Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: How has rock and roll impacted today's society?
Subject: Social Studies
Grade level: Middle School Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Descriptive
Cost: Low
Awards: 1st place, ThinkQuest Narrative (2009)
Affiliation: ThinkQuest
Year: 2009
Description: Main topics: The origins and impact of "rock and roll" music on society - dance, fashions, music, politics, arts, entertainment.

Link: http://library.thinkquest.org/09jan-oracle-n-001/00280/

Sir Isaac Newton (1643- 1727) Was Born

Sir Isaac Newton was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian who is perceived and considered by a substantial number of scholars and the general public as one of the most influential scientists in history.

Best known for His 1687 publication of the Principia which is considered to be among the most influential books in the history of science, laying the groundwork for most of classical mechanics. In this work, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries until the work of Albert Einstein. Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler's laws of planetary motion and his theory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts about heliocentrism and advancing the scientific revolution.

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: A computer program that simulates Newtonian physics
Subject: Physics / Computer Science
Grade level: High School Grades 10-12
Academic Level: Advanced
Project Type: Building Type
Cost: Medium
Awards: 1st place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2003)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2003
Description: This computer program enables a virtually unlimited number of objects, representing bodies of matter can be placed throughout the computer screen. The mass, and initial velocity of each object, as well as the laws of physics, such as universal gravitational constant, and friction levels etcetera, can all be adjusted, making a wide variety of simulated experiments possible. The program itself is available for download.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2003/krame3r/public_html/

 

The Tallest Man-Made Structure Ever Built Was Inaugurated - January 4, 2010

Burj Khalifa (Arabic: "Khalifa Tower"), is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft) with 206 floors. Construction began in 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed in October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010. The total cost for the Burj Khalifa project was about US$1.5 billion. The price of office space at Burj Khalifa had reached over US$43,000 per m².

- Wikipedia

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Determine the effect of height to width ratio on the wind load of a building.
Subject: Engineering
Grade level: Elementary School Grades 4-6
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Washington State Science and Engineering Fair
Affiliation: Selah Intermediate School
Year: 2006
Description: A wind tunnel is used to apply wind on miniature plywood structures with different height to width ratio; drag force is measured.
Link: http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/SOAR/SciProj2006/BenM.html