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.

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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

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.

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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/

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/

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

Enrico Fermi (1901 – 1954) Was Born

Enrico Fermi was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics. Fermi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1938 for his work on induced radioactivity and is today regarded as one of the top scientists of the 20th century.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: Nuclear energy transportation
Subject: Aviation
Grade level: Middle School Grades 7-9
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: Nuclear mechanics, Ford Nucleon, nuclear ships, nuclear aircrafts, Mars rover, advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy transportation and environmental impacts.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2008/iaco8v2/

World Heart Day 2009

World Heart Day, organized by the World Heart Federation, World Health Organization (WHO) and UNESCO, is the World Heart Federation's most important advocacy event and aims to increase public awareness and promote preventative measures to reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke. Begun in 1999 with the vision that all World Heart Federation members could collectively help to curb the global pandemic of cardiovascular disease, which claims some 17.5 million lives world-wide annually, World Heart Day is now celebrated in more than 100 countries around the world.

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Science Fair Project Information
Title: What is a pacemaker?
Subject: Medicine
Grade level: Elementary School Grades 4-6
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: how the heart works; what is a pacemaker; different kinds of pacemakers; the invention of the pacemaker; recent innovations; movie.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/torr7m2/

Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) Was Born

Michael Faraday was an English scientist, best known for the discovery of electromagnetic induction and the inventions of the electric motor and dynamo.

Science Fair Project Information
Title: Measure the torque of an electric motor by the mass lifted by the motor.
Subject: Electricity / Magnetism
Grade level: Middle School Grades 7-9
Academic Level: Ordinary
Project Type: Experimental
Cost: Low
Awards: 2nd place, Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (2007)
Affiliation: Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair (VSF)
Year: 2007
Description: In order to measure the torque, the electric motor is suspended off the ground and a string is attached to the axel of the motor while the other end of the string is attached to different weights. The distance the motor lifts the weights off the ground is measured.
Link: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/benn7b2/