Re: BEGINNER PLANS FOR SCIENCE PROJECT PLEASE HELP

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: Paul Nicholson <paul-at-abelian.demon.co.uk> 

Hi Ravi,

Your're the first person, out of many who have asked about science
projects, to actually mention the word 'hypotheses'!!

Science is all about constructing testable hypotheses and devising
cunning experiments to tease out from nature whether they are true
or not.   Sadly, most 'science' projects fall into the category of
'Look at this thing that I've built' - which is great fun, but not
science!

Hmm, I'm not sure what age 8th grade corresponds to, but it sounds
like you could avoid a lot of grief if you can find some hypothesis
that can be tested at 'low' voltage, ie not high enough to put you
or anybody else at risk.  That'll keep everybody off your back.

Does that sound too dull?   Perhaps it does, but the real excitement
and satisfaction is in the discovery of new things.

As somebody else asked, what's your timescale and budget?  It would
be nice to come up with some real science that you can put to the
test, wouldn't it?   I won't pretend it'll be easy to think of
something that's both meaningful and within your reach, but the more
you can tell us about your situation and resources the better.

For example, do you have access to the school physics lab - test
equipment and so on?  Do you have any tame adults that can be put
to use or drained of cash?

And apart from the smart move of asking the right question on the
right list, what ideas have *you* had so far?
--
Paul Nicholson
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