I know, I know… school’s out, and the last thing you’re thinking about is last-minute projects in science, of all subjects.  But this is just a quick note to let you know that we had such great feedback from the people that have used our online Science Fair Project Kits information that we’re going to add several additional topics for the 2009-10 school year, so be on the look-out for robotics, lasers, and rocketry!

See you in fall!

Aurora

We get a lot of emails asking for the best science fair project idea so their child can blow away the competition.  Have you ever noticed which science fair project topics actually win?  We checked into a few of these science fair project winners ourselves just to be sure, and here’s what we found:

Science Fair Project Winners:

“Static Electricity in Different Materials”

“Blowing Up Bubble Gum – Sugarless or Regular?”

“Which Toothpaste Makes Your Smile Shine the Best?’

“Building Better Airplanes”

“Which Additives Make the Biggest Bubbles?”

So – do these science fair project ideas sound like rocket science?  You don’t have to build a nuclear reactor in your garage or find the cure for colds in order to score high with the science fair judges.  It’s not what you say, it’s how you do your experience and present your ideas to the crowd that really count. So while you’re purusing the internet for science fair project ideas, just note that it is more important how you carry out your experiment and deliver your message that will make or break your chances to the science fair project winner’s circle.

If you need help with that area, then be sure to check out our winning Science Fair Projects which include step-by-step instructions on how to cover all your bases and get it right the first time.  Otherwise, best of luck with your science fair project!

What happens if you belch in Antarctica?

Truth is, part of it would freeze into a solid chunk.

In our atmosphere, every gulp of air contains about 21% oxygen. With every breath you take in, your lungs transform about 20% of that oxygen into carbon dioxide.  Carbon dioxide freezes below -109 deg F, and in Antarctica, it can get below -140 deg F.  Dry ice, anyone?

But you can make burp gas without using a kid.  Did you know that the bubbles formed from combining vinegar and baking soda are also carbon dioxide?  And when you crack open a fresh bottle of soda, that PSSST! is also carbon dioxide?  And the combination of mentos and soda gives you the same thing.

What can you do with carbon dioxide? You can carefully fill a container with it and ‘pour’ the invisible gas over a lit candle the extinguish the flame.  You can make a balance and see which weights more – cup of ‘air’ (an empty cup) or a cup of carbon dioxide.

What happens when you freeze the cup of air and cup of CO2?  Does that change the weight measurement?

If you need more help, like how to pull together a written report and make a display board, be sure to visit our Science Fair Porject kits.

What else can you do?  Have fun!

We received this email from a subscriber, and we wanted to pass it along for you to read!  Congrats to you both!

Dear Aurora,

I am writing to tell you that I won second place in the high school division (I am in 7th grade) with your help with my Gauss rifle project! My brother also had a terrific time with his project – fruit batteries. We were both also on the team that won first place with a study on capillary action in paper towels. Thank you so much for your great projects and patience in teaching them. We love science!

I am attaching photos of our science fair projects.

Thank you for the help!

Your friend,

Kerrick Sullivan

P.S. – Do you have any ideas on how to make spelling fun…yuck!

Fill a plastic container (such as a water bottle) about one-third full of water. Add one-third oil (so the bottle is now two-thirds full) and cap the bottle. Shake it up and see if you can get the two to mix. (If you add blue dye to the water beforehand, it makes this experiment easier to view.) Which is on top, the water or the oil? Stick the bottle in the freezer overnight (stand it upright and remove the cap first). Now which is floating on top?  What else can you test out?

Okay – it’s here! You can now check out the latest awesome Science Fair Projects at this link:

http://www.awesomescienceprojects.com

I know there are a LOT of science project ideas already out there, and our focus here at Supercharged Science has been to help you once you’ve already figured out your topic idea, but this is just one I wanted to share anyway… it’s one of my personal favorites, and not just because I wiped out the camera during the testing stage!

Click play to learn how to build your own butterflying cups – which mathematically speaking, are not supposed to be able to fly at all!

We’re working hard to get out our latest Science Fair Project videos for the 2009 season – so you don’t have to work so hard at figuring out what and how to do it all! I’m in the lab right now and have only a quick break between video shooting, but I wanted to give you a heads up – we’ve finished recording the rocketry video yesterday and today we’re working on the solar power project. For some reason, these seem to be the top two out of all 200 projects we have that people really wanted to know about!

We’re going to have all the documentation, forms, project guide, step-by-step video, and more for every Science Fair Project link – which is different from the format we’ve had previously, which has been just how to do the experiment itself. But we realized that doing the experiment was only a small part of the whole Science Fair project experience!

So now we’ve made complete videos which detail each and every step, from researching topics to designing a quality question, to making a display board to giving a presentation… it’s all being included. We expect to have these available after the first of the year (January 1, 2009) so you have plenty of time to read over the project and do the activities yourself.

We’ll keep you posted as we go along – this is just a quick update as to what we’re up to! You can visit our website to see what we’re about at this link.

More soon,
The Supercharged Science Team

Hey there! I know we don’t usually mention things we do outside of Science Fair project stuff, but this was way TOO COOL to pass up! We usually travel the country teaching live science workshops to kids – and have been doing that for the past decade or so – but this was our first time with a real live camera crew, stage, director, and everything!

Check out the photos the camera crew shot during our filming – Click this link and you’ll see we had such a blast…

Stargazers and astrophotographers, get ready for the most spectacular viewing and photography event of 2008. The conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon over the next week, reaching its finale on Dec. 1st.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/24nov_skyshow.htm?list212050