Scioly.org

WhatScience? wrote:

Froggie wrote:

depo1213 wrote:Is there’s a specific topic for this event?

(of course, it has to be resonable).

What....I wanted to make Division B design an experiment that would give someone (me) the powers of the flash. Particle accelerators, dark matter, everything. Way to go froggie, completely ruining my dreams.

That experiment does seem a tad bit pricey. Maybe by a few billion bucks too much, especially dark matter? But then again, it's a small price for science.
All jokes aside, like what most others say, topics are generally physics or basic chemistry related, and they can be anything of the matter. Could be from parachutes to dropping water on coins, as I've seen and done both in a previous regional and state competition in Pennsylvania.

My partners and I are planning on doing an experiment outside of practice each week which led me to figuring out how we would get them graded. I was wondering if yall just rely on your knowledge of the rubric, or if you get someone else on the team to grade your tests?

Panda Weasley wrote:My partners and I are planning on doing an experiment outside of practice each week which led me to figuring out how we would get them graded. I was wondering if yall just rely on your knowledge of the rubric, or if you get someone else on the team to grade your tests?

I mean everyone grades differently, but if you wish, I can help grade some parts, but I don't think I can do all. I can do F (Procedure), K (Analysis of Results), L (Errors), M (Conclusion), as I have been doing them for two years.

OrigamiPlanet wrote:

Panda Weasley wrote:My partners and I are planning on doing an experiment outside of practice each week which led me to figuring out how we would get them graded. I was wondering if yall just rely on your knowledge of the rubric, or if you get someone else on the team to grade your tests?

I mean everyone grades differently, but if you wish, I can help grade some parts, but I don't think I can do all. I can do F (Procedure), K (Analysis of Results), L (Errors), M (Conclusion), as I have been doing them for two years.

That would be great, but I think it would be easiest to have someone from my team grade it. Thank you for offering though!

Can anyone suggest a experiment with the following
1 buzzer
1 lemon
1 tomato
1 battery
1 penny
1 paper clip
1 ice bath
1 hot plate
1 thermometer

I strated coaching 6th graders and I am thinking what experiment we can make up with this.

I am coaching 6th graders and also looking for example experiement materials and solutions too. Any help will be greatly appreciated, as this is our first time doing scioly

myscioly123 wrote:I am coaching 6th graders and also looking for example experiement materials and solutions too. Any help will be greatly appreciated, as this is our first time doing scioly

I would suggest starting by asking the question “what can we measure?” And given the materials, it seems like temperature is a natural choice. Once you’ve got a DV, how could you manipulate it? Don’t feel required to use all the materials. Anything where you’re testing variables and collecting data is a good place to start.

myscioly123 wrote:I am coaching 6th graders and also looking for example experiement materials and solutions too. Any help will be greatly appreciated, as this is our first time doing scioly

Some example topics and materials are here.

How do significant figures work when recording data? My partners and I are disagreeing about how we should report our data.
Should RAW data be recorded:
1) to the most precise value you can get (ex: a ruler to millimeters you record values of 17.03 cm, 9.87 cm, 21.45 cm)
2) to the same number of sig figs (17.0 cm, 9.87 cm, 21.5 cm)

Example: let’s say we are performing an experiment with a ruler and measure the following: 5.6 cm, 7.8 cm, 12.5 cm. 0.5 cm.
-should this data be recorded in the raw data table to all have the same number of significant figures?
—> 0.5 has only one significant figure, so data would be recorded: 6 cm, 8cm, 10cm, 0.5cm
-OR would raw data be recorded exactly as measured:
—>5.6 cm, 7.8 cm, 12.5 cm. 0.5 cm

-Also, how do significant figures work with a timer? We were not given any points for significant figures at an invitational last year and were wondering why.

masterm wrote:How do significant figures work when recording data? My partners and I are disagreeing about how we should report our data.
Should RAW data be recorded:
1) to the most precise value you can get (ex: a ruler to millimeters you record values of 17.03 cm, 9.87 cm, 21.45 cm)
2) to the same number of sig figs (17.0 cm, 9.87 cm, 21.5 cm)

Example: let’s say we are performing an experiment with a ruler and measure the following: 5.6 cm, 7.8 cm, 12.5 cm. 0.5 cm.
-should this data be recorded in the raw data table to all have the same number of significant figures?
—> 0.5 has only one significant figure, so data would be recorded: 6 cm, 8cm, 10cm, 0.5cm
-OR would raw data be recorded exactly as measured:
—>5.6 cm, 7.8 cm, 12.5 cm. 0.5 cm

-Also, how do significant figures work with a timer? We were not given any points for significant figures at an invitational last year and were wondering why.

Ah, yes! My favorite portion!
When using significant figures, there is usually no specifics about significant figures. According to the soinc.org Experimental Design page,

soinc.org scoring rubric wrote: ...
All data reported using correct figures (significant
figures C Division only)All data reported using correct figures (significant
figures C Division only) - 2 points
...

soinc.org explanation rubric wrote: ...
Significant figures: the number of digits in a number that have meaning
...

significant figures are the digits with meaning. So if your answer was pi, 3.14 would probably be accepted, instead of 3.14159265358979323846.... I would say that the number of digits after the decimal point should be standardized, but that's just me. Raw data should be in significant figures, as per the rubric above.
As for the timer issue, I don't see why time can't be measured with significant figures. Lets say you are dropping a marble from different heights and timing how long it takes to hit the ground. Your timer most likely has a string of numbers trailing the decimal point, so depending on the IV levels, I would go to different significant figures. Because significant figures help distinguish the data, if (going back to the marble experiment) your IV levels were 1, 2 and 3 inches, there is so little time to drop that the results on average are less than a tenth of a second, so hundredths and thousandths really set the data apart. (And on the contrary, if it was an experiment with 1, 2, and 3 meters, it would be a whole other story.)