Science Fair ideas?

[tvtaber]

Does anyone have any ideas of science fair experiments my 6th grader and I can do with our chickens? I'm thinking about "Can chickens be trained" but I'm not I have that kind of patience.

All ideas or random thoughts appreciated!
Vicki

 

[Kristina]

Hmmm...how old are your chickens?

You could do some kind of egg development project. From egg to chick Have an egg, then various pictures of the different stages (which you can find online) then last but not least you can get a chick. If you have an incubator you could set up a faux incubation just for example. have a tray with a fresh fertile egg that shows the bullseye.

You could do a presentation on how the egg is formed.


Sorry if I sound scatterbrained...I'm thinking out loud

 

[mom'sfolly]

My fourth grader and I are building an incubator and hatching eggs for a science fair project. This project get you electronics, embryology, and is fun enough to get a kid interested. And you get chicks at the end if you did it right.

Another might be training a chicken to ring a bell. I think mine would do anything for a grape reward. They already jump up to get grapes. I think that chickens ahve been used alot in training experiments, maybe a web search would get you some good results.

karen

 

[carugoman]

Does anyone have any ideas of science fair experiments my 6th grader and I can do with our chickens?

How about making a rectangular,parabolic,solar-powered ice block generator to quickly chill down freshly butchered chickens?

This teaches all kinds of basics like thermodynamics; using the sun's heat to make ice,mathematics-linear and graphic algebra;using equations and graphs to solve for a real-life problem,metal and shopwork;basic skills needed to work with hand tools and a parent-guided introduction to power tools.​

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

We are trying to come up with an Idea too for my 8th grader. She came home and said they put down resrictions and that she can not use anything that includes a fertalized egg. I don't understand why.

Momsfolly... you might want to check on this. I dont know if it is just here or what.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Thanks, I'll check on that.

Karen

 

[SunChick]

Soon all science biologicals are going to be cracked down on. Unfortunately the risk of spreading disease through science experiments are growing and the rules are changing. I'll have to look at my rule book again (its at school right now) but many students have to go through very tight restrictions now with biologicals. Fertilized eggs fall into that category----this is going nationwide.

Maybe she can do something with clicker training? Or she can investigate the breed that uses the least amount of feed by producing the most eggs? (two variables there). She can choose the breeds, put them on the same feed (control) and keep a journal of how much they eat (she would have to weigh the feed (before and after)---dependent variable) and keep track of who is laying consistently( # eggs = dependent variable). Or she can test brands of feed for performance...use the same breed of chicken, serve different chickens of "comparable performance" (control) different brands of layer feed or table feed or home mixed feed. Keep track of eggs laid (dependent variable).

Just some ideas...

 

[Rosalind]

As someone who gets asked frequently to be a science fair judge, I can tell you the ones we like the best are the ones that answer a real scientific question and demonstrate the understanding of the intellectual process of science. That is, we want to see a hypothesis, a method for answering the question/hypothesis, organized data collection, and mathematical interpretation of results. carugoman's suggestion is an excellent one, because it has a hypothesis ("what are the optimal conditions for meat/food processing?") which can be answered in several ways: by number & of bacteria that can be collected from the carcass, by measurement of the length of time required to achieve known USDA-recommended parameters for temperature, humidity, etc., by taste-testing for texture and flavor, by time required to freeze the resulting carcass (food processors like Stouffer's or Perdue calculate a lot of $$ based on this one parameter), lots more that you can probably think of. Once those tests and measurements are collected, they can be analyzed statistically and mathematically for significance using plain old MS Excel, the school science teacher or any engineers you know can help you do a cost-benefit analysis (e.g., amount of electricity required to achieve the optimal conditions with various methods), there's probably some other math things you can do there. Coming up with an application, a solar-powered heat exchanger made from comparatively cheap components, is a lovely thing to do with the results, because there are many Third World countries where refrigeration is nearly impossible to come by, so that's a fantastic application.

Mostly what we are interested in is a demonstration of the intellectual process of science. How a hypothesis is generated, investigated and answered. Bear in mind that some hypotheses are better than others--if you generate a hypothesis like, "space aliens control our brains," that's not a good hypothesis because, well, how do you know for sure that your tinfoil hat is working? So, there's a certain amount of logic that has to go into it.

You can't use a fertilized egg because any time you use a vertebrate (as opposed to a worm or jellyfish) you have to have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approve your proposal per the US Animal Welfare Act. Most schools that are not universities don't have one. Any worm experiments you want to do, have a blast.

 

[karen]

Random thought for you...And a fun memory for me
When I had my first flock in 1989, my daughters were in Grades 4 and 6 and I ran a 4-H group. We studied the protein attributes in the egg. We did experiments in heat and proteins and what the two do in tandem.
Besides enjoying alot of egg dishes we also made "Baked Alaska"!

 

[carugoman]

any engineers you know can help you do a cost-benefit analysis (e.g., amount of electricity required to achieve the optimal conditions with various methods), there's probably some other math things you can do there. Coming up with an application, a solar-powered heat exchanger made from comparatively cheap components, is a lovely thing to do with the results, because there are many Third World countries where refrigeration is nearly impossible to come by, so that's a fantastic application.

Rosalind

In fact, I hold a Doctorate of Electrical/Computer Engineering and a Master's of Science in Mathematics. I have 24 years military experience as a Combat Engineer and am now "retired" as a small scale farmer. I'm the kid that lived down the road, that took apart things---just to see how they worked. I didn't go into as much detail as Rosalind did, but I'd be willing to lend a hand, either Email or Live Chat or whatever to help y'all in this endeavor. What I proposed, as a refrigeration unit, is being used, on a large scale, in Dubai. There, it's being used to chill and make ice/snow for an indoor ski slope and a toboggan run. Imagine that! On a much smaller scale, this system and its hardware can be made with fairly inexpensive,readily available parts from the local warehouse,plumbing or hardware stores.
If y'all decide that this isn't for you...give me some idea of likes/dislikes and I'll come up with something? 30 minutes with my first idea...dayum!
All y'all take care!​