I Wonder part 1: Great Blue Issue 5 2000

I Wonder
part one
Contents

Aluminum Light and Growing Plants
The Life of Batteries
Which Bean Grows Faster?
Bicarbonation Great Scott!
What Do Birds Eat?
Boat Design
How Do You Make Cameras?
Testing Wheels
Cat's Music Mood
Cat Food
The Affect of Catnip
Will Our Cats Obey Commands Better Than Our Kittens
Cinderbug's Treats
What Conducts Electricity ?
Corn, Beans, and Squash
What Kind of Food
Does Cosmo Like to Eat?
Evaporation
Heart Rate and Pulse
Best Fish Foods
Football
How Far Can You Throw a Football?
Freezy Fun
Changed by the Mold
What Liquids Freeze Quickest and Why
What is Maddy's Favorite Dog Treat?
Melting Ice
Mixtures
Reach for the Mold
Nature
What Food Does Peach Like?

Contact Us heron@wicip.org

Introduction

My question is about flowers. I have to put water in my plants. I want to know if aluminum foil will help the plants grow. I got my question from Ms. Fluno.

Procedure

I put dirt in my pop bottle. I put flower seeds in my pop bottle. I put water in my plants. I have three bottles. One has dirt and water. The second bottle has dirt, water and aluminum foil around the outside of the pop bottle. The third bottle has dirt.

Results

The bottle that has plants growing the best is the first bottle. The plants are growing.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank Ms. Fluno for giving me the idea.

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The Life of Batteries
by David
Randall School

Introduction

I wanted to see which battery would last the longest in a flashlight. I thought the True Value would be the best.

Procedure

I got 4 True Value flashlights and 4 sets of 2 batteries of the following types: Duracell, True Value, Rayovac Maximum, and Energizer. I loaded the flashlights and turned them on at 9:20 each day. I turned them off at different times each day. I checked them 5 times each day to see if they were still shining.

Results

The True Value one burned out but it was the flashlight, not the batteries. We put the batteries in a new Eveready flashlight. The Duracell and Rayovac burned out after approximately 24 hours. The Energizer and True Value were still working after 24 hours.

Interpreting Results

I think that Energizer and True Value are better batteries than Duracell and Rayovac. I think they stored more energy than the others.

New Directions

I would use new bulbs in each flashlight. I would use a better kind of Duracell to see if it lasts longer. I would make sure I turned them off at the same time and have a better way of knowing when they burned out.

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Which Bean Grows Faster?
By Maher and Michael
John Muir School

Introduction

We didn't know what to do for a project so our teacher bought some bean seeds and we decided to grow beans. We wanted to find out which bean seeds would grow best, depending on how much light they got. We planted tender green beans because they grow fast. We got the idea for our question from the Great Blue Journal last year. Some kids had a bean experiment in there and we thought it might be fun.

Hypothesis

We think the plant by the window will grow best because it gets sunlight. The one by the computer gets light from our classroom lights. The one in the closet gets no light and takes less watering. We think the one by the computer will grow second best.

Procedure

We got three pots and planted 4 seeds in each pot. We put one of the pots by the window, one next to the computer and one in the closet. We watered each pot when it was dry although the one in the closet barely even needed water. We checked to see how they were growing each Monday and Thursday but checked to see if they needed water every day we were at school. We kept track of our information on a chart.

Results

The first week none of the plants grew. The second week the window plant grew ten inches but the other plants didn't grow. The third week the window plant was 15 1/2 inches and the other plants still didn't grow. The fourth week the one by the window was 16 inches tall and the other plants had not grown at all.

Interpreting Results

We were surprised that the window one grew so fast and that the one next to the computer did not grow with the classroom lights. Everyone can guess that the one in the closet didn't grow. We think the one by the window grew so fast because it got a lot of sunlight and more water than the other two. We are going to keep it alive so we can plant it outside when the weather is warmer.

New Directions

If we could do this again we would grow them differently. We wouldn't put one in the closet, we would put it outside to see if it would grow the best.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our teacher, Mrs. Bostrom, for helping us come up with the idea.

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Introduction

I wanted to do experiments with chemicals that were not harmful.

Procedure

I chose to work with soap, vinegar, baking soda and water. I made hypothesis about what would happen. I did the experiments step by step mixing two or three chemicals at a time. I wrote down the results of each experiment.

Interpreting Results

I think there was a chemical reaction when baking soda and vinegar were mixed. The reason why the bubbles go away fast is because the chemicals in the baking soda or vinegar are used up. If you pour more vinegar or baking soda into the first mix, it will not bubble up more because the baking soda and vinegar chemicals are used up.

If I had a mix without baking soda and vinegar, I did not get an explosion because that mix is the only one that can do an explosion. All the mixes with soap had little soap bubbles.

Future Directions

It would be interesting to add another chemical such as oil to the experiments. I could determine the effect oil or another chemical has on the interaction of soap, vinegar and baking soda. Also, I could see if any interaction between oil and vinegar or oil and baking soda would occur when the new chemical is added.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to my teacher, Mr. Ken Swift, for bringing Great Blue to my class and for helping me to chose my project; my dad, Jeff Wilton, for helping with the experiments; my mom, Ann O'Brien, for typing and planning; Kylen's mom and dad, Kelly and Tom, for helping me to record my experiments.

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Introduction

My question is: "What do birds mostly eat on their own?" I do not mean what we feed them, I mean what they eat in nature on their own. My project came from a field trip. I went with my class to Owen woods. There I saw some birds flying around and I wondered what they ate, and then I chose this as my Great Blue project. I chose this project because I like birds and I want to learn more about them.

Procedure

I started out my project by looking out some windows in our school. I took short trips to Owen woods to see if there are any birds that eat a certain type of food. I went through some books to find the bird's name. I watched some birds until I saw them eating something and recorded it in my notebook. I made a chart to keep track of the bird's name and what they ate. I made a schedule of the time I watched the birds and places I watched the birds.

Results

This is what I found out.

Interpreting Results

I felt very proud and good about my results and my project, but I expected to see more birds eat in the woods and other places. I had the most difficulty trying to find out what the food was because I expected at least some food to be left out for me to figure out what it was.

New Directions

If I do this project again I would go to many more other places.

Acknowledgments

I felt very glad that I did this project because I learned something I didn't know. I would like to thank my teacher, Mr. Wiesner, my mom and my dad.

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Introduction

My question was: "What model boat design is better?" I was interested in boats because of family stories with boats in them; I have relatives who live on Wisconsin lakes and use boats every day. I wanted to find out what design would be best for carrying people and for traveling quickly. I thought that a flat bottom boat would hold the most weight and that a raft would be the fastest. My boat designs are fairly new. In 500 BC, people were in round boats.

Procedure

First, I chose balsa wood as a building material for my model boats. But it was too hard to cut. My next choice was to use the wood from Clementine boxes, because it is very light and strong. We had four boxes, but one was pressed wood so I couldn't use it. I started out by thinking of designs. I came up with three designs. I wanted three different shapes to compare. All three boats were 11.5 inches long. The raft's weight was 43 grams, the barge's weight was 230 grams and the flat bottom's weight was 156 grams. First, I made a basic, rectangular raft with a sail. I used wooden chopsticks to make a straight, narrow mast. Then I cut some strips of wood to go across the mast. Then I cut plastic into thin sheets for the sails. Second, I made a flat- bottomed ship with sides that curved to a pointed bow. It had the same mast and sail. Third, I made a four-sided barge. It also had a similar mast and sail.

Test and Results

First, I put the raft in water to make sure that it floated. It floated but it was easy to swamp.

Then I tried the flat bottom boat. It floated pretty well but sprung a leak so I resealed it with glue. Next we tried the barge which floated great and didn't have any leaks.
Next, I tested for speed. I tried a fan as an artificial wind source but I had to change that because it wasn't low enough. Then I used a blower, set on low. The raft spun with no control at all but covered the distance which was about five feet in four seconds. The flat-bottomed boat had more control but made it in 5.8 seconds. Next, we used the barge which covered the distance in 5.2 seconds with little control.
I did another test seeing how much weight the boats could carry. I used glass beads, that weighed 2.4 grams, like Mancala stones, for weights. The flat bottom boat sprung a leak with 13 weights. Then I tried the flat bottom again with plastic wrap stapled on the bottom. Then it went 1 and7/8 inches beneath the surface but carried 150 weights. The barge (with plastic wrap) carried 200 weights but went 1 and 7/8 inches down. The raft (with plastic wrap) sunk with 12 weights.

Interpreting Results

My hypothesis was half correct. The raft was the fastest but it was the barge that carried the most, not the flat-bottomed boat. This means that the barge design is the strongest and can probably carry the most people. The raft seems fastest but is hard to control.

New Directions

If I could do this project again, I'd use more designs and do more tests. I'd try longer distances.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my Dad for helping me.

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How Do You Make Cameras?
by Crystal
John Muir School

Introduction

Hi, my name is Crystal Han. My Great Blue Book project question is how you make cameras. At first, I could not think of one single question! I looked around the classroom and was hoping that something would give me an idea. I saw a camera that we used for special events. Suddenly, I got the feeling that I wanted to learn about cameras. I think this question is very important because I like to take pictures. I thought cameras were made of metals. I expected that I would make a big beautiful black camera!

Procedures

To answer my question, I decided to make a camera. Here are the materials I used:

1. a rectangle shape cardboard box

2. a scissors

3. a pencil

4. some scotch tape

5. black paper

6. light-proof cloth

7. a rubber band

8. a film

9. a bottle of glue

10. a piece of aluminum foil

The following are the procedures:

1. I covered the inside of the cardboard box with the black paper.

2. Cut one small hole (1-inch square) at the one end of the box.

3. Cut one much larger hole (3-inch square) at the other end of the box.

4. I then cut a 2-inch square of foil, pierced a tiny hole (3 mm) in the

center with a sharp pencil, put the foil with the tiny hole over the box's

smaller opening and taped it in place.

5. Cut a square of thin cardboard large enough to cover the small opening

and tape only top edge to the box to make a flap that will act as a shutter.

6. Cut another square of cardboard to fit across the other end of the box.

Tape it to one edge so that it closes over the hole like a door.

7. Cut a piece of light-proof cloth large enough to fold over the end of

the box with the larger opening.

8. In the completely dark room, put a piece of film under the flap at the

end of the box.

9. Close the flap and wrap the cloth over it. Put the rubber band around

the cloth to keep it in place.

10. Now I turn the light on, point the camera at the well-lit object. My object is a car . I opened the shutter and left the camera still for about 5 min. Then, closed the shutter. Then I developed the film.

Results and Interpreting Results

At the end of my experiment I saw the picture of the car on the film. It only showed the front part of the car, the front wheel and the windows. I thought I would make a camera that was black. Instead I made a white and red camera with cardboard. I am very proud of my experiment of making a camera.

I also took a picture of a toy Mickey that was taller than the car. It turned out I only took a picture of the bottom of the toy. I learned that if my objects were high I would need to raise the height of the camera. Next time I would like to take a picture of a toy that glows in the dark.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my mom, Dandan, and my teacher, Mr. Bob Wiesner, for encouraging me to be a part of the Great Blue program.

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Testing Wheels
By Ilya
John Muir School

Introduction

My project is related to last years project on how we made 2 model rockets and 1 of them had 4 extra fins. I'm doing the same thing with my car. I'm testing 3 wheels, 4 wheels, and 6 wheels on a car by sending all the different numbers of wheels down a ramp of 4 dictionaries and seeing which would go furthest. My hypothesis is that the 6 wheeled car would go furthest.

Procedure

I first built the car out of a 2 by 4, 11 inches long. I drilled 3 holes all the way through the side and a notch in front big enough for a K'nex wheel to rotate. I used 2 4" screws for each axle, with a straw piece just below each screw head. I then put on a K'nex wheel on each screw. Next I put an axle with a wheel on it in one side of the 3 holes. Then I took the other screw and put it through the other side and screwed it in because 2 screws can be tightened and loosened. I then tested 6 wheels. When testing 4 and 3 wheels I put the extra wheels on top of the car to even out the weight. I ran 10 tests for each number of wheels. I tested them on the carpet and floor.

Results

On the carpet the 4 wheeled car went furthest, 3 wheels was second best, and 6 wheels came in last. On the floor, the 4 wheeled car again went furthest, 6 wheels came in second and 3 wheels failed because it kept on crashing into the wall. Overall, 4 Wheels went furthest in all the tests, 6 wheels was second best, and 3 wheels came in last.

Interpreting results

My hypothesis was wrong. The 6 wheeled car came in second. I think it was second because more wheels create friction. The 3 wheeled car didn't come in first probably because of the stability. If a car has more wheels and it creates more friction, it would need a bigger engine. A bigger engine would cause more pollution.

New directions

If you ever try to repeat my project I suggest you take stability into mind. I think this might be useful because if more wheels create more friction, the tires on a 6 wheeled car would wear down more easily and be replaced more often.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Mr. Wiesner for pushing me on.

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Cat's Music Mood
by Sarah and Molly
Randall School

Introduction

We were playing with Ed, the cat, when we thought of our idea for our science experiment. We thought that we could do an experiment to see if Ed would jump higher depending on the different kinds of music we played. That didn't work too well. Our teacher gave us a similar idea, so we used it. The idea was to have the cat in a room at different times with different kinds of music, classical and hard rock. Then we would observe Ed to see if his behavior changed as a result of the type of music that was on. We thought that Ed would be more playful or active with classical music because he might be afraid of hard rock.

Procedure

For our project we brought Ed into Sarah's room. Then we started the music on the highest volume at 6:15 p.m. We watched Ed for six minutes. After two minutes we threw a toy at him to see how he reacted to it. Then we let him out of the room to see what he did. We observed and wrote down what we saw. We completed two trials.

Results

Our results were that Ed was not very playful for either type of music. Each time we played hard rock he went into his litter box and looked nervous. He had tight muscles and he was looking back and forth. Afterwards he attacked Sarah by biting her head both times. For classical music Ed was affectionate and ignored the music. Afterwards he ate the other cat's food both times. Please look below to read our data.

Classical Music: Trial 1

The cat was: cleaning, wagging his tail, walking to the door, twitching his ears, sniffing the door, laying on this paper, biting his tail, and chewing on things.

After being let out of the room the cat was: running, sniffing, eating the other cat's food, and twitching his tail.

Classical Music: Trial 2

The cat was: laying on Sarah's bed, jumping off her bed, licking his fur by the door, looking at the toy when Molly threw it, looking back between Sarah and Molly, sprawled by the door, and appeared scared, tense, confused.

After letting the cat out of the room the cat was: walking into the parents' room, going behind the couch in the parents' room, going out the other end of the couch, and eating the other cat's food.

Hard Rock, "Flesh Eaters"-Trial 1

The cat was: not very playful when the toy was thrown, going to the litter box and using it, twitching, hiding, shaking the litter box, scratching the litter box, cleaning, licking, twice walking away from the music source to clean; appeared suspicious, confused, and uneasy.

After being let out of the room, the cat was running fast back and forth all over the house attacking Sarah and the couch.

Hard Rock, "Flesh Eaters"-Trial 2

The cat was: cleaning, not approaching his toy, approaching the tape player, smelling the rug, smelling the litter box, looking at us, sitting near door, playing with string, laying down near Sarah, wagging his tail to the beat, smelling a tiger rug, fighting a tiger rug, laying down, appeared uneasy and confused

After being let out of the room the cat: ran out, went into the parents' room, went under the parents' bed, looked at the other cat in the parents' room, cleaned, wagged tail, attacked Sarah

Interpreting Results

Our hypothesis was in a way right. Ed was a little scared for hard rock and he was more playful for classical. He wagged his tail, was not scared, and did not chew on things. We assumed he was more scared by hard rock because he was hiding and looking suspicious and confused.

New Directions

Next time we do this experiment we will try to remind our parents not to come into the room while we are doing it so he doesn't get disturbed and change his mood. We would also put a video camera in the room instead of us so we won't distract Ed by laughing or anything else.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our teacher for the wonderful ideas, our parents for arranging schedules for us, and of course, Ed, for letting us use him.

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Cat Food
by Morgan
Randall School

Introduction

My question is, "Do cats like junk food or healthy food better?" I wanted to do this question partly because I wanted to know which treat my cats like best and partly because I wanted to know what treat is best for my cats. My hypothesis was that my cats would like junk food best.

Procedure

I had four kinds of treats. They were Bil-Jac, Whisker Lickins, Pounce, and Cosmic Catnip Treats. The Bil-Jac is the healthiest, Whisker Lickins are the healthier ones, Pounce is just healthy, and Cosmic Catnip Treats are animal junk food.

To do my experiment I put each kind of cat treats on a different plastic Ziplock bag. I lined up the bags. I put the same amount of treats (three pieces) on each bag. Then I got my first cat (Hepzibah) and put her in the middle of the line of bags and saw which treat she went to first. I assumed this meant that was the treat she preferred. Then I did the same with my second cat, Phoebe. I did four trials for each cat.

Results

Trial 1, Cat 1 (Hepzibah)

Hepzibah sniffed and tasted (licked) each food probably to decide which she liked best (much like Phoebe). First she ate the Bil-Jac treats, not leaving one. Then she ate the Pounce treat and left one. Next came the Whisker Lickins-she left one of these too. Hepzibah ignored the Cosmic Treats completely. This is the order: Bil-Jac, Pounce, and Whisker Lickins. Or healthiest, healthy, and finally, healthier.

Trial 1, Cat 2 (Phoebe)

Phoebe sniffed and tasted (licked) each food probably to decide which one she liked best. After doing this, she devoured the Cosmic Treats quickly, ignoring the rest as if they weren't there. She finished each kind of food separately in this order: Cosmic Catnip Treats, Whisker Lickins, Pounce, and finally Bil-Jac. Or animal junk food, healthier, healthy, and healthiest. Afterwards, she threw up.

Trial 2-Cat 1 (Hepzibah)

This time Hepzibah did not taste. She first devoured each Cosmic Catnip Treat first. Then she ate all but one of the Whisker Lickins. Next, she devoured all the Bil-Jac treats. She ignored the Pounce treats.

Trial 2, Cat 2 (Phoebe)

Phoebe did not taste. She ate the Cosmic Catnip Treats then ignored the rest. I think this is because she threw up the night before.

Trial 3, Cat 1 (Hepzibah)

Hepzibah sniffed the treats, then ate her regular cat food (Science Diet).

Trial 3, Cat 2 (Phoebe)

Phoebe sniffed the Bil-Jac and the Pounce then ate all the Whisker Lickins. Then she ate the Pounce.

Trial 4, Cat 1 (Hepzibah)

Hepzibah sniffed three Bil-Jac and Cosmic Catnip Treats and then ate all of the Whisker Lickens. Then she ate one Cosmic Catnip treat.

Trial 4, Cat 2 (Phoebe)

Phoebe ate one Whisker Licken. Then she left.

Both Hepzibah and Phoebe liked Whisker Lickens best. Hepzibah liked Bil-Jac second best, Pounce third best, and Cosmic Catnip treats the least. Phoebe liked Cosmic Catnip Treats the second best, Pounce the third best, and Bil-Jac the least. Together they liked Whisker Lickens the best, Cosmic Catnip Treats the second best, Pounce the third best, and Bil-Jac the least. My hypothesis was mostly wrong. They liked the second healthiest food the best rather than the junk food.

Interpreting Results

I think they like Whisker Lickins best because it was instinctual to like healthy food, yet the healthiest food didn't taste very good. Therefore, they just decided on the second healthiest food.

New Directions

If I were to do this again I would move my cats' regular food out of the kitchen before starting my experiment. I also might try to figure my results in a slightly different way.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank my twin sister, Hannah, for remembering things about my experiment that I forgot. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for buying my supplies (cat treats) and putting up with my experiment.

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The Affect of Catnip
by Hannah
Randall School

Introduction

Does catnip affect a cat's playfulness? That was my question. Actually, this idea just came to me one day while I was doing my homework. My hypothesis was: The more catnip that I give my cat, Tom, the more playful he will be.

Procedure

This experiment was very easy to conduct. All I needed was a cat, a cat toy, and catnip.

On day one of my experiment, at precisely 7:30 p.m., I gave my cat 3 tsp. of catnip before play. I played with him in my room and observed his playfulness. On day two of my experiment at 7:30 p.m., I brought Tom to my room and gave him 1 tsp. of catnip before playing with him in my room. On day three, at 7:30 p.m., I gave Tom 1/4 tsp. of catnip and played with him in my room. On day four I didn't give Tom any catnip and played with him in my room. I repeated this again so that I had two trials. Every time I recorded my results.

Results

When I gave Tom the most catnip (3 tsp.) it made him the most playful. He ran across the room, rolled in the catnip, and his facial expressions changed from a contented look to a gleaming, devilish look. He played for 21 minutes. The second trial of the same dosage amount was the exact same as the first.

When I gave Tom 1 tsp. of catnip on the first trial, his facial expressions changed from a contented look to a devilish look again. He ran across the room and rolled in the catnip. He played for 26 minutes. The second trial of the same dosage amount was the same except that he played for 10 minutes.

The littlest amount of catnip that I gave Tom (1/4 tsp.) didn't make him very playful. On the first trial his facial expressions changed from a contented look to a devilish look one more time and he rolled in the catnip. He played for 27 minutes. On the second trial at this dosage his facial expressions changed to show his small, white razor teeth to a smile and he jumped. He played for 26 minutes.

When I played with Tom without giving him any catnip he played for 27 minutes on the first trial. His facial expressions changed with his ears back to a playful, happy look and he ran across the room. On the second trial without catnip we only played for 8 minutes. This time he changed his facial expressions from a contented look to a devilish look for the third time.

Interpreting Results

My hypothesis was proven correct! The most catnip that I gave Tom, which was 3 tsp., made him the most playful. The smallest amount, which was none, made him the least playful.

New Directions

If I were to do this experiment again, I would feed Tom less catnip, because every time I was cringing, hoping he would eat it all, and of course, he did. Another reason I would use less catnip is because I didn't want him to get addicted. Addictions could lead to wild mood swings or temper tantrums.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my cat, especially. I would also like to thank my teacher, Mrs. Mincberg, and my parents for helping me.

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Introduction

My name is Jillie and my cats names are Cecil (9 years) and Killian (14 years). My name is Angelina and my kittens names are Tiger (10 months) and Maggie (6 months). We are doing this project because we are interested in cats and kittens. These simple tricks might come in handy if they are in harm. For example, the "go" command can be used if the cat or kitten is in danger because you would have a way to signal that they need to move quickly away from the area without causing any discomfort to them.

Hypothesis: We think cats will beg best and kittens will go best. We are not sure kittens are capable of jumping up. The cats are more mature and have more experience so they probably do more complicated things. Also, cats are a little bigger than kittens so we think that kittens may also have trouble rearing up to beg.

Procedure

We made a chart and defined two commands for the cats to accomplish. Then we taught them how to do these simple commands. We demonstrated what we wanted them to do when we used a voice command and hand motions. We tested the cats and kittens nine times. We tested them in a small enclosed area. The cats and kittens did the "go" command first. Then we took a small break and we tested them on beg. We used a soundless toy to encourage them to "go" and we rewarded them for trying with treats.

Results

The cats just sat there and looked at us when we were testing them. They were trying to get out of the room when we demonstrated what we wanted them to do. They didn't do a thing. The kittens, however, did a little better than the cats. One kitten did much better than the rest.

New Directions

We think the trainers should get to know the cats/kittens before they are tested so they wouldn't be scared. The cats should have been taught the commands before the trials so they would already know what to do.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our moms for arranging all of the times we got together to test the cats and kittens. We would also like to thank them for all the help on the report. We would like to thank our teacher, Mrs. Bostrom, for encouraging us to do this project and for all the time in school she gave us to work on it.

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Cinderbug's Treats
by Leah
Randall School

Introduction

My question was, "What flavor of Bonkers (a cat treat) does my cat, Cinderbug, like best?" I did this experiment because I have a cat and I wanted to know what flavor treat to buy him. My hypothesis was that Cinderbug would go to the seafood flavor first.

Procedure

At 6:45 a.m. I put the four flavors of Bonkers in a row. I put seven treats in each pile and behind the pile of treats I put the bag that the rest of that flavor of treats was in. After that I put Cinderbug in the middle of the treats. I let him go and waited to see which one he went to first. I did three trials.

Results

My hypothesis was wrong. Cinderbug ate liver first, then shrimp and tuna, next seafood, and last chicken. On the second trial, Cinderbug tried to get into the liver bag and the shrimp and tuna bag.

Interpreting Results

Cinderbug might have gone to the liver first because it smelled the strongest or maybe because he liked it best.

New Directions

If I were to do this experiment again, I would have the last flavor of Bonkers be gourmet flavor. I would also do the experiment on more than one cat so that I could find the most liked flavor of many cats, not just mine. A problem that I ran into with my experiment was that I wanted to know what brand Cinderbug liked best. However, the pet store didn't have one of the brands, "Pounce". So, I had to change my experiment from brands to flavors.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my mom for buying me the treats. I would also like to thank Mrs. Mincberg for getting me involved. And last, but not least, I would like to thank my cat, Cinderbug.

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Introduction

We were interested in electricity. Our question was, "What can electricity go through?"

We were curious if it would go through metal, plastic, wood, and other things. We did not have a hypothesis.

Procedure

We used an Eveready Classic Lantern battery, two wires, and a light bulb. Using these, we made a circuit. Next, we placed each object between the wire and the metal on the stand attached to the light bulb. We wrote down the name of each object we used to tell whether or not the light bulb lit. We weren't sure if anything would work to light the bulb. The two of us had different ideas. We decided to just try it out.

Results

As you can see in the list below, we noticed that things made of metal don't block electricity.

Type of Material Did the Bulb Light Up ?

tin foil yes

metal pan yes

plastic pen no

chalk no

metal paper clip yes

nickel yes

penny yes

balloon no

pipe cleaner no

marker no

eraser no

battery no

wood no

plastic wrap no

plastic chip no

crayon no

Interpreting Results

These objects conducted electricity because they had metal in them.

New Directions

After doing this experiment it made us wonder what else conducts electricity.

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Introduction

Hello, my name is Tonny and my question is, Which plant grows faster: beans, squash, or corn? I got this project with my teacher, Mr. Wagler. He asked me what did I want for my Great Blue project and I picked this one. I expected to find which plant grows fastest. If the plants don't grow, I will have to get a new Great Blue project.

Procedure

The materials I used were pots, seeds, jars, and a container to put the seeds in. I used these kinds of materials because you are supposed to put the seeds in the jars and pots. We planted the seeds on March 1st. I put three seeds in each pot. Oh yeah, there is another material that I forgot: water. Then you water them if you want them to grow for your project.

While I was waiting for them to grow, I read in Great Blue and took notes in the I Wonder section. I found an article that was about some of my questions.

I collected data when my plants were growing. The sprouts in the jars were growing first. Then the plants in the pots were catching up. The plants in the pots were growing taller. Then the next day it even grew taller. I measured them with a ruler. I measured them to see how tall they got each day. I also measured the ones in jars. The sprouts in the jars look like aliens from outer space.

The beans in the jars are taller and taller. Like I said, I water them on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I think I watered them too much in one week. That's why they grow so tall.

Results

I counted my days and the corn was supposed to come up in two or more weeks but it hasn't. I think we had bad seeds or it takes more weeks. Three beans and one squash grew and the tallest were the beans.

The first day that I saw any leaves was March 8th and two leaves were on the squash. Three leaves were on the beans and four were on the other beans. And there were two on the other bean plant.

The bean plants keep on growing and growing every day but I can't tell you how tall they have grown because I lost my sheet that told me how tall they grew.

New Directions

If I were to do this project again or if someone else were to, they would need very good corn seeds or else it won't grow.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Mr. Wagler, my teacher, Mr.Wong, a student teacher, and Erwin, Helen's grandpa, because he helped me the most.

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What Kind of Food
Does Cosmo Like to Eat?
by Cody
John Muir School

Introduction

Cosmo is my dog. I got the idea for my question about what kind of food he likes to eat because he will eat absolutely anything. I decided to do this project because I like to work with my dog. I am in third grade.

Hypothesis: I thought he would like T-Bones the best because they smell good to dogs and they look like a bone.

Procedure

I put out 6 different foods in separate bowls. I used Dog Chow, Cheerios, T-Bones, bread, Jerky Treats and Alpo. I put the bowls in a row. I still fed him at the regular times (he eats two times each day). I sat down, watched him and recorded what he ate.

Results

After four trials he liked Jerky Treats the best and Alpo was second. He ate Dog Chow fourth the most times, Cheerios fifth the most times, T-Bones third and first the most times, bread sixth the most times, Jerky Treats first the most times, and Alpo second the most times. On the sixth trial he didn't eat the bread. I thought maybe that was because it was a dark color.

It turned out that he liked Jerky Treats first, T-Bones second, Alpo third, Dog Chow fourth,

Cheerios fifth and bread last. Jerky Treats were first because he went to them first the same amount of times as T-Bones but they had more 2's than T-Bones. I picked Alpo third because there was a 1 and none of the other foods had a 1 and Dog Chow fourth because there were more 4's than Cheerios.

Interpreting Results

I was surprised that he ate Jerky Treats the best because it is a new treat. He did eat Jerky Treats and T- Bones first the same amount of times though. I was also surprised that he didn't eat the bread the sixth time.

New Directions

If I did this experiment again I would pick foods that are brighter and I would also have more choices.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my mom for getting the food, my dad for the whole idea, my dog for eating the food, and Mrs. Bostrom for typing up my project.

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Evaporation
by Lewis
Randall School

Introduction

My question was, "Which liquid evaporates fastest?" I did this project because I always liked evaporation and clouds. I decided to gather some liquids to see which one would evaporate the fastest. My hypothesis was that saltwater would evaporate the fastest.

Procedure

I put out five 8 ounce cups and filled each with 1/2 cup of water. I added 1 Tbsp. of a different ingredient to each. These ingredients were: salt, sugar, vinegar, and baking soda. I left the cups in a windowsill that faced north for five days. Each day after school I checked my cups and wrote down what I observed.

Results

On the first day I checked. Nothing had changed in any of the cups. I skipped the second day because I forgot to look. On the third day all of the cups were the same; they only had 1 and 1/16 of an inch of liquid left. On the fourth day the cups were the same again; they only had 15/16 of an inch of liquid left. On the fifth day they only had 1/16 of an inch of liquid left in them

New Directions

Five days was not enough time to do this experiment. The liquids never had time to fully evaporate. After five days I decided to continue the experiment. The baking soda evaporated completely. Nothing else has totally evaporated yet. Right now, however, vinegar is in second place, sugar water is in third, and saltwater is in fourth place.

Interpretation of Results

My hypothesis was incorrect. Maybe the water with baking powder in it evaporated faster because it's easier for the water to separate from the baking soda in order to evaporate.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank my dad for helping me with my project.

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Heart Rate and Pulse
by Shanay
Lincoln Elementary

Introduction

My question is how different pulses happen to children and adults doing different exercises. I got the question by looking in the Great Blue book and I found an article about pulse but not exercise.

Procedure

When I started I wanted to grow different grass and see what type can grow under water best. I lost interest, so I changed to check people's pulses. I made a chart with all the kids' names in my class. Then I copied the chart and Mr. Jenks asked, "Do you know how to check pulses?" I said "No." He told me to go to Nurse Tomberlain and she helped me a lot.

Mr. Jenks told me I could also take a pulse for 30 seconds and then double the number of heart beats. I checked lots of kids. I checked 14 kids and 1 adult. I also went to the library and found one book about pulse and they showed me how to take the pulse of men, women, children and even a newborn baby.

This is the kind of exercises I had people do. I had them do sit ups by bending their legs and putting their arms behind their head. I had them jump rope, do push ups, shake their arms, and jumping jacks.

Interpreting Results

There are three exercises that affect the heart. They are shaking arms, jumping, and doing jumping jacks. The pulse went the highest for those exercises.

For example, Scott had a pulse of 40 before exercising and it went up to 100 after jumping and up to 86 after jumping jacks. Brenda went from 40 to 100 for jumping, 80 for arm shaking and 96 for jumping jacks.

Acknowledgements

I thank Mr. Jenks because he helped me to learn to check pulse. I thank Nurse Tomberlain for showing me where to find the pulse. I thank the kids for letting me experiment on them and for working hard.

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Best Fish Foods
by Brent
Lincoln Elementary

Introduction

I want to know if different foods will make my fish heavier in weight. I came up with the idea because I love fishing. I just thought of it.

Procedure

I did this first. I used a big fish tank and three goldfish. I divided the tank into three parts using window screening. I labeled each section 1, 2, or 3. I put in my three fish in the tank. Then I fed them. Finally I weighed them. I fed and weighed them everyday we did Great Blue.

This is how I weigh the fish. I fill up a measuring cup with 250 ml of water. Then I caught a fish with a net and put it in the measuring cup to weigh it. The water weighed 150 grams. Then I weighed the water and fish. I would subtract the little number from the big number to find out how much the fish weighed.

I used 3 different types of fish food. Fish 1 ate Cichlid Basic. Fish 2 ate freeze dried tubifex worms. Fish 3 ate goldfish flakes. I made sure that I put in the exact amount of food.

Results

Acknowledgements

I thank the worms because the evidence showed they made my fish the biggest in the least amount of time. I want to thank my Mom for helping me think how to put the tank together, my brother for supporting me, my Dad for buying the fish and the food. I want to thank the fish for eating the food.

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Football
by Ace
John Muir School

Introduction

I like football. I wanted to know how to kick the ball better. I wanted to know how to throw the ball better. Aim and distance are important because you've got to get the ball where you want it to be a good player.

Procedure

I went outside on our playground to practice football. I wanted to find out how to aim the ball better when I threw it and when I kicked it. I experimented with kicking and throwing.

These are the questions I used:

1. Do I throw better if I have my non-throwing arm stretched out in front of me?

2. Do I throw better when I start with my body sideways to what I'm throwing at?

3. Do I throw better when I move my weight from my back foot to my front foot?

4. Do I kick better if I hold the ball with my left hand before I kick with my right foot?

5. Do I kick better if I take one step with my left foot before I kick with my right foot?

6. Do I kick better if I hold the ball by myself or if somebody else holds it?

My supplies were a football, a cone and a tape measure. I got them from my teachers. I made a data sheet to collect my data. Then I went outside to practice. I measured how far the ball went (distance) and how close to the cone the ball landed (aim).

Results

Throwing: I found out throwing with my body sideways was better than throwing with my body frontwards. It was better for aim and distance. Distance and aim were also better when I threw the ball and moved my weight from back to front. I threw the ball with my non-throwing arm stretched out. Then I threw the ball with my non-throwing arm by my side. The first time, arm by my side was better for distance and aim. The second time, distance and aim were better with my arm stretched out. I don't know which one is better. If I got to do more throws I would figure out which one is better.

Kicking: I found out that if I take a step before I kick the ball, distance is better than if I don't take a step. Aim was better once when I took a step but not the other time. When somebody else held the ball, I kicked farther than when I held the ball. Aim and distance were better when I held the ball with my left hand.

Acknowledgments

The project was fun because I got to go outside to practice throwing and kicking the ball. I learned how to kick better. I learned how to throw the ball farther than I used to. I'd like to thank my teachers, Mrs. Bostrom and Katy Conley, for helping me with the project and the other teachers who went outside with me to help me measure.

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How Far Can You Throw a Football?
by Eliza
Randall School

Introduction

"How does height, age, gender and experience effect how far you throw a football?" I got interested in this question last year when my dad and I were thinking of a question that most kids would enjoy participating in. I didn't finish this project last year because I started so late, but this year I started in February, finished my project and had lots of fun! In my article you'll find lots of graphs and interesting results.

Procedure

In early February I got my project approved. I had a partner, Marie, who helped me when I tested people. It took awhile to get everyone in my class tested, because it seemed like whenever I had time kids were in ESL or Title. First Marie and I tested each other. Each of us threw the football 3 times while the other person stood 10-20 feet away from the thrower. This person marked the spot where the football landed with their feet. Then the other one of us measured to that spot using a trundle wheel, which measured in meters.

Everyone threw the same football in the same area so everything would be fair. Once each person threw the football we took them inside and measured their height, wrote down if they were a boy or a girl and when their birthday was (age, month and year) so I could figure out how old they were in months.

Now I was wondering if and how much experience and time spent playing football each week also affects how far you throw a football. So I interviewed everyone and asked them 2 questions. The first one was: "How many seasons have you been playing football in the Randall Football League?" The Randall Football League is run by a 5th grade teacher and and the gym teacher, who quarterbacked for 9 different teams that play each other all the way to the playoffs and then to the Rose Bowl. The other question was:"About how much time do you spend playing football each week during the school year?" I had replies to this question that ranged from 15 hours to no time at all.

I then put all my data into a spreadsheet and made 3 graphs. The first one was comparing distance and height (which was in inches), then a graph comparing distance and age (which was in months), and the last graph compared distance to time spent playing football each week (which was in minutes).

During this project I had some problems. One was when I asked the gym teacher for a football. He gave me one that deflated in about 2 days!

So I solved that problem by getting another football that worked fine except that every 4 or 5 days it would lose some air.

Results

Right away I knew I had lots of data collected. So I made averages, first for 4th grade boys, 4th grade girls, 5th grade girls, 5th grade boys, the whole 4th grade, then 5th grade and the whole class. The group results were very interesting. I first of all noticed the big difference between 4th and 5th grade. The 4th grade average throw was 9 meters long, while the 5th grade's average throw was 15.7 meters long. And the whole class's average was 12.9 meters long.

Next I looked at the 3 graphs I made. In graphs 1 and 2 the results really didn't prove much. For example in graph 1, which was comparing distance to height, I had someone 63 inches tall (the tallest in the class) who threw 19 meters. Then the third shortest kid, who was 52 inches tall, threw the farthest, 24.3 meters. Though 19 meters is far, it is still 5.3 meters short of the farthest. These 2 kids were so different in height and their throws were quite different. Outside of them, it seemed like kids who were over 4 feet 6 inches tall threw 12.7 meters, while kids under 4 feet 6 inches threw an average of 8.9 meters.

In graph 2 I compared distance and age. This graph also was pretty confusing. The oldest kid was 140 months and threw 6.1 meters. Then to add to my weird results, the youngest kid was 116 months old and threw 6.1 meters! Of course between these 2 there were 22 other kids and ages.

The kid who threw 24.3 meters was 127.5 months old; the person who threw 4.3 meters was 117 months old. I guess it proves that age may make a difference in how far you throw because you'll have a little more experience, usually. But all together I wouldn't count on age determining how good of a player you really are.

The last graph I made was used for seeing if how much you play affects how far you throw. My hypothesis was that people who play a lot of football each week would throw the farthest. The graph shows that my hypothesis was mostly right, but again it didn't totally prove a point. Of the 8 kids who said they didn't spend any time playing football, all threw under 9.5 meters. Most of the kids who threw over 14 meters spent at least 100 minutes playing football. The most anyone played was 900 minutes and yet they threw only 14.6 meters. The next most time was 12 hours each week, and that kid threw 19 meters. Then the kid who threw 24.3 meters spent 10 hours each week which is still a lot of time!

Interpreting Results

As you can see, in graphs 1 and 2, I can't really say I proved anything. But graph 3 shows pretty obviously that a lot of time and practice will help you throw farther. Maybe, though, you might surprise yourself with a far throw and a strong arm, but I wouldn't count on that because as they say, "Practice makes perfect!"

New Directions

If I were to do this project again I would definitely try to interview and test more people of different ages. I would also buy my own football because the football I used had almost no grip and with a better football kids could throw farther.

This article also could have been better if I had made more graphs and made them easier to read. Another thing that would have been nice would be if I did my project in the fall or spring and I wouldn't have to test people in the snow with their winter coats on, which easily could have made a difference.

Acknowledgments

I would first of all like to thank my mom and dad for helping me get the idea and encouraging me all the way through. I also want to thank my teacher Mr. Wagler and the computer lab teacher Ms. Streeter for helping me make the graphs.

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Freezy Fun
by Kelsey
Randall School

Introduction

This is a good experiment if you like popsicles. The experiment was to see which liquid would freeze first. My hypothesis was that water, out of six liquids, would freeze first.

Procedure

I did only one trial for this experiment because I did not have all the things I needed to do it two times. To do the experiment, first I poured 1/2 cup of milk, juice, maple syrup, water, and orange pop into cups. Then, I set a timer for 1/2 hour and put the liquid in the freezer. When I returned, I then monitored the liquid until one froze.

Results

To my surprise, the Hi-C juice and the pop froze at 1 hour and 15 minutes. The maple syrup didn't freeze at all. My hypothesis was wrong. I thought water would freeze first. It froze about 15 minutes after the pop.

Interpreting Results

I think that the reason why pop and juice froze first was because they were less dense.

New Directions

If I did this experiment again I would use different liquids and finish more trials.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my mom for getting me all the things I needed.

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Introduction

I started out with a project about snow. It melted with the snow. So I decided to go with a project about how leaves change when they are decomposing.

Procedure

I decided to get my decomposing leaves from the compost pile out in back of our classroom. The other leaves I picked up off the ground. I looked at them both under a microscope and compared differences. I kept my data in sheets. I watched them for about six days.

Interpreting Results

The decomposing leaves had a lot less structure, probably because they were breaking down. The colors were completely unpredictable, with mold everywhere and a fair amount of mud. The ones that weren't decomposing had a patternlike structure, fairly predictable colors, and no mud.

New Directions

Next time, I will pick the leaves that aren't decomposing right off the trees.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mr. Wiesner for letting me go outside during project time, even when it's raining.

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What Liquids Freeze Quickest and Why
by Michael
John Muir School

Introduction

I am in fourth grade at Muir. My question was "What liquids freeze quickest and why?" I got the idea when my mom and I were brainstorming ideas because I didn't have a project.

Hypothesis: My hypothesis was that the liquids would freeze in the following order: water, wine, grapefruit juice, grape juice, orange juice, then milk. I thought that water would freeze first because it has no solids and I thought milk would freeze last because it has fats in it.

Procedure

I tested 6 different liquids: water, milk, grapejuice, orange juice, grapefruit juice and red wine. I kept the liquids in a muffin pan in the freezer and checked on them every half hour for one day.

Results

Here is the order that the liquids froze in: water, milk, grape juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, and last red wine.

Interpreting Results

I know that water froze first because it has no solid form in it. I am guessing that wine froze last because it has less water and contains alcohol. Water freezes when its molecules stop moving because the temperature decreases. Therefore, I was curious as to why the other liquids froze more slowly than the water. Different liquids have different freezing points. For example, water freezes at 0 degrees C. The composition of a substance affects sits freezing point. Pure substances freeze at one specific temperature. However, mixtures consisting of several chemically uncombined substances freeze over a range of temperatures. The freezing point of most liquids can be lowered by adding another substance. For example, the alcohol in the red wine very likely impacted the wine's freezing point just as antifreeze does in your car radiator during the winter.

New Directions

If I were to do this again I would test more liquids.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my mom for making this possible, my dad for helping me record data, my brother for testing one liquid, and my babysitter, John Perry, for reminding me to check the liquids.

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What is Maddy's Favorite Dog Treat?
by Jacob and Sean
John Muir School

Introduction

We are in fourth grade in Mrs. Bostrom's class. Our question was what is Maddy's (Jacob's dog) favorite dog treat? We got interested in this project when we saw something like this in last year's Great Blue Journal and we wanted to do a project using Maddy.

Hypothesis: We used eight different dog treats and put two of them out at a time. We thought Maddy would like the homemade dog biscuits the best because they have the most smell.

Procedure

We used eight different dog treats although two of them were dog food. We gave her a choice of two of them at a time. We used Pedigree canned dog food, liver treats, snausages, jerky strips, homemade biscuits, Bawser liver and rice bones, Eukanuba dog food, and beef and rice biscuits. Our first pair was homemade dog biscuits and jerky strips. She went for the homemade dog biscuits three out of three times.

The second pair was Eukanuba dog food and Pedigree canned dog food. She went to the Eukanuba dog food one out of three times and Pedigree canned dog food two out of three times. Then we used Pedigree dog food and homemade dog biscuits. She went to the homemade dog biscuits three out of three times.

Next was snausages and liver treats. She went to the snausages two out of three times and liver treats one out of three times. Then we used beef and rice biscuits and Bawser liver and rice bones.

She went to the beef and rice biscuits three out of three times. We paired up the snausages and beef and rice biscuits. She went to the snausages zero out of three times and the beef and rice biscuits three out of three times.

Finally, we used the winners of our previous trials. She went to the homemade dog biscuits one out of three times and beef and rice biscuits two out of three times.

Results

Maddy went to the beef and rice biscuits the most. Our hypothesis was wrong. She went to the beef and rice biscuits one more time than homemade dog biscuits. We think she went to beef and rice biscuits more because they are newer to her.

Interpreting Results

In one trial, Maddy took a snausage but then she spit it out and took beef and rice biscuits. Every trial the beef and rice biscuit was in, she took it. Every trial the homemade dog biscuits were in, before the final trial, she took them.

New Directions

If we were to do this project again, we would make sure we have enough dog treats because we ran out of them. We had to make more homemade dog biscuits. Otherwise, we would do the same thing.

Acknowledgements

We thank our teacher, Mrs. Bostrom, for giving us class time to write our Great Blue project. We also thank Suzanne Wolf for buying the dog treats for us and we thank Maddy for doing the experiment. We also thank Pat Finley for typing our report.

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Melting Ice
by Jame
Randall School

Introduction

Icy sidewalks can be dangerous. My mom and dad put salt on our sidewalks to melt the ice. I wanted to find out what works fastest for melting ice; Morton's Table Salt, Mounds Supreme Deicer, or Morton's Water Softener Tablets. Then I could tell my parents which one to use. My hypothesis was that the table salt would melt the ice cube the fastest because it is less coarse and will spread out over the ice. I thought that more salt covering the ice would make it melt faster.

Procedure

I used this procedure to find out which salt works the fastest for melting ice. I had three types of salt. I measured the salt so that I had the same amount (1/2 tsp.) of each kind. Then I put the salt on three different ice cubes all at the same time. I watched as the ice melted to see which ice cube melted fastest. The constants in my experiment were: the size of the ice cubes, the amount of each kind of salt, and the temperature of the room. The independent variable was the size of the salt: the table salt was fine, the Mounds Supreme Deicer was coarse, and then there were water softener tablets. Two of the salts (Morton's Table Salt and Morton's Water Softener Tablets are sodium chloride. Mounds Deicer has potassium chloride. I did two trials. The second trial used double the amount of the first trial.

Results

Trial Number One: The water softener tablet melted the ice first. The table salt came in second. Mounds Supreme Deicer was the slowest, but it made good pits in the ice.

Trial Number Two: It was a tie between the table salt and the water softener tablet.

Interpreting Results

The water softener tablets work the fastest. I definitely think the tablet would have worked much faster on trial 2 if I hadn't knocked the salt off the ice.

New Directions

Next time I will try not to knock the salt off the ice and will time how long it takes to melt.

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Introduction

We wanted to see what happens when we mixed liquids together. We decided to mix water with soda, juice, shampoo, and chocolate milk. Our hypothesis was that the oil would sink and the shampoo would float to the top of the water.

Procedure

We put 1/2 cup of water in each of five 12 oz. cups. We added 1/4 cup of Cherry Slice, cherry juice, shampoo, and chocolate milk. We added one type of liquid to each of the five cups, one at a time. We stirred three times. We let it sit for 1 minute and observed the results.

Results

The Slice turned pink and slightly fizzy. The cherry juice turned pink. The oil floated to the top, the shampoo bubbled and sank to the bottom, and the milk mixed with the water.

Interpreting Results

We discovered that Slice, cherry juice, and chocolate milk have the same density as water; oil is less dense than water; and shampoo is more dense than water. Our hypothesis was proven false.

New Directions

Next time we would try different liquids. We would try to mix with something other than water, like milk. We would try mixing without stirring.

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Introduction

I'm tired of seeing some of my favorite food being thrown out because it became moldy. So, I decided to do an experiment to see which kind of foods grow mold the fastest to see what foods I should buy. I decided to take cereal, dog treats, eggs, cheese, and bread, put them in sandwich bags, and look to see which ones grew mold the fastest. My hypothesis was that bread would grow the most mold the fastest.

Procedure

I collected one scrambled egg, about a handful of cereal, one 1/2 inch slice of cheddar cheese, one slice of seven grain bread, and one small handful of dog treats. I put these in separate sandwich bags, leaving them open. I put the bags in the basement by the furnace for 5 days. I looked at the bags every day at 3:55 p.m. I completed 3 trials.

Results

The only products that actually grew mold were the bread, the eggs, and the dog treats. The bread grew the most mold. On the second trial the bread grew the most mold. The mold was a dark green color and it covered a pea-sized shape of the bread on the second day. It grew to a quarter-sized shaped by the 5th day.

On the 1st trial the bread grew a pea-sized amount of mold on the third day. On the 3rd trial, the bread grew the least amount of mold of all trials. It didn't grow any until the 5th day.

The eggs grew black mold on the 5th day. The mold was no more than 1 millimeter in width.

The dog treats grew white mold spotted that was spotted on the treats. This happened on the fourth day on only one trial.

Interpreting Results

Some molds grow better on some foods. I thought the cheese would grow some mold, but I was surprised it didn't. Maybe the cause of the bread growing so much mold was either the kind of bread or the sugars in the bread.

New Directions

If I did this again, I'd place the food somewhere away from anything that changed temperature daily like the heater. I'd include more varieties of foods in my experiment.

Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank my dad for not throwing the food away.

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Introduction

Before I go into the woods I get different kinds of feelings. I chose this project about nature because I'm interested in learning about nature. I got this idea from going out for a walk or climbing trees. Also, when I write about nature I also wonder about my feelings.

Procedure

Ellen, Sheerin and I went to Owens Woods. I took a piece of paper and notebook so that I could write down my feelings and what I saw. I went there three times for almost an hour.

Result

I found out that each day I got less scared and less nervous. When I go into the woods often, I get less scared, and when I go less often I get very scared. But when people talk about wild animals I get very scared. When I saw a squirrel it didn't scare me because squirrels don't scare me.

Interpreting Result

When I'm between young and big, I got different kinds of feelings. When I was young I got so scared, and when I'm big I get less scared. When I'm an adult, I think I'm not going to get scared.

New Directions

What I would like to learn next is what do animals like to do or eat. I would like to learn because every animal likes different things. And most of all I want to spend more time in the woods.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the following people; Mr. Wiesner, Ellen and Mary Varese.

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Introduction

Our "I Wonder" question is what food will Peach, the bird, like? We both like pets and animals and we wanted to do something with Allison's new bird, Peach. We are in Mrs. Bostrom's 3/4 class at Muir and are third graders.

Hypothesis: We thought Peach would like the cucumber first, the bagel second, the apple third, the cracker fourth, the orange fifth, the bread sixth, and the carrot seventh.

Procedure

We put out a plate with 7 foods on it. They were: a slice of cucumber, a slice of apple, half a cracker, a quarter slice of bread, a quarter of a bagel, an orange slice and a baby carrot. We wanted to see if Peach liked the same foods the different times we tested her. If she nibbled the piece of food we would count that she liked it.

Results

She started eating the carrot and she got really interested in it so we had to take it away so she would eat something else. She didn't seem to have any clear favorites. In the first seven trials she chose the orange near the end and then in the last three trials she chose it first. She liked the cucumber pretty well except during the sixth, seventh and eighth trials. The apple was near the end in most of the trials but in trial three she liked it the best. Overall, she liked the cracker pretty well. The bread and bagel were never her favorites.

New Directions

If we did this again we would use different foods. We would also use different plates for each food because she would see something and then look to the side or behind her and see something different she would like.

Acknowledgements

We'd like to thank Peach for cooperating with us, Allison's mom for helping us cut the food and Allison's older sister, Rachael for letting us use her bird. We also thank Amanda's mom and dad for setting up time for our project.

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Continue to the second section of I wonder