~ Sixth Week Project Report

Though I was planning to complete this entire thing before the school term ended I think where I'm up to now is alright too. I've completed the purpose, aim, equipment, method, safety precautions and I've actually  done the experiment. All that is left is combining everything together and making sure it makes sense.

I'm still working on putting it all together. I don't think I'll be able to finish it today because when I get it checked and everything I want it to be decent and not rushed. I'll probably work on it over the holidays. I'm not quite sure if my background research is done correctly and I still need to create a title for it. There's not too much left to do, if I use the rest of my time wisely.

Equipment, Precautions and the Method

So in science today, I asked my teacher about whether the method and everything had to be included in this blog. It doesn't really matter, but I think I'll include it.

Equipment:

• Table Salt
• Thermometer
• Water
• Measuring Cup
• Tablespoon Measuring Spoon
• Cooking Pot
• Stirring Spoon
• Stove
• Lighter
• Oven mitts or tea towel

Safety Precautions:

• In this experiment, the thermometer may become very hot. To ensure that your hands do not get burned, wear oven mitts or hold a tea towel when handling the thermometer.
• As the water is boiling in the cooking pot, the cooking pot may heat up. Beware not to touch the steel and hold it carefully by its handle.
• Make sure that if you have long hair or loose clothing, it does not come in contact with the flame from the stove.
• Ensure that the cooking pot is cooled completely before repeating the experiments.
• Carry the cooking pot with the boiled water carefully when cooling it down to avoid any spillage.

Method:

1. Measure 250ml of water and add it to the cooking pot.
2. Boil the water and record the highest temperature reading.
3. Empty the cooking pot and let it cool down.
4. Add another 250ml of water into the cooking pot.
5. Measure out a tablespoon of salt and mix it into the water with the stirring spoon.
6. Boil the water and record the highest temperature reading.
7. Repeat steps 3 – 5 with 2 tablespoons of salt.
8. Repeat experiment another 2 times for reliability.

Today, I've started adding everything into the scaffold that was given to us. I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to write for the 'purpose' of the experiment. I always thought it was the same as the aim but apparently it isn't. I'm also wondering whether I'm supposed to put in the method and other aspects of the project on this blog. I'll ask tomorrow.

How I see it is, if I continue to work on it consistently for the next few days, I'll have it done by the end of Thursday. Let's hope.

~ Fifth Week Project Report

This week, I found, was somewhat more productive than all the rest. Maybe it's just because I was able to do the experiment. Basically, I've done the experiment, most of the background research, most of the method and most of the safety precautions. I basically have to just piece to all together, complete all of the parts and then do the analysing of the results, the discussion, the evaluation of methods used and the conclusion. Oh, I also have to think of a title for it.

I'm hoping I'll finish by the end of the next week, before the holidays start, so I can ask the teacher to check over it. If there is anything wrong, I can fix it up over the holidays.

Experimentation

So basically, I did my experiment today. Using all the equipment I had at home, besides the thermometer I borrowed from school, I followed the method I created and recorded all the results from it. I made some observations whilst doing the experiment and I thought of some safety precautions that are associated with it. I'll update more a bit later.

Doubts and Indecision

For a while I've been having some doubts and indecision about the topic of my science research project. Yesterday, I started looking up alternative ideas. I tried searching for projects which only required equipment found in every day homes. This is some ideas that I found that I'm interested in:

• Does the temperature of candles affect it's burning time?
• Does the quality of soap affect the time it takes before bubbles pop?
• Does colour affect the burning time of candles?
• Does the width of a candle affect it's burning time?
• What is the most effective way to keep a balloon from popping?

A lot of the ideas had something to do with candles because basically I found candles interesting and for that moment I wanted to do an experiment on candles. 

Today, after the science lesson, I asked sir whether or not the experiment on the width of candles would be okay. He approved of it and offered an alternative which was "whether the quality of candles will affect it's burning rate."

For some reason, after I asked my teacher, I felt like doing the experiment on the effect of salt on the boiling temperature of water again. I'm probably just going to do that. I already have all the information and method and such. It was probably just a moment of indecisiveness. I'm going to see if I have time to do the experiment today.