Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Photography With Near Infrared Illumination
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have an extra sense? What if you could hear above the normal range (ultrasound) like dogs or bats? This project shows you how you can use a camera, tripod and a special filter to take...
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Science Buddies: Rock On! Recording Digital Data With Magnets
This is a straightforward project that shows you how data can be digitized and stored on magnetic recording media. You'll learn how alpha-numeric characters are digitized, and you'll use bar magnets to represent the individual data...
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Science Buddies: Harmful Algal Blooms in the Chesapeake Bay
Harmful algal blooms occur when algae, which form the base of the ocean food web, grow in massive numbers and produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds. In this project you will learn how to...
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Science Buddies: Walking Coins on a (Vertical!) 'High Wire'
Here is a project that is almost like a magic trick: with a strong magnet and a simple apparatus you can build yourself, you can make a coin "walk" up and down a wire coat hanger. This project is an interesting way to learn about the...
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Science Buddies: Give Yourself a Lift: Lightening the Load With Pulleys
Before the Industrial Age, people relied on muscle power for moving and lifting heavy objects. Here's a project that shows you how you can use your head to make heavy lifting easier on your muscles - and your back.
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Science Buddies: How Far Can Sparks Jump?
Piezoelectric barbecue fire starters work by creating a spark that ignites the volatile lighter fluid, which then starts the charcoal burning. They are low current, high voltage devices. This project shows you a way to find out by with...
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Science Buddies: Can Water Float on Water?
Of course it can, you say: ice is water and ice floats. And you're right. But we're talking about water in the liquid phase Can liquid water float on water? The goal of this project is to investigate what happens to layers of water with...
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Science Buddies: Do Warmer Seas Make Stronger Hurricanes?
We've all heard that hurricanes draw their immense power from warm ocean waters. Of course, many factors contribute to the formation and growth of a hurricane, but can we expect to find that the warmer the water, the stronger the...
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Science Buddies: Do Hurricanes Cool the Ocean?
If you've ever so much as watched a news clip about a hurricane, you probably know that hurricanes draw their power from warm ocean waters. If that is true, does it mean that hurricanes actually cool the ocean down when they pass...
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Science Buddies: Dome Sweet Dome
Geodesic domes are made of interconnected triangles that approximate the shape of a sphere. This project shows you how to build a geodesic dome using rolled-up newspapers and tape and then test how much weight your dome can support.
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Science Buddies: Mixing Light to Make Colors
You know how to make new colors by mixing paint or crayons. For example, you get green by mixing yellow and blue, or orange by mixing red and yellow. With paint, blue, yellow, and red are primary colors, which you can use to make other...
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Science Buddies: Solid Ground? Measuring Soil Bearing Capacity
Foundations for many types of structures rest on soil. This project shows how you can investigate the bearing capacity of different types of soil.
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Science Buddies: Hurricanes and Climate
The past few years have histories of extremely powerful and dangerous storms. These storms have also increased in frequency. To investigate potential effects of climate on hurricane number and strength, this project will focus on the...
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Science Buddies: How Do Fears Change With Age?
Although some of us may not like to admit it, everyone's afraid of something. Big dogs, thunderstorms, public speaking, heights: what are you most afraid of? Do you think grown-ups have the same fears as kids? The goal of this project is...
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Science Buddies: Enzyme Catalyzed Reactions What Affects Their Rates?
Enzymes speed up chemical reactions by factors of at least a million. This project investigates some of the factors that affect how fast enzymatic reactions occur.
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Science Buddies: Alternative Sources for Paper Fiber
If you're interested in arts and crafts, you might like this project. It uses several alternative, renewable sources of fiber to make paper, and compares the resulting papers for strength and writing quality.
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Science Buddies: What Is the Most Effective Way to Quit Smoking?
Maybe you know someone who smokes, and you want to help them to quit. They've probably already told you how hard it is to stop once a person has started smoking. This project tries to answer the question: What is the most effective way...
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Science Buddies: Testing the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony
Think back to the last time you went to the grocery store. How well can you describe the person who was ahead of you in the check-out line? How many details do you remember about the person? Here is a project to investigate the accuracy...
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Science Buddies: Testing for Bias in a Photo Lineup
You may have read about criminal cases where innocent people have been wrongly convicted of a crime. Sometimes, modern DNA analysis techniques have provided the evidence to exonerate these innocent people. In many cases, mistaken...
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Science Buddies: Candy Confusion: Can Small Children Mistake Medicine for Candy?
Many medicines come in bottles with special child-proof caps so that small children can't accidentally open the bottle and eat the pills. To a small child who can't read the label, the pills might look just like candy. This project helps...
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Science Buddies: Antlion Pits in Open Sand or Under Leaf Cover
Antlion larvae are known for their predatory ways. In sandy areas, they dig pits to trap ants or other crawling insects that happen to stumble in. This project shows you how to create a mini-environment for antlion larvae to test their...
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Science Buddies: Animal Magnetism: Do Magnets Affect Regeneration in Planaria?
The human body has an impressive ability to heal itself after injury, but humans have nothing on planaria. Planaria have an amazing ability to regenerate. An entire animal can regenerate from just a fraction of the body. This project...
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Science Buddies: Explore the Forces of Friction
We all recognize what friction is, but do you really understand what causes it? This project focuses on friction, its causes and forces and specifically how it affects how fast you can slip down slides.
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Science Buddies: Dog Smarts: What's Going on Behind Those Puppy Dog Eyes?
Have you ever wondered what goes on in your dog's mind? Even though humans have the benefit of language, trying to understand another person's thoughts can be hard enough sometimes. This project will show you some behavioral tests you...