imjeffp
Senior Space Cadet
Reged: 09/30/03
Posts: 4424
Loc: Cedar Park, Texas
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It'll be many years before the boy has to worry about this, but I was wondering what sort of astro-topics might make a good science fair project.
Ideas thus far:
Simple: How a telescope works. Compare Refractor, Newtonian, and Catadioptric designs.
How a telescope mount works. Compare GEM and Alt-Az. Research other designs.
Advanced: Measure the speed of light. (How?)
Recreate Galileo's observations and prove a helio-centric solar system.
Recreate other similar things, like...?
Chart lunar libration, to prove or conclude...?
Observe planetary movements to determine...?
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ST80 • AT80EDT/LXD650
ETX-90/DS-2000 • 10" LX200 Classic ("The Quarter-Meter Telescope at the Heritage Park Observatory")
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matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
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the speed of light was detected and measured by clocking the transits of Galilean satellites. Not for all science fair, eh?
Making a sundial comes to mind... MEasuring the Venus and Mercury "year" comes to mind and does not require an instrument.
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Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
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rboe
Numbfinger
Reged: 03/16/02
Posts: 39690
Loc: Phx, AZ
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There is a small experiment that may fit in large house for measuring the speed of light. We used it lab in college. I forget all the details.
But you have a fine list there, little need to add to it. You're luck he will be an art major though.  Or worse yet - into sports! 
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Ron
NS11GPS
Pronto
16" dob
15X70 Obies
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desertstars
Deja moo
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 30019
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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He might also end up (  ) as a biologist.
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Tom W.
SVP8 'She turned me into a 3-legged Newt' EQ
Ralph, the All-Purpose 102mm Refractor
Under the Desert Stars
"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." Professor Irwin Corey
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imjeffp
Senior Space Cadet
Reged: 09/30/03
Posts: 4424
Loc: Cedar Park, Texas
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Quote:
You're luck he will be an art major though.
You mean like his dad who went to film school? Or his aunt with the BFA? Useful degrees ... NOT.
Mom is a BBA, much more marketable, but Boring.
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Blog
ST80 • AT80EDT/LXD650
ETX-90/DS-2000 • 10" LX200 Classic ("The Quarter-Meter Telescope at the Heritage Park Observatory")
SPC900NC • DMK21AF04 • Digital Rebel XT
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dgs©
Postmaster
Reged: 03/29/04
Posts: 13899
Loc: West Monroe, Louisiana
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How about an Analemma? Is that spelled even close to correctly? Tie it to the passing of the seasons or something.
It would take a year to actually plot one out on your driveway or patio or wherever... but you did say you have a while.
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- david
8"Ø Newtonian on SVP, Moonlite CR2, Telrad
PST Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 Orion Ultraview 10×50
Hand-me-down Sears Refractor (Discoverer) 60mm×900mm
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world, remains and is immortal." --Albert Pike
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Jim Svetlikov
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/06/03
Posts: 2033
Loc: Crescent Beach
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How about the classic two-slit experiment in which one can observe the particle-wave duality of light?
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/21st_century_science/lectures/lec13.html
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It is better to build a boy than try to mend a man.
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imjeffp
Senior Space Cadet
Reged: 09/30/03
Posts: 4424
Loc: Cedar Park, Texas
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Those are both great. Thanks!
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Blog
ST80 • AT80EDT/LXD650
ETX-90/DS-2000 • 10" LX200 Classic ("The Quarter-Meter Telescope at the Heritage Park Observatory")
SPC900NC • DMK21AF04 • Digital Rebel XT
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Someone mentioned the speed of light. The easiest way is to use a microwave and a big bar of chocolate. Disable or remove the rotating tray and heat up the chocolate. Since the microwave oven is a resonant cavity, it creates a standing wave pattern which will create hot and cold spots on the chocolate. That's the wavelength. If you know the frequency - which you do, because all microwaves use the same one - you can calculate the speed oflight.
OK, so the "you know the frequency" part is a bit of a cheat, but any light speed measurement requires some type of frequency or time measurement.
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I judge the middle schoolers at my daughter's school (they're stil in elementary) and I've found that typically the simplest project done carefully are usually the best.
Some I've seen and some that I've heard of are (in various complexities):
Refraction: using two laser pointers of different color, and pointed through various clear materials (e.g. water, bleach, cooking oil, etc.) and measuring the angle of bend. You need to combine it with density of materials measurements, too. Bonus points for the aparatus - the girl that I judged did it with a fish tank. First she put something on the bottom with a scale, then measured where the spot hit when the tank was empty shining through the top. She then put some liquid in the tank, and measured where the spot hit through the liquid. From that she could compute the angle.
Using photos to measure the heights of mountains on the moon. There is a project out there on the web someplace (i have the notes from it). The basic idea is that you measure the shadow length in a photo, and knowing what time of "day" it is on the moon, you can determine the mountain's height with basic geometry. Bonus if the student computes the moon's age via orbital mechanics, double bonus if they take the photo's themselves. I like this one because there is a strong observation component to it.
Determining the size of an asteroid via occultation timing.
Determine longitude with one (or two) clocks and solar observation, giving the student one known longitude (essentially the original problem facing Halley in the 1700s). Bonus points if they also use Jupiter's moons to do it (typically used to determine a longitude on land where the telescope was very stable, unlike a ship).
determine the rotational period of an asteroid using light curves, if access to a telescope with CCD.
determine the period of a variable star, either visually or with a CCD.
Compute the orbital elements of an object (i.e. asteroid or comet) from observations.
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matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
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Quote:
Someone mentioned the speed of light. The easiest way is to use a microwave and a big bar of chocolate. Disable or remove the rotating tray and heat up the chocolate. Since the microwave oven is a resonant cavity, it creates a standing wave pattern which will create hot and cold spots on the chocolate. That's the wavelength. If you know the frequency - which you do, because all microwaves use the same one - you can calculate the speed oflight.
OK, so the "you know the frequency" part is a bit of a cheat, but any light speed measurement requires some type of frequency or time measurement.
hey, kool experiment for the scientist-kid within each of us! I guess I'll try it next wednesday (my cleaning lady comes on thursdays).
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Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
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desertstars
Deja moo
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 30019
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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And then you pour the chocolate over a big dish of ice cream... 
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Tom W.
SVP8 'She turned me into a 3-legged Newt' EQ
Ralph, the All-Purpose 102mm Refractor
Under the Desert Stars
"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." Professor Irwin Corey
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LivingNDixie
Lord of Ferrets
Reged: 04/23/03
Posts: 15790
Loc: Hoover, AL
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OK I am going to geekout but I won my states science fair when I was in the first grade with
"What color golf ball can be seen the farthest"
Oh and the answer was yellow
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Preston
Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT
Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 (on order)
It’s not finishing something when your tank is empty that makes you a stronger person. It’s brushing yourself off and refacing the foe that defeated you with the same determination and willingness to fight that you had when you began your journey.
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imjeffp
Senior Space Cadet
Reged: 09/30/03
Posts: 4424
Loc: Cedar Park, Texas
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I like using a yellow ball, but it gets funny looks. Of course, when it's 50 yards deep in the woods, it doesn't really matter what color it is.
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Blog
ST80 • AT80EDT/LXD650
ETX-90/DS-2000 • 10" LX200 Classic ("The Quarter-Meter Telescope at the Heritage Park Observatory")
SPC900NC • DMK21AF04 • Digital Rebel XT
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David Knisely
Postmaster
Reged: 04/19/04
Posts: 6777
Loc: Beatrice, Nebraska
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How about following the brightness of a variable star? Some of them can be followed using only a good pair of 10x50 binoculars, and others might require only a modest telescope. There is a lot of information (including a very nice video tape instruction session) on the AAVSO web page: http://www.aavso.org
Other possibilities include monitoring the position of certain markings on Jupiter (like the red spot), counting sunspot, or monitoring asteroid occultations. Clear skies to you.
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David W. Knisely
Hyde Memorial Observatory
http://www.hydeobservatory.info
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Victor Kennedy
Pooh-Bear
Reged: 05/22/03
Posts: 9837
Loc: Slovenia
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There’s a little company called Janus http://www.astrolabes.org/astrolab.htm that will send you an astrolabe and an instruction booklet for $22.00 (or you can print out the plans and make your own). It’s very good quality, and it works well. Sort of a combination of a planetarium and a slide rule, it was invented by Greek and Arab astronomers and used throughout the Middle Ages. Play with it a little, and you’ll realize how sophisticated they were in those days.
If you’re a little more ambitious, order a radio telescope kit for $130.00 http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/
I’m putting one together for our school’s astronomy club now.
There’s a laboratory exercise to calculate the rotation of the Sun, written by Owen Gingerich, using sunspot plotting at http://www.ful.ac.be/hotes/cscientfs/SS6G.DOC This could be combined with an observation program with a solar filter, and taking photos of the Sun over a few days with a digital camera.
There are a bunch of projects at the Project CLEA website at http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/physics/clea/CLEAhome.html
You download a software simulator and a set of instructions. I did the Hubble Redshift-Distance Relation and Photoelectric Photometry of the Pleaides ones, and they’re very good. The Windows simulators are up-to-date, but the Mac programs are outdated, and won’t run on anything newer than System 6.
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To err is human; to moo is bovine.
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