Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Be a Part of the Growing Popularity of Hydroponics Gardening

by Anne Harvester

The science of hydroponics is allowing more and more to enjoy indoor gardening. There are many reasons for the increasingly widespread indoor growing of food. Hydroponics supplies are now easily secured over the Internet. Everything from cloning kits to full blown hydroponic systems are now available with a click of the mouse. No longer is it necessary to drive long distances to a specialty supply house.

Many choose indoor growing for their food for health and safety reasons. It seems every day brings a new food scare. Some consumers have made decision to take personal control of what goes into their food. Having your own farm is now made possible by hydroponics no matter what the weather is like where you live. Vegetables and fruits can be harvested year round with indoor gardening which allows you to control exactly which pesticides are used. It also prevents your food from being exposed to sewage during the growing phase. Food safety has unfortunately become a salient and tangible issue.

Hydroponics is also becoming more attractive as the price of food rises. It seems the expenses associated with basic foodstuffs are increasing at alarming rates. Family food budgets are being stretched. Hydroponics allow for an escape from market prices. Depending upon the volume and type of foods you grow the payback period for hydroponic systems can be quite reasonable. The rising cost of food as well as food transportation portends prices continuing their upward trajectory.

In the future it is quite likely that many will wish they had invested in an indoor growing set up. Many choose to engage in hydroponics for the sheer fun of it. Indoor gardening has all the appeal of outdoor gardening except without the heat, dirt or bugs. Many feel a sense of satisfaction knowing they produced the food on their plate. The pride is magnified once they experience the taste which often surpasses that of similar very expensive produce bought at organic stores.

With the easy availability of hydroponics supplies and cloning kits your indoor growing endeavor is easy to maintain. Hydroponics provides for the therapeutic and otherwise relaxing hobby of gardening to be enjoyed by many for which it would otherwise be impossible.

Indoor gardening is not solely limited to food. Many enjoy growing flowers of all varieties. With the ability to control environmental factors some of the most stunning flowers emerge from amateur greenhouses. Hydroponic systems can be used for food, spice and plant purposes. The dream of a tropical garden can be reality even in the dead of winter.

Hydroponics can yield health, financial and lifestyle benefits. Whether you desire to win a ribbon at the county fair or just have your own fresh vegetables you should explore the increasingly popular world of hydroponics.

About the Author

Anne Harvester has a great deal of experience with indoor gardening. Hydroponic gardening is the way of the future. Known to some as "soil less gardening," hydroponics are proven to grow plants 20-30% faster than their soil grown counterparts.

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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Examples Of Science Projects - Fun Experiments On Liquid Density

by Margreit Du Plessis

We have a number of short Examples Of Science Fair Projects. In this short easy elementary science projects we are going to see some of the interesting things that happen because of the density of liquids. The density of and object has to do with how tightly packed the object is. Two objects can weigh the same but one is smaller than the other, the smaller one is packed more tightly and is therefore denser than the other object. These experiments are meant to make learning fun and are also very suitable for homeschoolers.

The floating egg experiment

What you will need for this easy elementary science project:

  • A container
  • Water
  • An egg
  • Salt
  • A spoon
This is what you have to do for this easy experiment:
  1. Fill the container with enough water to cover the egg completely.
  2. Carefully place the egg in the water.
  3. What happens to the egg?
  4. Make a note of what happens.
  5. Start adding salt to the water and stirring it very carefully so as not to break the egg.
  6. Keep on adding salt until your egg starts to float.
  7. You will need quite a lot of salt, about 4 tablespoons full of salt per 1 ½ cup water to make the egg float.
  8. Now you add water to your solution again until the egg start sinking again.
  9. Keeping density in mind, try and explain what just happened.
If you worked carefully and did the experiment the right way your egg started rising because it became less dense than the water when you added the salt. When you added extra water, the water once again became less dense than the egg and the egg started sinking again.

This is one example of our easy elementary science projects, one of many examples we have of science fair projects.

About the Author

Watch out for the other fun, Examples Of Science Fair Projects Magriet has. Get even more examples of science fair projects when you visit Elementary Science Fair Projects Magriet is a work at home "Gran" with an interest in all family related subjects.

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Science Fair Projects for Fun

by fun science projects

Selecting a topic for a science fair project may be a great deal of trouble for the students. If the topics or topic ideas are freely available on a site and easy to do it with the inexpensive materials available that will be of more help. There are many good examples of free and easy science fair projects that you can do in almost any scientific field, so there are an abundance of choices available to the student and to the parent. While students should be encouraged to choose a topic of their interest, if they seem to have expensive tastes, a parent should step in to guide them towards something more economical.

The free fun science projects include those projects which can be easily done and with easily available household materials. It could be anything from an empty milk can to egg carton. A good science fair project does not have to be expensive. Often the best project ideas come from simple observations of daily life.

Methods to control the cost of a science fair project:

- Choose a topic related to simple theme.

- Use public resources like library to collect information.

- Take the advantage of school computer lab for Internet resources.

- Use the materials that are available easily without spending much.

Projects with magnets are very inexpensive, simple, and fun filled. To test the properties of magnets we just need two magnets and some pins and iron rods. The outcome will be fantastic as the experiments will be exciting. Another free easy science fair project idea will be the topics related with plants. Plants make perfect subject for science fair projects, as plants, soil, seeds, and other required materials are easily available, inexpensive, and the procedures are also easy to be carried out. If you want to really control costs, you can even work with grass from your lawn, or rocks from your garden. This is probably a little extreme, but you have to do what you have to do.

Simple observation of night sky may even be a wonderful idea for free easy science fair project, as it does not cost to observe that. Then collect resources related with constellation, phases of moon, and location of various stars. Then drawing reasonable conclusions and presenting the report will turn out to be good project. Water can serve as an excellent topic for free easy science fair project as a number of water related experiments can be done and the results can be presented to draw conclusion.

It is not about spending a lot of money to present a good project, but it is the concept and the way it is presented matters. We should keep in mind that science is all around and not only in fancy technology and expensive gadgets.

A science fair project generally compares two variables to check what works and what does not. It also explores the different dimensions of scientific literacy. The great thing about these experiments is that there are no wrong or right answers. The same can be said of selecting a project. There is not a finite set of science fair projects, so you can always invent something completely on your own. Whatever your selection, as long as yours follows the guidelines set out by your school, university, or individual teacher, then you can be sure of a good grade and a solid performance. Money isn't everything, especially when it comes to schoolwork.

If you need more help with fun science fair projects ...

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Need help with fun science projects? Find out how to quickly and easily create fun science fair projects...

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Fun Science Projects To Do at Home

by Jill

It's important for kids to get involved in fun science projects from an early age, as exposure to scientific ideas and the world of exploration as soon as possible is the best way to foster a love for learning in your children that will last a lifetime. At the same time, scientific knowledge is cumulative, so kids have to start with a solid foundation if they are to develop the necessary scientific skills to succeed in school, and perhaps in a future career. Of course, when doing science projects with kids the most important thing to remember is to have fun! Youth science fair projects aren't meant to transform your child into a scientist - they are meant to get the creative juices flowing within your child and help him or her continue to explore the natural world and make use of the imagination.

So where do you find ideas for science projects, if you want to get your child started on something at home? Luckily, these days you don't have to look far to find science projects for your children - simply do an online search and you should be able to find tons of websites containing information and ideas pertaining to science fair projects and science for children in general. These websites list science projects and tell you exactly how to do them and what to do, so the process of helping your child discover science or prepare science fair projects for school is made easy.

In the past, it was easy for parents to become frustrated when helping kids with homework and coming up with ideas for science fair projects - now it's easy to help them out and you don't have to be a science whiz yourself! And if your child demonstrates a natural interest in science, it's even more important that you encourage it from an early age. Whether or not you have to do a project for school, or complete a homework assignment, kids getting involved in science at home is a great idea!

In fact, doing their own fun science projects at home is a great way to supplement the regular educational exposure your kids get during the day in the classroom. And if you home school your children coming up with fun and educational science experiments that are easy to recreate at home is the perfect way to help your kids exercise their minds and learn about science while having a lot of fun at the same time.

When you set up science projects for your kids to do at home, it makes learning fun - this will carry over to the child's classroom experience and may even improve their grades overall. Of course, that is not the main goal of doing science experiments at home. Again, do these projects with your children as a fun activity and the learning will spring from that organically. Specifically, when searching for science projects for your kids to do at home it's a good idea to find something your children, and maybe even their friends, will enjoy. Figure out what interests your child and go from there. Involving them in the process will help them naturally discover where their interests are and what type of experiments they'll gain the most from.

You can find the instructions for these experiments for free, although you will have to purchase some basic supplies in most cases. At the same time, materials used in most of these projects are relatively inexpensive and not difficult to find.

Come and find more fun science projects. See you next time.

About the Author

Find out why its so important for kids to get into fun science projects from a young age...

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Sunday, July 13, 2008

Create an Award-Winning Science Fair Project with the Correct Steps

by Madeline Binder

For the student (and parent) faced with a science fair project for the first time, it is easy to to become side-tracked by the issues of how to go about the entire process. In many science classes students may be given a template to follow; however, this is not always the case. Steps need to be identified and carefully clarified so that any novice can understand what needs to be accomplished at each step. It is hoped that an explanation of the step-by-step process given here will help any student in creating an awesome science fair project which meets all of the criteria by which science fair projects will be evaluated. Getting an idea for a project must occur before any of the actual steps are implemented, so a look into fun kids science fair projects will give you lots of possibilities.

1. The first step is to identify something in which the student has an interest. Completing even an easy and fast science fair project will become drudgery if there is little to no interest in the subject matter.

2. Once an area of interest has been identified, what questions does the student have about this subject? If a child has observed ants carrying food around on the sidewalk, for example, how does the ant know the way back to the colony nest?

3. At this point, some research will most likely be necessary. What have other researchers learned about this question? It is always a good idea to summarize the research in writing to become a part of the final project. The point of the research, however, is to help the student develop a hypothesis.

4. Developing the hypothesis is nothing more than making an educated guess about why something happens or, in some cases, what will happen as a result of some experimentation. The hypothesis should be written simply and predict a definite outcome. For example, people who watch violence on television will experience an increase in their blood pressure and pulse rate. Note that the hypothesis is stated in a way that allows testing to determine if the hypothesis is correct.

5. Procedures and Materials: This is an important part of the actual science fair project because it must set up the experimentation in such a way that it is both valid and able to be replicated. The experimentation that is conducted must be as void of "nuisance factors," that is conditions which might affect the outcomes. For example, if one is testing the impact of observing television violence on blood pressure, the presence of loud noises from other rooms or outside could affect the results. The procedures must be listed carefully and in order. As the procedures are being designed, the scientist must identify all materials necessary for the procedures and any steps that will be taken to avoid any interference from outside the experimentation parameters. A crucial material will be the "manner" in which the data will be observed and recorded, for it must be accurate, systematic, and consistent. If you are unsure about the materials to gather for sample science fair projects, review the research or look into science kits

6. Performing the actual experimentation or observation is the "meat" of the best science fair projects. If the procedures have been properly designed, this becomes the fun and exciting part. The hypothesis is tested, and accurate and detailed data is recorded by the method determined in the former section. This can range from maintaining a detailed journal of observations to the actual implementation of an experiment, the results of which must be carefully recorded.

7. Summary of Results: In detail, explain what happened during your observations or experimentation. Graphing or charting the data can be very helpful in this step as it gives the evaluators and viewers good visuals. Photographs are also ofte used and can be excellent time-dated records of the process.

8. Analysis and conclusion are the final steps. What did your data show? Was your hypothesis confirmed? If not, why? What changes might you implement to improve the project next time? Does this completed science fair project present additional questions or hypotheses that could be the basis for future experiments for science fair projects?

Following these steps correctly will mean that you have designed and implemented an actual science fair project that has followed the scientific method used by every reputable scientist.

About the Author

Madeline Binder, M.Ed. has been interested in assisting kids and parents with sience fair projects for many years. To this end, she has developed procedures, ideas, and step-by-step instructions for projects from the quick and simple to the more complex, dependent upon age and interest of the student. Visit Madeline at Super Science Fair Projects and learn more!

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