I said, "How would one go about measuring the speed of light?" and Joel
Rauber said, "I would reword this as, What is the speed of light? then
proceed to measure it. The question as stated can be solved by doing a
book report."
But the question "what is the speed of light" doesn't even require a
book report. It's a number we already know.
At this point allow me to me make a distinction between a project like
"how would one go about measuring the speed of light (and proceeding to
do it)" versus a project like "which spot remover works best to get out
a spaghetti-sauce stain."
In the light project the emphasis could be on science content, or on
the science process, or on both. I would hope both. That is, I would
hope it would be more than a book report. I would want the student to
actually try measuring the speed of light by one or more techniques.
This would involve some book research into history, some understanding
of the processes, choosing a process, constructing an apparatus, etc.
Unless this is totally cook-booked, there will be plenty of
experimental pitfalls for the student to deal with...and... plenty of
science content to understand.
The typical stain-remover project is essentially process only... about
zero science content. The reason is because it is framed that way by
the teachers. Can the student form a hypothesis (xyz will work better
than abc), then can the student devise an experimental method with
sufficient controls and reproducibility to answer this question. Any
thought as to why xyz might be better than abc for this type of stain
is not mentioned.
This seems to be the primary focus of science fairs today... process.
That's why we have this hypothesis/experiment/conclusion stuff because
it is the primary thing the teachers think they need to stress. In
fact, they stress it more than "experimental design" i.e. learning
about controls and reproducibility. Although the hypothesis stuff
clearly outranks the experimental design phase (here at Bluffton) I am
at least happy to report that the design aspect is not totally
neglected. In my opinion that is the most educational part of a
project like removing stains... not that I tested a hypothesis, but
that I designed an experiment that was able to produce an obvious,
reproducible, definitive answer. But that is only one aspect of
science. I also want to know why.
I think there is little science content in a stain remover project
UNLESS the student tries to find out why xyz is better than abc. Was
one a degreaser but the other was an enzyme? Hmm, what's a degreaser?
What's an enzyme? What's in spaghetti sauce? Or another line of
reasoning...Does it make a difference what kind of fabric is used? If
so, why do some fabrics bind the stain more. Is this a natural versus
synthetic thing? How are synthetic fibers different than natural
fibers?
The projects I see are always heavy on process and essentially nothing
on science content. This year I will see at least three stain remover
projects. I will ask each student why xyz worked better than abc, and
each student will shrug his/her shoulders. But I hope that when
someone asks Jessica why her amplifier has two big transistors rather
than one, that she can give some sort of explanation of push-pull
amplifiers and why it's important. If they ask her what the
transformer does, I hope she can tell them. If she is asked why the
transistors are bolted to this big hunk of metal with fins, I hope she
can tell them.
BTW, the reason I made the comment about Joel Rauber's "last paragraph"
was because in one of his postings he mentioned that building an
electronic device might be allowed as an alternative to a science fair
"science project." That sounds a whole lot to me as if he is saying
that building an electronic device is not a real science project.
Although my diploma says Ph.D. in chemical physics, and although my
specialty within that is nuclear physics/chemistry... my REAL specialty
is that I design and build instruments. I spent a few hundred thousand
of your tax dollars building various nuclear detection devices. I sure
had the notion that I was doing science projects.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817