Workshop Abstracts
Eliza Cherry, Crivitz High School
Teacher: Paul Matty
Through this research, I am trying to find out which soda ("Coke", "Sprite", "Mountain Dew", or "Pepsi") will completely boil away the fastest. I plan to boil the same amount of each soda and time how long it takes each one to boil away. I will boil each kind of soda three times. Then I will average the times together and compare.
Ben Phillippe, Crivitz High School
Teacher: Paul Matty
I am attempting to find out which type of tape (masking, duct, scotch, clear) has the best adhesive. The way I will find that out is by cutting the strips of tape to equal size so that one of them doesn't get an advantage because it is bigger. I shall hang the pieces of tape to a table, desk, or other overhang, and then I shall put weights on the end of the tape that hangs over the edge. I shall keep putting weights on until the adhesive releases its hold on the table, desk, etc. I shall repeat the exercise to be sure it wasn't just a strong or weak area of the tape. Then I will judge which type of tape has the strongest adhesive.
Vijaya L. Rao, Brookfield East High School
Teacher: Patrick L. Coffey
If high school students say the reason that their grades are falling is because they are not getting enough sleep, they may be right. In fact, the average night's sleep decreased from about nine hours in 1910 to about 7.5 hours in 1975, a trend that still continues today. Several studies showed that lack of sleep affect memory and cognitive abilities. For instance, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center showed that losing sleep at night can slow down thinking skills the next day.
Thus, the objective of this research project is to determine the effect of sleep on academic performance among high school students. Thirty-five students, 16 female and 19 male, from AP US History class participated in this study and they took ten different tests during the entire spring semester, 2001. Letter grades A, B, C, D, & F obtained on each test was used as a measure of students' academic performance. The number of hours students slept night before the test seem to have a significant effect on their grades. The highest GPA was obtained by a group of students who slept six to eight hours, indicating 6-8 hours of sleep is probably desirable for good academic performance. However, additional research with a larger sample (> 100 students) is recommended to further confirm these results.
Duska Stanic, Hamilton High School (Milwaukee)
Teacher: Patrick Davis
Depleted plutonium is a metallic element found in the form of an oxide. It is mostly used in nuclear weapons. Another similar element is depleted uranium (DU), which is a heavy metal, 1.7 times as dense as lead. It is used in munitions to punch straight through solid objects such as tanks. Both of these elements have been used by NATO in Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan. It is difficult to substantiate that these elements are harmful since their effects are not immediately apparent. Countries in which DU has been used are unaware of the long-term effects of DU on the biosphere. It has been proven, however, that they cause many diseases such as mutations in plant and animals, cancers, birth defects, and secondary infections can be fatal.
