3 Reasons I’m hanging up my lab coat for a business suit

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

Yesterday I officially resigned from my research science position to take a new, non-academic position. It was horribly bittersweet. Although I am excited about the next chapter in my life, I have been involved in research science and teaching since an undergraduate student work-study position on the R/V Lucky Lady out of UMASS-Dartmouth (1990!).

Here are the top 3 reasons I am going to hang up my lab coat for a business suit — but don’t worry — I will still maintain this website because my passion remains improving science education in America.

1. Job Security: All of my positions in science have been “soft money”. That means they are grant-funded opportunities and when the grant is done, so is the job. This situation creates perpetual stress because of the constant awareness that each job is finite and the next opportunity, if it even exists, may or may not align with my current research interests.

2. Geographic Stability: I knew I wanted to be a marine scientist since I was 8 years old and a college professor since college, but I have not found a permanent position in my area. Part of the problem is that besides being a scientist — I am a wife, mother and military spouse. Courtesy of the US Coast Guard, I have lived in 10 states in 20 years, including: MA, RI, CT, MD, NC, FL (2x), AL, CA, OR, and AK. Last year, when my husband finished 20 years of service and my oldest started high school, we decided to put the kids first and stay put for at least 6 consecutive years so that they could experience geographic stability. For me, that translates into geographic restrictions in new job opportunities, because I can not relocate and job prospects in higher education in my area are not promising.

3. Couldn’t figure out how to become a high school science teacher:
I have a Ph.D. I have teaching experience in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Oceanography at the collegiate level. I have experience with informal science education and outreach at K-12 levels. I am a great educator –but I couldn’t figure out how to get a job teaching high school science. I looked into it several times – but couldn’t find a path that did not require going back to school first. I wish there was a Lab-to-Classroom program similar to the Troops-to-Teachers initiative because I believe that there are other scientists who would make this transition.

Up next: 3 things I will miss most about working in a research laboratory

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Projects you can start this year for next year: Idea 2 = Moldy Matters

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

Idea 1 was Biomimicry:

Idea 2 is Moldy Matters: Remember that the one exception to doing a project with mold is that you are allowed to measure the time (quantitative, dependent variable) it takes for a food to show evidence of mold – but that you have to destroy the food and mold as soon as it is observed.

So how about a project that asks the question:

How much longer do store-bought foods stay preserved relative to home-made versions?

It would be interesting and relevant because it would give people insight into just how much preservatives must be in store-bought food and how much healthier it would be to eat more of the home-made alternatives.

To get started, think about foods that might be highly preserved, like fast food choices: French fries, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, tacos, etc. or grab-and-go sweet snacks: packaged cupcakes, cookies, Twinkies, snack cakes, etc. Also consider common foods that would be easy to make at home, like bread, popcorn, jelly, or yogurt. Choose a few (these are your independent variables) so you have some variety – and once you set it up, it is really easy to monitor. The hypothesis would be that the store-bought versions would take more time to mold because they contain presevatives.

The experimental design needs to include replication (at least 3 sets each) and controls. The way I laid out the project, the control would be the home-made version – made at home on the same day as the store-bought item was bought and opened.

For example, you could place matching pairs of food items (example: French fries from fast-food chain and French fries made at home) in the same container, side-by-side but not touching, and covered with a breathable top (cheese cloth, or screening or some sort, or even just left open). Mark your calendar. Check the pair every day until you see mold on either item (then discard that item, leaving the other one in the container). Count the number of days it takes to see mold start to develop.

Do some research on the environmental conditions that molds thrive under to determine where you store the project (warning – depending on food items selected, this could take close to a year or longer… so pick your storage spot with that in mind).

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How to prepare a final report for your science fair project

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

Generally a teacher would give guidelines as to what is expected in the final report, but if none come home with the project directions, then I recommend including the following sections (similar to a scientific paper) in this order:

• Title, author, date

• Abstract: 1 paragraph summary of entire project

• Introduction: Background information including things like the motivation for picking your topic and why the project is important. Also include the hypothesis in this section.

• Methods and Materials: This section can have several sub-sections. It would start with a list of what was used in the project. Also included would be a description of all the variables – independent, dependent, controlled and the control and level of replication. Once all that is spelled out, start with the procedure and describe the steps needed to complete the project. Photos of the process would also be included here.

• Results: This section highlights the data – i.e., tables and graphs with descriptions of what they show. Remember that descriptions go above tables, but below graphs. Photos of results would go here.

• Discussion: Now is the time to discuss the results – what does the data show, what did you learn, what surprised you, why do you think the results happened the way thbey did. Here you can also add what you would do better and what you would do as a follow-up experiment.

• Conclusion: Specifically state if the data support or refute the hypothesis.

• Acknowledgements: Thank everyone who helped you including your teachers, friends, mentors, and parents.

• References: Bibliography

Writing a final report is one of the best ways to prepare for the judging interview.

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Creative Ideas for NEXT YEAR’s Science Fair Project

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

If you are working on this year’s project, and you have less than a week to get it done…. Check out my suggestions in posts for “popcorn projects” or “bubblegum projects” or even “paper airplanes” — They can all be done in a weekend (or even a day if you are really stuck).

But if you are looking for a unique idea for NEXT YEAR – do research on BIOMIMICRY

Biomimicry is biology inspired engineering and here are a few examples (copy and paste into your browser):

http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2011/01/14/brilliant-bio-design-14-animal-inspired-inventions/

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/7-amazing-examples-of-biomimicry/copying-mother-nature

My personal favorite is the Solar Powered Bat Inspired Spy Plane

STRATEGY: If your science fair has an engineering category, then you could build one of these designs (Learn and Use Engineering Design Principles) or study nature and build something based on it.

If your science fair does not specifically have an engineering category, you need to be careful that your project is not just a demonstration (remember the fatal flaw: gadgeteering). That means you will need to FIRST build a design and then SECOND use the design to ask a question and conduct an experiment.

For example:

– How does the shape of the whale fin affect spin rate of the turbine?
– How does the height of a honeycomb affect the strength of the structure?
– How does the thickness of the termite mound affect internal temperature?

This year my daughter did: How does valve type affect flow rate in a giraffe neck?

Biomimicry Inspired Science Fair Project - 8th grade

So much for Paintball!

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How to graph data for your science fair project

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

Once you have your data, you will need to present it to your teacher and science fair judges. In a science publication, you would choose between a table and a graph, but for the science fair project it is acceptable, and even encouraged, to showcase the data in both forms. If you have to pick (teacher’s rules), then a graph (picture) is better than a table (numbers), EXCEPT that most scientists really, really like numbers – so we are happy to see the table too.

Type of graphs: Your first choice is to determine which type of graph would best communicate your findings. Your basic choices are bar graph, line graph, pie chart, or scatter plot.

BAR GRAPH – This is the most common type for science fair projects. You may select a bar graph when your independent variable is qualitative (categories) or quantitative (numbers). It is generally better to group the data by TREATMENT instead of TRIAL # because it allows a better comparison of variation within the treatment. This might not be intuitive if you collected by trial, but it is the better way to showcase your results.

An example of a bar graph

Look closely and make sure your bar graph has all the highlighted parts:

Independent variable may be qualitative or quantitative

LINE GRAPH – This is the second most common, but frequently used incorrectly, so be careful here. You should only select a line graph if your independent variable is quantitative (numbers) and you hypothesized that the changes in the independent variable would result in changes in the dependent one. For example, line graphs are great for showing changes in the dependent variable over time or distance along a transect.

An example of a line graph

Again double check the axes:

Independent variable MUST be quantitative

PIE CHART – Pie charts are good for projects that have qualitative independent variables and have generated data that can be expressed as percentages of the total. For example, if your data were counts (i.e. the number of times something happened), then this might be your best choice to compare different treatments.

An example of a pie chart

SCATTER PLOT – If the purpose is to see if the variables are related (common in environmental projects), but there was not a clear choice for independent and dependent variables (for example wind speed and water temperature), then a scatter plot would be your best choice. This option typically requires much more data than the others to observe a trend.

Scatter plots are also called X-Y plots

Scientists do not label graphs with a title, but if your teacher asks for one — make sure that is there too.

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Backboard Basics for Science Fair Projects

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

The backboard is the final part of most science fair projects. If your teacher has given you directions on the preferred layout, then use that — but in the event your are not sure of what goes where, here is a generic backboard template.

Template for Science Fair Project Backboard Display

Choose 1 to 3 colors to make the display board attractive, but not too busy or distracting. Your title should be EASILY read from a distance of 6 to 10 feet away. Pictures of the process and results will also make the board more attractive and draw viewers to your project.

Here is one example:

Award Winning Project Board - 6th grade

And another:

Award winning science fair project 5th grade

And another:

Award winning project -- 5th grade

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Science Fair Projects with Animals: Part II – Animals WITHOUT Backbones

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

Examples of animals without backbones include the animals that made these shells

Most kids love animals, so it is natural that they may want to do a science fair project focused on them. However, most science fairs have strict rules governing the types of experiments that can and can NOT be done with animals. It is important that you understand these rules and complete all necessary paperwork before starting any project (google and check the ISEF science fair rules).

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Observational studies on animals with backbones are allowed – see my last post. Some experiments on animals without backbones are also allowed.

Animals that do not have backbones include:

ARTHROPODS such as: spiders and insects – ants, moths, crickets, beetles, lady bugs, butterflies, dragon flies, lightning bugs, centipedes, cockroaches, mosquitoes, fruit flies; and the crustaceans – hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, blue crabs, shrimp, lobsters, & horseshoe crabs

MOLLUSKS such as: slugs, snails, clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, limpets, squid, & octopuses

ECHINODERMS such as: star fish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers

And many different types of WORMS such as flat worms (planarians), round worms (nematodes), segmented worms (earth worms), sand worms, spiny-head worms, etc.

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Always keep in mind that the experiments need to be ethical– if you wouldn’t do it to your favorite pet, don’t do it to an invertebrate either! And all animals need food and water, so do not deprive living creatures of these necessities just to “see what happens” (FYI – they will die).

One strategy for a unique science fair project focused on animals would be to evaluate “preferences” for these animals in terms of food or habitat choices. Research the animal and find an example of a known food item or habitat structure (this will be your “control”). Then design an experiment to determine how “picky” the animal is for that item/structure. Examples include:

–What is the “best” habitat for centipedes: leaves, logs, rocks, or no cover? (Define best as the most often selected under your experimental conditions)
–Do hermit crabs prefer fruit, leaves, grass, wood, or store food? (Think about how to design a “fair” test for preference)
–Can sea anemones learn to distinguish between food and non-food items on their tentacles? (Think about how you could demonstrate and quantify “learning”)

Another strategy is to determine if a behavior is correlated to an environmental variable. For example:
–Does salinity affect how often oysters will open up and filter? (You can buy live oysters at the market)
–Is moth activity related to the phases of the moon? (Think about how to quantify activity levels in moths)
–Is spider web construction (or size, or shape, etc) related to height off the ground?
–Do crickets chirp more frequently on warmer nights?

One more thing – Before purchasing animals for an experiment, consider what you will do with them afterwards. Keeping them as pets would be fun, but maybe not practical depending on your choice. You must NEVER release the animal into the wild, (including your back yard or local stream) because of the threat of invasive species displacing native ones.

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Science Fair Projects with Animals: Part I – Animals WITH backbones

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

Observational studies of natural animal behavior are allowed without SRC pre-approval

Most kids love animals, so it is natural that they may want to do a science fair project focused on them. However, most science fairs have strict rules governing the types of experiments that can and can NOT be done with animals. It is important that you understand these rules and complete all necessary paperwork before starting any project (6 forms available online via ISEF rules wizard).

Animals with backbones are more tightly regulated than those without. Examples include all mammals (e.g., cats, dogs, horses, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, cows, sheep, etc.), fish, birds, reptiles (e.g., snakes, turtles, frogs, tadpoles), and amphibians. For the purposes of science fair experiments, it also includes embryos, fetuses, and eggs within 3 days of hatching.

Many types of projects may only be conducted at approved Research Institutions, but exceptions to that rule include studies on animals in their natural environment (e.g., birds in your backyard, fish in a lake), zoos, aquariums, and farms. All but one type of project (see below) will need pre-approval from a Scientific Review Committee (SRC) designated by the school or fair.

Behavioral Observation Studies on Animals
This is the one and only exception to conducting an “experiment” with vertebrate animals that does NOT require SRC pre-approval (i.e., exempt from filing paperwork): Observing natural animal behaviors with NO interaction with the animals and NO manipulation of their environment. Although that sounds impossible, it really isn’t.

If you live near the coast, you could video dolphins and count the number of times they surface relative to an independent variable of interest; It might be harder than you think - can you see the dolphin?

Think about the animals you may have access to “watching” either in your own yard or in a nearby county, state, or national park. Using your own video camera is the best way to conduct an observational study. If that is not an option, you could also search the web for video cameras that are already set up to observe animals. For example, a search for “critter cams” will get you a variety of choices from eagles, barn owls, hawks, cranes, falcons, and hummingbirds. National geographic puts cameras on penguins, sharks, seals, and whales and then makes the video available online. Ultimately, you are looking for an unedited piece of video that you can watch repeatedly.

Once you have selected an animal and know you can get video of the animal, you will need to identify natural behaviors you can count. Counts over a period of time are called rates (e.g., diving rate, flapping rate, breathing rate, feeding rate, etc.) and this would become your dependent variable. Depending on your choice, you may be able to evaluate success/failure of this behavior. For example, success rate of catching prey item (e.g., fish or rodent) per attempt (e.g., dive or chase) by a predatory bird.

Now you need to think about your independent variable:

1. It could be an environmental variable that you would also measure during videotaping (e.g., wind speed, wind direction, tidal height, air temperature, sunlight, water temperature, water salinity, ground cover, percent vegetation, etc.), or

2. It could be time (daily, monthly, seasonal, etc.) or space (environmental gradient), or

3. It could be a characteristic of the animal that you would measure by freezing the video (e.g. animal size, animal gender, coloration, surface patterns, etc.)

Your question will take the form of:

How does this INDEPENDENT VARIABLE, affect the animals’ behavior (DEPENDENT VARIABLE) – measured either as a total rate (counts per unit of time) or a percent success rate (number of successes divided by total number of attempts).

For example:
• How does time of day affect success rate of an osprey catching a fish?
• How does maximum diving depth affect the length of time a penguin stays underwater?
• How does wind speed affect flapping rates in migratory birds?
• How does wave frequency affect feeding rates in sandpipers?
• How does branch height affect perching time for owls?
• How does the presence of (or distance from) one animal affect the behavior of another animal?
• How does size affect success rate of prey capture for falcons?
• How does group size affect feeding rates in scavengers?

NO experiments on Pets!!!

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Fascinated by Flight? Try a Paper Airplane Themed Science Fair Project

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

Airplane projects are easy, cheap, popular, and fun — but suffer from 2 problems.

1. Lack of standardization in the procedure (i.e. the throwing)
2. Lack of creativity

This post is to help you get past these obstacles.

Use Paper Airplanes for an easy, 1-day science fair project that is fun!


Your first big challenge is to find a way to standardize the throwing part of the procedure. Think about ways to make sure the throw (or release) is the same each time – your arm is just not precise enough. If you drop it from a decent height, you may not need to propel it forward. Alternatively, could you build something to launch it? (HINT: think catapult). Also think about where you will do the experiment and how you might have to handle variables such as wind or air conditioning or heating drafts.

Assuming you find a way to standardize the experimental procedure, your next challenge is to decide what it is you want to manipulate (independent variable) and what you will measure (dependent variable).

Quantitative variables you can measure may include:
• Maximum or Average distance flown (length)
• Maximum or Average time in air (time)
• Minimum or Average distance from straight line (angle from center line)
• Maximum or Average additional weight carried a set distance (payload = weight)
• Precision (degree of variation between trials)
• Accuracy (angle and distance from target)

You are not restricted to just one dependent variable and, generally, the more you measure, the more data you will generate. Ultimately, this will translate into a more detailed project and a better grade. Next, figure out which independent variable you will change to see if it has an impact. Here are three strategies. You need to pick ONE for each set of experiments (repeated 3 times), but since they are quick trials, you could evaluate more than one independent variable. The more you do, the better the project.

Remember that EACH plane must either (1) be thrown at least 3 times (5 to 10 times would be better) OR (2) you need to make 3 copies of the plane and throw each 1 time (this is technically better)

Strategy #1: Use the SAME paper airplane design and the SAME amount of paper (in square centimeters), and vary ONE of the following:
• Type of paper
• Weight of paper
• Thickness of paper
• Texture of paper (smooth vs. rough)
• Color of paper
• Integrity of paper (with and without holes/tears)
• Paper with and without paint or other coating
• Paper with and without extra weights like staples

Strategy #2: Hold all of variables listed above constant and vary:
• Airplane design (there are many types found online or in books) – making sure you make each design with the same type and amount of paper

Strategy #3: Pick one airplane design and one type of paper and vary:
• Amount of paper, such that you will have similar style planes out of the same type of paper, but of varying sizes – at least three, but more would be better.

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Kitchen Friendly Science Fair Projects

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Dr. Maille Lyons

There are plenty of science fair project ideas just waiting in your kitchen. Generally, it will mean you will be working with food: popcorn, potato chips, eggs, spaghetti, soda, maple syrup, red cabbage, and vinegar are just the beginning! Think about what special properties each one has and what “old-wives-tales” you have heard about a particular ingredient. Those all make great observations for creative science fair projects. Elsewhere on the site are detailed posts about popcorn and bubble gum. Here are two other ideas to get you started.

IDEA #1 Sugar & Spice:

Are you smarter than an ant?

I once saw a project in which the student claimed that NO ANTS would come near one of the brand name artificial sweeteners. Although I do not use any of them, I still found this disconcerting. Are ants smarter than we are –i.e., what do the ants know about that chemical that we don’t?

That is a great science fair project: Which artificial sweeter attracts the most/least ants? (OK – might want to do this one outside…)

You can take this idea and make it your own by asking a slightly different question:

Which spice repels ants the best?

Your creative challenge will be to design an experiment that evaluates how many ants avoid (or visit) an area (or item) with or without the spice in a measured amount of time (hint: “no spice” is the control). Don’t forget you need replication (3 times or 3 spaces – your choice).

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IDEA #2 Ice Cream:

Was Erasto right or lucky?

This is one of those great stories in accidental science discoveries. Look up the story of Erasto Mpemba, a young boy from Tanzania who demonstrated that sometimes warm liquids freeze faster than cold liquids.

The key to making this an original idea for your science fair project is two-fold. First, it is hard to consistently determine exactly when an object is frozen. You will need to define how you will measure this (i.e, how will you quantify and measure this dependent variable?). Second, the interesting part is that it only works “sometimes” and we don’t really know why!! Erasto first observed the phenomenon with ice cream mix. Your challenge is to think about the variables you could manipulate (salt content, sugar content, milk content, starting temperature, volume, etc.) and ask that question. For example:

How does sugar content affect the Mpemba effect?

Here the control is a little trickier and will depend on the question asked. In my example, I would use a solution with no sugar (control) and then systematically add measured sugar amounts to other containers to eventually generate a dose-response curve. Also – don’t forget to replicate!

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