Regional Science Fair Success - but still a long way to go
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 10:43 am
Hello everyone,
Recently, I had a nominal amount of success at my regional science fair. I was able to take a victory in the Physics category, made up of about 25% of the fair's total projects, and I also got a few organization awards too- including an invitation to a 3-day NASA camp at a nearby space center. I learned a lot through discussing with the judges; a few were even able to recognize it looked similar to a Farnsworth fusor, so we were able to have lots of interesting conversations on that end. I also told a few other self-motivated individuals about this website as well, so they may or may not come and check out this forum. Although it was an enlightening experience, I still can't find it in myself to accept the current state of my project. I ended up losing the grand prize award to a much more pragmatic project, which I might've been able to beat had I put more time into my display. Not only that, but I did the ENTIRE data collection and analysis in a day, and it's riddled with what could've been. Luckily, I received an invitation to attend the Virginia State S&E Fair, so I still have a running chance. I've been gifted a month to expand on my research; I don't plan on wasting a day on the euphoria of a temporary victory.
For the analysis of this project, I simply quantified relationships between pressure, voltage, current and its' resulting light intensity, an idea I naively tried to make practical my applying it to solar flare prediction through coronal loops - something the grand prize judges didn't hesitate to point out. However, some of the judges who really enjoyed the project suggested I expand on it through the use of magnetic fields; a suggestion I'm gladly going to jump on. I have a month, and spring break, in order to turn my research into something I am truly proud of, so I'm able to take it to the state science fair knowing I gave it my best effort.
Besides the pessimistic self-reflection, I just wanted to thank you guys again. This entire forum is a god-send for self motivated people willing to take the time to learn it all. The wealth of information on here than I've learned in my past two years of high school, while at the same time being something I'm actually interested in. Hopefully I'm able to cough up a project truly deserving to be representative of this community, and not having it ending up short of it's true potential.
Recently, I had a nominal amount of success at my regional science fair. I was able to take a victory in the Physics category, made up of about 25% of the fair's total projects, and I also got a few organization awards too- including an invitation to a 3-day NASA camp at a nearby space center. I learned a lot through discussing with the judges; a few were even able to recognize it looked similar to a Farnsworth fusor, so we were able to have lots of interesting conversations on that end. I also told a few other self-motivated individuals about this website as well, so they may or may not come and check out this forum. Although it was an enlightening experience, I still can't find it in myself to accept the current state of my project. I ended up losing the grand prize award to a much more pragmatic project, which I might've been able to beat had I put more time into my display. Not only that, but I did the ENTIRE data collection and analysis in a day, and it's riddled with what could've been. Luckily, I received an invitation to attend the Virginia State S&E Fair, so I still have a running chance. I've been gifted a month to expand on my research; I don't plan on wasting a day on the euphoria of a temporary victory.
For the analysis of this project, I simply quantified relationships between pressure, voltage, current and its' resulting light intensity, an idea I naively tried to make practical my applying it to solar flare prediction through coronal loops - something the grand prize judges didn't hesitate to point out. However, some of the judges who really enjoyed the project suggested I expand on it through the use of magnetic fields; a suggestion I'm gladly going to jump on. I have a month, and spring break, in order to turn my research into something I am truly proud of, so I'm able to take it to the state science fair knowing I gave it my best effort.
Besides the pessimistic self-reflection, I just wanted to thank you guys again. This entire forum is a god-send for self motivated people willing to take the time to learn it all. The wealth of information on here than I've learned in my past two years of high school, while at the same time being something I'm actually interested in. Hopefully I'm able to cough up a project truly deserving to be representative of this community, and not having it ending up short of it's true potential.