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On the equinoxes (approx. March 20 and September 22) the amount of day and night are of equal length--approximately 12 hours each. There's a "balance" of light and dark at almost all locations on earth.

But some people believe that there is another kind of "balance" on the equinoxes, a special kind of force that will make a raw egg balance on its own end!

Do you think this is true? Is there some sort of cosmic "balance" that makes eggs stand on their own on the equinoxes, but not on other days? Is there a scientific way for you to test this?

Design an experiment, on paper, that will answer these questions using the lab format sheet glued into the front cover of your science journal. Follow this template to write up an experimental design to test the following question: Does a raw egg balance on its end only on the equinox?

Turn this in to me by March 20, xxxx. If your extra credit assignment is done very well, I will drop your lowest test, homework, or lab grade.

Find an article in a recent newspaper or magazine that relates to anything we have discussed so far this year. Carefully read the article and neatly hand write a one-page summary of the article you read. Your one page summary should show me that you understand the article.

Now, write a 1/2 page reaction to what you read. You may use the following questions to help get you started:

            * Why did you pick this particular article for your extra credit assignment?
            * Describe three things you learned reading this article.
            * Do you agree with the conclusions the author(s) made in the article?

Turn this in to me by January 10, xxxx. Attach the article to your summary and reaction. If your extra credit assignment is done very well, I will drop your lowest test, homework, or lab grade.

If students would like to do extra credit, they can try an experiment that interests them and write a lab report.
Conduct an experiment: You can find experiments in the library or check out some of the web sites below:

Some websites for science activities you may want to consider are listed below.

DoSciecne.com

Scientific Explorations And Adventures with Paul Doherty

SEED Science Center

Once you find an activity, you should do it and write it up! Use the following to guide the write up of your experiment.

Title:

What is the tile of the experiement?

Problem / question

What question is being asked that this experiment can answer?

Hypothesis

You should predict what the answer to the question will be AND WHY you think this will happen.

Procedure / materials

What materials did you use and what procedures did you follow?

Data

Write what you saw and/or measured. You are just reporting you results

Interpretation of data

Here you need to explain what you observed and/or measured.

Conclusion

Here you should go back to the question and answer the question and cite the data to show that the answer is correct. You should also refer to the hypothesis.

Get your parent's signature and how much time you spent on this assignment.

Rewrite your variables lab. You need to re-write the procedures making sure you control for all the variables you failed to control in the first experiment. Also, develop new conclusion questions. You should write the lab like you are giving it to 5th and 6th graders to complete. They need to be able to follow your directions perfectly and have no variables in their experiment. Follow your lab report format when writing up the new lab.

Turn this in to me by Thursday, October 25, xxxx. If your extra credit assignment is done very well, I will drop your lowest test, homework, or lab grade.

Do some research on photoperiod and write a 2 page summary on why our photoperiod changes throughout the year. In other words, I want to know why the amount of daylight differs from day to day. Include in your essay: rotation of the earth around the sun, the tilt of the earth, the earth's hemispheres, the spring and autumnal equinox, and seasons. If your essay is well thought out and contains good information, then I will drop your lowest quiz/test score of the quarter.

Turn this in to me by Wednesday, October xxxx. If your extra credit assignment is done very well, I will drop your lowest test, homework, or lab grade.