THE EXPERIMENT

Ok. Well. My SRP topic thing "Whether the absence or presence of a net affects free throw accuracy in basketball." I've come up with an experiment on how to test this. Hopefully it won't need too much changing but I have a feeling I might have to change one or two things. And I'll need volunteers. Lots of them.

EXPERIMENT:
AIM: To find whether the absence or presence of a net affects free throw accuracy in basketball.

HYPOTHESIS: The absence of a net decrease free throw accuracy in basketball.

EQUIPMENT: official NBA sized basketball, basketball court, basketball net, 30 people (15 experienced players, 15 non-experienced players), recording apparatus

METHOD:
1. Set up basketball court on a clear day, with net attached to hoop on the side facing away from the sun.
2. Have each person shoot at the hoop 10 times from the penalty line.
3. Take the net off the hoop.
4. Have each person shoot at the hoop ten times from the penalty line.
5. Record results, with a separate record for each person, with experience level noted.
6. Repeat the steps 1-5 two more times on different days but under the same conditions.
7. Compare and analyse all the results.

Hopefully, that will be the experiment I use to gather my information. I did do a bit of research and came across this site, which had a similar experiment on it, with the results.

http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2006/Projects/JO334.pdf

The results on this site actually stated that the lack of a net resulted in greater free throw accuracy in basketball. I, however, think differently because I think that the net, which may not physically help a shooter, may help mentally focus the player's accuracy and help increase the shooting accuracy. And thus, my hypothesis. I will look further into this and perhaps find more sources to gather information from.

For now, that is all.

FINALLY

YES!! FINALLY!!

I have my SRP project thingy now. Courtesy to Ms Zhang, and my English class, and various other individuals, I have now made up my mind.

After I asked Ms Zhang about what topic thing was best, it turned out that the caffeine effects on bodies was too hard to do. I don't know what she thought of the telescope one though.
Well, anyways, it looked like I was left with 4 ideas:

• Whether the absence or presence of a net affects a free throw in basketball
• Whether watering a plant with caffeinated water affects the plant and whether watering a seed with caffeinated water affects germination
• How different erosional techniques affect different type os soil
• Whether storage temperature, area of storage, type of storage and time affect the pH level in different types of juice

Finally, it came down to the first and last of the points. The first won, by a narrow 10-9 win. So there it is. My SRP topic is:

Whether the absence or presence of a net affects a free throw in basketball.

So now I must formulate an experiment, but I have an idea of how I'll carry out the experiment. However, I shall put it up tomorrow, after I have refined the experiment. Must go now.

Bye!

RESEARCH: TELESCOPES

This doesn't mean I have chosen to do the telescope one. I' just looking into the stuff and doing research, and today I only had time to research one, because I procrastinate too much. =="
ANYWAYS, I just looked up "how to build a telescope" and came up with a handful of useful sites. One site was actually advertising a book on how to make 5 different telescopes. Man, I'd love to get my hands on that book! Anyways, I learnt that there were different types of telescopes. The discription on the site was as follows:

• 4"f/10 Reflector: A sturdy and easy-to-use telescope that is perfect for beginners or as parent/child projects
• 6"f/8 Dobsonian Reflector: A light, compact telescope, that is simple to build, but powerful enough to satisfy a backyard observer for many years
• 6"f/8 Equatorial Reflector: A classic design for the amateur astronomer or craftsman who wants an elegant telescope and great performance
• 10"f/6 Dobsonian Reflector: A powerful and versatile telescope suitable for casual stargazing or for a serious amateur's long-term observing program
• 6"f/15 Refractor: A large refractor that outperforms commercial telescopes of considerably larger aperture

Source: http://www.willbell.com/TM/tm2.htm

SO there are obviously different types of telescopes. And there are also different levels of telescope-building difficulty, and different levels of proficiency when made. I took a look at a couple of sites, which gave directions as to how to make a telescope. The sites were:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question568.htm

http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/tele/tele.htm#contents

There was another site, which was sort of like a journal on a person building a telescope.

http://www.buildingatelescope.com/construction.html

Another site, which I haven't been fully able to explore, but which looks promising with a variety of different telescope types on it, was this:

http://www.backyardvoyager.com/scopeplans.html

And IF I was to do this, I found a site with parts and prices on it, for buliding types of telescopes. Mught be handy.

http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/telescope036.htm

Well, that's it for today. Time to go. I will be back soon. Bye!

AIYAH

Ok... despite my promises... I have not picked one yet!! Sigh... I haven't got a clue what is suitable or not. Maybe I'll ask Ms Zhang on Monday, because at the moment I'm stuck. Unless, of course, Ms Zhang comments.
Well, I've been doing a bit of research on each thing anyway. So...

• For the caffeine effects on the body, the independent variable is: time between when the coffee is drunk and when the tests are taken and finished; the dependent variables are: effect of the caffeine on the drinker; the controlled variables are: people chosen (regular coffee drinkers, non-regulars, non-drinkers), type of brew (cuppacino, latte, etc.), amount of caffeine and sugar and amount given to drink
• For the basketball net, the independent variable is: weather conditions; the dependent variables are: the number of hoops scored; the controlled variables are: the skill of the thrower, the position of the thrower, the presence of the net, the type of ring (double-ring or single-ring) and number of throws
• For the watering a plant with caffeinated water, the independent variable is: time; the dependent variables are: the rate of growth and effect of the caffeinated water on the plant; the controlled variables are: the amount of caffeine in the water, the type of plant, the amount watered and environment
• For the erosional effects on soils, the independent variable is: time; the dependent variables are: the effects of the erosional technique on the soil; the controlled variables are: the erosional techniques used and the type of soil
• For the pH of juices, the independent variable is: time; the dependent variables are: the resulting pH levels of the juice; the controlled variables are: the brand and type of juice, the storage temperature, the storage area and storage container

For the plant and caffeinated water idea, I might use seeds instead of plants, and measure the speed of germination and growth.

I don't really know what the independent, dependent and controlled variables are for building a telescope, maybe the materials used and so on.

I need to do more research on all these ideas. I'll start tomorrow, and hopefully I can work out something on what to do or whether the things I've said above are correct. But I must be going now, so...

Goodbye and goodnight! :)

ONE STEP CLOSER

Ok, I haven't decided what I want to do just yet, but I've set myself a deadline of tonight.
Tonight I shall have a SRP project.
I will do this! But I am one step closer, right now, to choosing an idea. It seems as if people like the idea "How caffeine affects the body - heart/pulse rate, breathing rate, body temperature, typing speed, typing accuracy, etc."
The few others that I have chosen to consider are:

• How and what materials are best to make a working telescope
• Whether the absence or presence of a net affects a free throw in basketball
• Whether watering a plant with water containing caffeine affects the plant, and whether watering a seed with caffeinated water affects germination
• How different erosional techniques affect different types of soil
• Whether storage temperature, area of storage, type of storage and time affect the pH level in different types of juice

So by tonight I WILL have the idea for my SRP. I'll be back :)

THINKING...

Hello again... Thanks to everyone who commented on my blog/post thingy! It's helping me a lot! I'm still not quite sure of what I should do... I don't really know what's suitable... Hmmm...
MS ZHANG, I NEED HELP!!
Anyways... yeah if people could just choose a few that they think are best for me to do for SRP I'd REALLY REALLY appreciate it!
My list was actually originally 50-something... so I've cut back a lot, but I can't decide out of these ideas. Any indication of what would be good to do or suitable to do would be great!
I shall come back soon, hopefully with a decision on what to do.

IDEAS FOR THE SRP

Well, I've been looking at ideas for a long time, and I've finally come across a few that I think are pretty interesting. Actually, originally I had a lot of ideas, and they generally fell into the categories of Biology, Chemistry and Engineering. These branched off into various branches, like health science, astronomy, environmental science and so on. I've been having trouble trying to narrow down my list of ideas but these are the ones I'm most interested in:

ENGINEERING:

• How and what materials are the best to make a working telescope
• How to build a sensor to detect the presence of a magnetic field
• How to make a working solar panel
• How to build a working electrochemical battery and how it can be made more efficient, with a highter output

HUMAN BODY:

• How caffeine affects the body - our typing speed and accuracy, body temperature, breathing rate, heart/pulse rate etc.
• Whether the absence or presence of a net affects a free throw in basketball
• Whether energy bars/energy drinks/sports drinks affect performance, and whether or not different energy bars have different levels of efficiency - affect reaction time, energy level etc.

PLANTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL:

• Whether magnetism affects the growth of a plant, and whether the position of the magnet or a magnetic field affects the plant growth or the germination of a plant
• Whether watering a plant with water containing caffeine affects the plant, and whether watering the seed with caffeinated water affects germination
• Whether ash can enhance plant growth and what plants grow best in ash and soil combined
• What chemicals affect algae in what ways, and what is best for algae to grow
• What different factors affect germination of a seed
• How different soils are affected by erosion OR how different erosional techniques affect a certain type of soil
• Whether pH of rain varies according to the season

FOOD:

• Whether different types of mould grow on different kind of bread, and what conditions cause what bacterial growth fastest etc.
• Whether storage temperature, type of storage, and time affect the pH of different kinds of juice
• Test bottled water for impurities and compare the impurities (e.g. lead) between different brands of bottled water, and whether there is evidence of leaching of hazardous chemicals from the plastics of the bottle over time

It's still a lot of ideas, but I am particularly interested in building something, like a telescope or a solar panel, but I'm not sure whether or not it's a good idea to choose something like that. The ideas above are the ones I like the most, but I don't know which to choose. If anyopne has any opinions or advice they can give me on what might be the best idea, I'd really appreciate it.