Homeschool Science Fair - Cleaning President Lincoln

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My two youngest daughters (Curly Q and Red) participated in a local homeschool science fair on Friday, April 1, 2022. It has been nice to participate with a homeschool co-op in our city.

Drum roll, please! I am proud to introduce "Cleaning President Lincoln."

The goal of the science fair was to reinforce the six steps of the scientific method.

  1. Ask a Question
  2. Do Background Research
  3. Construct a Hypothesis
  4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
  5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
  6. Communicate Your Results source

Question:

Which household items clean pennies the best?

Hypothesis:

Curly Q - I believe vinegar will clean pennies the best.
Red - I believe lemon juice will clean pennies the best.

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Materials Use:

1.9 penniesdirty and dated 1983
2.9 jarsclear and with lids
3.vinegar15 mL per jar (in a total of three jars)
4.lemon juice15 mL per jar (in a total of three jars)
5.ketchup/water mixture10 mL of ketchup per jar/5 mL of water per jar (in a total of three jars).



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Experiment Procedure:

  1. looked for 1983 pennies
  2. measured household ingredients
  3. poured those ingredients into the jars
  4. dropped pennies into the jars
  5. shook the jars every day for 12 days
  6. scooped the pennies out of the jars
  7. washed the pennies
  8. observed the results


Analysis

1

2

3

vinegar

change:
low
change:
low
change:
low
corrosion:
low
corrosion:
low
corrosion:
medium

lemon juice

change:
high
change:
low
change:
medium
corrosion:
low
corrosion:
medium
corrosion:
high

ketchup/water
mixture

change:
low
change:
low
change:
low
corrosion:
low
corrosion:
low
corrosion:
low


IMG_7379.jpg

Observation:

lemon juice cleans pennies the best


IMG_7426.jpg

Why 1983 pennies?

  • older, therefore dirtier
  • made from 97.5% zinc and plated with a thin copper coating
  • less valuable than pennies made from 95% copper

IMG_7292.jpg

Conclusion


My kiddos stepped out of their comfort zone. That made me a proud papa! They did great with both the poster board and their spoken presentation.
will apply the scientific method to other aspects of their lives.

The cycle of ASKING - RESEARCHING - CONSTRUCTING - TESTING - ANALYZING - COMMUNICATION will serve them well.

Thanks for stopping by our virtual homeschool science fair!

I want to hear from you.

  1. Has your child participated in a science fair?
  2. What was the topic of your child's presentation?

Thanks for stopping by!

@SumatraNate



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10 comments
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This is awesome. Nice work ont hat project. I failed my kids this year due to work things. We did a home science project after the fact.

WE did what would catch an egg the best without breaking it.

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@dkid14 - Life happens! That is the main reason I have been away from Hive for so long.

I am sure your kiddos appreciate the home science fair. Finding the best way to catch an egg is a class!

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Sadly, numismatic societies considered cleaned coins to be chemically damaged; so, when you clean pennies, the pennies lose any numismatic value they may have had. So, while cleaning pennies is a fun science experiment, it is not a good financial move.

A fun experiment is to get a jeweler's scale and to weigh the pennies. Copper pennies should weigh over 3 grams. Zinc pennies weigh something like 2.6 grams.

Someone found a 1983D penny that was on a copper blank a few years back. I did a Google search which claimed the penny sold for $15,000.

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@yintercept - I really appreciate your comment. I agree that cleaned (aka "chemically damaged") does not add value.

I was probably not as careful as I should have been when helping my kiddos select their 1983 pennies, but I know we did not have a copper blank variation that you referenced above.

Thank you for adding a new dimension to the conversation.

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Well done, this is exactly the kind of experiment that we always do when I was in elementary and high school. When the time comes I am going to do some experiments using this scientific method with my son.

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@afterglow - Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. It is great for parents to help their kiddos think through the scientific method.

I hope you and your son have a great time working on experiments together!

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You're welcome (^_^) have a nice day ahead.

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