sydalicious, you really MUST turn the eggs at LEAST two times a day during the hatch. Three is best, but no less than two for sure. Otherwise you just aren't going to have a successful hatch--the turning keeps the developing chick from sticking to the inside of the shell and dying. You don't want to go to all the effort and then have nearly fully developed chicks that die in the shell just short of hatch, do you? Of course not. Just turn the eggs before and after school. It only takes a minute. :) I personally don't candle my eggs, because my hens lay eggs with darker shells that are impossible to see through--also, I am concerned about handling the eggs too much and either dropping them or letting them get too chilled. So I just wait and see what comes out on hatch day. :) I figure if I'm already doing everything I can, and correctly, me candling isn't going to do me any good since I can't see through the shells. But if you get some light-colored eggs and want to candle, by all means try it--here is a site with candling info and great pics: http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/b1166-w.html I use great big cardboard boxes for brooder boxes, and just throw them away when I'm done with them. I've got info and pics on my site about how I do my brooder box setups. I just use a large piece of chicken wire for a top (unless you have small children, cats or dogs that might get to the chicks, then use something sturdier) that I can lift on and off. I also like to cut a window in the side of the box and hot glue a piece of hardware cloth over it so the chicks can see out--being n a box for weeks without being able to see out is BORING! And overcrowding and boredom in chicks can lead to pecking, which is a bad thing. Basic brooder box setup: I use a couple of bricks to elevate my food and water containers, it keeps them cleaner by helping keep shavings out of them. Using either a quail waterer (see it in the pics, it has a smaller drinking ring area--or adding marbles to a chick waterer is a MUST--chicks can and do easily drown in water dishes. For heat I use a gooseneck desk lamp with a 75 watt bulb in it, and just adjust the head of the lamp up or down--if the chicks are huddled under it and peeping, they are too cold, if they are avoiding it in a big circle and gasping, they are too hot. In action! :) Here it is from the outside, Millie my Belgian d'Uccle is visiting the chicks: You can easily use wire to partition off a large box: In this case I had three 3 week old chicks and was going to add newly hatched chicks. Velvet ~:>

I think it's a marvelous idea, especially if you have a way of testing the ph level or enough time. The questions he could set forth to answer seem endless - How does the C:N ratio affect decomposition rate? How does the C:N ratio affect pH? Or he could look at moisture content, introduction of decomposers, etc. He might ask what is the impact of moisture in composting using cicadas as a control. Impact on pH? heat? decomposition rate? Or the impact of exposure to air, etc. His only problem would be to narrow down the comparison groups. Of course, most people here might have the answer to these questions already. But then I'm pretty sure that my 7th grade science teacher knew how mine was going to turn out too! :) I would imagine that the world would look very different now if every science fair project uncovered a new contribution to science - wouldn't that be called a PhD?? Good luck!

Thank you farmfreedom! Radishes certainly grow fast and I can easily imagine being able to do not just the two required generations but more. Great suggestion. but... What properties of radish (color, shape, etc) are there that are controlled by single genes that would be obvious to my 8 year old? I have a general idea of how to cross pollinate flower (take a paint brush, brush the pollen from one flower and brush it on the next) -- is it just as simple for radishes? (I guess I have harvested any radish I have ever grown before allowing them to bolt/ go to flower) While I have planted radish seeds many times, where to I find the seeds on a mature radish plant?

Thank you Rich and Ladyslppr. I was hoping Salvia coccinea seeds didn't require a resting period before they would germinate. I have several other types of salvias but none of them are producing a copious amount of seed. Plus my son likes red. We haven't tested the grow light to see how much electromagnetic radiation it puts out, but we will do that over the weekend. I imagine it will depend on how far away the light source is from the soil. I was trying to think of a non-electric heat source but I am not sure how to create a circulating hot water setup. I thought about inverting an aquarium over the plants to create a greenhouse effect. Maybe if the grow light is outside the aquarium, it wouldn't create to much radiation. My son is a 9th grader with an aversion to science fair projects so the more complicated the setup, the better he will like it. He likes building things. Thanks again. Becky