SYCAMORE REPORTS MAY 2010 ISSUE

BLUE ASH DIVISION Amanda Korn Andre Harte Atharva Palande Athena Eborall Ben Berke Foster Dawson Gracie Hubbard Hannah Feng Jocelin Arbenz Naina Prabhakar Olivia Lindsey Will Johnson

MAPLE DALE DIVISION Abby Motley Cameron Erdman Daniel Halstead Gretchen Stommel James Hanus Joshua Loring Katie Appel Lily Banke Madeline Shewbridge Rhea Srivastava Sammy Schwartz Tommy Ryan MONTGOMERY DIVISION

Alexander Walden Brandon Cho David Hornback Deniz Gorur Meili Ding Olivia Roth Rajiv Raman Shaan Hershey Sophia Neat Will Sutton Zak Taylor

SYMMES DIVISION Anisa Khatana Charlie Whapham Drew Ripberger Eric Buffington John Lynn Joshua Leadem Kaylee Combs Linya Guo Maddi Saunders Nandhu Jani Paige O'Donnell Tyler Jensen

She thought the tape wasn’t sticky enough

ne day Meili

Ding was in her

room trying to

make a timeline.

She was using scotch tape

to tape the ends of a long

piece of string to

her wall. Then

she went to her

brother’s piano

room for

supplies. When

Meili got back the string

fell off. She thought the

tape wasn’t sticky enough.

Overview When you go to your local

Kroger store to buy tape,

you will find two different

brands at the office

supplies section. They are

Office-Works and Scotch.

As a smart consumer, you

may wonder which brand

holds things better.

Test description We tried two different

types of tape.

First, we taped

two cups to a

bookshelf. We

used different

tape with each

cup. The tape went one

inch deep in the cup and

one inch on the bookshelf

in both samples. Then, we

put pennies in the cup until

the tape could not hold any

more and fell. We recorded

how many pennies each

held.

Test result Both brands of tape held

about the same amount of

pennies. The brands were

both in the 100s. The

difference between the two

was only about 10 pennies.

Recommendations OfficeWorks is the brand

of tape you should use. We

tested how strong the two

tapes held by sticking one

end of the tape to a cup and

the other end of the tape to

a shelf and filled the cups

with pennies until the tape

ripped. Even though they

both held the same amount

of pennies OfficeWorks

costs less. The

OfficeWorks tape costs

$0.64 and the Scotch tape

cost $2.29..

O

OfficeWorks vs.

Scotch Read about the battle of the sticky tapes!

We observed and compared brightness

nce when Sophie

Neat, a second

grader at

Montgomery

Elementary, was in the car,

she was drawing penguins.

She used a lap desk. She

lost the cap to the black

marker. When she finished

the penguin drawing, she

still could not find the cap.

She survived without it.

The next day, she

found it but the

marker started to

dry out. She

wondered which

markers dry out the

fastest?

Overview When you go to

Target, Bigg’s,

Kroge

r, or

Walm

art,

you’ll

see many brands of

markers, such as

Rose Art, Crayola,

Sharpie, Magic

Markers, and others. sWe

tested how dry a marker

can get in one day without

having caps on the marker.

We tested both Crayola and

Sharpie brand.

Test description We did the test for a one

day period. The tester took

the caps off the day before.

They tested the markers by

drawing five lines with

each. They observed and

compared the brightness of

the lines.

Test result What happened was that

the Sharpie marker was

really dried out and so it

did not write well. The

Crayola

markers were

not that dried

out and so you

could still

draw quite well with them!

There was one surprise -

the Sharpies results

changed with the color.

That is, the red showed up

better than black or blue

after the 24 hour drying.

Recommendations Sycamore Reports

recommens Crayola for

younger kids because they

most likely will leave the

caps off of markers.

Crayola is washable so for

young kids who get messy,

they should get Crayola.

Sharpies, on the other

hand, are permanent and

they dry out more easily.

We think adults and older

kids can have Sharpies.

Next time you go to draw,

make sure the marker you

are going to use is not dried

out!

O

The Battle of

the Markers Find out what markers are perfect for you

Recalling a time when they were trying to make leprechaun banks…

ohn Lynn, Nandhu

Jani, Eric Buffington,

Maddi Saunders and

Charlie

Whapham,

second graders at

Symmes

Elementary,

recall a time

when they were trying to

make leprechaun banks.

The paper wouldn’t stick

because the

glue wasn’t

strong

enough. They

were

wondering if

there was a

gluestick that

could make

their jobs

easier.

Overview We wanted

to test the

stickiness of

different

brands of

glue sticks.

In stores, we found Elmer’s

office gel glue stick, Rose

Art Jumbo glue sticks,

Universal Permanent glue

stick, Staple Brand glue

stick and etc.

Out of these glue sticks, we

selected and tested 2

brands of glue sticks. One

is ‘Elmer’s Xtra Strength’

and the other one is ‘Avery

glue stick’.

Test description To test 2 brands, we

needed 4 sheets of paper,

lots of pennies, tape, and 2

ziploc bags. We got a

piece of paper and tape,

and taped the paper to the

wall. Next, we grabbed a

Ziploc bag and taped it to a

piece of paper and glued it

to the other paper that was

hanging on the wall. Then

we put pennies in the bag.

Test result During the test there were

some big surprises. One

surprise was that Elmer’s

Extra strong glue could

hold 1100+ pennies. Avery

could hold about 550

pennies. Another surprise

was that the Elmer’s glue

stick was stronger than

even tape or staples.

Recommendations The Elmer’s Xtra Stick

glue is stronger than Avery

glue. Elmer’s Xtra Stick

glue cost more money than

the Avery glue. Sycamore

Reports recommends that

you should buy Avery glue

sticks because it costs less

and is good enough for

most things.

J

Operation:

Gluestick Spying on stickiness of 2 glue stick brands

Fact: Dawn brand dish soap costs twice as much as Ajax brand dish soap.

ilesh Khatana

was scrubbing

dishes one night

and putting them

in the dishwasher. The next

day, as he was unloading

the dishwasher, he realized

that the plates weren’t

cleaned well. He thought

that maybe he should use a

different brand of dish soap

before he put them in the

dishwasher.

Overview Sycamore Reports did a

test on the dish soap

brands, Ajax and Dawn. To

inform you, there are many

other available brands of

dish soap in stores,

including Palmolive and

Meijer brand.

Test description The testers had two brands

of dish soap:

Dawn and

Ajax. The

testing lab put

flour, sugar,

and egg on

plates and

baked them to make dirty

dishes. Then, they soaked

each plate in both dish

soaps for 15 seconds. Next,

they dragged sponges with

weights on them back and

forth 100 times over each

plate.

Test result They looked at the plates

after they had each been

soaked and scrubbed. The

three plates that were

soaked in Ajax had quite a

bit of the mixture left on

them. The three plates that

were soaked in Dawn had

very little of the mixture

left on them.

Recommendations Sycamore Reports

recommends to get the

Dawn because it performed

the best in all our tests. But

consider the cost because

you could get 2 Ajax for

the price of 1 Dawn. $2.99

is a bigger

number than

$.99, right? It

is still your

decision. But

according to

our results,

Sycamore Reports highly

recommends you purchase

Dawn brand dish soap.

N

World War Dish

Soap Ajax? Dawn? Who will win?

Martha’s mother was not happy!

ne day, Martha

Motley, a pre-

schooler in

Cincinnati,

needed to relieve her

bladder. She had a diaper

on, so she did.

However, it

went up her

pants and down

her back. Martha’s mother

was not happy. She wanted

to know which diapers are

the best..

Overview If you were shopping for

diapers, you might go to

Kroger, Target, Biggs,

Walmart, or several other

places. We tested Pampers

and Kroger brand diapers.

The test did not include

Huggies, Luvs, or other

private label brands.

Test description First. the testers took two

tubs of water.

Using 3 ounce

cups, they

picked up

water. They

tipped the water into the

two different diapers. They

needed to see how much

water could put in each

diaper and recorded the

results.

Test result Sycamore Reports tested

2 diapers brands: Kroger

and Pampers. Kroger did

very well in one test but...

in another test it failed,

holding only nine ounces

(RESULTS: 9oz, 21oz,

18oz). Pampers held

about the same amount

each time (RESULTS:

15oz, 18oz, 18oz). It was

surprising to us that

Kroger won one test.

Recommendations

You probably think

Pampers would be the

better diaper, right? If your

baby is like Martha and has

accidents on the floor, we

suggest Pampers because it

consistently holds more

water. On the other hand,

Pampers costs $9.77 for 50

and Kroger is only $5.99

for 50 diapers. So, you

might choose Kroger

because it is less money.

O

Relief for your baby The battle is on between Pampers and Kroger

Declan’s remote shut off because the battery died

ammy Schwartz

and Declan Skinner

were playing Wii

Super Mario Bros.

They were in the middle of

a game when Declan’s

remote just shut off

because the battery died.

Sammy could not play

without Declan. It was

game over and that meant

Sammy and Declan had to

start from the begening.

They both needed good

batteries..

Overview Go to Walmart and you

will find rows and rows of

batteries: Energizer

Advanced Lithium,

Energizer Ultimate

Lithium, Duracell Ultra

Advanced, Rayovac with

24 and 30 batteries,

Energizer

Max and

Energizer

Lithium.

There are

even more

to choose from. Sycamore

Reports selected Energizer

AA, Eveready Heavy Duty

AA, and Kroger AA to test.

Test description Sycamore Reports tested 6

identical flashlights and put

3 different brands of

batteries in the flashlights.

We turned on the

flashlights and left them on

until the batteries died. We

recorded how long

they lasted.

Test result In our testing, the

results showed

Kroger batteries lasted 4

hours. Energizer did better

and lasted 7 hours. But,

Eveready beat them all and

did much better, with the

record of 25 hours.

Recommendations We recommend Eveready

because they lasted the

longest of the 3 tested. Not

only that, they were the

least expensive at $1 a

pack. So when you want to

get batteries, get Eveready..

S

All Different Types

of Batteries Which one lasts the longest? Find out!

She thought, “I don’t like this brand of paper bag.”

ast year, Amanda

Korn, a first

grader

from

Cincinnati, went

on a field trip.

She went

outside to eat her lunch

then it started to rain. Her

brown paper bag got wet.

When she ran inside, her

lunch fell out! She thought,

”I don’t like this brand of

paper bag, especially

because my food fell out .”

Overview Sycamore Reports tested

A.J.M. and Kroger paper

bags. The group tested the

bags to see which one

could hold more before

breaking. Both brands can

be found at

the Kroger

store.

Test description The testers had two brands

of small brown paper bags.

First, they took a Kroger

brand bag and put 200

pennies in it as weight.

Next, they took the Kroger

bag and shook it until it

broke. They did the same

to AJM. They repeated the

tests with a wet sponge and

weights in the bags.

Test result Both Kroger and AJM got

50 shakes up and down

with 200 pennies with a dry

bag. Kroger got 35 shakes

up and down with a wet

sponge and pennies before

it broke. AJM only got 17

up and down shakes with

the wet sponge and pennies

before it broke!

Recommendations The Sycamore Reports

testers recommend you

buy Kroger paper bags

instead of AJM. Kroger

paper bags are better at

wetness. Kroger paper bags

are also better when they

are dry. If you bought AJM

bags they would cost more

than Kroger. So, buy

Kroger.

L

Attack of the

Water Weights AJM and Kroger lunch bags…which bag is good for you?

Pencils have different numbers and prices

socelin Arbenz, a 2nd

grader from Blue Ash

Elementary (BAE),

had a

favorite pencil.

She used it so

much and had

to sharpen it so

often, it got too

small to use. When she

went to get a new one, she

was stunned to see that

there was no lead in it and

it was hollow. She

wondered where did the

lead go and what kind of

pencil was going to last her

the longest.t.

Overview If you look for pencils,

you would go to Office

Depot, Staples, Wal-Mart,

School Time, orother

places. You would find

many different office

supplies and different kinds

of pencils. Pencils have

different numbers and

prices.

Frequently,

you would see

#2 but there are

many others.

Test description On April 23, 2010,

Sycamore Reports tested

different kinds of pencils.

The testers, 2nd graders at

BAE, used #2 pencils & #4

pencils. For the 1st test,

they had a paper with dots.

The test was to see how

many dots they could get

filled in 30 seconds. The

2nd test was to draw 10

inch lines across rough

paper to see long a pencil

lasted before it needed to

be sharpened.

Test result On the first test, the testers

found that the #4 pencil

was able to fill in the most

dots compared to #2. On

the 2nd test, we weren’t

able to get complete results

but seemed to end up with

#4 winning again.

Recommendations The #4 pencil worked

better but #2 pencils are

less money. #4 pencils cost

75 cents each, the #2

pencil costs 15 cents each.

We would get #2 pencils if

we were thinking about

price. But if we wanted to

get pencils to last longer,

we suggest you choose #4

pencils. Which would you

want?.

J

Pencil Power! Which pencil should you use?

Contributing writers

BLUE ASH DIVISION

Amanda Korn

Andre Harte

Atharva Palande

Athena Eborall

Ben Berke

Foster Dawson

Gracie Hubbard

Hannah Feng

Jocelin Arbenz

Naina Prabhakar

Olivia Lindsey

MAPLE DALE DIVISION

Abby Motley

Cameron Erdman

Daniel Halstead

Gretchen Stommel

James Hanus

Joshua Loring

Lily Banke

Madeline Shewbridge

Rhea Srivastava

Sammy Schwartz

Tommy Ryan

MONTGOMERY DIVISION

Alexander Walden

Brandon Cho

David Hornback

Deniz Gorur

Meili Ding

Olivia Roth

Rajiv Raman

Shaan Hershey

Sophia Neat

Will Sutton

Zak Taylor

SYMMES DIVISION

Anisa Khatana

Charlie Whapham

Drew Ripberger

Eric Buffington

John Lynn

Joshua Leadem

Kaylee Combs

Linya Guo

Maddi Saunders

Nandhu Jani

Paige O'Donnell

2010

2010