Since your question is fairly clear, I went ahead and answered it
anyway.
Your declarative statement can be either a straight statement or it
can even be in the form of a question. In your case, a statement in
the form of a question may very well be best. The mere fact you are
doing a "science" project dealing with "clothing style" will put a
question into the judges mind as it is. By making your opening/title
in the form of a question, you will already be eliminating some shreds
of doubt from their mind as to whether your project is really
"science" or not. And that will be the question that is more than
likely formost for them.
It is an old sales trick, eliminate the objection before it comes up.
I must also presume these statements are to be used as part of your
notebook presentation.
An example could be along the lines of:
"What does the scientific examination of clothing style and fabrics of
the 5th and 6th century in the city of Byzantium tell us about the
condition of the city and the state of the empire?"
Your statement of the problem is for the purpose of telling what your
project will solve, something along the lines of:
"The evolution of clothing style over a limited period of time and
within a limited region can tell us much about how life was lived at
the time. Such a study can demonstrate such things as variables of
climate by means of changes in fiber usage, changes in economic and
trade status by means of 'luxury' and imported fibers and fabrics,
advances in chemistry as demonstrated in the art of fabric dying and
cleaning, or even local agricultural practices by means of chemical
analyses and the study of pollens and other contaminants trapped in
the fibers."
Now that seems like a lot. However, you don't have to worry about all
of it. Once your statement of the problem has been made, which
demonstrates the breadth of your knowledge, you only have to
concentrate on one aspect of it in order to show the importance of
such a study. When you demonstrate the importance of just one aspect
of things, it only falls into place that those things which you do not
cover are also important. One of them could be your project next
year.
Just as a little note for you, since you like style, you will find
that the Byzantine upper classes wore the richest clothing in history.
It has never been surpassed for grandure either before or since. The
use of color was magnificent. - - - That is your first clue to a
possible beginning science project. What does the use of color in
Byzantine fabrics tell us about the knowledge of chemistry, biology
and nature during the 5th and 6th centuries in Byzantium. Your
experiments and experimental variables would all be related to the
practice of fabric dying in the same manner they did.
If your parents are reading this over your shoulder, they are probably
gathering bricks to throw at me as they envision a house full of
stinking dye pots and splashes of bright colors everywhere they
shouldn't be, such as on the cat. But I'm sure you can keep that
under control.
You may also mention the use of dying along with the introduction of
new fabrics and fibers during this time frame. Sericulture (silk
making) came to Byzantium in the 5th century, right in the first
century of your time period. Dyes used for silk were very rare and
costly, so as an 'aside' you can mention that the fact they were
fairly widely used is evidence that the city was in a prosperous phase
at the time. Such luxury items are among the first things to go when
there was an economic downturn in pre-industrial societies.
I will give you a little bit of a start with dye materials and their
sources. Many will be quite exotic but there are enough common ones
you can find to work with AND which are safe to handle. It is also
somewhat of a shame animals can no longer be used in science projects
since the Byzantines had developed the art of dying wool while the
sheep was still wearing it. Hamsters would do nicely for such a
science project experiment but I guess the use of live animals has
been banned since my day.
All dyes used then were "naturally sourced," made from plants, animals
and minerals. The dyer's palette was mainly purples, reds, blues and
yellows. Other colors were made by over-dying or blending fibers of
two or more colors to get different shades.
Purple, the most sought-after, and precious, color came mainly from
three species of snails. These dyes were reserved for the Emperor and
high officials because of their expense, rarity and complexity. It
could take two weeks to prepare a simple dye bath of royal purple.
Cheaper purples were made with the crimson-purple lichen Orsille, or
by blending red and blue dyes together such as kermes with indigo.
A luxury red came from the insect kermes (Kermococcus vermilio), and
later from lac-dye (coccus lacca), another insect. A cheaper and more
common red came from madder (Rubia tinctoria) or from alkanet
(Anclusa tinctoria) which was used mostly in combination with other
colors.
Blues came from woad (Satis tinctoria) and indigo. Yellow could come
from saffron (the pollen of the crocus flower) or from unripe
pomegranate fruit. Weld (which was an imported product from Southern
Europe was the best of the yellows) and dyer's broom (Genista
tinctoria) was used for overdying woad to produce green. Safflower
could produce either red or yellow depending of the mordant (a word
you need to learn if this is the direction your project will take),
but it was not a lasting color. Other greens could come from irises
or buckthorn sap but the best were made by the overdying of dyer's
broom over woad.
Black was next to impossible. It was mostly a purple black made by
repeatedly dying with madder and indigo. Some mineral dyes of iron
were also used, but they faded fast and were very harsh on the fabric.
If you used the above as an example, you would have a project
combining cultural anthropology, chemistry and biology all rolled into
one. Nobody could say it was not a "science" project.
Your experiment could include:
1 - Obtain 4 pieces each of the following fabrics which were used in
Byzantium. - virgin wool fabric, smooth not rough, unbleached and
never dyed - - raw silk, unbleached and never dyed - - linen,
unbleached and never dyed.
If the fabrics are too "off color" you may bleach them in ammonia
which was the same chemical used then.
2 - You will be using three of each in dying experiments. You will
need three as your experiments should be able to be duplicated at
least three times, getting the same results each time. The fourth
piece of fabric will be your 'control.'
The dyes would be the constants in your experiment.
The fabrics would be the variables.
Keep the conditions exactly the same for each repetition of the
experiment. In other words, don't do one dye job on the back porch
and the next one in the basement. Even changes in light can effect
the way a dye works.
Most of these dyes, or the raw materials from which they are made, can
be obtained from sources which supply school laboratories. If you
ask, your school may even help you obtain them. Another way to go
would be to contact the anthropology department of a convenient
university, or the curator of an anthropology/archaeology museum and
explain to them what you are doing. Most museums are more than
willing to assist a student who wants to know more about their
specialties. You may even wind up with a curator or museum official
who will lead you through the whole process. Anthropologists are
eager to get students started on the path.
Keep a detailed log of each experiment. These logs or diaries will be
very important to the judges.
You may demonstrate how a particular dye may work wonders on one
fabric but do next to nothing for another. For example, a common red
dye may do well with wool and linen but not work with silk. Yet, the
Byzantines had red silk. What does that tell us about Byzantine
trade? By identifying what the red dye is that works on silk, you can
also identify where it came from. Was it from someplace close by
within the Empire or was it from the other side of the world? If it
was from the other side of the world, how commonly was it used. A
good rule of thumb would be the more common its use, the greater the
amount of trade taking place with that foreign location.
For this type of additional knowledge, you don't need to have another
dye test. Here your research will be in libraries, on the web, etc.
All you need do is locate where the dye came from and you have
established a fact about Byzantine trade. You have already
demonstrated the common dyes found locally don't work.
There may be other variables in the trade story, such as middlemen
etc, which can be addressed in later science projects. But for now,
this is an 8th grade project and some generalities are to be expected.
Now you can see what I mean. Something as seemingly unimportant as
the color of a piece of cloth can tell us many things.
Whether you use this suggestion or not, it will give you an outline of
how to determine what your constants and variables will or should be.
You will find that simplicity is the key with most science project
experiments while the presentation itself can be as complex as a pile
of overcooked spaghetti.
Remember the theater aspect of things.
Also, one last thing. Even though the natural dyes are safe, they are
still chemicals as far as a science fair is concerned. You may need
to check whether you can use them as an actual part of your display.
Some jurisdictions don't permit the display of chemicals or even
plants, at least for the lower grades. By the time you reach your
junior and senior year in highschool, most of those restrictions are
lifted unless something is truly dangerous. You should check on
display rules whichever way your project takes you.
If you have any clarification questions, please ask.
Cheers
digs |
Clarification of Answer by
digsalot-ga
on
29 Sep 2003 08:00 PDT
Hi again
In that case, the two sample statements above would fit nicely.
The declarative sentence or statement:
"What does the scientific examination of clothing style and fabrics of
the 5th and 6th century in the city of Byzantium tell us about the
condition of the city and the state of the empire?"
And the problem statement:
"The evolution of clothing style over a limited period of time and
within a limited region can tell us much about how life was lived at
the time. Such a study can demonstrate such things as variables of
climate by means of changes in fiber usage, changes in economic and
trade status by means of 'luxury' and imported fibers and fabrics,
advances in chemistry as demonstrated in the art of fabric dying and
cleaning, or even local agricultural practices by means of chemical
analyses and the study of pollens and other contaminants trapped in
the fibers."
Both of these cover any direction your project wants to take. You may
want to re-word them for originality or to eliminate the rather clumsy
way I put them together.
If you keep exacting notes, including your online and library
research, the people you speak with, an outline of what you want to
do, etc, you will find that your summaries and abstracts will almost
write themselves when the time comes.
As for your hypothesis, a modification of the problem statement is
usually sufficient. In this case the hypothesis would be "The use of
the anthropology of clothing and style, especially the use of color in
style, as a determination of economic status and trade in 5th - 6th
century Byzantium"
I know you will re-word that one as it has an awkward sound as it
stands. But you can get the idea.
The reason I'm pushing you to be a Byzantinologist, is that nice
people become Byzantinologists. When you tell people what you do,
they will say, "wow, that sounds interesting."
If you become an Egyptologist as I am, then people simply whisper to
each other and say "look out for than one, he must have a screw loose.
Every night he goes home to his mummy."
Cheers
digs
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