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Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

 * === The mass of wood being burned ===
 * === What species of wood is being burned ===
 * === How the wood will be burned ===
 * === Same container the wood is being burned in ===

[|camp‑fire1.jpg]

=
I plan to do my science experiment at home, where all of my materials are, and where I can do this project safely. There will be one subject involved in this science project, and that would be me. I will be conducting the science project on my own, where I can do it without any unwanted input. I will need to complete three trials for each species of wood that I will be using, in order to come to a reliable conclusion. As my experiment is being conducted, I will be writing data onto a spreadsheet. I plan to document the process by taking pictures during the experiment, then printing them out. I will then bring the pictures and the spreadsheet to school to use at a later time. =====

= Materials List = = Detailed Procedure =
 * 1) Project Spreadsheet
 * 2) Writing Utensil
 * 3) Camera
 * 4) Scale
 * 5) Metric Conversions Chart
 * 6) Wheel Well
 * 7) Camera
 * 8) Chainsaw
 * 9) Wood (5,000 g/ 11.02 lbs) (Oak, Beech, Maple [Dry])
 * 10) Newspaper
 * 11) Lighter
 * 12) Steel Bucket
 * 13) Shovel
 * 14) Calculator
 * 1) Gather the materials needed to conduct the experiment.
 * 2) Weigh out amount of wood needed.
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Make the fire in the wheel well with the newspaper, wood, and the lighter.
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Start timer when the wood has caught.
 * 5) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Weigh the bucket empty on the scale.
 * 6) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Convert the weight from ounces to grams with the conversions chart and calculator, record results.
 * 7) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When the wood is reduced to coals/ash, stop the timer.
 * 8) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Shovel ashes into the bucket.
 * 9) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Put bucket onto the scale.
 * 10) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Convert weight from ounces to grams, record results.
 * 11) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Repeat 2-10 two more times for each wood species.
 * 12) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When switching to a different species, repeat steps 1-11, three times

Background Research
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Deciduous Wood (hardwood) loses it leaves during the fall. Deciduous Forests are found mostly in the Northern hemisphere, but some are found in the Southern hemisphere. Deciduous forests are home to tree species such as oak, beech, maple, elm, birch, etc.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Properly seasoned wood produces most heat and least creosote. Wood that is being burned should be seasoned at least one year prior to burning time. Hardwood needs to season 2-3 years depending on species. Split seasoned firewood is white inside, and gray outside. Wet wood will not burn well, and wil have trouble lighting, and staying on fire. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Green Softwood firewood (green meaning unseasoned) is often drier than Green Hardwood firewood. Wood carries water weight, just like humans, and seasoning the wood results in the wood becoming dry. Even well seasoned firewood carries water weight, sometimes up to 25%. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #f86007; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In order to have properly seasoned (dry) firewood, you must do certain things in order to get it that way. You must cut your firewood to a length that is at least 3 in. shorter than the firebox where you will be burning the wood. You should also split your wood before you stack it. You should leave your firewood for at least 6 months.

Data Table
media type="custom" key="12293978"

Conclusion
===<span style="color: #f86007; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">The purpose of this experiment was to see which species of wood was most efficient to burn in someone’s home. The goal was to measure the mass of the ash left after the burning, as well as how long the sample burned. The results were that oak burned the longest, with an average time of 2:23:18 hours, while maple took the shortest time to burn, with a time of 1:30:27 hours. Maple left the most ash behind with a mass of 2479.64 grams, while beech left the least ash behind, with a mass of 1391.01 grams. ===

Discussion
===**<span style="color: #f86007; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;">My hypothesis was that oak will burn the longest, followed by beech, then maple. I hypothesize that beech will leave the most ash behind, followed by maple, then oak. My results for the most part, supported my hypothesis. The relationship between the independent and the dependent variables was that if the wood type changed, the amount of ash and the burning time would change. I think that my tests went smoothly. All the wood that I needed was measured and cut up, and all other materials were available to use. If I could improve my experiment, I would use a more accurate scale. This way, I could make sure that the results would be even more accurate than the ones I got. An interesting future study might involve testing different species of maple, such as red maple vs. sugar maple vs. rock maple. I would like to see if there is a difference in how these three variations of maple burn. **===