I just talked to her and incorporated your advice.
We are going with the fall back plan for the fair (soil experiments) and I ordered the mouse maze anyway for her to learn with unconstricted time how the mice learn the maze.
If she can do it for an extra credit project for class, great. If not, this is an opportunity for her to conduct her own experiment and see for herself how the mouse and gerbil learns without the short notice of the fair. :)
Great job mom!!
It should only take a few minutes for the mouse to learn the maze. Just don't put in enough food to make him full.
Put the food at one end and the mouse at the other.
Time the first run.
Start over - time the second run.
Start over, etc.
I'll bet within 3 or 4 runs, he'll have it down.
Make a line graph of the results.
Do it tomorrow to see if he remembers. You may want to make two or three runs. Again, graph the results.
NOW - CHANGE THE MAZE and do it all again.
More than likely, some sort of instructions like this will be included in the maze kit, if you are not building it yourself.
This one shouldn't be hard, and the experiment can be done in a couple of days. The long part is the write-up, and making the display.
Don't worry if things don't turn out perfectly. Part of the evaluation is whether the participant can think it through enough to explain problem results...
Oh, and remember - A still photo of a mouse in a maze is just that. If you forget to take a picture of something, just STAGE it. Unless you have dated and timed pictures, there is no way to tell if you took it during the experiment or three days later! Just make sure some pictures are not in daylight and some in the dark, or some such...
One more thing....I love science projects and at 64 still have several in process. The object should include massive amounts of fun resulting from the pure joy of learning. The excitement of discovery is just about as good as it gets.
Have a notebook for every project and keep good notes including the date and time of all actions and events.
Also......FReepers like to hear reports of good grades.