American Wave Machines

1. What differences are there between standing waves and traveling waves?
2. What is transferred in traveling water waves?
3. What is transferred in standing water waves?
4. What types of energy conversions take place in an electric powered wave machine?
5. If the water path in a wave machine is a closed system, where are the energy losses?
6. How can energy use be minimized with a water circulating standing wave?
7. How can a device extract energy from moving water?

BAE Systems

1. What is computer simulation?
   a. Why is simulation important?
   b. What are some examples of how it can be used?
2. What is the difference between a simulation and a model?
   a. How does engineering benefit from computer simulations and models?
3. What kind of simulation results would you look for if you were to model an airplane?
4. How can computer simulations affect the design process for a project?

Biobridge

1. What does GFP stand for?
   
2. In what animal was the first Fluorescent Protein discovered?
3. What is the difference between fluorescence and bioluminescence?
4. How are Fluorescent Proteins used in science and medicine today?

Biocom

1. What is Column Chromatography?
2. What is Size Exclusion Chromatography?
3. How does electrophoresis work?

Bio-Rad

1. What is encryption?
2. What were the earliest forms?
3. When was it invented?
4. Is there any infallible method?
5. How do we protect charge cards today?

CAL FIRE

1. What does this fire engine have that most others do not?
2. How do thermal imaging cameras work?
3. Tell us about your newest rope rescue equipment?
4. Why is technology so important to firefighters?
5. What role does technology play in the fire service?

California Center for Sustainable Energy

1. What is sustainable energy?
2. What is a carbon footprint?
3. What is a green job?
4. What are YOU doing now to reduce your impact on the environment?
5. What could your FAMILY do to reduce its impact on the environment?

California State Parks PORTS Program

1. What kinds of technology is the California State Parks PORTS Program using to deliver high quality educational programs into classrooms?
2. Why is it important for students to connect with State Park specialists using difference technologies?
3. Describe the park that you are visiting live, via videoconference.
4. Did you observe anything that has adapted to its environment during your visit? What was is and describe the adaptations.

Center for Theoretical Biological Physics

1. What is a photon ?
2. How many photons does it take to stimulate one photoreceptor molecule in your eye?
3. What is the first significant (molecular) event that start the whole process of sending a visual signal to your brain?
4. What is one of the many characteristics of a protein that governs it's specific function?

City of San Diego Water Conservation Program

1. What factors influence a plant’s water requirement?
2. What is an anemometer? How does it work?
3. What kind of irrigation system do you have at home, school or park? Drip, Microspray, Spray sprinkler, Rotor, Bubbler, Impact
4. What soil type do you have at your home? Clay, Loam, Sandy

Resources

http://www.emwd.org/conservation/pdf/wucolsb.pdf
http://www.cityofbremerton.com/content/wc_soiltypes.html
http://apps.sandiego.gov/landcalc/start.do
http://www.sunshowerservices.com/irrigation-glossary.html#p
http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/Irrigation_System_Heads_Introduction.aspx
http://www.sandiego.gov/water/conservation/drought/

County of San Diego Air Pollution Control District

1. How can air pollution affect you?
2. What are the major pollutants regulated by the government?
3. What are the biggest sources of air pollution in San Diego County?
4. Which kinds of air pollution are highest in San Diego County?
5. What can you do to prevent air pollution?

Cubic

1. What is encryption?
2. What were the earliest forms?
3. When was it invented?
4. Is there any infallible method?
5. How do we protect charge cards today?

DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency)

1. What is a Forensic Chemist? What are the major duties of a Forensic Chemist?
2. What is a controlled substance?
3. What is an infrared spectrometer and how is it used in the Forensic Laboratory?
4. What is a clandestine laboratory?

Answers can be found through the DEA website: http://www.usdoj.gov/dea or through a general search on the web.

EcoCenter for Alternative Fuel Education

1. What two engines does a hybrid vehicle run on?
2. What is the approximate range (mileage per gallon) of a plug in hybrid?
3. Approximately what percentage of the time does a standard hybrid pollute the air?

Entropic Communications

1. How are satellite signals transmitted to the home?
2. There are too many satellite signals to fit on a single cable, but every satellite receiver needs to be able to choose from all available channels – how can this be solved?
3. DirecTV signals come down from the satellite in the 12 GHz frequency range. Electronics in the DirecTV settop box operate at DC to 2 GHz to process satellite signals – why would the system be set up this way?
4. Can the received satellite signals be input directly to a microprocessor for video processing?

Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects

1. List 3 environmental issues the world is facing today and ways in which we can reduce these negative impacts.
2. List 3 renewable resources of energy that can offset a building’s energy consumption from the standard grid.
3. Describe the LEED™ process and how it has transformed the building market.
4. What tools do designers have to study the optimization of energy performance of a building?
5. What are 5 things you can do in your household to lead a more sustainable lifestyle?
   

Websites for Investigation

Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects

United States Green Building Council

Sempra Energy

Center for Sustainable Energy California

Revit Architecture

General Atomics Energy Group

1. Where does the energy used by you and your family in your home originate?
2. How is infrared radiation similar to visible radiation (light)?
3. How can fusion be used as an energy resource on earth?

GUNNAR Optiks

Geocon Incorporated

1. What type of services are included in geo-environmental consulting? Geotechnical engineering, engineering geology, environmental and materials testing.
2. What happens to loose, saturated sand that is shaken by an earthquake? Liquefaction
3. Loose sands are usually recently deposited soils. Where are places in San Diego that have loose, saturated sand? Man-made islands like Shelter Island and Harbor Island, rivers, Mission Bay and San Diego Bay, beaches
4. Name the only active earthquake fault in the City of San Diego. Rose Canyon Fault
5. Name two ways to tell whether there are hydrocarbons (gasoline, diesel, oil) in a sample of soil or groundwater. Your nose, photo-ionization detector, analytical laboratory testing, staining

Hewlett-Packard

1. What is an example of something that uses additive color? Subtractive color? In subtractive color, what is yellow plus magenta? In additive color, what is red plus blue?
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Additive_color
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtractive_color
2. How does thermal ink jet technology work?
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNIeVR8luOA
3. If a inkjet drop is 10 picoliters, and a paintball has a diameter of 0.68 in, how many inkjet drops are in one paintball? If you were to jet a drop once a second, how long would it take to fill the paintball? (Remember to convert from English to metric 1 in = 2.54 cm, and that the volume of a sphere = 4/3 pi r^3)
4. HP printers use encoder strips and rotary encoders to monitor the position of the paper and print head. Explain how an encoder works.

Hubbs Sea World Research Institute

1. Why is the polar bear currently listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service?
2. What sense is likely to give a polar bear in a den the most information about the outside?
3. What does a human's audiogram look like? A dog's? a seal's?
4. What is a decibel and what does it measure ?
   (Clue 1: don't say loudness)
   (Clue 2: think about what quantities you must have to interpret a level in decibels)
5. What is a 'pinger' and what is it used for in fisheries science?

Human BioMolecular Research Institute

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will learn how scientific tools are applied in real life research.
2. Feel like a life scientist and learn how to become one.

Preparatory Activity:

Write a one page proposal describing a life-science project that you would like to do if you are a life scientist. The proposal should include:

1. What is the goal of this research?
2. Why is it important to do this research?
3. How do you plan to accomplish the goal step by step?
4. How long do you think it will take you to finish the research project?
5. How much research funding do you need to complete the project?

Lockheed Martin

1. How cold is the propellant in the external tank? Why can’t it be at room temperature? Then you wouldn’t need the insulating foam.
2. How much foam do you have to use – total foam in the tank and how thick of a layer? Does it go over the entire tank?
3. Making the foam is by reaction of mixing chemicals that are at room temperature. The foam gets hot, but you didn’t heat it up. Where did the heat come from?
4. How big of a batch of the foam do you make at a time? It appears to harden quickly; how do you handle it and apply it to the tanks fast enough?
5. Is this foam toxic? What happens to it after the external tank separates from the Space Shuttle?

Miramar College

1. Define a 'gene'
2. What is a dominant gene?
3. What is a phenotype?

Mesa College

1. Question: When an ice skater spins around on one skate, how does he/she
   change their rate of rotation? What physical principle does the skater rely
   on?
2. Question: Why does the sky appear blue during the day? Why does the sky
   appear red at sunrise or sunset?
3. What part of the flower does fruit come from?
4. What is the value of flowers and fruit to the plant?

Navair North Island

1. What causes static electricity?
   
2. How does static electricity affect aircraft?
3. How do aircraft manage static electricity?
4. How does static electricity affect electronic equipment?
5. How do we protect electronic equipment from static electricity?

Northrop Grumman

1. What is the difference between a "robotically piloted" air vehicle and an "autonomously piloted" air vehicle?
2. How can robotic aircraft "see" through clouds to do their surveillance?
3. How long can the Global Hawk stay aloft?
4. How is a "military" radio different from an ordinary radio?
5. What is the difference between analog and digital signals?
6. What is a "software-defined" radio and why is that capability useful?
7. What makes an aircraft "stealthy?"

Packet Video

1. How do people define innovation? What do you think is innovation?
2. What are your favorite multimedia services and why?
3. What kind of people do you think work at PacketVideo creating the multimedia services?
4. How have you shown innovation in your own life (for example, in school, hobbies, or volunteer projects)?

Qualcomm Health and Life Sciences

1. How might wireless technologies be utilized by sports coaches to improve athletic performance?
2. How can location based services (gps) be helpful during medical emergencies?
3. How can wireless technology, such as remote monitoring devices, help to reduce hospital costs?
4. What type of education would one need to pursue in order to develop wireless technologies, and possibly enter a field such as Wireless Healthcare for a company such as Qualcomm?

Qualcomm MEMS Technologies Inc.

1. What does biomimetics mean and what are some examples of it?
2. What is the most hungry (battery draining) component in a handset and why?
3. What is bistability?
4. How does the mirasol display use different wavelengths to create a color in a display?
5. What are the benefits that mirasol displays offer?
   
   www.mirasoldisplays.com is our website with LOTS of information to answer the above questions.

San Diego Coastkeeper

1. What is Low Impact Development?
   
2. What is a Marine Protected Area (MPA)?
3. What is a watershed?
4. Do plastic bags biodegrade?
5. Where does San Diego’s water come from?

San Diego Gas & Electric - Energy Efficiency Partnerships

1. Explain the science of what happens at a fossil fuel burning power plant.
2. What changes can be made to the existing model of a fossil fuel burning power plant to lessen its negative environmental impact?
3. What is so important about “peak demand?“

San Diego County Fair

1. List three advantages or benefits of hydroponics
2. Plants grown using hydroponics require how much light compared to traditional growing
3. Since hydroponics does not use soil, how do the plants receive most of their food and energy
4. What do you call the method of raising fish, along with hydroponics?
5. How does this method relate to current NASA studies for space exploration?
6. You and Your School can participate in the San Diego County Fair Student Showcase in 3 ways.
7. Where do I find all the information on how to enter the Fair?
8. When are the Robotic Contests One Day Contests?

National Association of Hispanic Nurses, San Diego Chapter

1. What cardiac rhythm shown on a cardiac monitor is shockable
2. What is a normal blood pressure? What factors can cause high blood pressure?
3. What is the importance of an IV pump

San Diego Metropolitan Wastewater Dept.

1. What is reclaimed water? How can reclaimed water be used to enhance our drinking water supply?
2. What are the main stages of treatment at a water reclamation plant? What role do microorganisms play in the wastewater treatment process?
3. What is chemical oxygen demand (COD)? What problems can occur if polluted water with high COD enters a lake or stream? (must be answered off-website)
4. What is the difference between a sewer pipe and a storm drain? What happens to the water that goes into each of them?
5. List human activities that pollute storm drains and suggest alternative behaviors.
6. What does “one part per billion” mean? Why is this concept important in monitoring pollution in the environment? (must be answered off-website)

San Diego Robotics

1. What does autonomous mean with respect to robotics?
2. What are the tasks that San Diego City Robotics must perform at
   this years AVUSI competition?
3. What types of sensors should an underwater autonomous robot be
   equipped with?
4. What courses should be taken in preparation for a course of study
   in robotics engineering?
5. What schools have entered the AVUSI competition in the past

AVUSI : http://www.auvsi.org/competitions/water.cfm

Team: http://sdcrobotics.org

San Diego Zoo Conservation

1. In what ways is DNA used to save endangered species?
2. Why might conservation biologists seek to maximize genetic diversity in
   small populations (often the case with populations of endangered species)?
3. How is the theory of evolution by natural selection relevant to
   endangered species conservation?
4. Why might conservation scientists want to bank or cryopreserve
   bioresources such as cells, seeds, and germplasm?

Solar Plus

1. What is the relationship between the amount of electricity generated by a solar panel array and the array’s tilt up from the horizontal and compass point orientation (North, East, South, West)?
2. A battery converts chemical energy into electrical energy. What type of energy does a PV cell convert?
3. Since each individual PV cell’s electrical output is small, how can the cells be configured to produce the electrical output needed to power a high electric demand?
4. Why is an inverter needed for a PV system that is connected to the local utility grid?

SPAWAR

1. What do you hear if you are not at the sea shore and you put your ear to a shell?
2. When can something (a tone) plus something (a similar tone) add up to nothing
3. What can you feel but not touch that resides on the other end of the rainbow?

The Scripps Research Institute

1. How can we use the information about the molecular structures of biological molecules?
2. Place these biological objects in order of size, from smallest to largest: a) a virus; b) a red blood cell; c) a sugar molecule; d) a bacteria; e) a protein molecule
3. What experimental methods allow us to see biological molecules?
4. If you stretched out the DNA in one of your cells into a straight line, how long would it be? (Hint human DNA has about 3 billion nucleotide bases.
5. True of false a virus is a living thing?

UCSD COSMOS Program

1. What is kinetic energy? What is potential energy?
   
2. For each ball in a kinetic sculpture, there is a conversion from potential energy to kinetic energy with energy losses due to friction. At what place do the balls have maximum potential energy and at what location in the sculpture do you think their kinetic energy reaches a maximum?
3. The optical sensors measure when a ball passes. How is it possible to measure the velocity of the ball with an optical sensor?
4. The controller box in the kinetic sculpture provides different functions. Describe at least 3 of these functions.
5. Engineering design is essential to obtain a properly working structure where no balls fall or get lost during operation. Which components are most sensitive to the engineering design. Why?

For more information lcik here http://www.maelabs.ucsd.edu/cosmos/

Warner Springs Outdoor Academic Experience

1. How many pounds of plastic are recycled each year in California?
   
2. How many babies can an earth worm have a year?
3. How do solar energy panels produce electricity?
4. Is wind power more efficient than solar energy?
5. Can earth worms race?

Wintriss Technical Schools

1. How does the robot follow the line?
2. Where is the program that tells the robot what to do?
3. What computer language is the program written in?
4. How long do you think the robot can run till its batteries run down?
5. How could a robot like this be used?