Volcano Science Fair Projects
Posted by admin in Features Project on May 24, 2011
A volcano is an opening, rupture, in a planet’s surface or crust, which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface. The study of volcanoes is called volcano logy. There are various methods, in which a volcano can form, just as there are several different kinds of Volcanoes. Volcano Science fair projects are not only fun filled but also educational. Students learn about the how the volcanoes work and how heat and pressure can be an explosive combination,
Volcano science fair project helps to compare the active and dormant volcano. Making a model of volcano in a volcano science fair project will explain the role of plate tectonics in volcanoes. The model of volcanoes explain the reactive effects of yeast, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and vinegar, and baking soda, and lemon juice to find out which combination produces the most explosive reaction.
Volcano science fair project kits are also available as collecting the materials for the project may need a tremendous amount of energy and time. Volcano science project kits save time and supplying the necessary materials and instructions to build a volcano. The volcano science fair project kit also includes sample experiments, which will support the project.
Some facts the students will be able to know after doing a volcano science fair project:
- The volcanic activity
- The Data, about current and historic volcanic activity.
- The places of the most dangerous active volcanoes are located
- The different gases, those come out of a volcano.
- The different minerals, which are formed after the volcanic eruption.
- The prediction of volcanic eruptions
- The best monitoring strategies, for predicting volcanoes. Read the rest of this entry »
Measuring Project Performance by Mark Piscopo
Posted by admin in Project Performance on May 2, 2011
It’s happened to nearly every project manager sometime in their career. They’re given the requirement to provide detailed performance reporting on a project and end up spending most of their time entering hours worked into work packages in Microsoft Project and estimating percent complete on these packages – on a daily basis. Whether the requirement for that level of reporting was real or perceived, the project manager finds that he’s unable to manage the day to day activities of his project because he’s too busy trying to measure the project’s performance.
When a successful company invests time, money, and other resources in a project, its primary concern is always what it is getting in return for its investment. It is the responsibility of the Project Manager to ensure these projects stay on schedule and within their approved budget. Performance measurement provides the Project Manager with visibility to make sure he is operating within the approved time and cost constraints and that the plan is performing according to planned performance. It also alerts management if a project begins to run over budget or behind schedule so actions can quickly be taken to get it back on track.
As the Project Management Office (PMO) manager it is your responsibility to ensure that project performance is being captured and reported. It is also your responsibility to ensure that the level of reporting is achievable and doesn’t unnecessarily overburden or distract the project managers.
Your PMO should define the size of the work packages in your work breakdown structure (WBS). There are two typical standards; 4 to 40 hours and 8 to 80 hours. You should decide which size best fits your organization based on typical project size and level of management detail. I personally prefer the 4 to 40 as a work package cannot exceed the work of one person over a week.
Additionally your PMO should have a standard for applying credit for work performed. There are three common approaches to this. One rule is to apply a percent complete to work packages; however, this is somewhat subjective and leads to percent completes of 99.5, then 99.6, then 99.7 – we’ve all either been in this situation or seen it. A second rule is only giving credit when 100% of the work is completed on a work package, this is called the 0/100. The work package receives no credit even if it’s 3/4 complete. This solves the problem with the previous rule; however, it leads to less accuracy when performing earned value calculations. The third option is to give 50% credit when work on a work package is started and 100% when the work is completed. This is the rule I typically follow as it gives credit for earned value management and is easy to apply in the field. Read the rest of this entry »