Climate Graph

I drew my climate graph by hand and scanned it.

Strength of materials experiment

I have cut up samples of aluminium foil, cling wrap, paper and plastic in shapes of circles, rectangles (12.5 X 2) and squares; each 25 square centimetres as the materials for my experiment.
I have decided to borrow a kitchen scale to measure weights put on the materials, from a friend. The weights will start off from 10g and progress depending on how much the materials can hold.
My hypothesis is that the square piece of paper will be the strongest.

New road

I have searched many science specialty stores for convex lenses.
Some websites are:
http://www.chemsupply.com.au/custompage.aspx?custompage=distributors
http://www.camartech.com.au/
Also, I have rung more than 5 companies but none of them gave me suitable convex lenses.

This is why I've decided to change my experiment idea into testing the strength of different types and shapes of materials. The independent variable would be the type or shape of material and the dependent variable, the weight it takes for the material to break.
Method 1:
I would do this by cutting the same size of each material, e.g. plastic bag (5 square centimetres). Next, I will measure the extra weight, e.g. sheet of 5cm X 5cm cardboard. Then, I would peg it onto a clothes hanger with a peg at the bottom with an extra weight.There will be a slit 2cm long on each fabric to allow for the peg to go through (at the bottom so the weight can be attached). The extra weight and pegs would be kept the same for all the materials. I would then time how long it takes for each material to show a sign of breaking (e.g. for the plastic bag it would be stretching). I would repeat this with different shapes of each material.
Method 2:
I can use blutack to stick the material under the weight hanging it on a clothes line and observe the breakage. I will make sure the whole are of the fabric is attached to the weight. It will be repeated for different shapes of each material.
Method 3:
I might clip the material onto the clothes line sidewards and then (standing on a chair), throw the weight onto it from a fixed height. The height and weight will stay the same. The breakage will be observed. This will be repeated for different shapes of each material.

Please post any suggestions and/or opinions.

Attempts to purchase convex lenses within Australia

One of the most challenging tasks in the experiment is purchasing convex lenses. I have searched online for organisations including Scientrific Pty Ltd and Francis Lord Optics to get a chance at finding convex lenses.

Discarded websites:
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/category/educationaloptics_1.html
http://www.nextag.com/concave-and-convex-lenses/compare-html

I am still trying to get better results off ebay but it doesn't show the focal lengths and most of the products are for headlamps. Unfortunately, I might have to make my own by cutting off the handles on magnifying glasses.

If you have any suggestions where I can look for convex lenses and/or opinions please comment.