Earth Science Projects | FactMonster.com
Starting a Science Project
- What Makes A Good Science Project?
- Some advice from a science fair judge
- The Parts of a Science Project
- The idea behind a science project is to discover “what happens if.” What happens to one thing if you change something else?
- Science Fair Projects: Understanding and Using the Scientific Method
- The scientific method is extremely important to your science fair project, and understanding it is critical to the success of your science fair experiment.
- Questions From Science Judges
- How did you come up with the idea for this project? and more
Earth Science Projects For Beginners
- What Kind of Trash Bag Breaks Down Fastest?
- Americans generate about 4.6 pounds of trash per person—every day. Test different types of trash bags, and determine which type of bag is the most biodegradable.
For reference: Plastic, The Three R’s of the Environment, User’s Guide to Environmental Language
- Make Your Own Lightning
- Find out how lightning works in a storm by safely creating mini-lighting bolts.
For reference: Thunderstorms and Lightning, Lightning
- Make Your Own Wind Measure
- A simple gauge to measure how strong the wind is blowing.
For reference: Measuring the Wind, Wind
- Is One Room of Your House Colder Than Another?
- Identify the temperature variations of different parts of your house, and then to figure out what causes the differences to occur.
For reference: Measuring the Temperature, Temperature
- What Factors Are Conducive to Fog?
- Identify when fog occurs by keeping a weather journal over the course of two months
For reference: Dew, Fog
- Make a Thermometer
- A thermometer measures heat energy. Build a simple one.
For reference: Measuring the Temperature, Fahrenheit and Celsius (Centigrade) Scales, Thermometer
- Solar Hot Dog Cooker
- Instructions on building a solar-powered hot-dog cooker.
For reference: Solar Energy
Earth Science Projects For Intermediate Levels
- Which Materials Insulate Best Against Windchill?
- The windchill factor is not an actual temperature, but a measure of how quickly heat is lost from an object. Experiment with different materials to check out which ones protect water exposed to wind.
For reference: Revised Wind Chill Index, Convection
- Do Clouds Tell Us What Weather Is Coming?
- Observing clouds can tell us a lot about what kind of weather to expect. The experiment described in this section will help you to know what to look for when using clouds to predict upcoming weather.
For reference: Clouds and Cloud Formation, Ten Major Cloud Types, Cloud, What Kind of Cloudy Is It?
- Solar Hot Dog Cooker
- Instructions on building a solar-powered hot-dog cooker.
For reference: Solar Energy
- What Factors Most Affect Evaporation?
- Experiment to test the different factors that affect the evaporation rate of water.
For reference: Evaporation, Potential and Kinetic Energy
Earth Science Projects For Advanced Levels
- How Can Different Polymers Be Identified?
- Examine six types of plastic and make comparisons between all of them. Can you differentiate between various types of plastic, based on their physical and chemical properties?
For reference: Plastic, Polymer, The Three R’s of the Environment, User’s Guide to Environmental Language
- How Much Oxygen Is in the Air?
- You can test how much oxygen is in the air by making a controlled environment and using a common material to pull the oxygen out of the air.
For reference: The Atmosphere, Nitrogen, Oxygen
- Which Is More Acidic, Snow or Rain?
- You can measure the acidity of rain and snow in your area using the pH scale and pH paper to find out which is more acid.
For reference: Acid Rain, pH, The pH Scale
Fact Monster™ Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Room 5 Science Fair Projects
Science Fair Projects
We have been learning about the Scientific Method in preparation for our science fair projects. The students did such a great job with their projects and they were very eager to share with the class! Way to go second graders!
Science Fair - Project Ideas
Below is a list of great ideas for potential science fair projects. Pick something you’re interested in and try it out for size. The projects are categorized by their difficulty.
If you’re not sure about which project to pick, why not take our Quiz to see which project you might be interested in.
Also, feel free to take a look at our projects categorized by Subjects.
Our easiest set of original projects. These can be completed by anyone with an elementary school education, and they generally take less time and effort than our more advanced projects. However, we think they’re still pretty cool, and we’ve included a few ideas to extend the scale of each project to make it more engaging for you.
- Bag Strength
- In this project, you can find out how much a bag can hold, so you can impress people next time you go to the grocery store.
Related fields: Physics (Statics) - Battery Testing
- Which brand of batteries will let your CD player run the longest?
Related fields: Physics (Electronics) - Bending Light
- How can we manipulate the light?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Physics (Optics) - Bouncing High
- Predict how high a ball will bounce.
Related fields: Mathematics (Analysis) - Cube Folding
- Which arrangements of six squares can be folded into a cube?
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry) - Food and your Heart
- What food makes your heart race?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Biochemistry - Interrogation
- Check out this statistical experiment to test how phrasing questions might affect the answers.
Related fields: Behavioral Sciences - M&M Packing
- Ever wonder how much candy you can fit in a Halloween bag, or a lunch box? Find out with this experiment.
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry) - Observing Fish
- How can we understand them better?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Zoology - Paper Airplane Experiment
- See which paper airplane designs are the best.
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry), Physics (Dynamics) - Polygon Analysis
- Analyze polygons and determine some interesting properties
Related fields: Mathematics (Analysis) - Rate of Filtration
- How does thickness of a medium affect the rate of filtration?
Related fields: Math/Chemistry - Shapes and Patterns
- See if you can find mathematical relationships between shapes and patterns
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry)
Slightly more difficult (and hopefully, more impressive!) than the “Easy” projects, either conceptually or based on the amount of work required. None of these projects should be out of reach of any high-school students, although some independent research may be necessary.
- Balloons and Charles’ Law
- This poorly-named project investigates the reason that balloons expand and contract in different temperatures.
Related fields: Physics (Thermodynamics) - Balloon C-Strength
- Can a balloon be punctured 10 times and not pop?.
Related fields: Physics/Chemistry - Chemistry and Laundry
- Explore how different kinds of chemicals take out stains on clothing and their effect on the clothing.
Related fields: Chemistry - Crystallization
- How are sugar crystals made?
Related fields: Chemistry - Fingerprint Detection
- How to detect fingerprints using iodine vapor?
Related fields: Chemistry - Flipping Coins
- Use this experiment to see what the probability is of landing a coin on its edge.
Related fields: Mathematics (Statistics) - The Invisible Ink
- Write in invisible ink then visualize it.
Related fields: Chemistry - JPEG – GIF Conversion
- Today there are many methods for compressing digital images; in this project you’ll get to examine two of the most popular formats.
Related fields: Computer Science (Graphics) - Light Pollution
- What else is polluting our night sky?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Environmental Science - Liquid Cooling
- How fast do some liquids cool compared to others? Find out inside.
Related fields: Physics (Thermodynamics) - Physics and the Tower of Pisa
- How is it that the Leaning Tower of Pisa has not yet fallen over? This experiment may help you find out.
Related fields: Physics (Statics) - Pineapples and Enzymes
- What effect do the enyzmes in pineapples have on Jell-O?
Related fields: Biology (Microbiology) - Plant and Animal Cell Tonicity
- Investigate the effects of osmosis and tonicity in plant and animal cells
Related fields: Biology (Microbiology) - Plant Growth
- What effect do light and amount of water have on the rate of growth for a plant?
Related fields: Biology (Botany) - Playing with Forces
- There are so many forces around us! So why don’t we get to know them and play with them.
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Physics - Properties of Pendulums
- Explore the properties of pendulums and what factors influence its motion.
Related fields: Physics - Riemann Integrals
- So you’ve seen plenty of curves in your algebra class. Ever curious if there was more to the curve than just a bent line?
Related fields: Mathematics (Analysis) - Taste and Smell
- Learn about the link between taste and smell
Related fields: Biology (Physiology) - The Fire-Proof Cup
- Fill a paper cup with water or other liquids to make it non-flammable.
Related fields: Chemistry - The Science of Earthquakes
- What causes this devastating natural disaster?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Earth Science
These projects require significant amount of research and time. Don’t worry, all are possible at the high school level. Please don’t let the difficulty rating scare you – we think that these projects are more likely to “wow” the judges.
- Coin Game
- Find out whether a simple game is rigged or not! Try to cheat your friends!
Related fields: Mathematics (Game Theory) - Conductors, Semiconductors, Insulators, and Superconductors
- Let’s investigate more about the materials that enabled us to have computers and other wonderful electronics.
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Materials Science - Galileo’s Gravity Experiment
- Repeat the experiment that Galileo used to measure the acceleration of gravity.
Related fields: Physics (Kinematics) - Lights and Sounds of Logic
- How to implement logic operations using simple circuitry that produces light and sound.
Related fields: Mathematics (Logic)/Physics (Electronics) - Measuring Characteristics of Planets
- You don’t need to take a ruler to space to know how far and big planets are!
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Physics (AstroPhysics) - Platonic Solids
- Investigate the five platonic solids.
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry) - Randomization
- Is it really possible to make something really random?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Mathematics - Tic Tac Toe Analysis
- Study the game of tic-tac-toe and try to develop an optimal strategy.
Related fields: Mathematics (Game Theory) - Winning Strategy
- Play a simple counting game and develop a winning strategy.
Related fields: Mathematics (Game Theory)
Science Fair
Honey and I embrace the fact that dork, nerd and geek are all adjectives that could be aptly used to describe us. After all, we did both graduate from Georgia Tech and we have been known to challenge each other to all sorts of terrifying calculus and physics stunts. Sooooo, you can imagine how abnormally delighted we were to kick off the PCP’s very first science fair project!!
While the family is encouraged to participate in the project, we really want this to be John’s gig. And much to our relief, he’s just as into it as we are (I reckon he’s come by it honestly…you know, the whole apple/tree thing.) We brainstormed project ideas as a family over the course of a few days, and the PCP decided to study “The Effect of Color on Bird Feeding Habits.”
Here are our assumptions:
- Since birds are colorful themselves, birds can see color.
- Since birds use color to attract mates, birds must be attracted to certain colors.
- Since birds hide in the trees, birds will probably like blue food the best because it will be the most camouflaged. (This one came directly from the PCP.)
And, our hypothesis is “Birds will prefer blue birdseed.”
We purchased three identical bird feeders and filled them each up with bird seed – one regular (our control group), one dyed red and one dyed blue. We used food safe coloring and set to work shaking and scraping the seeds around in gallon sized zip lock bags. The littles adored this phase of the project. After they were tinted to our liking, we set the birdseed out on pans to dry for a few hours.
We hung the three feeders in the same tree and each day we measure how much food is left in each one. It’s been so much fun to see the food disappear and we’ve adored watching all of the little birds that are enjoying eating from them. (Look closely in the second picture – there are two birds dining!)
Stay tuned for the results!! We’ve a few days left of charting before we start work on the display!!
xoxo
My 4th grade science fair experiment
Project
When I thought about what might happen I found my hypothesis, which is that the elderly people will have less lung capacity than the younger people. Also, I predict that females will have less lung capacity than males and that exercising will help a bit. I think this will happen because as you get older your age might affect your breathing.
tube and put one opening into the jug but do not put it in too much. Quickly turn over the jug as fast as you can but try not to lose too much water. Get the other end of the tube, lift the bottle a little, and take a deep breath. Now blow as much as you can in one breath. Count how many cups were drained, record, and repeat.
After collecting all data for my experiment, I put it in Excel to make a graph.
Figure 1: Graph of Measured Lung
Capcity
Exercise( Occassionally, Regularly, Daily).
Y-axis shows the lung capacity measured in number of cups.
After doing my experiment I did some research on lungs and I learned that there are two lungs in the human body, which both take up most of the chest area. The lungs expand from your diaphragm, which is under the lungs to your collarbone, which is at your collar. The lungs are under your rib cage. Then I started to research the lung capacity. The lung capacity is the maximum amount of air your lungs can hold. It is measured in cups. I made a device that can measure the lung capacity for all types of people. I also found out that male’s lungs are larger than females, which would cause the regular male to have a larger lung capacity than regular females. There is no average lung capacity that is exact because all people are different and some variables like height, age, gender, and some different medical and physical conditions apply.
Modern Spirometer | Incentive Spirometer |
Spirometer is the name of the device used by doctors to measure lung capacity. There are many different types of spirometers. The modern one is used to measure lung capacity while the incentive type is used to make the lung capacity better. Some spirometers are used to measure the residual lung capacity, which is the amount of air that has to be kept inside your lungs for them to function. Many professionals use the spirometer. It is $ 51.00! Some devices are easy to make at home. A common one is the balloon measurer. There are two types of balloon measurers. In one type you blow into the long balloon and see how long it is. While in the other type you measure the diameter of the round balloon. The lung capacity device I invented is used to measure the vital volume, which is the maximum amount of air that can be inhaled and exhaled. The lungs use most of the vital volume when you need to take a very deep breath. My device only costs a few dollars. If you compare my device and the spirometer, you will see that they both do the same thing but mine is cheaper and easier to make and operate.
At my school science fair I showed my project. All the fourth grade teachers thought it was very good so they decided to select my project for the Science Expo. At the Science Expo, there was a reviewer who asked me some questions. When he was done he gave me a lot of compliments on a sheet, a certificate, and a ribbon. I took my evaluation to a staff member and she gave me an extra kite as a gift for participation in the Science Expo. Through out the Expo there were raffles drawn every 5 minutes and I really wanted to win so I stayed there for a long time. While I was waiting I saw other amazing boards that I liked on all different topics. At the end of the last raffle I was still holding my fingers crossed and I could not believe that the very last prizewinner was I! I got a very cool science kit that lets me build an amazing siren alarm! I also met my school librarian, who is Ms. Lindell and my teacher, who is Ms. Paiement. My parents took pictures and my teacher said that Mr. Amorose, my technology teacher, would make an OHTV on the science expo! OHTVs are little school wide shows at Oak Hills Elementary to show cool events. I thanked my teacher and went home very happy. The pictures my family took are right below here.
As usual, I love your comments –
Science Fair Project Ideas
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Science Fair projects trumped all
I went to my first Hanukkah party yesterday. We played Texas Hold ‘Em Driedel and went home reeking of fried food smell. It was great!
‘Tis also the season for Science Fair projects at public libraries around the U.S.
(And you thought it was the holiday shopping season!)
We had an interesting discussion today about a trial program we’ve been running on Yahoo and MSN, to show paid search results for meaningful content in Worldcat. Science Fair projects and related content has been the clear victor, in the results. Likely any Public Library Reference librarian who’s driven the desk a year or two could tell you that, but it was good to see the online world bore out the same results.
Recipes were also a big hit–little wonder with the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday in November and baking season in full swing.
Dust off that online cookbook display and consider digitizing a few always-out cookbooks–people are looking for them online!
3. “Resume samples”
4. “Property Tax”
5. “Tax Forms”
rounded out the top 5 visit results. We limited this test to U.S. audiences only, if I remember correctly. Shows you what at least some of America is thinking about:
How can I do my holiday shopping and deduct it from my taxes?
Jonah"s science fair project
Winning this award granted him a trip to the District Science Fair today where his project was rated as excellent. He also won the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots
Environmental Recognition Award!
His project was all about finding out which brand of toilet paper was the most biodegradable.
(Charmin Ultra won as most biodegradable!)
He has been invited to display his project at the Westminster College Roots and Shoots Youth Environmental Fair on April 16th! We are very proud of him!
Neuroscience For Kids - science fairs
Successful Science Fair Projects
By Lynne Bleeker
(Science teacher, science fair organizer and judge)
A successful science fair project does not have to be expensive or even
terribly time-consuming. However, it does require some planning and
careful thought. Projects become frustrating to students, parents and
teachers when they are left to the last minute and thus don’t have the
chance to be as good as they possibly can. You can’t rush good
science!
A Science Fair Project display usually asks that you include certain
sections. Your particular science fair rules and guidelines may use
slightly different words to describe them, but be sure you address each of
them as you go through your project and then again as you write it up.
Sections of a Science Fair Project
Title
Ideally the title of your project should be catchy, an
“interest-grabber,” but it should also describe the project well
enough that people reading your report can quickly figure out what you
were studying. You will want to write your Title and Background sections
AFTER you have come up with a good question to study.
Background or Purpose
The background section is where you include information that you
already know about your subject and/or you tell your project readers why
you chose the project you did. What were you hoping to find out from the
project?
The Question (Or Selecting Your Subject)
Probably the most difficult part of a science fair project is coming up
with a good subject to research. I suggest to my students that they:
A. think about WHAT INTERESTS them.
B. think of a TESTABLE QUESTION about the subject.
If you are doing a project about something that interests you, you will
likely enjoy the research more and stick with it long enough to get some
good data. Remember, you are being a scientist. Scientists go to work each
day because they are interested in what they are studying and because they
are curious to know the answers to the questions they are researching.
If you are working to ANSWER A QUESTION, you will be doing real
research.
(Often students tell me that their parents have suggested doing something
such as “volcanoes” or “tornadoes.” It is possible to
build cute models of
these things, but it is pretty hard to come up with questions about them that
are testable with materials available to the average person and in the time
frame between when the science fair project is assigned and when it is due!)
Another problem occurs when students need special equipment to test a question.
For example, it might be interesting to find out if television commercials really
are louder than regular programming … but how would you test that without a
decible-meter?
Some of the best science fair projects I have seen have also been the
simplest. For example, I had students whose parents bought
“off-brands” of cereal. They wondered if those brands were really
any different from the name brands. They bought 3 or 4 different brands of
the same type of cereal and asked permission to test them with the whole
class. They had their peers evaluate them for taste, appearance, and
sogginess in milk after 1 minute. They also did a cost comparison.
They got a lot of interesting data! (I won’t tell you what they found
out in case you want to do something similar!) Other students who like
sports have done experiments with the equipment for their sport: Do new
tennis balls bounce higher than old ones? Do basketballs that are fully
inflated bounce better than flatter ones? These projects just require some
tennis balls or basketballs, some volunteer “bouncers” and a meter
tape or meter stick!
There are many good sources for science fair project questions. The
Neuroscience For Kids Web Site has some neuroscience-related questions
that might spark your interest. Projects involving food – tasting,
smelling etc – can be very simple to set up yet also very interesting.
“Can blindfolded people taste the difference between …?” You can
also get lots of ideas from science trade books, such as Janice Van
Cleave’s books (“Biology for Every Kid” etc). If you browse
through these books at a store or library, they may give you some ideas
for a project of your own.
Project Guidelines
Be sure to carefully read the project guidelines for your particular
science fair.
Rules vary greatly from fair to fair in what is allowed, both for safety and
ethical/animal use considerations. Obviously, experiments should not involve
illegal substances or involve clearly preventable danger to you or your research
subjects.
Some situations may require clarification from your teacher and/or
parents. For
example, suppose you were doing an experiment on the effects of caffeine (or
chocolate) on concentration or reflexes. Think about the possible consequences!
You would need to get permission before providing large amounts of high-caffeine
soda pop. Some science fairs discourage the use of food in experiments because of
food allergies. Again, check with your science fair guidebook or your teacher,
and be sure you clearly communicate to your (human) research subjects what you
will be asking them to consume so they can tell you if they have allergies.
Some science fairs allow experiments with live animals and others
don’t. For example, one classic experiment (found in most older
science fair project books) involves changing the temperature of fish
tank water and seeing what it does to the respiration rate (breathing) of
goldfish. In some places around the country, that experiment would not be
allowed at all. In others, you would need a special permission form
guaranteeing that you will take good care of the animal. In other places,
they don’t yet have such restrictions. Again, use common sense. I once
had students do a very clever experiment to see if their hamster or their
cat could learn to go through a maze more quickly. This experiment,
though it had animal subjects, obviously involved no chance of harming the
cat or the hamster so I gave them permission to do it. Generally you are
safest if your experiments involve plants or insects, and both types of
organisms can lead to some fascinating studies! If you REALLY want to do
an experiment with your pet, be prepared to explain what information you
are hoping to gain from the experiment and how you will ensure the safety
of the animal.
Prediction or Hypothesis
As soon as you come up with a testable question, you will probably
instantly have a hypothesis (prediction) about what the results will be
from your testing. (Isn’t the human brain an amazing thing?!) It’s
a good idea to write this down before starting, because it may change as
you go about your experimenting.
Materials and Methods
Once you have come up with a question that you can actually test with
materials at your disposal, you need to figure out how to set up the
tests. If you will have a survey for your participants to fill out, get
that written up and duplicated. If you will need a chart to write down
your test results, get it made. If you take the time to make it look nice
with a straight-edge, you can include the actual chart or survey
instrument in your project write-up. This really impresses the judges!
Let your teacher or science fair coordinator know what your question is
and how you plan to go about testing it. They will likely have some good
suggestions to save you lots of time and trouble. Once you have their
go-ahead, then make a list of your materials, gather them up and GET
STARTED! If you are really doing science, you will probably find that some
things don’t go quite as you had predicted they would. You will have
to modify your research methods or even your original question.
You may have to add more materials to your list. My students often get
discouraged by this, but actually it is a good thing. This is how science
really works!
Keep good notes of the things you have tried and plan to include even
the “didn’t-works” and “mess-ups” in your project
report. Be sure to try your experiment several times to be sure you have
enough data to make a logical conclusion. If you tell me that one brand of
cereal gets soggier in milk but you’ve only tried each cereal in one
cup of milk, I would suspect that maybe it was a fluke; you need lots of
“trials” (generally at least 3; the more, the better) for
believable data. Remember, too, that you want to keep all of the
experimental factors (variables) the same except the one you are testing.
In the cereal experiment, it wouldn’t be fair to all of the cereals if
you left one brand in milk for one minute and tried the others after two
minutes or something like that. Again, GET STARTED EARLY on carrying out
your project. You can’t still be doing the experiment the day before
the project is due and expect to have a first-class write-up!
In science fair projects as in life, “a picture is worth a thousand
words.” Plan to take pictures of the materials you used and of the
experiment as it is being carried out. If you get started early, you will
have time to have the pictures developed and include them as part of your
report. (Or if you are lucky and your school has cameras that will take
pictures and put them right into the computer, you will have time to learn
how to do that and print them out for your report.)
Results or Data
The results section is where you tell your reader the actual numbers
(or other data) that you got as you were doing the experiment. (In the
tennis ball experiment, this would be a table with the different brands of
balls and the actual heights each of them bounced on each trial.) You
might also include a graph, if your data lends itself to it. But you do
not tell your interpretation of the data – that’s for the last
section.
Conclusion
In the conclusion you finally get to tell your readers what you found
out from the experiment, or how you interpret your data. Students often
like to use this section to expand upon how much they liked doing the
experiment (and how wise the teacher was to require such a good
assignment!) or how much they learned from it … but really this section
should be focused on what you learned about your original question and
hypothesis. For example, DID cheaper cereals get soggier in milk
faster?
The Display
Project displays tend to be another source of great frustration to
students, teachers and parents … but they don’t have to be! Again,
what you need to do is PLAN AHEAD and then THINK OF YOUR AUDIENCE.
Remember that they weren’t there when you did the experiment, so what
seems obvious to you will not be obvious to them unless you make it
extremely clear.
Check to see if your science fair has any special rules to guide your
display. For example, are there rules about the size of your display?
Ideally, choose a display board that is cardboard and a
“tri-fold,” meaning that it folds into a middle and two side
sections. This shape is the most stable and will stand up in the science
fair display. These boards can be ordered from supply companies and are
also usually available at stores like Office Depot. Check and see if your
school has some from last year that can be re-used. This is good for the
environment and for your pocketbook! I strongly advise against the
flimsier posterboard, which tends to fall down easily and irritates
teachers and judges. Also avoid wood backboards, which are VERY difficult
to transport!
Once you have written or typed up all of the above sections, be sure
you have TITLES for each section that are large and legible (I’d
suggest 24 point or so on the computer). That way if people have questions
about some part of your project, they can go right to the section they
need to answer their question. Arrange the sections of the report on the
board in a way that is attractive and also logical. The purpose and
hypothesis should be easy to see right away. An art teacher can give you
some good suggestions about how to use paper of different colors to draw
attention to parts of the report and make it look terrific!
Other Science Fair Web Sites
Copyright © 1996-2013, Eric H. Chudler All Rights
Reserved.
Science Fair Ideas, Science Projects and Activities for Kids
highlights
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Science | Silver Beach Elementary School
Health Sites
All Systems Go!
How the Body Works
Woodland Park Zoo-Learn about this wonderful zoo in Seattle.
DogoNews-Science and so much more!
Weather Wiz Kids – learn all about weather from a TV meterologist
Kids’ Crossing – from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and UCAR – some great weather information, games and activities, pretty advanced reading level.
ENature.com – Explore field guides for all sorts of plants and animals, identify animal tracks, or learn more about local birds.
Bio Kids – Critter Catalogue
Kid’s Planet
Exploring Nature
Welcome to the Watery World of Whales – Learn about whales, view a photo gallery.
Whale Times – learn about whales and other sea mammals, explore a whale glossary, and play whale related games and activities.
Whale Watch – Listen to whale sounds and explore a whale photo gallery. Be sure to click on Kids’ Stuff to find more whale information.
ZooBooks-Lots of information about animals can be found here.
National Geographic – A great resource for primary research, particularly on animals. There are also videos on various science topics. Games and stories are more geared for intermediate students.
The Barred Owl – This ThinkQuest site was created by students, for students. A good resource for research on owls.
Bats: Why Should We Care? – Good resource for research about bats.
Biology Topics for a Science Fair Project
Science fair projects provide students with critical opportunities to learn science in a hands-on manner and connect it to real life. In addition, they provide most students’ first introduction to experimentation and the scientific method. Help your students further develop their understanding of biology by guiding them towards projects in line with their interests and abilities.
Fish Science Fair Ideas
High School Biology Science Fair Project Ideas
Cotyledons and Embryonic Development
Have your students determine how much of the cotyledon, the portion of a seed that develops into the embryo’s first leaf, is necessary for germination to occur. Teach students, using a seed anatomy guide, how to identify the cotyledon. Students can then soak four groups of four beans overnight, in distilled water. The following day, they should remove portions of the cotyledon from three of the groups. They should remove 1/4 of the cotyledon from the first group, 1/2 of the cotyledon from the second group, and 3/4 of the cotyledon from the third group. They should leave the cotyledon of the fourth group intact. Have students cover the beans in a damp paper towel, wrap the towel with foil, and check on the beans periodically over the course of 48 hours. Ask them to report on the effect, if any, that cotyledon removal has on germination.
The Effect of Disinfectant on Bacteria
Grow laboratory strains of E. coli in several petri dishes, in an incubator. Leave one dish of E. coli untreated, so that it can serve as a control. Treat the other dishes of E.coli with common household disinfectants, by adding a small quantity of disinfectant to the media of each dish. Observe any differences in the growth of E.coli cells, on a daily basis over three days. On the fourth day, treat dishes with methylene blue, which stains the membranes of dead cells blue. In this way, determine which cell plate incurred the most cell death.
Distractions and Productivity
Biology encompasses not only physical processes in nature and humans, but also mental processes. Study the effect of distractions on the quality of students’ work. Students can devise a short, ten-question test based on logic and compare the test performance of three groups of subjects. The first group should be distracted (by blaring music or a TV) throughout the test. The second group should incur a short, two-minute distraction in the middle of the test. The third group should take the test in a quiet environment. All groups should be given the same amount of time to take the test. Have students report on trends in test performance, and account for any experimental outliers.
Nanoparticles in Cells
An extremely hot area in biotechnology concerns single-cell magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the process whereby researchers get cells to phagocytose (literally, eat) nano- and micron-sized magnetic particles. When solutions containing these cells are visualized using magnetic resonance imaging, we can view the individual cells. A current challenge in this area lies in determining which cells will take up these particles. Order nano- or micron-sized particles from a science supply company for your students’ experiment. Have students take a swab of their own cheek cells, grow them in two petri dishes, and add the magnetic particles to one of the dishes. They can view cells under a microscope to determine if cells indeed took up the particles. Furthermore, after a week, they should compare the vitality (percentage of live cells) between the two dishes, to determine whether particles have adverse effects on cheek cells’ ability to thrive.
Tags: group cotyledon from, magnetic resonance imaging, Science Fair Project
Girls Science Fair Projects
Victoria’s Science Fair Project- 3rd Place
Katherine’s Science Fair Project – 1st Place
Elizabeth’s Science Fair Project – 1st Place
Science Fair Projects for Kids
Use paper cups to make a string phone and talk with friends while learning about sound waves with this cool science project for kids.
Making a science fair project is easier if you know about the Scientific Method, check out our step by step guide for more information.
Design and build something that can safely protect an egg from smashing all over the ground with this fun egg drop project for kids.
Get help with your next chemistry science fair project by checking out our great ideas that cover everything from forensics to crystals.
Grow your own collection of beautiful salt crystals and examine what they look like under the sharp focus of a microscope.
Explore the fascinating world of biology with a science fair project related to microorganisms, bacteria, cloning, evolution and much more.
Try a fun robot building project. Make a robot from household parts or take it a step further with real robotic equipment and challenges.
Find some great ideas for physics based science fair projects. Study light, motion, surface tension, friction, sound and more.
Creating your own fossil is a fun project that will show you how scientists use them to research extinct species such as dinosaurs.
Take a closer look at our amazing planet with an earth based science fair project. Learn about the environment, minerals and more.
Real stalactites and stalagmites take a long time to form, let’s speed up the process by making our own with this cool project.
Many of us rely on electricity so it makes a great topic to investigate. Find questions about battery life, magnetic fields and more.
Enjoy the beautiful shapes and colors of a kaleidoscope by making your own as part of this fun project.
Enjoy projects on rain, ice, water quality, drainage, moisture and more with our fun water science fair project ideas.
Use water droplets to help make a basic microscope that lets you examine a range of objects in greater detail.
Study the behavior of your family pet, research insects on your property or answer any one of our many questions relating to animals.
Are you feeling fit and healthy? Check your heart rate while resting and after physical activity by making your own stethoscope.
Use our list of food science fair project ideas to help get started on your way to answering scientific questions about food or cooking.
Create a simple model hand that shows how the muscles and tendons work together in making your hand move.
Enjoy our list of plant based science fair ideas and suggestions that will help you create a project worthy of a first place prize.
What are some of the things that affect how fast your drinks go cold? Do some research with water, milk and a thermometer to find out.
Check out our list of cool sports science fair project ideas that feature popular sports such as baseball, golf, tennis and basketball.
Just how heavy was that rain shower? Let’s find out by making a rain gauge that measures how much rain falls over a certain time.
Take surveys, study human behavior and answer questions related to psychology and social science.
Windy days are obvious but knowing the wind direction can be a little harder. Make your own weather vane to help solve this problem.
Follow moon phases, chart the stars, study the sun and more with our range of great space & astronomy science fair project ideas.
Make a barometer to measure changes in air pressure and help predict weather changes. How good will your weather predictions be?
Learn more about the human body while answering interesting questions that relate to eyes, muscles, hair, teeth and more.
Take up the wind speed challenge by designing and building your own wind speed tool as part of this weather based project.
Study computers, alternative fuel sources, cameras, cell phones and other areas of technology that will help shape our future.
Middle School Science Fair A Success!
Students in 7th and 8th grade have been working hard since the beginning of the year on their science fair projects. They developed unique ideas for scientific investigations and turned in research proposals back in the fall. Each student or student pair focused on one main question to guide their project. Throughout the winter, students have followed a timeline for turning in different pieces of their reports.
Science Fair Projects | National Energy Education Development Project
Science Fairs are great events that allow opportunities to enhance scientific thinking and even incorporate more energy activities. NEED has compiled some great activity ideas for teachers and students. Use our Energy Fair guide to help you prepare. Don’t forget, there are great project ideas in our Science of Energy curriculum guides and also in our wind, solar, nuclear, oil and gas, hydropower, and climate change guides, too! Good luck!
For a fun, animated short about science fairs, check out these videos:
Science Museums Science Fair Project Ideas Science Education
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Salt-Absorbing Art and Science
Color magically moves along the salty lines as it absorbs into your design, creating beautiful works of art!
- Black construction paper
- Elmer’s glue
- Table salt
- Medicine/Eye dropper
- Water
- Food Coloring
1. Squirt glue in a cool design on construction paper.
2. Pour salt over the top, coating the glue, shake excess off .
3. Mix water and food coloring (make vibrant, it will be lighter when it touches the salt).
4. Use dropper and drop liquid color on design line.
The salt will absorb the colored water and spread. Watch the color magically get pulled down your design!
Amusing science fair projects
Courtesy of Greg, here they are. I’d write more, but I’m pretty tired from a busy week at work and a listening party with Michael, Rickey, and the rest. The spinach lasagna was heavenly tonight. If you’re reading this and live in Seattle and like music, you should come to the next one. There were also cookies. One highlight of the party: this music video from the Jet Li movie Fearless. The falsetto singer is none other than Taiwanese star Jay Chou. The things you can learn on a Friday night.
