Science Fair Project ideas?

[LisaSp]

So I am in the thick of Science Fair Project hell with my 5th grader. But I was thinking, since I know she will have to do one every year for the next few, plus DS will have to do one starting next year, why not survey the wise PNO women for ideas for projects, since none (almost none) of our kids attend the same schools!

So here's my brilliant idea--give us your project title, a few pertinent details, and the grade your child is in. That way next year when it is time to find ideas, we can all search this thread!! We had a heck of a time finding a project idea that my princess would agree to LOL.

So DD is a 5th grader and her project is "Which Fabric Dries the Fastest?" We took strips of cotton, wool, silk, and nylon, and submerged each in a bowl water for a minute, then hung them on a drying rack and timed how long it took for them to be dry. We measured "dryness" by blotting with a paper towel. Not the most sound experiment, but at least her hypothesis was correct (that nylon would dry the fastest).

Thanks in advance for any cool ideas you guys may have!!

[sgd]

Last year my 7th grader did "can you tell if someone is related by fingerprints" and tested 4 members of 5 different families and showed that no, in fact you can not tell if someone is related by fingerprints.

He won 3rd prize in our school's science fair.

The one that won first prize was a CSI type one on the velocity of blood splatter analysis. It was really cool and was done by video (with close up still prints on the boards, but he had a TV and video streaming during the science fair to show how he performed the experiement). It had the kid dropping blood from a dropper going up and down a ladder at different heights and different speeds (the driveway had butcher paper laid over it in a grid pattern - it was really cool) to show how crime scene technicans can interpret blood splatter just by the way it falls. He was a 9th grader, I believe.

In some of the younger grades, I remember one testing the strength of different brands of paper towels (both dry and wet) using potatoes and apples. And there was the diaper experiment (which diaper holds the most liquid). The funny part about that one was that the generic Costco brand won. So much for paying top $$ on Huggies all those years. No wonder dd woke up wet every morning.

Only one of my kids has to do the science fair this year (he's a freshman) and he's thinking about doing some sort of experiment with our dog and commands using different languages to include sign language to see if dogs really hear the words that you use, or if signs are more effective. He's still writing up his outline so I don't know if its been approved for him to do yet or not, but its interesting since DH and I have this debate all the time. He thinks our dog hears the words that he's saying and I think that she's just learning the signs that he's doing (for sit - he holds his hand out like a stop sign and says 'sit'). So hopefully Jon will be able to do this experiment and one of us can be the winner!

[Cathy34]

I was just going to post this question. Andelena is in 6th grade and I have no clue what to have her do or what ideas to give her. I'll be interested in any and all answers you get.

Cathy

[AmandaG]

My dh is a science teacher (m)

and my Gr 4 and Gr 5 aged kids also do science fair. Here are some projects that we have done or that I have seen that have worked well:

1) Which mouthwash kills the most germs. Swab your mouth and grow the bacteria on an agar plate (you can buy these online or from a lab or university). Dip small pieces of filter paper (you can also use a coffee filter) into different brands of mouthwash (or toothpaste). See which brand results in the largest ring of clear agar (meaning all the bacteria were killed).

2) Cartesian divers. These are cheap and easy to make, and you can experiement with different temperatures of water or different solutions (salt water, water and sugar) etc and see how you have to modify the weights on the diver in different conditions.

3) Make your own battery. Make a battery (or measure electrical current) using different materials - potatos, lemons, apples, bananas etc. Try to explain which produced the highest voltage and why.

4) Research something like fractal patterns and try making your own.

5) Grow crystals and explain how and why crystals form.

6) Make paper airplanes and measure the flight distance of different designs, or look at the effect of altering wing length or type of paper on the plane's performance.

7) Investigate various things - like how do curling irons or perms make your hair curl? What happens to plants if you grow them in the dark? Do foods with perservatives really last longer (like test homemade bread vs store bought bread for the time it takes until it molds.) You can investigate why you use baking soda or baking powder in baked goods, how yeast makes bread rise etc.

8) Build a catapult and investigate how changing the arm length of the catapult changes how far you can throw something.

9) How do stain removers work? Which household products could you use as stain removers and why?

10) How do different chemicals affect the temperature at which water boils or freezes (ie, add salt, sugar, acid, base).

11) Make a homemade acid/base indicator (use red cabbage) and test various substances and research and explain what pH is.

Take a peek at your library also; there are some good science fair books out there with lots of ideas by grade and area of interest, and some even have step by step instructions for experiments. I have also found lots of good ideas off the internet as well.

Hope this helps,

Amanda

[jvirginia]

Phosphate pollution - When I was in 7th grade, I tested various detergents and also various waterways in our area for phosphates. Phosphates in detergents pollutes waterways by making them too fertile causing algae to grow.

It is extremely easy to do and you can display test tubes which are different colors of blue depending on how much phosphate is in there.

[Lanie]

We just got done with science fair.

Ds is in 8th grade and while there was a wide variety of projects, our rural town kids did seem to have some "themes".

There were many projects figuring out the velocities, spray patterns, and destructive force of bullets and shotgun shells (Hick town, I swear). Quite a few girls did horse or sheep projects (which I'm sure go hand in hand with their 4-H projects). There were the obligitory mold experiements and which solutions grow bigger plants ones.

The most creative catagory was won by a 7th grader for her project "how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop" (??) and the overall winner was from a boy who discovered which biofuels (weeds and grasses) combusted most efficiently (last year he tanned deer hide in different solutions).

DS did a lame-o project this year and I won't even tell you what it was but he got an A and that's all he cared about. I love some of the ideas you've gotten so far--I know mine aren't helpful but wanted to share some of the things our redneck kids do! LOL!

[Dani]

I did this one in 4th grade

You can investigate why you use baking soda or baking powder in baked goods, how yeast makes bread rise etc.

I remember doing this experiment where you put a yeast mixture into a 2-liter soda bottle and put a balloon over the neck of the bottle, and the expansion blows up the balloon. It worked, but the balloon deflated before I could get it to school, so I had to cheat and blow it back up.

In 5th grade, I did a project on color and light and did experiments with prisms. In 6th grade, I did a project on dreams and conducted a survey of classmates on the most popular dreams (falling, missing a test, flying, etc.). I never won any ribbons, so maybe they were not the best ideas, but I thought they were pretty cool at the time.

[Doe]

I found this link a few years back and it cracked me up:

http://www.photobasement.com/41-hila...r-experiments/




narcissi to

[ReneeNJ]

We have done science fair off and on over the past few years..

Both DDs are doing it this year. Older DD and her friend (5th graders) are doing rock candy. I've got to get them "off" of the growing the rock candy part and onto a little more science -- crystal formation, etc.

Younger DD and two of her friends (3rd graders) are doing a project on aquamarines. Of course DD has got it in her head to do myths and legends. Umm, how is that science? Of course the other two moms don't see the issue w/ this but I'm an engineer and do.

We have also done CO2 formation w/ yeast.
Floating raisins (and used different seltzer -- flat and new)

I can't remember other ones that have been done. Our science fair is in mid-March. I'll look around and see what there is. Thankfully science fair is optional and not graded (it's run by the PTO).

I remember DH and I helping my nephew w/ his science fair projects. He asked us to help him w/ determining ketchup viscosity and he had no idea what viscosity was. We sent him to the dictionary and still had to interpret for him. He was in junior high at the time if I remember correctly.

Surveys of blood types for what type is most common was another one that my niece did.

Renee

[seals]

My 5th grader chewed gum

5 different kinds of sugarless bubble gum. He chewed each type 3 different times (blind test -- I selected the gum, took it out of the wrapper and put it in his mouth) and recorded when it lost it's flavor. Then he did an average and found out which lasted the longest. Now he's supposed to be looking at the ingredients to see if there is a connection to length of flavor -- he's less enthused about that part. We did find out that 3 of the 5 are made by Wrigley's, and also that two had exactly the same ingredients but were sold under different names.

Sue

[psilverman]

Not for a fair, but in 5th grade...

I did an experiment testing different drinks effects on teeth. My dad was a dentist and he gave me a tooth he'd extracted from the same mouth and then split equally in two halves. I put one half in water, one in coke. To gross you out more completely, I will report that the half in water stayed a tooth. The half in coke became a film floating on top of the coke.