Students in fifth grade are ready to become more engaged in science experiments and projects, including hands-on experiments designed to spark curiosity and cultivate passion for learning.
Dry ice bubbles are an engaging way to demonstrate sublimation, while invisible ink can reveal intermolecular forces. Or see the adorable marker stick man float in water to discover surface tension! An inexpensive DIY barometer is also an invaluable way to teach students about atmospheric pressure and weather patterns.
Volcano
Deep within Earth’s core, hot rocks slowly melt to form magma – a thick liquid composed of light minerals that is lighter than its surroundings and easily transported through vents or fissures to reach its surface. Magma may either explode violently, or flow gently as lava. Its viscosity and amount of gas dissolved within its composition determine its eruption rate.
Students can explore this phenomenon using soda in an engaging soda experiment to increase understanding.
Arches
Arches are used in structural engineering, so understanding their operation is vitally important. To test how strong naturally-occurring arches such as eggshell arches really are is an experiment designed to measure their strength.
Kids of all ages will enjoy this fun physics project using clothespins and wood craft sticks to explore force and friction while reinforcing scientific method.
Kids can test their abilities to predict weather patterns with this DIY experiment, which also introduces them to atmospheric pressure and cloud formations.
Airplane
By fifth grade, students are ready to explore independent science experiments on their own. These exciting endeavours foster curiosity, build learning passions and engage children in sciences like biology, chemistry and physics.
Learn the fundamental forces determining whether an airplane stays airborne with this easy paper airplane science project! It is an ideal way to introduce students to engineering design processes.
Water Striders
By fifth grade, students have acquired enough responsibility to create and conduct their own science experiments on their own, with guidance from teachers or parents as necessary. This project should be simple enough that it can be accomplished entirely independently without assistance from either party.
Water striders can be found in ponds, slow-moving streams and rivers, vernal pools, marshes and other calm waters. Their front legs make ripples to attract potential mates or warn predators away.
Mini Trampoline
Mini trampolines provide an effective low-impact exercise solution and an efficient core muscle building regime, while simultaneously toning legs and back. Furthermore, they’re an excellent cardiovascular workout!
Rebounders are also easier on your joints than running, as their springy surface absorbs any shock upon landing. Furthermore, jumping on one stimulates lymphatic systems which flush away waste products from your body more efficiently.
Leakproof Bag
By fifth grade, students have developed the confidence and capabilities necessary to undertake more responsibility when designing and carrying out science experiments on their own. These fascinating projects promote curiosity, nurture passion for learning, and promote critical thinking skills.
This experiment on polymers is high-interest and easy for kids to grasp. It demonstrates how plastic bags contain chains of molecules which bend and flex when poked by pencil, forcing through these polymer chains when poked by pencil.
Static Electricity
By fifth grade, students are ready to embark on more independent science experiments. These exciting endeavors encourage curiosity, foster learning passions and engage children in sciences like chemistry, biology and physics.
Static electricity refers to an imbalance of electric charges that causes objects to either attract each other or repel each other. Electrons in some materials get separated when rubbing against or sliding against other materials, creating static electricity charges which cause objects to either attract each other or repel one another.
Bacterial Colonies
A bacterial colony is composed of genetically identical bacteria that have come together on a nutrient agar plate to form an ordered group, with its shape, size and margin (edge) defined by colony morphology.
Students can use a simple bacteria testing kit to determine, for instance, which door handle harbors the highest number of germs and whether toothpaste kills germs. Furthermore, students can explore relationships between living and nonliving elements by creating columns of soil from various sources and monitoring the changes to bacterial colonies over weeks or months.
Newspaper Engineering
By fifth grade, students take more responsibility for designing and carrying out their science fair projects. Projects must be easy for students to grasp quickly so that completion takes no more than two weeks.
This exciting, messy experiment provides students with a way to explore water density and chemistry while teaching them why it is necessary to brush after drinking acidic sodas or sweetened juices.
Engineering challenges provide children with a fun way to explore math and science connections, while testing team’s engineering abilities with limited materials. Teams must design towers that will meet a height requirement as well as an axial wind load requirement.