Students explore biology, chemistry and physics concepts through hands-on experiments at science fair projects. These projects help create an interest for learning while equipping children for future scientific endeavors.
With this fun experiment that utilizes common household materials, easily test the density of various liquids with this simple experiment that also teaches convection currents.
Volcano
Volcanoes are vents in Earth’s crust that release magma into the atmosphere via eruptions, sending waves of magma from beneath to the surface through eruptions and as lava flows to the ground. Volcanic eruptions may also eject dense clouds of rock fragments known as tephra into the air – this debris may then travel for miles before finally falling to Earth and being dispersed over land surface by winds.
Students conducting this bubbling experiment will learn about the properties and surface tension of gases, while having an opportunity to use their math skills when recording observations and comparing results.
Students using everyday household ingredients will be able to conduct fun experiments that examine how different liquids affect egg buoyancy, observe acidity’s effect on yeast growth, conduct an investigation of renewable energy sources, measure plant height over time and test how different music genres influence memorization.
Archimedes’ Screw
Archimedes screw, named for the Greek mathematician of the same name, consists of a large helical surface wrapped around a tube which lifts material along its length or vertically. It operates by buoyancy being equal to weight of liquid displace by object; when tilting occurs, water trapped in pockets rises from lower end through threads to upper container and back again.
Archimedes’ screw pumps are now used for transporting water from lower areas to higher irrigation ditches or polders for irrigation, draining mines, and raising wastewater from wastewater treatment plants.
Students can test how a plant grows in various types of soil or explore how temperature impacts crystal growth, build a model wind turbine to generate electrical energy, or conduct other experiments like timing the time it takes ice cubes to melt and measuring how far paper airplanes fly, to observe aerodynamic principles.
Digestive System
Your digestive system breaks down food and liquids you ingest into nutrients your body can use for energy, growth and repair, while simultaneously packaging waste products known as feces for removal through bowel movements. Your digestive system consists of your mouth, pharynx (throat), esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and anus as well as salivary glands, liver gall bladder pancreas that produce digestive juices to aid your body’s break down of food in digestive juices made by these organs for efficient break down of foods consumed from all sources.
Your gastrointestinal tract (or gut) is a long, twisting tube which runs from your mouth to anus and protects internal organs with mucus linings. Inside this tube there are nerves which send signals to stomach muscles to contract and relax so you can digest food properly.
Your 5th grader should focus on undertaking experimental projects with testable questions that they can measure and analyze to reach a conclusion. Good examples would include growing plants under different conditions to observe how temperature affects plant height, or studying how exercise impacts heart rate.
Baking Soda Balloon
When vinegar and baking soda come together, an acid-base reaction occurs that generates carbon dioxide gas which inflates a balloon – an effective experiment to teach students about chemical reactions and energy conversion. Students should use a funnel to add 1/3 cup of baking soda into a plastic bottle filled with vinegar before stretching a balloon over its mouth and carefully fitting it without allowing any of it into the vinegar itself. Once complete, students should lift it upright to watch its chemical transformation occur!
Students can time how long it takes for the balloon to fully inflate using this project and compare results. Other exciting experiments may involve growing plants under various lighting conditions to observe plant growth patterns, timing how long ice cubes last wrapped with different materials, or testing how well a paper airplane flies.