Science fairs give children an excellent way to develop and apply the scientific method — observing, asking questions, creating hypotheses, testing them out and collecting data – while simultaneously building problem-solving, communication and collaboration skills.
Encourage students to follow their curiosity and select an exciting science fair project they’re excited about. Though some projects might require special materials or supervision, all are sure to impress!
Roller Coaster
Explore the laws of motion with this exciting science fair project idea! This experiment helps children learn about potential and kinetic energies while showing them how roller coasters operate.
Students of 7th grade science fair projects will impress judges with this impressive science fair project. Students plant seeds in different types of soil to compare growth rates. Furthermore, they explore whether listening to music helps memory recall more effectively than studying alone.
Jelly Bean Demo
Make kids’ tastebuds ready with this captivating jelly bean science experiment – ideal for spring or any time of the year.
Have your subject crush one jelly bean blindfolded. Ask them to identify its flavor, and record their responses.
Learn Peggy’s method for rendering mouths for strong realism with translucent color enhancement and discover her secrets for creating translucent color effects.
Pinball Machine
Mary gave her students a challenge: build a pinball machine whose theme represented concepts or units from any of their classes – for instance, creating machines based on literature in Language Arts or U.S. History was just one option among many!
Students huddle over wooden boxes like surgeons at an operating table as they solder wires, install circuit boards and assemble switches – their creations ultimately becoming functioning pinball machines.
Carbon Cycle
The carbon cycle consists of two interrelated parts, with one dealing with fast exchanges among living organisms and another with slow geological processes.
Airborne carbon particles are captured by green plants during photosynthesis and converted to organic molecules that travel up food chains to larger animals.
Kids can gain insight into filtration with this experiment from All Science Fair Projects or compare germ growth using this interesting concept from STEAMsational.
Newton’s Cradle
Newton’s Cradle (sometimes referred to as Newton’s Pendulum or Newton’s Balls) demonstrates the law of conservation of energy as well as inelastic collisions through swinging metal spheres colliding and colliding – an excellent way of teaching basic physics principles!
Lift one end and watch as an equal number of spheres fall from it on the opposite end. This cradle illustrates the law of conservation of energy, which holds that energy cannot be created or destroyed but only converted into different forms.
Candle Demo
Candles add a decorative element to home decor, setting the atmosphere for holidays and celebrations while providing lifesaving light during power outages. Plus they inspire all sorts of cool science experiments!
Remind students about the emergency procedures pertaining to fire (e.g., extinguisher use and exits). Show students the potato candle and ask them for examples of observations followed by inferences.
Fertilizer Runoff
Students can explore the impact of fertilizer runoff on water quality with this easy experiment.
Kids will delight in engaging in this classic experiment that teaches about capillary action and absorption with an added wow factor!
Engineers can hone their problem-solving abilities with this exciting STEM challenge project! By building and testing a balloon car using standard materials around the home, engineers can put their problem-solving abilities to the test!
Lung Capacity
Lung capacity is an indicator of respiratory health. An appropriate lung capacity allows oxygen to reach all tissues throughout the body through breathing.
Students take a series of breath tests using a peak flow meter to measure their lung capacity. Furthermore, students experiment with how different activities such as running affect lung capacity.
Spherification
Spherification is a culinary technique used to transform food into works of art while adding extra flavor. Budding chefs can experiment with this technique using various liquids and shapes.
Spherifying fruit juices to form spheres or creating cocktail-inspired orbs requires special ingredients such as sodium alginate and calcium chloride; however, kits are available that include them.
Hydraulic Elevator
Elevators can be found in buildings all around the world and come in two varieties – traction and hydraulic.
Hydraulic elevators use a piston in a cylinder to push the cab up from underneath. Their smaller footprint makes them suitable for low-rise buildings; model lifts can be created using syringes with different piston areas and metal wall plates for design.