Encourage students to find science fair projects based on their individual interests when researching cool science fair projects. If a student loves sports, for example, they could experiment with whether new tennis balls bounce higher than old ones or whether fully inflated basketballs fly further.
Utilize beakers and test tubes to experiment with chemical reactions to gain knowledge of chemistry. Students can even use red onions as part of an 8th grade science fair project to demonstrate plasmolysis!
Root Beer Experiment
Root Beer Float science experiment can make learning about states of matter fun and tasty for kids! In a float, solids (ice cream), liquids (root beer), and gasses (creamy foam) all exist within it.
Start with vanilla ice cream in a clear cup, and slowly drizzle in root beer until your cup is three-quarters full – watch as bubbles form, then enjoy!
This experiment can also serve to teach about the process behind making root beer, where carbon dioxide from fermentation releases into liquid and becomes trapped, making the drink fizzy and producing fizz! Use this experiment to learn about homebrewing your own root beer using Quirkles Gilbert Gas or Kitchen Chemistry Kal as guides! For even more fun experiments focusing on States of Matter.
Swirling Milk Experiment
This classic Swirling Milk (commonly referred to as magic milk) demonstration is easy for toddlers and preschoolers to do and teaches them about color chemistry. Perfect for family science nights or extending with colour mixing concepts for school-aged kids (Bumble Bee was two years and 10 months when she did this activity!). Bumble Bee did it at age two years and 10 months.
Pour some milk into a plate or bowl and drop different colors of food colorings onto it. Watch as the colors immediately “pop”, but this effect only lasts briefly. Use cotton swabs soaked with dish soap molecules to run across the surface of your mixture of milk and food color – they repel fat globules while creating a swirling swirl effect! This experiment can teach children surface tension while being fun.
Chemical Reaction Experiment
Chemical reactions are both captivating and vital components of basic chemistry that lay the groundwork for more advanced scientific concepts. With easy-to-set-up experiments that let kids witness transformation from liquid into solid state, acid-base reactions, endothermic/exothermic processes, etc.
Mentos candy dropped into a bottle of soda produces a double displacement reaction, while an expanding Ivory soap experiment helps students understand which properties determine viscosity and why flames burn so strongly. Both experiments provide valuable learning opportunities.
Rainbow Flame Experiment – Another captivating chemical reaction is the rainbow flame experiment, which uses simple but stunning demonstration to show kids the behavior of ions and why certain chemicals produce different colored flames than others; some even produce blue lights or bark like dogs!
Hand Warmer Experiment
Hand warmers are small disposable packets designed to produce heat to warm cold hands. Their simple chemical reaction – the sodium acetate solution within crystallizing upon contact with a metal disk and producing an exothermic reaction that releases heat – allows them to work.
This experiment is an effective way to demonstrate how chemical reactions release heat, the difference between endothermic and exothermic processes, reversible and irreversible processes, as well as how different materials conduct heat differently. It’s also fun way of showing how certain materials conduct heat differently from each other.
This experiment is easy and an ideal way to demonstrate how to create a reusable hand warmer. Plus, it will get children interested in chemistry! Suitable for students aged 6-12.
Sports Drink Experiment
Sports drink manufacturers claim their beverages improve endurance by replenishing electrolytes lost during exercise. Electrolytes are made up of atoms combining into ions that conduct current, so to measure liquid conductance (which correlates to its electrolyte concentration) one can use a multimeter set with an ammeter setting to measure current flow between two points using an ammeter function.
Establish the standardization of your sensor by measuring and recording the conductance of tap water in a container and recording this measurement in your lab notebook. After this step is completed, test all sports drinks by pouring measured cups of each beverage into their respective basins and reading your multimeter to monitor.
For optimal reproduction of an assigned sports drink, measure density using a graduated cylinder, use a multimeter to evaluate conductivity and pH using honey-sugar mixture, and check that overall concentration matches that of its assigned beverage.