If your school offers a science fair, speak to your guidance counselor about signing up and selecting your topic before diving in! Once registered, start researching!
Teenagers looking for more advanced scientific concepts will relish these high school science fair projects. From biology and physics to engineering, these experiments explore an array of subjects.
Build a Heart-Rate Monitor
Science fairs offer students a wonderful chance to explore a topic and hone their skills, but not all experiments are created equal – there can only be so much of that baking soda volcano business before a judge becomes offended!
This heart rate monitor experiment helps students learn about cardiovascular physiology. Working in pairs, students build stethoscopes from scratch before and after exercising to record their heart rates before and after.
Design a Bottle Rocket
Create this hands-on engineering challenge using materials found around the home, teaching students about gravity and momentum in this experiment.
This science project explores how adding payload affects a bottle rocket’s flight height, using engineering design process to transform an ordinary water bottle into an aerodynamic rocket with payload bay.
Build a Paper Cup Structure
Students can test out their engineering abilities while also learning about simple machines with this STEM challenge! Students will enjoy trying to balance a tower of paper cups as part of this STEM challenge!
This experiment blends engineering and physics to produce an impressive structure, perfect for 8th grade science fair projects and learning about laundry detergent’s cleaning power! This eighth grade science experiment can teach your students more about its potential.
Test the Cleaning Power of Laundry Detergent
Laundry stains are an unavoidable part of life, yet can often prove challenging to eliminate. In this experiment, students can assess how effective detergents with and without enzymes work on different stains.
Science Fair Extravaganza’s fingerprint detection experiment will pique any student’s interest. Learn about forensic science while uncovering enzyme’s amazing power!
Measure the Height of Balls
Students can discover the properties of various balls by measuring how high each one bounces, and will also gain knowledge of physics concepts such as the coefficient of elasticity.
Students aiming to collect accurate data should ensure each ball drops from an identical height each time, helping them establish which variables need the most control. They will need to record their findings using a meter stick that measures to the nearest centimeter.
Build a Cloud Chamber
Radiation pervades everything around us. By conducting this simple science experiment, students can indirectly observe this background radiation and its effects.
This cloud chamber uses supersaturated alcohol vapor to detect cosmic ray muons/electrons and alpha particles from cosmic rays. Note: this demonstration requires both ethanol (alcohol) and dry ice (solid CO2). When handling dry ice, students should wear eye protection and leather gloves to keep themselves safe.
Investigate Kinetic Friction
Use this fun experiment to study friction between two objects. Learn about potential and kinetic energy as well as energy conservation by measuring forces needed to move an object across smooth and rough surfaces.
Engineers with an in-depth knowledge of friction design braking systems that prevent cars from skidding when drivers slam on the brakes. This hands-on experiment helps students discover how this force affects velocity on a sloped surface.
Build a Bunsen Burner
Students explore various chemical reactions using a Bunsen burner to observe flame color changes. When working with this apparatus, use only spark lighters with extended nozzles in order to avoid burns. Keep burner at least 12 inches from any overhead shelving or equipment and remove notebooks, papers and any flammable materials that might be nearby; tie back long hair and wear a lab coat as safety measures.
Create a Game of Kahoot
Students can use Kahoot to investigate an array of subjects – from art and culture to physics – using its quizzing feature. Students can utilize Kahoot’s Stroop test by quizzing themselves with incongruent-colored words in order to measure its impact on reaction times.
Other experiments explore a plant’s ability to detect water by placing it next to an inverted PVC “T”, with nothing on either side; as predicted, the plant naturally gravitated toward it and began growing toward it.
Create a Model in Time
Engineering enthusiasts will love these science experiments that give kids a chance to design and construct models of Da Vinci’s flying machines or play with optical illusions to create stunning visual effects.
Contact your guidance counselor about registering for the science fair at your school and then select an experiment which fits within its time constraints.