Participating in a science fair is an excellent way for students to hone their innovation and research abilities while building impressive college applications.
Undertake an experiment that compares the chemical and bacterial content of various water sources or measures how music impacts plant growth. Or take one step closer to particle physics by building a cloud chamber.
Bridge Building
Bridge Builder puts your engineering skills to the test as you create structures capable of withstanding an oncoming truck driving over it. There’s no single right or wrong approach; whether that means taking an efficient path, or creating something eccentric yet still functional. There’s no wrong decision here – take your pick.
Explore arch bridges that span 800 feet or more, suspension bridges that can flex without breaking, solar power systems such as DIY wind turbines or maglev trains as potential forms of mass transportation solutions.
Chemical tests on different water sources or the efficacy of new fertilization techniques to increase crop yield are other exciting avenues of investigation for high school science fair projects that use bunsen burners, beakers and test tubes as essential tools.
Potato Battery
Chemistry experiments are among the most sought-after science fair projects, yet students can also gain knowledge in physics and engineering through fun STEM activities that require nothing more than a potato and other household materials.
In this simple yet fascinating experiment, a potato acts as an electrochemical battery by converting chemical energy to electrical energy. Zinc nail and copper penny experience chemical reactions with acids present in the potato that allows electrons to pass from zinc to copper penny and produce current that powers small devices such as light bulbs or clocks.
Start this experiment by pushing one galvanized nail and one copper coin into each potato about an inch apart, placing a clock nearby, then connecting both potatoes with an alligator clip lead that has clips at both ends, hooking one end of this wire to penny in potato 1 and another end around both nails in potato 2. When completed, wrap this third copper wire around all nails to complete your circuit.
Roller Coaster
Students examine how engineers use physics in designing modern roller coasters, such as converting potential energy to kinetic energy and friction forces, to design roller coasters. Students design, construct and analyze model roller coasters using foam tubing as track and marbles as cars.
Students conducting this fascinating experiment discover how different liquids affect plant hydration. Furthermore, they explore methods for reigniting a candle without touching it to demonstrate conduction and convection as principles of combustion.
This project allows students to build and test basic bottle rockets of different designs and compare their performance, as well as experiment with changing launcher power to optimize its flight. They may also experiment with ways of improving its flight. Furthermore, students conduct trials with pendulums of various lengths and lengths in order to measure period (the time taken for one full swing by pendulum). This experiment is perfect for students who enjoy building and testing simple devices.
Friction Experiment
Science fair projects should motivate students to explore deeper into an area. Students could study how music impacts plant growth, friction between different surface textures or even investigate whether homemade maglev trains could provide mass transportation solutions.
High school students can transform their experiments into innovative solutions to real-world issues by cultivating bacteria cultures and testing different disinfectants, antibiotics and antiseptics to see which one inhibits it the most effectively. They could also investigate different forms of fertilization impact the growth of plants or compare water sources like tap, spring and well water sources.
Finding an intriguing topic for a science project can be difficult in today’s increasingly competitive environment. Here are some great research project ideas categorized by discipline to get some inspiration – pick one that speaks to your interests!