At fifth grade, students are ready to assume more responsibility in creating and conducting their science fair experiments. They seek hands-on, engaging projects that pique curiosity while sparking passion for learning.
Discover surface tension and polymers through this slime experiment, or explore chromatography by sorting fall leaves by color. Your students can also gain knowledge of acid rain through this Earth science project!
Mini Trampoline Experiment
Students will enjoy this exciting experiment from Little Bins for Little Hands that allows them to build their own mini trampoline from scratch! Not only will this build construction skills, but it’ll also demonstrate the science of rubber bands!
Baking soda offers children an amazing way to turn their writing invisible while discovering paper fibers – an experiment sure to impress and amaze! This simple yet fascinating experiment is sure to blow their minds.
Children find germs fascinating, and this STEAMsational experiment that compares bacterial growth rates will captivate them. Additionally, this project explores osmosis; making this the perfect addition to any science fair board!
Leakproof Bag
Students will be amazed by this astounding science experiment in which sharpened pencils are poked into a bag filled with water without spilling a drop! Students will observe that this happens because flexible polymer chains–long molecules which bend and flex– keep the leakproof seal intact.
Use this science project as a means of teaching kids the importance of teamwork, pride, dedication and more. If you’re teaching a class on school spirit, use a bag of water and pencils as teaching aids to demonstrate how a stronger community can be built together.
Discover blubber with this simple science experiment that allows you to test how penguins, whales and polar bears keep warm. Additionally, this activity offers great practice data recording and analysis skills.
Static Electricity
Static electricity occurs when there is an imbalance of positive and negative charges. Have you ever rubbed your hat against the carpet and experienced “hair-raising” effects, or created balloons to adhere to walls by rubbing against clothing? You have witnessed static electricity at work!
Encourage kids to harness electricity with this hands-on experiment! Although patience may be required, the payoff in terms of learning about potential and kinetic energy will certainly make the effort worth their while.
Marshmallow Jump
By fifth grade, students should assume more responsibility in designing and conducting science experiments on their own. An experiment that can be completed quickly with minimal adult oversight will be best.
This fun marshmallow jump experiment allows children to gain knowledge about gravity and force while also showing them how air and water interact.
Students learn surface tension through this simple experiment by showing them how paperclips float or sink in water, as well as teaching them about evaporation and condensation.
Put your students’ engineering abilities to the test with this physics project using clothespins and wooden craft sticks to build a paper airplane and observe its flight distance.
Water Purification
By fifth grade, students are ready to assume greater responsibility in designing and conducting their own scientific experiments. These hands-on activities foster curiosity while sparking passion for STEM learning while simultaneously introducing concepts such as biology, physics and chemistry.
Explore density using an enjoyable paperclip experiment or this plant growth model to explore how different water levels affect plants. Students can also try using food items as models of tooth decay in this tooth decay model experiment.
Explore why water takes longer to boil than oil with this heat capacity experiment from ThoughtCo. Kids can also conduct their own experiment testing the effect of light on seed germination rate!
Saliva Testing
“Don’t go near the water; you could drown.” This science experiment helps students explore saturation, friction and other aspects of physics.
This engaging and straightforward chemistry science fair project shows how water molecules react with solid materials to form new substances, teaching fifth grade students about density vs liquid volume relationships.
Put students’ engineering skills to the test with this unique twist on an iconic fifth grade science fair project: clothespins and wooden craft sticks can be used to construct a catapult from basic materials and see how far it can launch an object.
Newspaper Engineering
By fifth grade, students are expected to take on greater responsibilities when designing and conducting science fair projects. Most experiments should be largely completed independently with guidance provided from teachers or parents as needed.
Explore physics concepts through this hands-on bottle rocket project. Students build, test and redesign their rockets to see how different sizes affect its performance.
Students use newspaper and construction materials to engineer water tanks out of newspaper and construction materials. Once their designs have been created, they compare them and determine which designs hold the most water. This activity also helps kids build taller towers with wider or triangular bases by making use of wider bases.