Science fair projects provide 7th graders an ideal way to demonstrate their knowledge in STEM concepts. Often these projects include creating a hypothesis and process which requires testing, recording data and then presenting findings.
Teach your students engineering principles with this project that involves building a balloon-powered car using materials found around your house (including bottle caps as wheels! ). Or encourage young scientists to construct a geodesic dome out of paper and tape!
Hand Model
No matter the interest of their seventh graders in biology, health & psychology, environmental science, chemistry or physics – there are plenty of projects designed specifically to get them involved with these subjects. You could try running this experiment to determine whether certain colors help memory recall; or investigate evaporation with this project that’s ideal for warm climates like Florida.
As a more laborious project, have your students build an articulated hand model to study how the different parts of their bodies work together. To do this, students can follow a template to mark lines representing the knuckle joints and thumb pad crease of their own hand on cardboard before cutting tubes of straw to fit between each finger tip and wrist and taping them securely – creating an animatable model which can flex like its real life equivalent!
Wooden Bridge
Truss bridge design requires engineering expertise, math knowledge and geometry knowledge – along with working collaboratively in groups for this science fair project.
Before engaging in a building challenge, instruct teams to browse online real-life examples for inspiration and identify designs that meet all criteria of their chosen truss type. Once complete, teams should use this research to create a blueprint of their bridge taking into account any restrictions due to materials limitations.
Once teams are finished with their prototypes, place them in a weight-loading setup (e.g., resting each end of each bridge on two tables placed a foot apart) to test weight loading until one or more bridges collapse, recording each mass until each one breaks and using this information for analysis and calculations of strength-to-weight ratios.
Cellular Mitosis Models
Students can study mitosis with this oversized cell model that shows all three major stages of cell division: interphase, prophase and anaphase – in detail. Students can observe as the cell cycle unfolds before them and examine its impactful components like chromosomes and centrioles.
An inexpensive water testing kit provides numerous possibilities for 7th grade science fair projects, such as testing the quality of local streams or ponds and exploring how household fertilizers affect algae growth in them. Furthermore, this experiment can teach students the significance of protecting our water sources.
This simple chemistry experiment offers kids an engaging way to explore density. Just a few supplies and a bit of time is all that’s necessary, helping students grasp that different liquids have various densities.
Charcoal Water Filtration
Activated carbon, the black material you find in fire pits, may appear dirty and disorganized; however, its massive surface area provides numerous docking sites for molecules. This allows activated carbon to effectively capture any offensive or toxic compounds found in gas and liquid streams while filtering chemicals out of water; making it an indispensable survival tool in case you become lost during a hike and require clean drinking water sources.
Students can use activated charcoal to filter tap water for taste and odor, providing a great science experiment for seventh graders who are passionate about environmental or life sciences.
Texting Glossary
Students create a text messaging glossary as part of an experiment addressing one of their key concerns in middle school – using phones for communication both inside and outside the classroom. Furthermore, this activity fits well into both linguistics and communication studies studies.
Finding science experiments that engage student interest can be challenging. Many kids are intrigued by magnets, so this hanging compass experiment enables them to explore magnetic field influences on its needle.
Dissection projects can be tricky with younger students and can quickly turn stomachs. Instead, try this flower dissection experiment which uses non-tense organisms and requires minimal supplies; it provides a great opportunity to demonstrate scientific process while simultaneously helping students comprehend anatomy in ways lectures cannot.