Science Fair Ideas…
1. Try one of the experiments found in the Magic School Bus books.
2. Do an experiment described by Bill Nye the Science Guy www.nyelabs.com
3. Find out what kind of bird seed the birds in your backyard like best.
4. Test an advertising claim.
5. Are the stars always in the same place or do they seem to move? Why?
6. How does a submarine dive and ascend? Build something that works the same way.
7. Does exercise make a muscle get bigger or just stronger?
8. How does fertilizer make a plant different from one that isn’t fertilized?
9. Does temperature affect how sugar or salt crystals grow?
10. How do different activities affect your pulse rate?
11. How can you collect and concentrate heat from the sun?
12. What kind of soil holds water best and which dries out faster?
13. Test whether the pH of soil affects how well certain plants grow.
14. Compare the purity of rainwater, tap water, lake or stream water and water in a mud
puddle.
15. How can you tell if a substance is acid or alkali? Test several substances.
16. Build bridges of different shapes and see which will hold the most weight.
17. Make different shaped boats. Which are most stable? Which are fastest? Which hold most
weight? Experiment with different wing shapes to see which provide the most lift.
18. How does temperature affect how fast food decays?
19. If you soak seeds in water before you plant them, do they sprout faster? Do they grow
bigger?
20. Experiment with how different factors (water, light, temperature, soil, etc.) affect plant
growth)
21. What will kill yeast and what helps it grow?
22. Try to make dyes from natural materials. What works best? Does the type of cloth you dye
make a difference?
23. Test different stain removal methods to see which works best.
24. Find a way to visualize sound waves. How do volume and pitch make a difference?
25. How does the light from a laser pointer travel through different lenses or substances
26. How can you make sound louder or softer and why does it work?
27. Does salt dissolve better in water, rubbing alcohol, vinegar or salad oil? Why?
28. Compare the viscosity of different liquids. Does temperature affect viscosity? (For example,
will a marble fall to the bottom of a jar of honey or water faster). Will thicker liquids boil
faster or slower than thinner liquids? Will liquids of different viscosity layer or combine?
29. At what temperature does water boil or freeze? Does salt (or anything else) in the water
affect this temperature? Does the weather affect it?
30. How is the length of a lever related to how hard it is to lift something?
31. Will your pet hamster run through a maze faster if you give it a treat at the end?
32. Do beans know which way is up? Sprout some then turn them upside down. What happened?
33. Will a cracker break down faster in water or spit? Why?
34. How do you take a breath? Make a model that shows hot it works.
35. Find out a way to make a boat or car move without you pushing it.
36. What happens when you make a balloon warmer or colder?
37. What materials hold heat the longest? Try different metals, glass, water, wood, anything
else you think of.
38. Are different parts of your body more sensitive to cold, heat, pressure or pin pricks?
39. What materials conduct electricity well and which don’t?
40. Does your sense of smell affect your sense of taste?
41. How does the length of a stretched rubber band relate to the sound it makes? Why? Is the
same relationship seen if you blow different sized bottles or bottles with different amounts
of water?
42. Will an ice cube melt faster under white or black cloth? What about other colors?
43. Investigate shadows. How does the distance from the light and from the surface affect the
shadow?
44. Make a taste map of the tongue. Can you taste sweet, sour, salty and bitter better in
different places?
45. What happens if you soak a chicken bone or eggshell in vinegar or cola for a few days? Try
other liquids.
46. Play with static electricity. What is attracted or repelled?
47. Compare light bulbs wired in series and in parallel circuits. Which are brighter? What
happens if you remove one bulb?
48. Make an electromagnet. How does it work?
49. Can you make an electric current with a magnet?.
50. Will a heavy object fall faster than a lighter object?
51. What is the relationship between the length of a pendulum and how fast it swings? Does it
keep swinging forever or does it stop? Why? And why does it keep swinging in a pendulum
clock?
52. How does the moon change over a month? Why?
53. How is the height and length of a ramp related to how fast a ball rolls down?
54. Make carbon dioxide with vinegar and baking soda. Describe it. Is it heavier or lighter than
oxygen? Can a candle burn in carbon dioxide?
55. Does an object weigh the same in air as in water? Why?
56. Does sound travel better through air, liquid or solid?
57. Does cold water weigh more than warm water? Does frozen water weigh the most?
58. How can you get water out of a glass without tipping the glass?
59. Make rainbows with prisms. Are the colors always in the same order, the color bands the
same widths? What if you use different colored lights?
60. Does it take more force to push or pull a block across the floor?
61. Does the surface you are moving a block across affect how much force it takes? Why?
62. Does the color of the shell affect a hermit crabs choice for a home?
63. Does the temperature of the air affect the air pressure?
64. Do different colors of the spectrum have different temperatures?
65. Does the time of day affect your body’s temperature?
66. How much salt will a plant be able to tolerate and still grow?
67. Does the size of the vibration affect the loudness of the sound?
68. Which fruits contain a large quantity of acid?
69. What effect does a loud noise have on growing plants?
70. Which packaging method best reduces the growth of mold or fungus?
Other places to find great science experiments:
King County Library www.kcls.com
Do a search of their book catalogue or check out their kids area on their database section.
Grossology: The science of really gross things http://www.grossology.org
The Franklin Institute Online: http://sln.fi.edu/tfi/activity/act-summ.html
Kidspace at the Internet Public Library:
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/projectguide/topic.html
Kids' Science Page National Agricultural Library http://www.nal.usda.gov/Kids/
Discovery School http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/ideas.html
Science Fair Projects Online http://www.science-fair-projects-online.com/
ScienzFair http://members.aol.com/ScienzFair/ideas.htm
The Science Club http://www.halcyon.com/sciclub/kidproj1.html
The Science Page http://sciencepage.org/scifair.htm
The Ultimate Science Fair Resource http://www.scifair.org/
Kidzworld http://www.kidzworld.com/site/p1762.htm