Science Fair

Are you looking for a Science Fair project? There are about a zillion resources out on the world wide web for ideas. My advice to my students is always to start with a list of 10 things you like. This list could be something like: dogs, football, video games, music...etc. Then pick a few of these things and write down a question you have about them. Science is everywhere...I bet you have a testable question for your project just from thinking about what you like. There have been millions of science fairs in the history of the world, and you'll be working on this project for a while, so if you can find something that is very interesting to you and is not the same baking soda volcano or mentos in coke experiment everybody else is doing, all the better!!


Testable questions are ones that lead to an experiment where you test something (hence the name) and your experiment gives you some sort of reportable results. You do not want to pick a question that is too broad, or something you cannot test. For example: How do birds fly? is not the type of question that leads to an experiment. A testable question would be: Do birds fly faster on sunny days or rainy days? A good rule of thumb: testable questions often (not always) begin with words like: "Do", "Does","Are" and "Is". For an extensive list of testable questions check this out. 

 
 Here are 2 great links for Science Project Ideas: 

Education.com Science Fair 
Sciencebuddies.com Science Fair Projects

Also, remember the Scientific Method your teacher is always talking about? It doesn't always flow in a neat and tidy way from: Question, Hypothesis, Experiment, Results, Conclusion. You most likely will find that your experiment leads to new questions, which lead to new hypotheses, which lead to other experiment ideas, which lead to new results...you get the idea. Your scientific method will probably look more like this (and that is ok!)

Here are some projects that I wrote that you might like to try: 

Bloomin' Algae! (6th-8th Grade)
Brilliant Bird Beaks (1st-5th Grade)
Building the Best Bridge (4th-6th Grade)
Decomposition Rates of Biodegradable Materials (4th-5th Grade) 
Does Environmentally Friendly=Effective? (6th-9th Grade)
Don't Have a Meltdown! (Elementary School)
Feeder Bird Identification and Food Preference (6th-8th Grade)
Keep the Boat Afloat (3rd-5th Grade) 
Make a Dichotomous Key (6th Grade, Middle School)
Plant Neighbors: Friends or Foes? (Middle School)
A Trick for the Eyes: Color Wheels and Optical Illusion Tops (Elementary- Middle School)