Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: 4 Complex Rube Goldberg Ideas

For Students 3rd - 8th
An interesting approach to science projects where students are challenged to create complex machines that do very simple jobs, e.g., opening a door. Offers four ideas for projects.
Activity
Science Struck

Science Struck: Simple Ideas for Your Kid's Solar System Project

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Provides detailed instructions for how to help a student make a solar system model, and additional suggestions for making a constellation poster, making a model showing phases of the moon, and creating a solar system model to scale.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: Transferring Heat by Convection in a Tank

For Students 9th - 10th
In this engineering science fair project, students will determine the most effective method for quickly raising the temperature of a liquid in a tank. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract,...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: Pretty Packaging: Lead to Healthier Eating?

For Students 9th - 10th
In this human behavior science fair project, the student will investigate whether packaging can persuade children to eat healthily. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Make Your Own Piezoelectric Pickup for Acoustic Guitar

For Students 9th - 10th
In this project you'll learn how to make a piezoelectric pickup for acoustic guitar using inexpensive components. You can then connect your acoustic guitar to an amplifier, and record your own music. If you are interested in electronics...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Egg Substitutes

For Students 3rd - 5th
Egg allergies are not uncommon, therefore many egg substitutes are sold in order to bake, and cook recipes that call for them. In this science project idea, you'll investigate how to modify recipes so that even egg-allergic friends and...
Activity
Science Struck

Science Struck: Creative Science Fair Projects for 7th Grade

For Students 7th
A list of 50 ideas for science fair projects for Grade 7.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Point of a Parabola: Focusing Signals for a Better Wireless Net

For Students 3rd - 8th
Here's a project with practical applications for homes with a wireless network. This project shows you how to build and test parabolic reflectors for the transmitters on your network. You may be able to increase the range of your...
Lesson Plan
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Are There Dangerous Levels of Lead in Local Soil?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
The element lead is a neurotoxin that is particularly dangerous to young children. Among other uses, lead compounds were common paint additives until being phased out for safer titanium-based additives beginning in the 1960's. Lead...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Computer Sleuth: Identification by Text Analysis

For Students 9th - 10th
Here's a project where you can try your hand at being a detective with your computer. In this project you'll write a program to do some basic analysis of features of written text (for example, counting the length of each word in the...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Perfect Marriage of Computer Science & Medicine

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out the real explanation for why your parents are so weird. Here is a project that lets you explore the internet to find out why your "DNA blueprint" is so important to health and disease. In this project you will use methods that...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Much Baking Powder Do Quick Breads Need?

For Students 6th - 8th
If you like to bake, this could be a good project for you. There is a purpose for each of the ingredients in your recipes, but not everyone is always aware of what that purpose may be. Though this lab takes multiple days, you will...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Can Baking Soda Substitute for Baking Powder in a Recipe?

For Students 9th - 10th
There's nothing quite like the smell of fresh-baked muffins for breakfast on a Saturday morning. If you're into baking, you might want to try this insightful project that lets you witness the chemistry behind making muffins. You'll get...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Determining Iodide Content of Salt

For Students 9th - 10th
In this week long "kitchen chemistry" project you will use chemicals from the supermarket to test for the presence of iodine and iodide in salt. These are common micronutrients added to some preparations of table salt. A materials list,...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Much Energy Is Stored in Different Types of Food?

For Students 9th - 10th
In this project you'll learn a method for measuring how much chemical energy is available in different types of food. You will build your own calorimeter to capture the energy released by burning a small food item, like a nut or a piece...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Using Daphnia to Monitor Water Toxicity

For Students 9th - 10th
In a bioassay, a living organism serves as a detector for toxins-the same way canaries were used in coal mines to detect invisible toxic gases. In this project, water fleas (Daphnia magna), a freshwater crustacean, are used in a bioassay...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Get Down and Dirty: How Does Soil Change With Depth?

For Students 6th - 8th
What covers less than 10% of the Earth's surface, yet is a vital natural resource for terrestrial life? What filters ground water and supports most of our food production, not to mention the production of building materials and paper?...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Recycling Greywater: Can Plants Tolerate It?

For Students 6th - 8th
Water is a valuable resource many often take for granted. This exercise however gives you the opportunity to learn about and discover how greywater (water that has been used for washing or bathing) can be used for watering ornamental...
Website
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Programming Nanor Gs in a Virtual World

For Students 9th - 10th
Imagine yourself as a software engineer, a decade and a half from now. You are called upon to help solve the world energy crisis by programming nano-organisms (NANORGs) to extract energy from industrial sludge. Your program must be small...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Trace Your Ancient Ancestry Through Dna

For Students 9th - 10th
In this science project, you will investigate the secrets of your distant past as revealed by your DNA. In order to obtain a sample for DNA analysis, you will scrape a soft swab inside your mouth to collect cheek cells. Based on the...
Activity
Science Struck

Science Struck: Interesting 7th Grade Science Fair Projects

For Students 7th
Descriptions of five experiments and a list of other ideas for possible science fair projects for Grade 7.
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Do String Players Have Longer Left Fingers?

For Students 9th - 10th
Physical activity is needed for maintaining normal bone strength and mass. But whether physical stress on finger bones during development leads to an increase in finger length, is something you will discover in this project not by...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Tree of Life Ii (Advanced)

For Students 9th - 10th
Imagine that a biologist arrived at your big family reunion and had no idea who were sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc., but tried to sort it out by how all of you look. Just based on how you look, would s/he be able to guess whether...
Website
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Programming Nanor Gs in a Virtual World

For Students 9th - 10th
In this two week long project, you will design an assembly-language control program for the microprocessors of a colony of nano-organisms (NANORGs) in a virtual world. If you're up for a real programming challenge, this is the project...