Tagged With: designing your own science fair project
Popcorn Projects – YUM!
Advantages: Quick, relatively cheap, relatively easy, and you can bribe kids with eating the popcorn AFTER the project is done. Disadvantages: Most lack creativity. The best option is always to design your own, but here are a few ideas to inspire you. Let’s start with variables – what are the “things” we can change when … Continue reading
Sticky business: ideas for bubblegum-themed science fair projects
Can chewing gum make you smarter? This was an award winning 6th grade science fair project a few years ago in North Carolina. The creative aspect was that the student (read: “my kid”) found a way to define and quantify “smarter” (i.e. number correct on timed math and memory tests) and a way to avoid … Continue reading
Why microbiology experiments are hard to do for science fairs
Since I am a microbiologist, I frequently get asked to design microbiology experiments for science fair projects. I have stopped doing it because of rule changes for most science fairs. ISEF now prohibits growing bacteria or mold in the home environment. I recently looked into the rules for the Google Science Fair – here is … Continue reading
Snowed In? Get your science fair project done!
It snowed last night in Maryland, so all soccer games were cancelled. (Yes, our club teams are playing “winter league” so we have kids playing 11 v 11 outdoor games even in January!) Anyway, if you find yourself snowed in – or with an unexpectedly clear schedule – then you could do some science! Ideas … Continue reading
Scientific American Guest Blogs
Periodically, I post blogs on the Scientific American Guest Blog. http://www.scientificamerican.com/ Here are examples: 3 Strategies for an Original Science Fair project idea: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/11/21/3-strategies-for-an-original-science-fair-project/ How to answer the 5 most common questions from a science fair judge: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/12/16/how-to-answer-the-5-most-common-questions-from-a-science-fair-judge/ Anatomy of a science fair project: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/01/12/anatomy-of-a-science-fair-project/
The $2.00 science fair project
Short on time and money, but still need to do a science fair project? Then this idea is for you and FYI it also works as a math fair project. It is unique (i.e., I made it up), cheap, easy, and follows the scientific method. . . . . . . Step 1 Research/Question: Ecologists … Continue reading
Toilet Seat Science
If you have to do a science fair project, you might as well make it fun, or at least gross. Today I came across this blurb: http://www.microbeworld.org/index.php?option=com_jlibrary&view=article&id=8097 So I used Google Scholar to find the original article: E.L. Best, J.A.T. Sandoe, M.H. Wilcox (2011) Potential for aerosolization of Clostridium difficile after flushing toilets: the role … Continue reading
How to do a successful sports-themed science fair project
Option 1: Give up early and find another topic Generally, the biggest problem with every sports-themed project is the lack of standardization of some part of the procedure (see “fatal flaws” page). There is just NO WAY to make sure that you, as the experimenter, hit the baseball, kick the soccer ball, throw the football, … Continue reading
Scientist’s don’t like the word “prove”
I often meet students that tell me that they “proved” that this parachute was the best, or they “proved” that this ball bounced higher, or they “proved” that bleach kills plants. As soon as I hear the word, I shudder, because scientists, in general, don’t like the word prove. The whole concept of “proving” anything … Continue reading
How to make the Mentos-Soda explosion into a winning science fair project
So you really just want to make a mess and blow something up, but if you learn scientific method along the way, we’ll call it a win-win! First, check out the description of the reaction and photos from those that have tried it, here: Mentos Diet Coke Geyser at Steve Spangler Science http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/original-mentos-diet-coke-geyser via @SpanglerScience … Continue reading
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