Science Fair Ideas - Third Grade

[taylor1293]

Any good ideas for third grade? Easy, not too costly, can't involve molds of any kind.

I keep thinking plants, but there has to be more than plants, lol.

 

[Kae]

Last year DS did a project the boiling temp of water & the effects salt have on the boiling temp. It was pretty easy. Found it on the web.

Kae

 

[MoniqueU]

I detest science projects. Our school makes all the upper grades do it. It used to just be the gate kids and I only have one in gate. The last 2 years I have had to help two kids do projects. I am not science oriented or interested in anyway. Ok Rant off LOL.

What are some other ideas guys? Keep them coming.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I remember being fascinated by the "rubber egg" experiment around that age. You soak an egg in vinegar and the shell melts away revealing the inner egg intact. Balloons and hair can make a static electricty experiment. You can grow rock candy for a crystal experiment. Mentos and diet coke always gets a laugh out of kids (but is messy). Just searching on any of those will give you the scientific reasons behind the experiment.

My 6yo is really into science so we've have done a lot of cheapy homemade experiments around here.

Here's a few links I could pull up fast.
rock candy: http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/rockcandy.html
(if you click experiments on the left hand menu he lists a lot more)

rubber egg: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/naked-egg-experiment

 

[dreamergirl78]

One I remember from having to do them waaaay back when was called "Is That The Way The Cookie Crumbles." Or something along those lines. Anyway, you test different packing materials from different heights. Go to the dollar store and buy a couple packages of cookies. Get some newspaper, peanuts, bubble wrap, etc and pckage the cookies into a box. Drop them from a ladder at different heights and record how many cookies break etc.

We will do this one if our son has a project he has to do for this school this year.

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I'm a teacher and my school makes each class do a science fair project each year. I hate them, because guess who's actually doing it? (Hint: NOT the kids!)

If you want to do something with plants, you can do something like what is the effect of pollution on plants? Get two plants that are basically the same, and treat one normally, you know with clean dirt and give it clean water. For the other one, mix the dirt with some basic trash and then give it water that you have mixed with some "pollution". (I put some glue and some tempura paint into the water...just don't use vinegar it will kill it immediately.) After a week or so, you will clearly see the difference between plants.

Also, we did "do plants grow better in a greenhouse or without one?" You can buy little greenhouse kits at Home Depot, but not at this time of year. You can make a greenhouse thing out of a soda bottle. Then, plant the same kinds of seeds in a cup with no lid, and also in a "greenhouse". Give it a week or two and compare.

 

[luvmy3]

Here are some things we have done in the past
ooblek
paper chromatography
simple circuits
make your own yogurt
ds's rock collection exhibit with black light
dd did an exhibit on the human eye
dd's experiment on the effects of watering a flowering plant with different substances.

 

[laurie31]

My DDs have done the following projects:

What bubble gum blows the biggest bubble?

Pretty cheap. We bought 4-5 different kinds of gum, she chewed a piece for 5 mins, and blew 3 bubbles. The gum with the most sugar won. She won 1st place for her grade, and 2nd place for the school overall

what food do cats prefer?

we bought 4 kinds of cat food and got some neighbors to let us feed their cats for several mornings (so we'd have a large enough sample) and measured which one got eaten more. She won 2nd place for her grade.

What drink is the stickiest?

We put a teaspoon of lots of different drinks (coke, sprite, tea, etc) on a leftover piece of our laminate floor and let them dry flat then stuck a penny in each spot and timed how long it took the penny to fall off when we tilted the board up. She won first place in her grade, and first place overall for the school.

Does a food's color affect how it tastes?

DD explained the project to her teacher ahead of time, and she let DD use the class as subjects. She colored plain milk blue, pink, and brown, and then let the students have a small taste of each and say what flavor they thought it was. (I bought tiny clear cups for the samples). It was amazing how many kids thought that brown milk was chocolate milk! She won first place for her grade, and second place overall for the school.


At our school, they want the kids to learn to use the scientific method to answer a question, not just do research to explain a phenomenon. (one kid did a really great project explaining how prisms work, but didn't place, as she didn't have a hypothesis to investigate).

DD was feeling very anti-science the year she did the bubble gum one. I told her it could be about ANYTHING that interested her. The idea is to use logic (the scientific method) to prove something true or false.

This year I'm thinking of letting her do one on which batteries last longer - I can buy some of the expensive batteries, and the cheap store brand ones, and let her play her DS until they die. I'm thinking she'll love playing video games in the name of science

Another easy one (one that won the school overall, and a 3rd grader did it!) was: Which paper towel is strongest. They used several brands of towels, got them wet, and measured how much weight they would support.


Have fun! Try to help your kid do something that's of interest to them. It can be fun, cheap, and still be a great project

(and resist the urge to help them make their display boards. I cringed at DD's imperfect titles and such, but when I went to see the fair, it was VERY obvious who did their own, and whose parents had "helped." )

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Wow laurie31....I'm going to have to print this or something because I know the science fair will come up this spring. Hopefully they won't give a "theme" again like "environment" or something. Then I can use any of those great ideas of yours!

 

[DVCisME]

What about making rock candy?

 

[KristiKelly]

Some we've done in the past with DS and I think DD will do them now.

- Does the size of pumpkin effect the # of seeds?
- The effects of boiling and freezing a balloon
- The effects different chemicals have on different kinds of fabrics

I hate this time of year.

 

[laurie31]

Wow laurie31....I'm going to have to print this or something because I know the science fair will come up this spring. Hopefully they won't give a "theme" again like "environment" or something. Then I can use any of those great ideas of yours!

*blush*

Science doesn't have to be complicated And I only mentioned that several of the projects placed in the grade or school to show that you don't have to do something complex or spend tons of time or money to do a great project.

The bubble gum one was done in less than 30 mins! (the experimenting part, she still had to write up her data and make her display).

And hey - you can make lots of things fit a theme

For example - the battery one. Is it better for the environment to use cheap or expensive batteries? (the ones that run out faster will fill up landfills quicker...although probably rechargables are the way to go, but you get the idea )

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

I think any project they want to do, within the guidelines established by the teachers, etc is a fine project. You don't want to stifle their creativity and interest in learning after all.

How about "How Fast Will This Fall"? You go buy one of those packages of little green army men, attach different materials as parachutes (notebook paper, kleenex, etc) and see how the different materials affect the rate at which they fall from a given height.

 

[mom2rb]

Get a cake recipe. Leave one ingredient out every time. So you make one without sugar, one without eggs, one without baking soda, ect... Make one with all of the ingredients. Then you can see how everything works together. You can even let the kids taste the cakes.

 

[mousetravel]

Here's one that my DD got 2nd place with:

This will only work if you or someone you know has a blood sugar checker? (whatever they're called)

Title: How will a chocolate bar affect blood sugar level?

Pick three people, take their blood sugar, record results.
Those three people eat chocolate bar, wait about 30 minutes, take the blood sugar again, record new results.

Make a poster recording the changing levels of blood sugar.
Take a photo of each person and put with their results.
Take empty candy bar wrappers & decorate project board with them. You can also decorate the project board with the testing strips, band aids, etc.

 

[MoniqueU]

Here's one that my DD got 2nd place with:

This will only work if you or someone you know has a blood sugar checker? (whatever they're called)

Title: How will a chocolate bar affect blood sugar level?

Pick three people, take their blood sugar, record results.
Those three people eat chocolate bar, wait about 30 minutes, take the blood sugar again, record new results.

Make a poster recording the changing levels of blood sugar.
Take a photo of each person and put with their results.
Take empty candy bar wrappers & decorate project board with them. You can also decorate the project board with the testing strips, band aids, etc.

Great Idea!!. We have the checker here too so that is great.

 

[*BTMRR*]

These are great ideas. My 3rd grader is looking forward to doing the science fair. I think he'd like the idea of testing which liquid is the stickiest! I'll ask him.

Be sure to see if there are rules about using human or animal subjects in the project. Our school is very strict that you can't use people or animals at all even for totally harmless things like food tasting or measuring how loudly dogs bark or any of those kinds of experiments.

 

[mousetravel]

Great Idea!!. We have the checker here too so that is great.

She kept that project so if you're interested I will take a photo of it & post it or email it to you.

 

[ckay87]

For the 5th grade science fair last year, I helped my son choose something that aligned with his interests.....so we burned stuff!

Just choose some different materials, went out back and burned them. Measured and collected the amount of ash left after each material burned to determine how much was of it released into the atmosphere. He measured equal amounts of each (by weight) and recorded the burn time and observations about the appearance of the smoke. His research paper was then about the harmful effects of backyard burning of trash and the toxins that are contained in each material.

He burned paper, a plastic bag, cotton and...styrofoam. A little OT, but OMG, why do we even use styrofoam? That stuff burned forever with the most disgusting smoke and when it was done there was nothing left. DS wore face protection when it was burning, but I didn't and I kind of felt sick.

 

[kmp1191]

The one DS did last year was about the heat different kinds of light bulbs put off. He used the same wattage of clear, soft white and blue. He fixed up 3 boxes of the same size, put 1 cup of water in each one and sealed them up tight. He left the light on for 24 hrs and measured the evaporation of the water.
It was actually pretty neat because it proved his hypothesis wrong and that was something different for a change!

He didnt' get any awards, but he still did a good job on it.