Science Fair

[RUDisney]

Any ideas for a first grader to do for a science fair? It is optional for my DS to participate, but if we can come up with something, I think he'll really enjoy it.

Anyone? I have no preconcieved notions about his.

 

[Cindy B]

Funny you should say this..

Our school science fair is this Tuesday.

My kindergartner is doing a 3d Magnetic thing, using a bottle of baby oil, steel wool, and loose magnets. Basically you put the steel wool in small shaving pieces in the oil. Then you use the magnets to see how the particles move around in the oil.


My son did his own physics type thing.

He made a maze out of plastic pieces, and got nine marbles. Before he started on the marbles he made a prediction to see which marble would go the fastest through the maze.

He used a timer, and timed them all.

Then he measure the marbles, and saw which marble was the fastest.. (it was the smallest one).

 

[bananiem]

My dd8 just did her first science fair. (Got an Award of Excellence trophy, thank you for asking! ) We went to the public library and checked out some books on science fair activities and then she picked one she thought she'd be interested in. It was on fingerprinting and detecting who did something.
Also you can do a search for science fair projects on teh internet.
Do they have to "prove" something or just "demonstrate" something?
My pre-k kids always liked the experiment where you take a pop bottle and put vinegar in it and put baking soda in a balloon and stretch it over the top of the pop bottle. When the baking soda falls in the vinegar it causes a chemical reaction and blows up the balloon.

 

[disykat]

My ds did a fairly simple project but the judges really liked how it was from his real life. He won 1st place for 4th grade at our school. His little brother could never keep up with the rest of us when bike riding so his experiment was to find out if it was wheel size or lack of having more than one speed that mattered. He did timed trials and showed pictures and a bar graph of the results.

For first grade I'd do something pretty simple like a carnation in colored water, sink and float experiments, mold growth on food etc.

 

[worm761]

go to www.pbskids.org check out the zoom section. the have lots of simple science experiments that usually only use things you already have around the house.