Science project ideas - help!?!

[DopeysMommy]

My 4th grade DD has to do her first science project this year. She has to have her plans turned in within 2 weeks. HELP! I need some good, non-expensive project ideas. I don't even know where to start!?!

See if your library would have books on different science project ideas, ours does.

 

[clh2]

My 4th grade DD has to do her first science project this year. She has to have her plans turned in within 2 weeks. HELP! I need some good, non-expensive project ideas. I don't even know where to start!?!

Since it is a DD, by any chance is she in girl scouts? The PP that mentioned apples and antiseptics brought this experimnet to mind. It is specifically part of a badge - I'm thinking the one related to cooking. The requirement was to take a sliced up apple, and rub your hands on it, and then store it in a jar for a couple of weeks. Then, do the same thing after your hands were washed with soap and water. Then do the same things after your hands were washed with Purell, or other antibacterial no-rinse soap. After a couple of weeks - I bet you can guess which apple slice was which!

And...at this time of year - nothing like a good plug for kids to wash their hands!!!

 

[loveabargin]

DD10 did this this year: Can people taste the difference in low fat versus whole fat versions of different foods? She did Cheese Nips, Cool Whip, Peanut Butter, Vanilla Pudding, etc. SHe had about 8 foods. She did blind taste tests on 20 people : 5 girls, 5 boys, 5 adult women, 5 adult men.

 

[mjh8955]

My son did a fun one once, got 3rd place. His was "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose it's Flavor on the Bed Post Overnight? He selected a certain number of different gums and had mom, dad and sister chew each for 10 minutes, then put in a sealed cup overnight and try it again in the morning. We each rated them and he came up with a clear winner. Meanwhile he researched the actual ingredients of each and when we had a clear winner he compared all the ingredients and sure enough, the winner had an ingredient that none of the others had.

 

[andymattmom]

We have done science fair for years.

One that needed to be planned ahead but might work for next year is "can chirps predict the temperature"...you count the number of times a cricket chirps ini 15 seconds...then multiple it by some formula (google it or I could find it) and the compare that to the actual temperature. My son did his research during the summer and fall....recorded temps/chirps about 30 times...different times and different temps and different locations. He won grand prize for this.

We also made an evaporative cooler out of a flower pot.

A very easy one...comparing the ripening time of a banana on the counter versus a brown bag. Took pictures at various days, etc. Something about ethanol gas put off....

Oh I am glad we don't have to do this anymore...in 6th grade it is extra credit...with an A in science now we don't need it!

 

[meliss8599]

When I judged a 6th grade science fair I saw a cute ones. Which dog foods/biscuits to dogs prefer?

My third graders have an upcoming science fair. Any other ideas for me to suggest to those who are unable to come up with their own ideas?

 

[disneymarie]

Two I can think of.,
One was with fire extings and Fire Alarms. Do photos of which respond fort to heat, smoke an Ion of etc....
Or the types to extingish stove fire, microwave, wood, oil, wood, etc

The other was one in growing, start now. Using a plant gro light from Walmart, three soil posts, One in Sand, one in plain dirt and one in miracle grow soil. create a hypothesis that the one in miracle grow more, dirt second and sand 3rd. Track the rate.

Or soil with adding water, water with Kero syrup, water with ?????

jsut some ideas.
Or making the strongest bubbles, you can buy glycerine on drug store there is a recipe for 1 c water with 1 tbls water to 1 tblsp palmolive-----1 cup water w 1 tbls kero syrup to 1 tbls palmolive, 1 c water 1 tblsp glycerine, 1 tbls palmolive.

Take picture of all the bubbles, which made more, which were the strongest,
di

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Do a search on the net....

You can make "batteries" with lemons and a piece of metal (copper? aluminum?)

You can measure the voltage or maybe light up a lightbulb (real small one obviously)

 

[pixiedustaholic]

Some we've tried/enjoyed over the years...

Which brand of battery lasts longest?

Which brand smoke detector reacts fastest?

What color glowstick glows the longest?

Which color feeder do hummingbirds prefer?

Which vehicle produces most pollution? (tie white tshirt over exhaust and run vehicle for x amount of time)

Do tennis balls bounce better on grass, clay or cement?

So far, our teachers want to make sure students understand the actual scientific method...results were not actually that important as long as they got the scientific method.

 

[momxx5]

Projects we have done over the year:

1. make a battery using a potato, orange, apple, etc Which one works best?

2. make clear drinkable water using a tshirt, jeans, leaves, sand and shells. If you were stranded on an island which items would produce clean drinkable water? The tshirt worked

3. electroplating a metal washer with zinc. Pretty easy

4. Baking: does the type of flour used affect the baking of breads. We used all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, etc.

5. Does color affect taste? using different flavors of jello and food coloring to change the colors. Example orange flavored jello dyed red using food coloring , does it tatse orange flavor or strawberry flavor?

6. What is the hottest part of the day? DS guess it would be around 12 noon however it turned out to be 5:00 in the late afternoon. He showed his answers in Celcius and Farenheit and then explain the background of both types of measurements. He won 2nd place.

PBS Zoom website has a lot of color ideas.

Static: using ballons to attract salt, etc. Explain the protons and neutrons & how they carry positive and negative charges thus attracting.

***I find that once the experiment has been completed and the children show what they have learned including the technical properties than that carries a good experiment.

 

[momxx5]

Oh yeah, other DS did one concerning glow sticks and if hot or cold affect how long they last due to the molicules(sp?) moving qicker or more slowly and thus creating the glow longer. That was another 2nd place finish.

 

[Minnie's Pal]

Thank you!! (I'm going to print this thread for future use!)

 

[milliepie]

Last year my Ds got the blue ribbon for his. He made a steady hand game (link on how to make one below) He called it: Which gender has better hand eye coordination? He used the game to test both male and females and charted the average times of both. The research included facts about how surgeons use video games to improve their hand-eye coordination.

http://www.energizer.com/learning-center/science-center/Pages/steady-hand-game.aspx