Giant list of science fair project ideas

[Greg Bernhardt]

This seems to be a fairly common question. Let's make a list of possible topics and projects someone could do for these competitions.

 

[quantumdude]

See the last post in this thread:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=204

The first website has science project ideas, and the second has a tutorial on how to write a good project report. If anyone finds more like them, you know where to send 'em.

 

[havechanged]

In 6th grade, I did one called something like "How effectively do 6th graders wash their hands?" and I used the GlowBug stuff with the black light and so on. I did tests using people in my class. I got 1st at Regionals- I got a medal, and like a $10 savings check or something. It was a lot of fun.

 

[Mattius_]

Make a engine that runs on gravity

 

[Yaqout]

Rocks and Minerals

Or you can search why different sands of different colors in the same area don't mix together. In other words why do you see in the desert white sand, black sand and red sand side by side. I mean the sand storms don't seem to effect this well-incorporated separation of different sands.

I got this idea when I was doing a science fair project on rocks and minerals. I had many minerals and rocks that I had collected on a family trip to the Sahara, among my collection there were even arrowheads. Well, I thought I had covered the topic completely when, one person came up to me and asked me this very same question. Of course I mute because I never thought of the idea before.

So I thought someone would be interested. Hope, I was helpful.

 

[Hyperreality]

What about Thomas Young's double slit experiment, along with an introduction of wave phenomenal?

 

[thegame]

how about Milken's Oil Drop Experiment? joking

 

[Loren Booda]

I always liked sodium bicarb and vinegar.

 

[Shahil]

I know that this project is one that involves quite a bt of work but what about doing a project where you research and actually make an alternate fuel like biodiesel?

 

[tandoorichicken]

Environmental Projects

You could do an environmental project if there is an environmental problem that your area has. For example, if your area suffers frequent droughts or shortages, you could find new ways to acquire water, like condensation.
With these, you sometimes get brownie points for helping your community too.

 

[Loren Booda]

Make some chemical and biological tests of your nearby creek or river.

 

[Esperanto]

Make your own A-bomb http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~dionisio/fun/make-your-own-h-bomb.html
You'll learn to plan and budget projects?

 

[tandoorichicken]

Or build a blimp.
This one requires some planning skizzills. It is also educational in more than just science, also in project planning and time/money management.

 

[Jimmy]

An electroscope is an easy project to make and to demonstrate static electricity. A jar w/lid , nylon string, foil and tape is basically all the materials that would needed.

A web search for electroscope will yield plenty of results for various designs. One I saw just used a jar w/lid, paper clip, and two small strips of foil. Couldn't be simpler.

 

[albrock06]

I've always wanted to try a little project of my own. It would take a week or so to start it up, but hey, science didn't happen over night.

I wanted to make a bacteria culture (or a few of them). Maybe grow them in my garage. I'd have to make a little stable box to keep them in. ... find some little petri dishes and whatnot.

Then, using different household objects (not cleaning supplies; that's cheating), I'd try to make my own sanitizer. (I was thinking ... food items. Like onions, vinager, lemon juice. You know ... just normal stuff you'd find in the pantry.)

I'd apply a bit to each culture and see what kills what and how long it takes. My chemistry teacher would love me to pieces.

But still, there are some questions left. Like ... where do you get the bacteria? Dad's mouth when he first wakes up in the morning? Should I grow some nice pretty green mold? :shrugs: Sounds fun, any way you do it.

 

[recon]

What about some ideas for mathematics projects? We seldom hear about those. Right now, I am particularly interested in mathematics that involve computers.

 

[Aurora Eveline Jai]

This is stupid, but...

What about, Does the Architecture of a house affect how you sleep?


Um.. I know more, but not really Math like. I'm not that into the science fair stuff, but my friend did a project about germs and she won an award.

 

[IooqXpooI]

Americanantigravity.com

 

[Tom McCurdy]

fun bomb idea

Make your own A-bomb http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~dionisio/fun/make-your-own-h-bomb.html
You'll learn to plan and budget projects?

We did this in our class at school-- we modeled it out to the exact details on how to build
what materials we would need
where we would get them from
then drew out a blue print

The amount of research was intense for a math and science center for 2 weeks for 70 people, although it would be a nice project the amount of time needed to do a good job may be more than most can give.

 

[Shane]

One of my more favorite projects that I have done is the glowing pickle. It is fairly simple to construct and is very interesting. The project consists of two test tube racks (or something to suspend the pickle in the air), an apparatus for applying 110 volts AC (I just used a standard dimmer switch and plugged it in a wall outlet), and a pickle. You apply the voltage and see a glowing pickle.

Simply stated, when a current is run through the pickle, electrons in the NaCl will emit a bright yellow. This project demonstrates the principle behind the different colors of fireworks.

Also there are several variations to this project. For example, if you soak the pickle in a potassium chloride for about a week, the yellowish glow becomes a more fainter pink.

 

[PRodQuanta]

Hyperreality said: What about Thomas Young's double slit experiment, along with an introduction of wave phenomenal?

It's funny you say that, because that's what I did for my freshman science fair project. Wave-particle duality.

Paden Roder

 

[alex_siabutt]

hi i was just wondering if you know of any topics for a high school science fair project on fireworks? pleaase help.

alex.

 

[Loren Booda]

Safety is #1.

 

[SamB]

What about X-rays. What are the cons of an Xray project?

 

[Laplace]

Science Project Places for Maths

Here are some places for those who interested in doing math projects

1 http://camel.math.ca/Education/mpsf/
2 http://mathforum.org/teachers/mathproject.html
3 http://www2.edc.org/makingmath/

Use "math projects" in your favourite search engine as a starting point.

Laplace

 

[recon]

Laplace, the problem is that those three sites seem to be the ONLY relevant sites I can find on the internet.

 

[Artman]

My brother built a Tesla coil, impressed the heck out of the judges, but really wasn't that difficult. Just make sure that you follow all safety precautions, such as the line voltage and middle high voltage areas (120 volt to 10,000 volt) are locked away from possible contact (plexiglass enclosure works). The ultra high voltage areas are fairly safe, this voltage just makes your hair stand on end.

I helped a friend build a transistorized electric eye, he won second prize with that.

Design and build a telescope. Detail the optical path, grind the mirror, plan the required baffling, build your own red dot finderscope, etc.

 

[Imparcticle]

What about some ideas for mathematics projects? We seldom hear about those. Right now, I am particularly interested in mathematics that involve computers.

Ah, if you are, then you should see Stephen Wolfram's work on cellular automata/self organising systems. He wrote a book on its applications to comuters. here's the website where you can find the book online:
http://www.wolframscience.com/nksonline/page-2

 

[Soshamim]

Hello, what are some good project ideas involving light, photocells, and current?

 

[kirkmcloren]

Make a engine that runs on gravity

Water wheel?

 

[monsi]

Sterling heat engine

I just got an idea for my upcoming science fair project. I'm going to build a sterling engine out of spare parts. If you don't know what sterling engines are and how they work, check out this link: http://www.stirlingengine.com/faq/one?scope=public&faq_id=1#1
btw I am a 7th grader

 

[sarahowen]

only a few months my group did a project on condoms.. testing their elasticity and durability. you can tell i was in a group of 4 guys right!? anyways our research Q was how does the human body protect itself. we got 1st prize for creativity and interpretation of research question
sarah

 

[drunkenfool]

only a few months my group did a project on condoms.. testing their elasticity and durability. you can tell i was in a group of 4 guys right!? anyways our research Q was how does the human body protect itself. we got 1st prize for creativity and interpretation of research question
sarah

So, which brand was best?

 

[Physicsfool]

Does anyone have an idea for a project dealing with aerodynamics? I don't know to much about the topic, but I would love to do more reseach.
Thanks!

Last year I burned different kinds of wood until all I had left were the ashes. Then I found the density of the ashes and related it back to the wood. I did it on the idea that you would be able to find what kind of wood was burned in a forest fire by finding the density of its ashes. (No one busted me one the fact that different trees grow next to each other.)

 

[Loren Booda]

Try depositation of dust residue on differing airfoils, like fans. Relate the shape of the residue to a modification for improved airfoil efficiency. To speed up the process, you might charge the blades slightly. Do well!

 

[Physicsfool]

Thanks so much!

 

[oookhc]

This site is with some science fair project ideas:

http://www.ScienceOxygen.com/idea.html

 

[pack_rat2]

Here's my idea for a science-fair project, which should be a lot of fun: dertermine and compare the aerodynamic efficiency of modern cars with cars from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. This could be done by getting models of representative cars from a hobby shop (all of the same scale), putting each in a wind tunnel, and measuring the drag force on it. And here's an important bit of info...at subsonic velocities, a "tear-drop" shape (a 3:1 length to width ratio is considered optimum) is the most efficient shape. Furthermore, the shape up front is relatively unimportant compared to that of the rear: a tapered "tail" is best, and a flat vertical surface is terrible.

 

[delton]

The science fair I want to enter: the Intel ISEF requires original research in a specific field. Any ideas?

 

[gschjetne]

Recently I did a project on the flame-retardant properties of citric acid and acetic acid solutions! Now that's some fresh new science, and it actually worked quite well!
If anybody's interested, drop me a mail!

 

[plusaf]

hydraulics with a spin...

my college roommate once experimented with liquid flow: if you have, for example, a 2-liter size plastic bottle and it's filled with water, how long does it take for the bottle to empty if you just flip it upside down? if you tip it at some angle, does it empty faster or slower? are there any other things you could do (without changing the physical characteristics of the bottle... no squeezing, puncturing, etc.) to get it to empty faster?

hint: try getting the water to spin around inside so it comes out like a little upside-down tornado... is this faster or slower, and why?

 

[Mk]

Of course you would need it automated, so it would turn at a set speed, and not move after it reached the angle to be.

 

[plusaf]

with a spin...

Of course you would need it automated, so it would turn at a set speed, and not move after it reached the angle to be.

ah, maybe not exactly what i was trying to say... for home experimentation, fill a plastic bottle with water, then invert it over the sink.

watch the water bubble/gurgle out in spurts.

then refill the bottle, flip it over again, but quickly rotate its AXIS a few times, similar to the motion of the precession of the axis of a spinning gyroscope. don't spin the bottle on ITs axis; spin the AXIS, holding the open mouth of the bottle at the bottom, as a pivot point.

this will make the water in the bottle spin within the bottle, and, in my late roommate's opinion/experiments, empty the bottle faster than just letting it gurgle out.

my added theory is that, after you get the water in the bottle spinning, there might be an optimum angle from the vertical for the axis of the bottle, for which the liquid empties fastest.

in a local science store some years ago, i saw an item for sale that coupled two two-liter bottles together, mouth-to-mouth. fill one with water with the other empty, then couple them together, and you can do this experiment over and over without losing the water!

i hope that's a little clearer... and I'm looking forward to hearing some results!

happy new year!

 

[plusaf]

dusty fan blade design...

Try depositation of dust residue on differing airfoils, like fans. Relate the shape of the residue to a modification for improved airfoil efficiency. To speed up the process, you might charge the blades slightly. Do well!

i really like this one! taking a look at the fan above my desk, i note that the dust has collected only from the middle of the front side of the blade (the side facing me) to the trailing edge. from the leading edge to the middle of the chord, there's virtually no dust stuck to the plastic blade!

--- write me at plusaf at plusaf dot com, and i'll send you a photo of one of the fan blades, if you'd like.. ---

howcome?!

is this "dust collector effect" desirable? undesirable? inevitable and inescapable, or can it be modified by changing the blade's shape, airfoil, etc?

or maybe fans should just be designed with removable covers so you can scrub the dust off every so often!

 

[Loren Booda]

plusaf,

How about determining the optimum ratio of air to water to salt for dissolving most efficiently in a shaken cylindrical container? E. g., given ten shakes of the container, what is the residual amount of NaCl left versus the original salt/water and water/air proportions?

Thanks for the photo offer, but I have one very dusty fan of my own to observe!

 

[Zaimeen]

Think about finding a new place to live in space other than the Earth!

 

[siliconhype]

Bio projects/info

Here is a great resource for biology projects and information...

http://www.dnahack.com/

Shows u how to extract DNA too! Easy stuff.

 

[Quantum_Prodegy]

create a hexalifter and then explain what is happening...check it out:

http://jlnlabs.imars.com/lifters/hexalifter/index.htm

 

[plusaf]

alternatives to the hexalifter

create a hexalifter and then explain what is happening...check it out:

http://jlnlabs.imars.com/lifters/hexalifter/index.htm

determine if there is any reason why six sides are better or even different from a construction with 3, 4, or 5 sides.

research whether there's any similarity here to how fanless air purifiers work, such as the ones from Sharper Image http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productview/sku=SI737SNX/hppos=1 , for example

 

[plusaf]

sterling engines and others...

I just got an idea for my upcoming science fair project. I'm going to build a sterling engine out of spare parts. If you don't know what sterling engines are and how they work, check out this link: http://www.stirlingengine.com/faq/one?scope=public&faq_id=1#1
btw I am a 7th grader

first, how did the engine and your project work out? please share with us.

second, for others interested in engines and things like that, you might find it interesting to make a model of the hybrid system used in the Toyota Prius. it's not a simple, straightforward, "easy" system to understand, but it works very well. it took me hours and hours to finally "get" how it REALLY works, though you'll probably catch on sooner...

it combines an internal combustion engine which does NOT work via the common "Otto Cycle", two motor/generators, one set of planetary gears, and a chain drive to the front differential! quite a combination, eh?

it also provides means of regeneration, both for just plain putting some charge back into the main battery, as well as for the equivalent of "engine braking", or the slowing effect you get in a "normal" car when you take your foot off the gas and shift to a lower gear.

see how long it takes you to grok it all...
ps.
there is no "reverse gear", either. how the heck do they get the car to back up?!

+af