4th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:59:15 +0000

It’s time for the school’s annual science fair competition. Now that your child is older, what are some good 4th grade science fair project ideas? Magnets? Plants? Electricity? No need to worry, 4th grade science ideas are not that hard to come up with. Here is a sample project:

Materials Needed

-scissors
-spoon
-tape
-crazy glue
- nails (same length)
-medium size cardboard box
-balloons
-bowl
-bag of sugar
-two thin wooden boards (Make sure they have lengths/widths that are equal to or less than the length and width of the bottom of the cardboard box.)

Step by Step Procedure

1. Adult supervision might be required. Take one of the thin wooden boards and crazy glue/tape a nail right in the middle of the board. Put crazy glue/tape on the head of the nail and stick it on the board so the point side of the nail faces up.

2. Take the other thin wooden board. Glue and tape the nails in the same manner as the first board (pointy side up). Instead of one nail, take four nails and arrange them in a square shape in the center of a board. Make sure the nails are about the same height.

3. Take the cardboard box. Using scissors, cut off the top and one of the sides.

4. Place the one pined wooden board into the box. Make sure the nail is in the middle.

5. Blow up one balloon and put it lightly on top of the nail. Make sure to be careful. You do not want the balloon popping!

6. Take the lid of the cardboard box that you cut off with the scissors. Put it on top of the balloon.

7. Put the plastic bowl on top of the cardboard lid, right in the middle. The sole needle should be holding everything up.

8. Add one spoonful of sugar into the bowl. Watch what happens. Keep adding spoonfuls of sugar until the balloon pops. Record how many spoonfuls of sugar it took for the balloon to pop.

9. Now it is time for a different setup. Take out the wooden board with the one nail. In its place, put in the wooden board with four nails. Make sure the nails are in the middle.

10. Repeat the other steps. Blow up a balloon and put it on top of the nails. Put on the cardboard lid. Then put the bowl in the middle.

11. Add spoonful of sugar until the balloon pops. How many spoonfuls did it take this time?

By: Alan Wagner

5th Grade Science Fair Projects For Winning Science Experiments

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:26:51 +0000

5th grade science fair projects are a little bit more involved than the previous grades. At this age students are expected to come up with their own topic, perform the majority of the experiment on their own and be able to write a small report on it with minimal adult assistance. This isn’t too difficult because fifth graders are full of questions about the world, so they shouldn’t have any trouble coming up with a topic and conducting a little experiment to find out the answer.

Though if a student is looking for some ideas, there is one great 5th grade science fair project where one will create a fire proof balloon. To test this, the student will need adult supervision. The adult will assist the 5th grader to blow up the balloon, tie it shut, and place it over a match. The balloon will pop as you bring it close to the flame. The student will then take the second balloon and put ¼ cup of water into balloon, blow it up and tie it closed. When placed over a lit match, the student will find that the balloon will not pop, even if it touches the flame, though it may get a black patch on it from soot.

The reason why the balloon will not pop is because the flame heats the liquid behind the rubber, rather than the rubber itself. The student can do another project involving heat and rubber by gathering a few rubber bands and examining the rubber as it relates to heat, a form of energy. All they will need for this experiment is their forehead and some rubber bands. They are simply testing to see if the rubber bands get warmer or cooler when stretched. You can judge this by holding the rubber band to your head while stretching it.

By: Dee Schrock

Science research » Balloon

4th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas

5th Grade Science Fair Projects For Winning Science Experiments