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Science Project Ideas in the Kitchen

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:10:08 +0000

Whenever anyone needs science project ideas, a good place to look is the kitchen. If you think about it, what is done in the kitchen requires a lot of thought, scientific theory, and care, all of which you should find in a good science project. You can view your kitchen as an almost instant science laboratory since you are likely to find almost everything you need to create a good science project.

From the lowest grade level to the highest, your kitchen will always have something to offer you in terms of science project ideas. In elementary grades, the kitchen is a good place to create projects that have to do with phases of matter, heat energy, and the life of plants. For example, showing the different phases of ice is the easiest way to demonstrate matters phases, and you can take it one step further by demonstrating what happens to dry ice.

Heat energy is always seen in the kitchen when you cook. Creating a mini steamer as a science project is always a hit among teachers and students. There are also many project ideas that can be done in the kitchen when it comes to the life of plants. Grafting two plants together or setting up a container garden are both most easily done in the kitchen, and usually kitchens have large windows on which you can place the plant by, therefore making it easier for your child to monitor its growth.

When you get to higher grade levels, your kitchen will still not run out of project ideas to give you. One of the best science project ideas you can do in your kitchen is DNA extraction. Using many of the tools you would use for cooking, and some tools that you find around your home, you can easily extract the DNA of fruits, vegetables, or even humans! Not only is it a fun activity, but the project usually impresses teachers every time!

Remember that though the kitchen is a great place to come up with your project ideas, as well as to execute those ideas, being careful is always the number one most important thing. Apart from being a good place for science, the kitchen is the number one most accident prone room in any household, and so taking the necessary precautions is always best, and it will also assure you that your science project will come out great! So look around your kitchen, and start thinking! You will find that there are so many amazing things you will come up with, and what is great is that you did not have to go very far!

By: Ethan Jeremy

Taking Science Beyond the Classroom

admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 01:04:29 +0000

Despite the fact that our society values scientists, fewer and fewer students are going on to pursue any science learning beyond the minimum requirements for graduation and college entry.

If you’re hoping to help reverse this trend, and take science beyond being just a classroom subject, science fairs could be the solution. These are organized on local, state, national, and international levels. In them, students submit projects which are evaluated by a team of judges. Science fairs help students understand that breakthroughs and discoveries are based on learning what doesn’t work, as much as they are about getting the right answer.

They are as much about learning and having fun as they are about getting the project right. Even students who don’t usually want to participate in science based courses are sometimes required by their schools to enter the science fair, and they find out that they enjoy the process of running an experiment and seeing what happens. There’s more to projects than science, so even students who prefer art, photography, writing, and other disciplines can incorporate their favorite subject in their project.

One thing about science fairs that can be scary for parents is not understanding what their child is expected to do, how long they have to do it, or what their contribution should be. They mistakenly believe that they’re expected to do much of the project for their child, or that the project needs to be a big problem. These projects can be very elaborate, but they don’t have to be. For instance, elementary school children can have quite simple science fair projects. Some sample topics include the process of tooth decay, the parts of an egg, how plants reproduce or the way plants grow towards light. Parents are expected to encourage and assist their children, but not to do the work for them.

Middle and high school student will probably have more complicated topics and experiments. However, they’re also capable of doing more of the work on their own. Some sample topics for older children include testing consumer products, composition of frost, the scientific principles behind musical instruments, the effect of music on plants, and even developing a simple computer game.

There’s a lot to be learned by doing a science fair project, not least of which is how much fun science can be. A love of learning is the best gift you can give your child, helping him or her learn more later in life. They can be the first step towards a life long enjoyment of science, or even a science career.

By: Rita Lambros-Segur

1st Grade Science Project Ideas

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:27:40 +0000

First grade is usually the time when teachers begin to introduce the scientific process to students, preparing them for future years of education in the sciences. With the introduction of the scientific process, students are then told to use this knowledge and compose science fair projects. While science projects for 1st grade do seem early, I have prepared some 1st grade science project ideas.

First every science project begins with a TITLE. Tell your first grader that everything should have a name and therefore the science fair project should have a name as well.

The next requirement for science fair projects in the first grade is a PURPOSE. Why are we doing this experiment? This should be quite an easy requirement to satisfy as first graders are naturally curious about the world. First graders ask many questions and one of these questions could be the purpose.

Then we have the HYPOTHESIS. What do you think will happen when you perform the experiment? Just tell your first grader to guess. It doesn’t matter if he/she is right.

Next, we have MATERIALS and PROCEDURE. This is a list of steps of the experiment and the materials required to perform the exhibit. It should be the easiest section to complete.

Finally we have RESULTS and CONCLUSION. Results document what happened during the experiment. They can include charts, photographs or the remainder of the experiments. The conclusion is a few sentences on what the first grader found out from doing the experiment. Was the hypothesis correct? What really happened when the experiment was performed?

Some simple 1st grade science project ideas:

Young kids love magnets. So why not do an experiment testing different object’s attraction to magnets? How about plants? Kids love growing their own plants. See what effects plant growth. Maybe place one plant inside a cupboard and another plant in the sunlight. Monitor the responses. Make sure the plant inside the cupboard stays alive! Static Electricity: First graders are always amazed by static electricity. It shocks them when they are taking some heavy clothing off in the winter and also makes they hair stand up. Take a balloon and rub it against different materials and see if static electricity is produced. A fun activity is to hold the charged balloon near hair and observe if the hair stands up. Rub the balloon against different materials and see which materials produce static electricity.

Science fair projects for first grade may seem like a big task for such a grade level, but they are actually quite easy and fun to do!

By: Alan Wagner

Middle School Science Experiments Made Fun and Easy

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:06:36 +0000

Middle school science experiments should be more complex than the ones you would have done in elementary school. At this level, the science experiments you are doing will be preparing you for the more involved science projects you will be doing in high school, when you will most likely be entering science fairs to compete for prizes. By this grade, you will need to do your project mainly on your own and be able to explain your project in full, write a report and make up a display.

One of the interesting middle school science experiments is to see if the growth of a plant is affected by the amount of light it receives. For this project you will need three identical plants, three cabinets and three light sources, a 25 watt bulb, a 60 watt bulb and a 100 watt bulb. Mount one of the bulbs in each of the cabinets and label them so you know which bulb is in which cabinet. Then water them and check them once a day for about ten days and record your results in a chart.

Another great middle school project is to see how much starch different foods contain. You can accomplish this by getting a starch chart and a few different samples of popular foods. To test the foods, put a few drops of iodine solution (50% iodine/50% water) on each piece of food. If there is starch in the food the iodine will turn dark brown or blue-black. Record your findings on the starch chart.

By: Dee Schrock

Science Fair Projects – Complete Guide to a Winning Science Project Step 2 – Topic Research

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:19:05 +0000

First, get yourself a spiral notebook to be used as your journal. All science fair projects need to have notes taken as you work though them. This notebook is where you will record your topic research and your project research. It should have your ideas as well as those you get from printed information or from other people. It will also need to include descriptions of your experiment along with diagrams, graphs and other recorded notes of your results.

You will want all information written in the journal to be as neat as possible and make sure to include the date. This will be your complete and accurate record of your project from beginning to end. The information in the journal will be used to write your written report. Your journal will be displayed with your completed project.

Selecting a Topic

You want to get the best grade possible on your project, win awards at the fair and learn anything new about science you can. Judges will evaluate the science fair projects on a number of criteria. You will be able to achieve some or all of these as long as you spend the time working on your project it needs, so you will want to choose a topic you are interested in. If you can, it is best to choose a topic and stick with it. Don’t bounce around from topic to topic.

Look at the World Around You

By using an exploring question you can turn things you see everyday into a science project. For an example, the grass in your neighbor’s yard is always greener than in your yard. Why is his grass greener than ours? You have a question about plants. Could you turn it into a project? If you keep thinking about it, you might start to realize there is some nutrient in his soil that is not in yours.

If you keep your eyes and ears open and you start asking more exploring questions, you will find numerous things that could be turned into a project. You may wonder about the difference in paints. There are many questions you may have, but you don’t always ask them.

Find a Topic in Science Magazines

If you find a topic in a science magazine, do not expect them to come with instructions on how to do the experiment. You will have to come up with that one on your own. Just look at facts that seeming interesting to you. If they lead you to ask and exploring question, you may have a project topic. You can even try looking into a science fair project book or Science Experiment Books.

Three Steps to a Topic

You have decided to enter a project into the science fair, but you really don’t know where to start. The first thing you have to do is come up with a project idea. Start with a topic that interests you will have fun and learn something while working on this project. Here are a few hints for coming up with a project idea.

Look at these ideas and find a topic that interests you.

People Animals Plants Rocks Space Weather Electricity

There are many projects you can come up with using any one of these topic ideas. Come up with a question you have about one of these topics. You can start off with a simple question and make it a better question. Such as, “Why does it rain?” You want to get more specific about your question. So then you expound on it to become “How much rain did California get last year compared to 5 years ago?” Good topics for science fair projects include anything that you can do an experiment on to see if it is true or false.

Categories of Topic Ideas
Check with your teacher, but usually every fair has a list of categories. You may need to ask the advice of your teacher to find the right category for your project. You must have your project entered into the right category to win. If your project happened to get entered into the wrong category, you can be penalized because the judges are required to judge a project based on its category. For a list of categories, check out the resources on the web site below:

By: Aurora Lipper

Free Science Experiments Made Simple and Fun

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:21:43 +0000

There are countless numbers of free science experiments out there. Just think about the materials you have around your house. There is no need to go out and buy a bunch of pricey items to create a great science experiment. You can do many experiments with water or food with items you already have in your home, such as finding out what the effect of salt is on the boiling temperature of water. For this experiment all you need is a pot, water, salt, measuring spoon and thermometer. Boil some water, test the temperature, and then add one tablespoon of salt to the boiling water, stir, and test the temperature again. You can add a few more tablespoons (one at time) and test the temperature of the boiling water after each additional scoop of salt. Be sure to record your finding so you can compare afterwards.

Or, if you want to do free science projects with food you could test and see which place is best to store fruit in order to keep it freshest the longest. For this all you need to do is get a few pieces of fruit and place them in various places throughout the room; maybe one in the fridge, one on your dining room table and one in a pantry. Then, wait and see which piece of fruit goes bad first and record your results. It doesn’t take much to think of a free science experiment that you can conduct in your own home, or outdoors where you could experiment with bugs and plants.

By: Dee Schrock

Science Fair Projects – Secrets to a Great Project

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:55:56 +0000

Science Fairs are a great way for kids learn about science on their own with only a little help from Mom or Dad. Deciding on a good idea for the project can be the most difficult part of all. So, how do you know you have a great idea in mind for your project?

Look around and ask questions when you are trying to choose a project.

The science teacher will probably have a list of some good science projects. You can choose one from the list or come up with an idea on your own. As you are choosing a science fair project there are a few things to keep in mind.

Science Fair projects are nothing more than an experiment, write-up and presentation. This means you are trying to answer a question that you have. If you have an interest in the environment you may want to find out the effects acid rain has on plants. You will have to find a way to create your own acid rain to water one of your plants with and record each plants progress.

Don’t choose a project because it seems easy.

It is not considered to be a good project if you just do a report or a demonstration. These are tests performed by someone else and you are merely showing what information you know, not what you have learned through your experiment. Diagrams or models are also not considered to be a good science project because an experiment is not being performed. You are not asking a question for the purpose of running a test to find out the answer.

Choose a project, which is about something you are curious about. You will enjoy doing your project more and you will learn something in the process. Make sure your project includes a test or an experiment, which will answer a question. Science fair projects can be done on your own. You may need a little help from your parents, teachers or friends. The more of the project you do on your own the more you will learn and as long as you are interested to know the outcome of the experiment you will even have fun while doing it. Choose a project that will not harm anyone or anything. Make sure your project is safe. You don’t want to hurt or scare any animal, or people, especially you. You don’t want to choose a project that might be likely to explode. You could get hurt along with those around you. On the other hand you don’t want your project to scare people. Accidentally letting a snake or other creepy crawlers on the loose would not go well. If you are using animals or other creatures in your experiment, make sure they will not be harmed and they are securely confined. Also keep in mind that using dangerous chemicals in a science fair project is not allowed. Choose a project that will make you want more answers. You want the project you choose to make you think of other questions you might have. One of the sure fire ways to tell if you have chosen a good project is the results of your experiment makes you think of other questions you might want answered. Also if you had fun and you learned something while doing the project, it is a good sign you have chosen a great project.

If you’re ready to get going with your own science project, your next step is to download a free copy of “Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects” from the link below.

By: Aurora Lipper

Good Science Fair Projects For Winning Science Experiments

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:13:31 +0000

Good science fair projects are all around us. Anything can be turned into a science fair project. Any question you have ever asked about anything can be turned into a science project. No science fair project is “bad” unless you haven’t put the effort into it. As long as you pick a topic that interest you, use the scientific method to come up with your answer, make a hypothesis, present your project in a nice organized fashion, and completely understand your project and are able to explain it to the judges, you will have a good science fair project.

If you are having trouble getting started, just think of a topic that interests you. Do you like animals? Do you like looking at the stars and wonder what the universe has in store? Do you like studying plants? Does machinery interest you? Or maybe you would like to do an experiment on something that’s in the media these days, such as global warming or the economy? The possibilities are endless. Would you like to find out how a specific animal behaves in the wild as opposed to the way it behaves in captivity?

Would you like to find out about ways you and your family can help out the Earth, such as through recycling, composting or being aware of the affects of pollution? Or maybe you would like to conduct a simple experiment such as finding out what type of treat your cat or dogs prefers. Whatever you choose, as long as you put the effort into it, it will be a great project.

By: Dee Schrock