Science research » School Science Experiments

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

Middle School Science Fair Projects Made Fun and Easy

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:03:27 +0000

Middle school science fair projects are a transition phase for students, neither too elementary nor too high school level. However, just because it is your transition stage does not mean that you have to be ambivalent about your middle school science experiments, far from it. Instead, you should show off your accumulated knowledge and passionate interest in science by adopting any of the following projects. Just remember that before you choose one, you should have assessed in which field of science you are most interested in. This way, you will be more motivated to do your research, conceptualize your project and then accomplish your vision.

Renewable Energy

One of the hottest topics for middle school science fair projects today is renewable energy in the form of solar power and wind turbines. You can tap into this interest by constructing a model of how solar panels and/or wind turbines work to provide energy and electricity to home and industries. This is probably one of the easiest and yet most eye-catching middle school science fair projects for many reasons. For one thing, you can purchase ready-made, easy-to-assemble and easy-on-the-pocket kits for solar energy and wind power science projects. For another thing, you can make it as eye-catching as possible with the addition of houses and buildings complete with lights.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car

You may also purchase a ready-made kit for the hydrogen fuel cell car, which provides for 30 distinct experiments. You will be able to demonstrate the workings and benefits of the energy-efficient car, which is one of the more notable inventions technologies of the century. Among the experiments contained in the kit are the uses of solar power for vehicle power, the utilization of fuel cell to separate the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in water, and demonstration of electrolysis. Well, of course, you can always make your own experiments just so your middle school science fair projects stand out from the rest of the competition.

Magnetic Levitation Train

Now this is one science fair project that is absolutely possible! You will, of course, need to do your research about the principle behind the magnetic levitation train, purchase the necessary materials like ceramic magnets for the lifter-rails, wood for the guide rails and model cars, and then execute your drawings and plans. You can then perform experiments with the completed Maglev train set such as using gravity to push the car forward and using the car itself to move something along its path. You can be very creative, maybe even perform quantitative and qualitative analysis of your experiments.

Resurrecting the Dead

Fishes, that is. You are basically recreating the technology of cryonics where dead fishes are placed in a state of suspended animation, which is used in Japan to preserve the freshness of the day’s catch. As part of your middle school science fair projects, you can follow the example of two brothers who supposedly resurrected a dead goldfish by using Mountain Dew, water and a 9-volt battery. Of course, you have to do it on a trial and error basis but that’s where the fun of discovery lies. However, conduct your research before you go about killing all the goldfishes in your home’s aquarium.

With these ideas for middle school science fair projects, you will definitely get the attention of the judges and do yourself, your parents and your teachers proud.

By: Dee Schrock

High School Science Fair Topics For a Winning Science Project

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:50:09 +0000

High school science fair topics are known to be difficult; the competition is fierce, the judges expect more, and the project often counts for a percentage of your grade. For these reasons, you want to do high school science experiments that will cause the judges to take notice.

One way to decide on a topic is to look at problems in the world around you and try to explain them or even solve the problems. Demonstrations and models are generally not accepted in high school, as you are expected to use the scientific method within your experiment and explain your results in report form. It can be a challenge to come up with a science experiment topic suitable for your education level, but with a little work you should be able to come up with an appropriate experiment that interests you.

One science fair project suitable for high school would be to test and see if a black light is able to pick up invisible stains around your house. Another is to find out if insects are attracted to lamps at night because of the light or the heat. Another idea would be to see which brand of anti-freeze is the safest for the environment. You could also find out if different brands of orange juice contain different levels of Vitamin C, and does the level of vitamin C in orange juice change over time?

If you are a girl and you like to dye your hair, maybe you could experiment and see which brand of hair color holds its color the longest. You could go a step farther and see if previous treatments such as a perm or straightening will affect how long the color will stay in your hair. If you know someone with gray hair, you could test the brands that claim to cover grays and see how well they really do their job.

By: Dee Schrock