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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

Science Project Ideas – 7 Kids Friendly Ideas

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 11:07:21 +0000

If you are frustrated and searching for a science project for your kids that is easy, simple and he or she can do by themselves then consider these:

Test various microwave popcorn brands using the same cooking time to determine which one leaves the fewest kernels. Get a carpet square from a dollar store and put stain spots on it to test which cleaner worked the best. Do the same as above but use one carpet square with the same stain like ketchup and see which cleaner removes it the best. Using a carpet square put stain in different spots on the square and test which cleaner works the fastest. Test different brands of soda to see which one has the most carbonation by watching the amount of bubbles. Buy different fruit and leave them out on a counter to see which one ripens the fastest. Buy the same type of fruit and use a banana and see which one ripens the fastest by placing one on a counter, one in a warm place, one in a paper bag, one in a plastic sealed bag and one in the refrigerator.

These above ideas are great simple projects you can do in a pinch. They require minimal work and your child can usually do the work themselves. Let them be in charge but make him or her be responsible for the project. A teacher will like to see the child work on the science project not the parent. They can usually tell if the parent was greatly involved by how much involvement the project required.

Enjoy helping your child when needed. This is great bonding time and you will always remember doing the science project with your kid.

By: Lesa Bolt

Science Fair Project Ideas – Quick and Easy Project #1 – Parachutes – Part 1

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:26:58 +0000

It can be tough coming up with science fair project ideas on your own. Sometimes we need a little help. Here is a science project that might work for you.

For this project you will need to know a little bit about skydivers. A skydiver is a person who jumps from an airplane while it is flying. The airplane must be flying a certain number of feet off the ground or altitude for the skydiver to be able to jump and land safely with a parachute.

The skydiver jumps from the airplane and will free-fall for a little bit before pulling the rip cord to open the parachute. The parachute will then slow down the skydiver’s fall so he or she will land safely on the ground. If the skydiver falls too fast, his landing wouldn’t be nearly as gentle and the skydiver would probably get hurt. Remember, as science fair ideas go, this is a topic and experiment overview.

How does the parachute work?

When the skydiver jumps from the airplane, the force of gravity it pulling him or her to the ground at a very high speed, the parachute is able to slow the skydiver’s fall because of air resistance or drag. Air gets underneath the parachute and pushes it back up. This creates a force, which is opposite of the force of gravity, which is pulling the skydiver down.

While the skydiver falls slowly, these two forces of pushing air up and gravity pulling him down are close to being equal or in balance. The air resistance force is just a little less than the gravity force and because of this the skydiver floats down to the ground.

So ask yourself this question, is the size of the parachute important? Could it be smaller or larger and still work the same way? What does the diameter of the parachute have to do with the size of the parachute?

Research Topics

If science fair project ideas like this one appeals to you, I may know a little about the words you will be using a lot of if you do this project, but you will still want to research them. You will need to know more in order to do the project well. Here is a list of the subjects you will want to do some research on, so that you will have a better understanding of what they are and what they mean.

Parachute Air resistance Drag Load Gravity Surface area

Questions

All experiments and science fair projects have a question to answer. The answer to the question is the reason we do experiments. We want to know the answer. Here are some questions you might have with this project.

How does a parachute work? Does the size of the parachute make it work better? Will the parachute work, if it were larger or smaller? Will increasing the diameter of the parachute make it bigger?

Materials and Equipment

This is a list of some of the items you will need to complete your project.

Heavy weight garbage bags Metric ruler Scissors Washers Twist ties Light weight string Stopwatch

This article on science fair project ideas using parachutes is continued in “Science fair project ideas – Quick and easy project #1 – Parachutes – Part 2″.

By: Aurora L.

6th Grade Science Project

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:39:27 +0000

Finding good ideas for a 6th grade science project can be overwhelming at times if you are uncertain of where to get the ideas. If you find yourself wanting to hide your head when this time rolls around for the annual 6th grade science project, you are not looking in the right places for ideas, and you are possibly conveying a negative message to your children concerning the 6th grade science project. We all have memories from our school days when we had to do the infamous 6th grade science project, and most of them are more likely than not to be bad, however by keeping it upbeat and encouraging, you can teach your child(ren) that completing an assignment like this will not only further their knowledge, but also help them learn to be a productive individual on their own.

How, you may ask, does an assignment like this turn children into productive individuals? The answer is — by teaching them to be responsible, dedicated, and organized. All this comes from completing a 6th grade science project. The intricacies involved in finding the best topic for a 6th grade science project can feel limitless, and overwhelming, but keep in mind that in keeping with the age group for a 6th grade science project, you will only have a limited amount of in depth coverage required. This makes it somewhat easier on you, the parent, to encourage your child(ren) as they reach each milestone on the way to completing their 6th grade science project.

Once your child(ren) have found the topic for their experiment, it is necessary that they immerse themselves in the information surrounding the topic. By learning as much information about it as is possible, they are better prepared when they present their experiment’s results, to not only give a good showing of their results, but also to answer any questions that any viewers might have. The power that is held by knowledge, can give your child(ren) a taste of what it is like to be highly intelligent — and enjoy it. Although there are rough spots to be expected, for the most part, encourage your child(ren) and allow them to bring their creativity to light and use it in an excellent way in their presentation. Try to point it out to them how much of a chance their 6th grade science project is for them to creatively complete something of their choosing, and use it to educate people around them.

Giving them the chance to express themselves, even through a 6th grade science project, can mean the world to them, especially at such a difficult age. By giving them the freedom to choose their own topics, you are also encouraging them to expand their knowledge and interest in the world around them through discovery of animals, objects, or ideas by completing their 6th grade science project. Give your children the world, and open up the door to their future — encourage them to complete their 6th grade science project on their own.

By: Jordan Matthews

3rd Grade Science Fair Projects and Ideas

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:06:18 +0000

3rd grade science fair projects are a lot of fun because at this age children are eager to explore the world around them and find out how things work. They are constantly wanting to know the answer to the question “What happens if I do this…” and therefore they will likely come up with many different experiments they’d like to try. It may be difficult to decide on just one!

At this age they have a short attention span though, so the projects must be simple, fun and fairly short. There are many, many different project ideas for this age group such as; do all the children in their class have the same size hands and the same size feet as each other? They can research this by tracing the other children’s hands and feet on a piece of paper and comparing them to each other.

They could do a test to see if waterproof mascara is really waterproof. To do this you would need a couple brands of waterproof mascara, a piece of paper and some water. Simply put the mascara onto a sheet of paper and rinse it under some water to see what happens.

Another fun 3rd grade science project would be to see if raw eggs and hard boiled eggs spin the same number of times. Obviously they would need an adult’s help with this one in order to cook the eggs, and then they simply need to spin each egg and record the results. There are lots of great 3rd grade science projects out there; it’s just a matter of finding one that interests them.

By: Dee Schrock

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

Science Fair Ideas on Popcorn Projects

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:30:43 +0000

Popcorn is one many peoples favorite snacks. Bringing it into the science fair is a great idea for a project. You can show off some ingenuity and bribe the judges with delicious treats! There are nearly an infinite number of experiments with popcorn. A few of them are listed below.

Please Remember popcorn is just heated corn. Handle with care right after cooking

Almost all popcorn experiments give us one of two things; a better taste, or more popcorn. Taste can be a matter of preference. Here are two experiments that get us more popcorn, faster.

1) Which Brand leaves the fewest unpopped kernels. Choose 3 different brands of popcorn. Count out 3 groups of 100 kernels for each brand, a total of 900 kernels. Pop them in batches of 100. Count how many kernels are left by each brand. Repeat this 3 times for each brand. Create a chart showing your results. You could also do a break down on the cost per popped kernel. Did the most expensive brand produce the most popcorn? 2) Which brand of popcorn pops the fastest No one wants to wait for their popcorn. Win the judges over by letting them know which brands of popcorn will get to them the fastest. Choose 3 different brands of popcorn. Count out 3 groups of 100 kernels for each brand, a total of 900 kernels. Pop them in batches of 100, timing them. (The popping will go on for a while once the cooking process is done. Determine a time frame between pops that qualifies as “done”)

Now you know which brand pops up the fastest. Consider looking at what other variables affect the time. What happens if you freeze the kernels? How about if you refrigerate them? Does your elevation play a role.

By: David Evarts

Science Project Ideas

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:41:08 +0000

Science Project Ideas are sometimes hard to come by. When your child comes home from school usually in January or February and says, hey Mom and Dad my teacher sent home this note that we have a science project due in three weeks. Here are the details of what we need to do and here is a project board.

You suddenly feel overwhelmed. You were just getting back on track from the Holidays and are dealing with beginning of the year issues like tax preparation and finalizing out end of year work issues. Now you have to help your child find a science project that is interesting enough, creative and unusual, but yet unique enough so that it will not be like the other students science projects at school.

Also children have a tendency to rely on their parents to help prepare much of the project. No matter how much we try we have to help in some capacity.

Here is a science project idea that is simple and easy and that you child can do himself or herself. Depending on the age of your child you will need to supervise them because it uses matches which will need to be lit and batteries.

This science project will also be a great demonstration at a science fair where students need to present their idea and information about why it works.

For this science project idea you will need only three things.

A glass

Matches

2 AA Batteries

You are going to tell everyone that water will burn.

Fill the glass with water.

Drop the batteries in the water and leave them in the water for 30-40 minutes.

Remove the batteries.

Now light a match and hold over the water. The water should ignite and burn inside the glass.

Why does the water light and burn? Did the batteries leak or what energy is been put into the water?

Make sure your child researches those questions above to find the answers. I know you probably want the answers but we provide science project ideas. The kids still need to research why something works the way it does. That is why we make them do a science project so they can research and learn.

By: Lesa Bolt

Free Winning Science Fair Project Ideas – Cheap, Easy Science Fair Projects

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:24:52 +0000

Free winning science fair projects are a lot like a story. They have a beginning, middle and an end. They show background research, the actual scientific research and a conclusion for that research respectively. There are number of ways of free winning science fair projects at any science competition. One can improve the chances of winning science fair projects.

The first thing to making a free winning science fair project is to get interested in the field. This will certainly affect the project and also the future presentation of the project. Enthusiasm and interest will direct decisions and motivation. A wide interest in the project will allow working on the project longer and deeper with more energy and fun. It will definitely show in every aspect of the project and research work. Being interested in the work is especially important and would certainly make a free winning science fair project.

So choose a topic that you have profound interest in. Pick a challenging topic, which would make you win. Simple topics will not help make a free winning science fair project. Go through lists of topics and finally you may arrive at some topic of your own. But, all you have to do is to make the topic a challenging one. Take a few extra steps to make your project a winning science fair project. Compete with higher level projects, which would take you to the edge of making a free winning science fair project.

Make a unique free winning science fair project because their uniqueness has an edge. Unique science fair projects are a little stronger with some originality which is more likely to become a winning science fair project. Choose something that is unusual and uncommon and make it a winning project. If you have something interesting in your mind that matches with your interest turn that one idea into a unique winning science fair project.

The next factor to make a free winning science fair project is the judges. Judges are scientists to at least scientists in mind. They look for projects that are difficult, complicated with unpredicted problems and a willful application of scientific methods. This is also a part for making a free winning science fair project. Most judges confront you with some challenging questions and look for a best answer. The best answer will give credibility and reliability. These efforts will certainly make you go one step further to make a free winning science fair project.

Next, understand your project and make a good attempt at doing background research. Background research is one of the most important parts of a project. It is the basis for your project, so collect the correct background information for your project. This will help devise a hypothesis. The more you understand about the topic the more you would learn from background information. It will also help you design a procedure and conserve time and energy. It will let you foresee some unusual problems that are to come.

Always look for concepts, definitions and equations that would best describe the topic of the project. Also connect your project to the present day society and world. Use every means to get your project closer to make a free winning science fair project.

By: Jordan Matthews

Science Projects For Science Fairs – Projects That Win

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:36:44 +0000

So it’s that time of the year again? Time to wow the judges with your impressive science skills? If you want some science fair ideas, you’ve definitely come to the right place. So get ready, because I’m about to give you the free resources to a winning project!

What makes good science projects?

The most important thing to keep in mind is to pick a topic you are interested in . This project should be fun, and you should learn a lot from doing it. Also, make sure that you can do a test to explore your idea. Reports and observations are fun, but not for a science fair experiment. For example, if you wanted to know whether frozen or liquid water is heavier and why, you would need to construct an experiment to learn this information. Make sure you can do it almost all by yourself. After all, you are the one learning and entering the contest, not mom and dad. It is very important that your project is not harmful to yourself or others. Keep it safe and fun! Be sure it answers your questions but also helps you to create more. Why stop after just one experiment?

Choose your project Because this is your project, make sure you pick something interesting. Also, make sure it’s creative. There’s nothing worse than picking one of the same science projects as everyone else. Need a little help thinking of something? Here are a few ideas…

Look around you . What is interesting or confusing? What catches your eye? Using your experiences is always a good idea. If you’ve always wondered about how or why something works, now is a great time to check it out. Use the library . With so many exciting books focused on science, the library is bound to give you a great idea when it comes time to do your science fair project. Look through titles, use the computers, or give the magazines a look. Watching TV and commercials can always give you an idea or two. Question something you see. Are two shampoos really that different? Look at a newspaper . Current and local events are a great thing to research.

Of course, you can always come up with you own idea as well. Be creative, and have fun! Do your project. This is the best part! You finally get to test your ideas and observations. Here are some suggestions that will make sure that you have an awesome project…

Make sure to gather enough information and research. Since you are interested in your project, this probably shouldn’t be a problem. Taking notes is a great idea. Highlighting magazines or articles always works. Be sure to use the scientific method . Real scientists use the scientific method in their science projects, and you should too. Remember, the scientific method has 6 steps Ask a question. Do background research. Create a hypothesis. Do an experiment that tests the hypothesis. Analyze data. Present your results for others to see

Present your science project

You finally get to show off what you’ve been working so hard for! Get excited and be confident when answering judge’s questions. Here are some ideas for ways to present your findings:

Charts :- pie charts, graphs, bar graphs, histograms! These are all great ways to display what you discovered. Display:- these are great because you can include pictures, charts, write-ups, or whatever else you want! Make sure it is neat though and not a messy display. Make sure you include your research and scientific method. Short Report:- this gives you the chance to summarize what you discovered in your experiment

By: Aurora Lipper