Science Fair Ideas

Ways to find a science fair project idea

1. Look at lists of science categories and pick one that you are interested in, then narrow that down to a project. (example, say you pick psychology, then narrow it to the differences between boys and girls, then to a topic like "Do boys remember boy-type pictures (footballs) better than girl-type pictures (flowers)?" (Two lists of categories attached)

2. Use your experiences Remember a time you noticed something and thought "I wonder how that works?" or "I wonder what would happen if..." then turn that into a project. Check the school library for books on science projects. Browse and look at book titles, then look inside the ones that look interesting to you. Also thumb through encyclopedias and magazines. Good magazines for ideas are: National Geographic, Discover, Omni, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Mother Earth News, High Technology, Prevention, and Garbage. Perhaps go to the downtown Library.

3. Think about current events. Look at the newspaper. People are hungry in Africa because of droughts - a project on growing plants without much rain, which types grow ok with little water? Or the ozone hole over Antartica - how can we reduce ozone? -a project on nonaerosol ways to spray things. Or oil spills. how can we clean them up? -a project on how to clean oil out of water

4. Watch commercials on TV. Test their claims. Does that anti-perspirant really stop wetness better than other ones? What are the real differences between Barbie and imitation Barbie dolls? Can kids tell the difference between coke and pepsi if they don't know which they are drinking?

More Ideas:

Take these ideas and add something of your own, for example, change Are dogs colorblind? to Are cats colorblind? Or look at another of the 5 senses of dogs and test their sense of taste...

Try putting different words in these blanks...

What is the effect of ____________ on _______________?

detergent ------- germination of seeds
temperature--------the volume of air

How/to what extent does the _____________________ affect ___________________?

humidity----------growth of fungi
color of a material------------its absorption of heat
fertilizer -------------the growth of plants

Which/what __________________ (verb) __________________?

detergent----------- makes --------- --the most bubbles

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