Science Projects for the Evil Genius
The "evil genius" scientist is a staple stereotype of Western culture. From Dr. Frankenstein to Magneto, these so-called scientists are "moral cripples driven by a lust for power or endowed with a spectacular insensitivity to the feelings of others." Unfortunately, behavior like that won't earn you a good grade in your upcoming science fair. Why not impress your friends and teachers by taking the "evil" out of "evil genius" and wowing them with one of these experiments instead?
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Primary Grades
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Parents may need to help younger students with science fair materials. Students in kindergarten through third grade can do simple display projects. Examples of display projects include making a compass from a needle, a dish of water and a magnet; making salt crystals by suspending a string in a glass of salt water and allowing the water to evaporate; or the ever-popular baking soda and vinegar volcano. Parents should plan on helping younger students with these experiments.
Upper Elementary
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Students in grades four through six can handle more complicated projects. These students are capable of designing an experiment to test a hypothesis. For example, students can hypothesize that mold will grow best in a dark environment, such as in a paper bag, and design an experiment tracking mold growth in different environmental conditions.
Students can perform similar experiments looking at environmental conditions for animals. If students have pets at home, they can design an experiment around pet food brands with the hypothesis that their pets will like the most expensive food best. The results might be surprising.
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Junior High
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The science fair in junior high separates the hard workers from the lazy kids. Few things are sadder than a 14-year-old with a vinegar volcano.
Junior high students can conduct experiments with real-world applications. They can look at how different acidic substances, such as coffee, tea, soda and citrus, affect the cement on braces or whether individuals with a strong brand allegiance toward their soda of choice can identify their preference in a blind taste test.
High School
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Only serious students participate in a high school science fair. This means that a winning experiment will need to be a knockout in terms of research, preparation, creativity and reporting.
High school students can conduct an experiment that has immediate real-world applications from studying to driving: Test a teen subject's memory and concentration skills in environments with differing aural and visual stimulation levels.
In preparation for cold and flu season, design an experiment testing the effectiveness of different brands of hand sanitizers vs. common soap. The results of this experiment could end up saving the school money.
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References
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