First Place Ideas for Fifth Grade Chemistry Projects
Chemistry is a strong topic for a fifth grade science project. Students should keep a scientific journal of each and every action they conduct in their project, which is particularly useful if they plan on competing at a science fair. Students should also take plenty of photographs of their experiment procedure and produce clear graphs of their results where possible.
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Testing Stain Removers
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To complete this project, fifth grade students should establish a clear experimental procedure before testing different types of stains, such as ink, soy sauce and ketchup, on different fabrics, including denim, cotton and silk. Instruct students to control all of the variables by staining each fabric with the same amount of liquid -- such as one medicine dropper-full -- and smearing the stain in the same way. Students should then take three different washing products, such as an economy, mid-range and high-end brand, and wash each stained fabric on the same cycle in a washing machine. Have students compare the effectiveness of each washing product on the different types of stain and fabrics. Students should take photographs of their experiment in action to show on their science fair stall.
Colorful Sun Prints
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Provide each fifth grader with a sheet of sun print paper to conduct this chemistry project. Students should take five different colors of pen, such as red, yellow, green, blue and black, and write the first three letters of that color on the paper (yel for yellow, gre for green) -- in roughly the same size. Students should then lay their sheets in direct sunlight, start a timer and carefully remove them from the sunlight after two minutes, holding the paper by the top corners to avoid touching the area where the words are written. Students should then dampen their papers under a gently running faucet before leaving them to dry out of direct sunlight. Have students check back on their sheets after at least half an hour then hold them up against a light source to assess which ink produces the most effective and prominent sun print.
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Popcorn Consumer Testing
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One idea for a fifth grade chemistry project that may win the blue ribbon has both scientific and consumer interest. Supervise students closely as they test five different brands of microwaveable popcorn. Students should pour out the same weight of each brand of popcorn into the same microwave-proof bowl and follow the instructions on the packet for cooking the popcorn. Students should allow each brand of popcorn to cool before separating the popped and unpopped kernels. Instruct students to graph their results, comparing the number of unpopped kernels between the different brands before deciding which popcorn represents the best value for the money.
Investigating the Presence of Starch
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Fifth grade students can use this experiment to test everyday foods for the presence of starch. Provide students with pairs of potatoes, carrots and lemons and have them grate each pair into three separate bowls. Students should fill each bowl with tap water until the gratings are completely submerged. Instruct students to reach into each bowl with their hands and stir up the gratings in between their fingers for at least five minutes per bowl. Students should return to their bowls 30 minutes later and repeat this process before pouring the contents of each bowl through a strainer and into a new, empty bowl to separate the solids from the liquid. Have students place the three new bowls, which contain cloudy water, on a sunlit windowsill and return after two hours. Where starch is present, students will observe a white powder. Have students take photographs to display on their science fair stall.
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References
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