Easy Science Fair Project Ideas for Kids
One of the longest traditions of school is the science fair. When your school announces its science fair you may be expected to participate but have no idea what type of project you can do. Luckily, several easy projects can be done by almost anyone with the right supplies.
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Organic vs. Inorganic Fertilizer
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For this project, a student will need six cups of dirt, grass seed and organic and inorganic fertilizer. The student will ultimately be tracking which type of fertilizer will make the grass grow the tallest in the same amount of time. To begin, your student should make a prediction about whether organic or inorganic fertilizer will be more effective. Then he will plant the grass seeds in six cups filled with dirt. He should separate the cups into two groups of three cups each, each group being fertilized with one of the two types of fertilizer. The reason he will use three cups for each fertilizer is to give a broad sample of data. For the next two weeks, the student will water the grass every day and fertilize the cups once a week. Each day he will need to measure the length of grass so he can see how much progress both fertilizers are making. At the end of the two-week experiment the student will note which type of fertilizer worked better and whether his initial prediction was correct.
Fruit and Vegetable Batteries
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Some fruits and vegetables can act as batteries and even have enough energy in them to power small appliances. In this experiment, the scientist will examine how long certain types of fruits and vegetables can power a digital clock. The first thing to do is to buy a special "potato clock" (available online). Gather two each of potatoes, apples, lemons and oranges. Place the potatoes into the openings of the clock and plug the nodes from the clock into the tops of the potatoes. The clock will begin to work. Your student will record how long it takes the clock to run down. Repeat the experiment with the other fruits and write down the durations for each food. You will be reporting on your results. For the best results, you should perform the experiment at least three times with each set of vegetables.
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Floating Magnets
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A good way to demonstrate magnetic attraction and repulsion is to experiment with making magnets "float." To perform this, the student must glue the end of a small wooden dowel to a block of wood. Then he will need to get six ring magnets that can be placed on the dowel. When the first magnet is placed on the dowel it will slide to the bottom. The second magnet should be placed on top of the first so that the same poles (north vs. north or south vs. south) will face each other and the magnets will repel each other. The student will continue adding rings so that the same poles are always facing one another. The magnets will float on the dowel because they are repulsing one another. Try several experiments with the magnets, such as measuring the amount of force you need to push them together and what happens when you let them go.
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- Photo Credit science image by martin schmid from Fotolia.com
