Middle School Science Projects Made Easy

Did you ever participate in a science fair project when you were in school? Just barely got a project turned in because you had procrastinated. Remember having to ask your parents for help and they werent happy? Procrastination is still a kid thing, so you will probably be asked to help out. Here are some suggestions to help get it started.

If you want a nice display consider one of these topics: Gather some seashells and see if you can tell what animal lived in them, either draw pictures or glue the shells to poster board. The Internet is a great place to get pictures of the different types of clouds and you can describe them. Make some clouds out of cotton, remember to include a darker color on them for thunderclouds, etc. and glue them to your poster board with their labels underneath them. Try to determine how slowly or quickly certain foods or fruits ripen. Find a really warm place in your home and leave a piece of fruit there, do it again at room temperature and finally make one colder, like in the refrigerator. You will see changes daily so be sure to write them down. See if different sizes of ice will melt differently. Get several different sizes and shapes containers, put in equal amounts of water and freeze them. Check the containers and after they have frozen take them out to melt and record how long each container took. You can also make a tornado for you next science experiment. Add water about full in a glass jar; Use a little food coloring and some dish detergent and add it to the water. After putting the lid on give the jar several good shakes. Watch how a vortex forms and acts just like a real tornado from the liquid in the jar. If you take a few monopoly houses and put them in the jar, you will see how they add a little touch of fun.

A failed science experiment actually won 2nd place. The experiment was to see if using plain water or sugar water would affect the plants growth. The hypothesis was that the plant watered with the sugar water would grow the best. After you plant several sunflower seeds in two identical pots water one with sugar water and one with plain water. If you have a way to take pictures that is great, but if not keep very detailed notes on their progress. The plant that was watered with sugar water did sprout but then began dying right away while the other one did very well. When presenting her findings to the judges she had to explain why the experiment had failed. When giving her the 2nd place ribbon they advised her that is not a failed experiment when something is learned from it. The judges thought she had done a great presentation despite her thinking that the experiment had failed.