Last Chance Science Projects

Choose a project.  Click on a link. Do the project.
Density Rainbow: How does the amount of sugar dissolved in water affect density? This is SO COOL.

Which shooter height makes the most accurate shot? (No link here: imagine flicking something with a spork on the edge of a table.  Turn that into a paper shooter with different height fulcrums.)

Which additive keeps flowers fresh longer?

Which bottle color makes the best soda-bottle biome?

Can rooftop gardens make a house cooler?  Make two shoebox houses; one with grass on top.

How does sunlight affect the temperature of a closed system?  (Global Warming)

How do different materials absorb oil?  Simulation of an oil spill and clean up.

Which biomass produces the most energy?

How many nickles/pennies does it take to produce the most electricity?

Science Fair

Click on this link for a list of projects that are great for 7th graders to do at home.

Remember!  You are doing a controlled experiment.  That means you must test the effect of changing a variable to see what happens.  You need to measure what happens to the dependent variable.

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Here are the steps you need to follow in order to complete a successful science fair project:

1. Submit your project idea to Ms. Moore.  You need to have verbal or emailed/texted confirmation that your topic is acceptable for our science fair.  The basic guidelines are that you must be conducting an experiment with one variable.  You may not conduct tests that harm vertebrate animals, including humans, or have the potential to be destructive in a way that your parents wouldn't approve.

2. Find a place to keep your written project information.  Before setting up your experiment you need to write down a few things:

• The question you are trying to answer.  Remember, if you already know the answer, choose a different topic.  Science is about finding out things we didn't know before and then trying to find an explanation.  Example: The question I'm trying to answer is "What is the effect of major brands of detergent on chocolate stains?"
• Your hypothesis.  What do you think will happen?  Example: If Tide is the strongest detergent, then there will be the least amount of chocolate stain remaining.
• A plan.  If you're using a plan from the internet, print it out or write down a set of procedures that you're going to follow.  If you make changes to the procedures as you work, revise your written plan.  More on the plan in the 'Set up your experiment' section below.
• A data table.  You are required to do an experiment that results in measuring something.  Before you test any factors you need to have a place where you will write down the measurements.  

3. Do some background research.  Search on Google and see what other people have done related to your experiment.  Other middle school science fair sites are good, and any link ending in .edu or .org will be fine.  Ignore Yahoo answers and rando blogs.  If you have questions, google them or text Ms. Moore at 410-703-6387 (bedtime is 11:00 for me, and you should be asleep by then as well).  Or just ask me at school.

4. Gather your materials.

5. Set up your experiment.

• You must conduct multiple trials.  Scientists who are paid to do science conduct thousands of trials!  Choose a number bigger than 3 that makes sense for your materials.  Make sure you know what your independent variable is...it's the ONE thing you'll change each time you do your experiment.  Example:  I put chocolate stains in 10 different places on a cotton T-shirt.  I wash that T-shirt in Tide detergent.  Then I put chocolate stains in 10 different places on another cotton T-shirt and wash that one in Wisk detergent.  I could use a third shirt with new stains an another brand of detergent.  Then I would have 10 trials for each detergent.   

• Constants are the factors that must stay the same.  Example: Every time I wash a new T-shirt with a different detergent, I need to make sure I'm using the same temperature water, the same brand of chocolate, same amount of chocolate, same amount of detergent, same length of washing.
•  MEASURE THE OUTCOME and write down the results in your data table.  If you don't measure what happened in your experiment, what's the point?  You need to have numbers to back up your conclusion.  Example: On a scale of 0-10 (0=no stain, 10=stain didn't change), the Tide removed the chocolate stains so they were all between 2 and 3, Wisk resulted in stains that were between 4 and 6, and the generic brand resulted in stains that were 7-8.

6. Analyze your data.  What did the numbers show?  Find the averages.  Create a graph.  Show your results in some way.  A data table is not a graph.

7. Write a conclusion.  More on this as we get closer to the fair.