Your child’s teacher or science teacher might  be a great resource for finding a science experiment.  The teacher  can  help you find a kids science experiment idea that is relevant to what your child’s class is studying at that time.  Also, public libraries or school libraries often carry books geared toward children full of fun and age appropriate projects. Be sure to look for one with good instructions and pictures to help you along.   Finally, the internet has many websites geared toward science experiments for kids. Searching for kids science experiments will yield tons of helpful results,  many of which are free like the science project guides you can find at   http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com/guide.pdf   Remember to have fun by doing a project your child is interested in, and always be safe!

Get started on your kids science experiment today

by visiting 24Hour Science Projects!

If your child just made the announcement to you that they are participating in the yearly science fair at school, you are probably searching for ideas. Below are a few ideas that work well in science fairs, and interesting for both of you.

Pollution is always a popular and fascinating project at science fairs. It also helps children, as well as some adults, understand the real damage that pollution can cause. Some areas that you may want to consider are; water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, and global warming.

If you are looking for something a little more involved, many children love to watch fungus grow. This may sound like a nasty one, but kids think it is amazing.

Electrical projects are always a hit as well. You can do many things under this category, including; using magnets, constructing batteries, building a simple electric or wind generator, and radio waves.
Botany is also a large field with many options. The effects that different elements have on plants is a good option. Do plants grow better in sand, soil, or water? The effects of music on plants, as well as the effect that sun has on plants. With all of the above experiments you can choose one specific plant, or use a variety. Seed germination is also a great project. Botany experiments are well suited for all age groups, and relatively cost friendly.

If you do not see anything that interests you or your child, sit down together and have a brainstorming session. Think of things that are interesting and a little challenging for your child. Your child’s experiment doesn’t have to be one that someone has already done, think outside of the box.

If you’re looking for a ready made experiment, get one of our Science Project guides. They’ll take you step by step through the experiments, all of which follow the scientific method.

Photo source: Clix

If you are on the search for a middle school science project you are probably looking for something that is a little more interesting than the average baking soda volcano.  Well, have no fear; there are plenty of options out there that will please your child as well as their science teacher.

If you have a music lover, you may want to consider something like “music vs. noise”.  Most children love music, which makes this an interesting experiment for them.  However, you should take care to actually base your experiment on facts rather than opinions.

There are countless projects related to eggs.  Some of which include; floating eggs, sinking eggs, egg in a bottle, egg spinning, the egg drop, and the process of eggs turning into chicks.  Not only is this group fun for students, but eggs a relatively low in cost, so if you need to start over, it will not be as disheartening.

Weather is also an interesting category.  You can choose from things like tornados, hurricanes, thunder, lightening, rain, hail, and fog.  Learning how each element forms and the effects that it has on the environment around it are great project ideas.            

This is only a small sampling of middle school science projects.  There are many resources available to help you find the best project for your child.                           

If you’re looking for a ready made experiment, get one of our Science Project guides. They’ll take you step by step through the experiments, all of which follow the scientific method.

Photo source: 123dan321

If you are looking for a cool science experiment, here are a few ideas to get you started.

Frozen bubbles.  This can be really fun for the younger age group.   Baking soda bubbles is also a neat experiment for the bubble enthusiast.

Food always makes for a cool experiment.  Some ideas include making light with fruit, plastic mild, moldy bred, and yeast.  You can also make your own butter in a jar and rock candy.  While you are considering the food category, why not do an experiment to see how much fat is in the food that you eat.

Experiments with animals are also a big hit.  How does variation in temperature affect animals?  Do animals prefer certain colors?  Do certain sounds deter bugs/and or animals? 

Balloons always make cool experiments as well, and there are so many things that you can do with them.  Some of the options include; balloon blast off, balloon car, balloon boat, straws and balloons, and balloon columns. 

Some other neat miscellaneous experiments include; how water pressure works, using food coloring to change to color of certain flowers, and homemade silly putty. 

If you have a young nature enthusiast, you could try making your own little green house in a bottle.  You may also want to consider making a fossil for your science project.

There are countless other cool science experiments out there; it just takes a little research to discover the perfect one for your student.

If you’re looking for a ready made experiment, get one of our Science Project guides. They’ll take you step by step through the experiments, all of which follow the scientific method.

photo source:  wimzz

At least once every year, parents get a letter from their child’s teacher informing them that it is time to create the ever famous science project.  Although this may send fear through the minds of most, it doesn’t have to be a scary process.  School science projects can be fun; if you choose one that both you and your child are comfortable with.

Some of the things to consider when deciding on a school science project are; level of difficulty, amount of time required, amount of materials needed, and interest level for your child. 

Depending on the age and grade level of your child there are a wide range of experiments to choose from.  For younger children things like the celery root experiment, the cornstarch suspension experiment, and the egg in a bottle experiment.  All three are simple enough for young children, but interesting enough to get everyone involved excited.

For middle school children you will want something a little more complex.  Experiments that work well in this situation are; the music and plants experiment, sundial experiment, the bubble bomb, and the egg floatation experiment.

When your child reaches high school the experiments may become a little more difficult, but still not impossible.  Some ideas for high school experiments include; solar energy experiments, corrosion experiments, the effects that different components have on plant germination.

No matter what grade your child may be in, one of the most important tips to remember is choose something that they are interested in, this will keep them motivated and dedicated to the project.

If you’re looking for a ready made experiment, get one of our Science Project guides. They’ll take you step by step through the experiments, all of which follow the scientific method.

photo source: misscglass

A couple of weeks ago — Nov. 12 to be exact — David Letterman had Kid Scientists on his Late Show. This is something he does once every few months, and in this case, the Kid Scientists were his first guest on the show, coming on even before his A-list movie star, Amanda Peet. I applaud The Late Show for doing this, and I just think it’s an amazing idea. I love the fact that ordinary school kids are getting their chance at five minutes of fame. In a world where science isn’t considered the most glamorous of professions, these kids are basically selling scientific exploration as being fun, cool, and something to aspire to. It’s also noteworthy that the kids chosen to be on the program are diverse in terms of gender and race. On Nov. 12, he had a boy and two girls, one of whom was Asian Indian. You can watch the full episode is here.

Many would agree that the first girl, “Heather”, had the most exciting demonstration. The video of her demo is here:

Once they have their bright yellow glowing liquid, Heather asks Mr. Letterman to pour it into the giant graduated cylinder, which appears to already contain about half a liter of liquid dishwashing soap.  Then, she asks him to add the manganese dioxide:

Since manganese dioxide is actually a black powder, I can only assume that the black liquid in the measuring cup is actually a water-based manganese dioxide solution.  When Mr. Letterman adds this to the giant cylinder, the crowd goes wild.  As Heather explains, ”The manganese dioxide will act as a catalyst and break down the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen gas.  The oxygen gas bubbles will get caught in the soap, and it will also get very hot.”  The chemical reaction is as follows:

As you can see, the manganese dioxide is not actually part of the equation.  That’s because it’s only a catalyst, and doesn’t actually get consumed as part of the chemical reaction.  Anyway, resulting the water and oxygen gas (and heat) all get mixed up in the dishwashing soap causing it to create enormous amounts of suds, enough to overflow the giant graduated cylinder.

Sometimes this demonstration is known as “elephant toothpaste” (for obvious reasons), and you can find numerous examples on the web of this experiment being performed by kids in their school chemistry labs.  For example, check out this video.

Well, I hope that helps clear things up, and now you know enough to try this out yourself, assuming you can get a hold of the chemicals.  If you do, please follow all appropriate safety precautions … these chemicals are dangerous, and the chemical reactions produce a lot of heat.
 
Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this post.  Teachers and science fair coordinators:  don’t forget to get your free science fair website at OurScienceFair.com.
 
–Rajeev Goel

Rajeev Goel learned all of this last year when he volunteered to help put together his daughter’s science fair. A programmer for IBM, he knew that there was a better way. He came up with a web based registration system that eliminated most of the science fair paperwork. After his school used the system successfully, he made it available to any school – including yours at a terrific site called Our Science Fair. And unbelievably, it is FREE.

When you check out Our Science Fair, you’ll also notice some other great advantages. You can customize it to your school site. Parents can upload their science fair pictures. Organizers can send emails to registered students. And you can buy science fair supplies with proceeds going to your school.

Check out all of this and more at Our Science Fair.

PS Whether you’re an organizer or a participant in your science fair, you can get a free science project guide for your students – or yourself – at Science Projects!

Here are some things I’ve found that are great science fair topics, but simply are not science experiments:

~ Making a Potato Canon - This is a fun activity, and it demonstrates how cool science can be, but it doesn’t tst anything. How can you turn it into an experiment? Vary the trajectory, and ask, “At which angle will a potato canon launch a potato the farthest?”

~ What happens when seeds germinate?” – This is listed as an experiment on a teachers’ forum. Can’t believe it. It’s a great lesson, but what are kids comparing here?! Turn it into an experiment by testing “At which temperature do seeds germinate the best?”

~ How do bones change when soaked in vinegar? – This is close to an experiment, but the project I saw didn’t have a way to measure the change. The results of a true experiment must be measurable. If your kids come up with a weigh to measure the amount of weight the bones can support before breaking – you may just have a winning kids science experiment.

That gives me a great idea for another science project experiment, actually…Stay tuned!

PS ALL of the projects at 24 Hour Science Projects are experiment based – Hypothesis, Variables, Measurable Results and all!

We will take earth as our first example. You can take a 2 litre pop bottle and fill it half with water. Then mix in some soil and let the mixture settle out for 5-10 minutes. The kids will see pebbles settle first. Sand normally settles next. Silt comes next. Then some dirt particles will float very long periods. Organic things like leaves and bugs will usually float. The lesson is just a brief introduction into geology. Make sure you are paying attention to your kids’ reaction, especially if one of them really seems to enjoy learning about dirt.

Next, let’s take the weather. Something we all can learn from. Let’s look at why the grass is wet in the morning. Take a 2 litre bottle and cut the top off. Fill it about 2/3 with warm tap water. Feel the outside. Now add several ice cubes and stir until melted. Now check the outside of the bottle again. Notice any moisture (if not continue to add ice cubes). The water on the outside is really forming from air surrounding the bottle. The water is condensed from the atmosphere when the water temperature is cooler then the dewpoint of the air. Dewpoint is calculated from the relative humidity and temperature of the air and is most easily remembered as the temperature that water vapor changes state into a liquid. This is why we get dew on the grass during the night time.

The final experiment we will look at is easy to do. The kids will really enjoy this one. We are going to make a mold garden (on purpose). Take several pieces of bread and sprinkle with water. Leave the bread out for several hours (overnight works best). Put the bread into a 2 litre bottle and cap it. Place the bottle in a sunny stop for a couple of days. What you will see starting to grow is mold. Don’t open the bottom to avoid letting the mold spores out (can cause sickness). Penicillin was discovered by a very similar experiment back in the 1930’s. Make sure you share this fact with the kids.

Remember to have fun with the kids. They may surprise you at the last moment with their forgotten assignment but by being prepared you can turn it around.

Visit our website at http://familynightactivities.com/uncategorized/10-fun-science-projects for more fun science ideas and resources.

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Get your FREE parents guide to science projects at http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com. We also have a list of fast and easy science project guides that can be done in a very short amount of time – many of which are easily adaptable for use with more than one child.

To prepare for this article, I walked through my house and made a list of the supplies we keep on hand. This list can be a springboard for getting supplies ready for your children. Let this list help you as you help your children to help themselves.

I’m quite aware that this is a LOT of stuff. But you’re going to buy it anyway. Cut down on the stress and buy it in advance. Science project time will be here before you know it!

And while you’re getting supplies, add our free science project guide at http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com.