We’re getting ready to roll out a whole new set of science project with science fair topics that are perfect for middle school! In fact, the projects are called Middle School Science Projects. We’ll be doing some cool experiments, and one demonstration. Here are the topics we have planned:

1. How do different hair products affect the strength of hair. Girls are especially interested in doing a science project about hair. In this project, we treat hair, then test its strength.

2. Does the amount of Vitamin C in Orange juice change over time? This is a slightly more advanced version of our popular Vitamin ‘C’itrus’ project.

3. What liquid is best for growing beans. This experiment involves pH and hydroponics, and you get to make your own litmus paper.

4. What makes yeast grow best? We have another project with yeast as the science fair topic, but its a demonstration. We’re releasing this because so many of our students have asked for a science experiment about yeast.

5. This one is a demonstration/model. We’ll be building a solar heater with cans and a window frame. I plan on using it in our upstairs bathroom, which currently is unheated!

I’m very excited about these projects!! Stay tuned for more information!

PS You don’t have to wait for the new package. Get a free science project guide here.

This is all explained very nicely in a boingboing blog post called Yeast? Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Yeast. And – a warning – there’s not so nice picture of fermenting yeast! To learn even more about it read this page on Exploratorium.

Yeast is just fascinating on a lot of levels. And a yeast science project is almost too easy to do. You can usually get anything you need at the supermarket and results are almost instantaneous. The fermentation of yeast is a chemical change, and there are tons of different demonstrations and experiments that you can use for your science fair.

Our The Yeast Beast project, for example, is advertised as a demonstration, but it can also be done as a science experiment, and instructions for doing it that way are in the guide.

One popular project involving chemicals is an experiment determining which fruit or fruit juice has the most vitamin C. A simple indicator is made with cornstarch and iodine. Students (and parents) enjoy watching the chemical reaction that occurs along with titration, which is a fancy way of saying “putting in drops”. This project can be modified in several different ways, allowing your student’s creativity to shine. We get letters from many students telling us that this easy science project was submitted to the fair, and was chosen as a winner.

Another great science project involving a chemical change is watching what happens as yeast ‘eats’ sugar. In this project, warm water and yeast are placed in a bottle with a bit of sugar. A balloon is placed over the mouth of the bottle. As the yeast consumes the sugar, carbon dioxide is released, causing the balloon to blow up. This project is so much fun to watch that our kids did it over and over until we ran out of yeast.

Both of these projects can be done as demonstrations; they offer dramatic reactions that students will be able to observe immediately. Both science projects can also be experiments. They naturally lend themselves to a question, the formation of an hypothesis, and testing. The results can easily be graphed to form a conclusion.

Get step by step instructions for both of these projects at http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com“>24 Hour Science Projects. Along with a FREE Parent’s Guide to Science Fair Projects, we have all sorts of ideas for your scientist, starting at the most elementary, and working up to the more advanced chemical change science projects.