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Archives for December 2017

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Middle School Science Projects – They’re Here!

Need middle school science projects? A whole new set of science project has just been developed – with science fair topics that are perfect for middle school! In fact, the projects are called just that: Middle School Science Projects. There are five fabulous topics:
science fair topics for middle school
1. How does hair change as a result of different hair care products?. Girls are especially interested in doing a science project about hair. In this project, we treat hair, then test its strength.

2. How does the type of soil affect water flow? This experiment involves doing a soil analysis – which is fascinating – and then seeing how water flows – or drips – through.

3. What makes yeast grow best? This yeast project finds out what that little fungus likes to eat best. Balloons are involved – and gas.

4. What’s the best model for a solar heater? You can scavenge through the trash to find the elements to build this solar heater that really works!

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

Check all these projects out today at the Middle School Science Projects site!

Kayla Fay

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

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+Help With Homework for Science and In General

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In general, school, homework and learning can be a real struggle for many children -and as parents we struggle with how to help with homework for science and other projects too. I know this firsthand from watching my boys. Early on, I decided that my guys should never have to look far for the proper tools. Like a busy executive, they needed to concentrate on the task before them, and should have anything they need close at hand. There is a closet in our house that looks like the school supply section at Wal-Mart. The boys have tools to stay organized. They have plenty of socks, underwear, and soccer clothes. We have calculators, computers, dictionaries, encyclopedia, rulers, compasses, and yes, we keep spare science display boards. (We even keep completed projects, as you may have read

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.

Lots of pencils
Erasers
Pens
Markers – wide tip & fine point
Permanent markers
Highlighters in several colors
Zip lock bags – all sizes
Protractors
Compass
Rulers
Glue and glue sticks
Spray adhesive
Scotch tape – wide and thin
Duct tape and packing tape
Sticky tack
Thumb tacks
Paper clips
Paper fasteners
Index cards
LOTS of Notebook paper, wide and college rule
Notebooks – 1 & 3 subject in both rules-
with the THICK cardboard covers
Graph paper
Graph paper NOTEBOOKS (invaluable for math)
Card stock in white and colors
Colored computer paper
Construction paper

White drawing paper
Folders – pocket and prong
Manilla file folders
Envelopes – including large yellow ones
Full sheets of sticker paper
Labels
Newsprint, bought for $1 at the newspaper office
Pencil cases
Bookbags (one of the boys broke his yesterday
and I was grateful we had a spare)
Notebook dividers
Looseleaf binders in several sizes
Sheet protectors
Baby food jars
Old magazines – including National Geographic,
given away free by our local library
Tempera paint
Globe
Wall Map
Atlas
Old set of encyclopedias
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Electronic Dictionary – for the short definitions
and the easy look up
Calculators, some cheap, some not
Extra Ink Cartridges
Memory sticks/thumb drives

I’m quite aware that this is a LOT of stuff. But you will be amazed at how much help with homework those supplies will give you! Cut down on the stress and buy it in advance, you’re going to end up buying most of it anyway

Get your free copy of “The Non-Scientist Parents’ Guide to a Science Project” at 24 Hour Science Projects for more ideas of things you can do at home.

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Alternative Ideas for a School Project- It Doesn’t Have To Be a Science Fair

What about an”Interest Fair” as alternative ideas for a school project?

 

ideas for a school projectSome schools are gravitating to an Interest Fair instead of a science fair. What teachers have realized is the steps to researching a topic fall in line with the steps to the scientific method, so the topic for an Interest Fair does not have to be science. But uses all the same science investigation steps and ideas for a school project headed to a science fair.

  • Topics can be hobbies like sports or music, you could look into food, sewing, yarn, video games, or famous people. There will always be science things too like fish and bugs and ecology stuff because kids are naturally interested in those things.
  • Kids will still follow the same steps, they come up with a question and make a prediction about their topic. What do they already know, what do the wonder, why predictions can they make. Some times you create an experiment, Which yarn makes the softest scarf? What subject did Peyton Manning study in college? What is the difference in the sound of acoustic and electric instrument? Then then will need to so some research into the topic and write a report. In some cases a sample will be part of the display, other times there will be photos. In the end you will make an awesome display board that will have to show all the steps you took to look deeper into your interest.
  • The advantage of this is that it gives kids who excel in other areas other than science a chance to shine and get excited about something they are interested in. The other advantage it is cross curricular so the librarian and language arts teachers get more involved. You have lots of choices of ideas for a school project this way, not just science.
  • What this really would fall under is a research type of science fair, that will have some elements of experimenting or demonstrating, but focuses on the research steps. You break a topic up into teaching pieces, study it, analyze it and often find the answer to your question, or prove or disprove your predictions.

You will find you do this stuff all the time when your kids are home during holiday vacations, you look into things they are interested in. Kids will get ideas from each other and be able to use them in future fairs.

It might be a good thing to alternate between a science fair one year and an interest fair the next.   There are things about science that really can be made clear with a science experiment and using the scientific method in an investigation is an important skill, so I would never get rid of a science fair! Really, there just are never ending great ideas for a school project, no matter what the subject is!

Get your science ideas for a school project that are fun and you hardly know are science at 24 hour science fair projects.

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Quick and Easy Science Fair Projects Random Thoughts

easy science project list

If You Only Listened To Me……   Science could have been fun, and quick and easy science fair projects  could have made the difference!

There is a big push in education today on boosting math and science curriculum in our schools in the United States.  It is a big wake up call for this country as the stats show that we are falling behind many other countries.  the president has made this an important  issue as well.  I keep saying, if you only listened to me , we wouldn’t be in this mess!

Recently I have  become more tuned in to the science side of education and the benefit of quick and easy science fair projects.  Do not get me wrong,  as a teacher  and then as a parent I was actively involved in science.  In fact it was the Science Fairs at my school in my first years of teaching that first sparked my interest and when I realized if they had just listened to me  as a student and in the years since then there would not be this big problem today.

When I was growing up, Science was the most hated subject on Earth, and I kid you not.  We had big heavy text books, we had to outline chapters and answer questions at the end of the chapter.  Every once and awhile we did something fun, like draw the solar system, or plant beans  in a glass with brown paper towels and collect rocks and leaves.  My grades on science tests were generally poor which made me hate the class even more.  There was no connection between science and every day life.

At the same time, my parents were good at giving us those fun experiences, we cooked, we planted gardens,  we went to museums and when we got involved in Scouts it went even further with all the fun activities you did for badges.  Any time I would say, “This is fun,” my parents would sigh and say, “Darling, this is science.”  Then I would ask why they could not make science in school as fun.  If they had only listened to me…..

It really was not until High School Chemistry I lucked out and had a great teacher, who saw me as a challenge to see my grades could be as good in his class as they were every where else.  In fact he tried to do that with all the students and had a way of teaching the abstract and showing how the effect on every day life.   Now I am not saying high school chemistry should be all fun and games and full of fun activities, but I am saying with a better foundation, you could hit that class and it would not have to be as stressful as it is for most kids.  At least your attitude would be better.

When I saw my first Science Fair at my school as a teacher, I kept saying why don’t all schools do this?  Each kid had their own  project, most would  fall into the quick and easy science fair projects category as they were doing a lot of this on their own,  and the Reading Teachers ( that would be me) helped their students  with the write ups, posters and set up.  Our school was a multi-sensory education pioneer back in the day, so it was second nature to us.  I learned more “science” from helping these students than I ever did in school.  If they had only listened to me…

Now, here is where it gets tricky and I am still shaking my head.  Where we lived  it happened that they changed the science curriculum to a more hands on, no formal textbook just as our eldest child hit first grade.  At that point I was thinking, Wow! They DID listen to me.  There were many quick and easy science fair projects done throughout the year, that taught science and also the scientific method.   But guess what?  That was 25 years ago, and we are still suffering from a lag in science knowledge and background.   For my kids there was a definite line of demarcation when they hit middle school.  They tried to make it hands on but the textbooks,  tests and traditional science teaching snuck back in.  By the time you hit high school you either were a science geek and took the advanced classes or just took what you needed to graduate.

I do not know what the answer is, these are just my random thoughts, but  I have been saying for years the disconnect comes between science and real life.  The more you see and use science in your life, and KNOW that is what you are doing, the better off you should be.   Solar and wind power, ecology, gardening,  automobile engines and cooking are all science and part of what we do each day.  Don’t even get me started  on how important the human body is in both science and in real life and the number of kids who do not get it!

For a great supply of quick and easy science fair projects that are kid tested and teacher approved, just click this link!

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Science Project – Coming up with an Hypothesis

Our science project guides give you detailed, step by step instructions for doing your project, starting with the hypothesis and ending with the conclusion. We can’t, however, give you what the hypothesis should be. Sometimes customers ask us why.

The reason is simple – the hypothesis is an educated guess – YOUR educated guess, and not ours. You must take what you already know about the subject, and predict what the outcome of your experiment will be. The good news is that since the hypothesis is a guess, it is always ‘right’ – because you’re just guessing.

Suppose three children are doing a science project to discover which type of water makes plants grow taller – mineral water, water with sugar, or plain distilled water. The first child’s hypothesis is that mineral water will make the plant grow taller. His grandmother owns a nutritional supplement store, and all his life he’s been taught that minerals are good for you. The second child predicts that sugar water will make the tallest plant. He bases this on his understanding that sugar makes you gain weight. And the third child, a purist at heart, figures that the distilled water will produce the most growth.

All of these hypotheses are correct, but only one will be proven true.

When you have a project to do, you can do research or use the knowledge you already have to form your hypothesis. With our project guides, we give you lots of research material to help you come up with your hypothesis for your science project.

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You Can Use Fun Science Projects For School Vacations!

Fun Science Fair Projects might solve the “boredom” problem during the next school vacation

 

It always happens, when kid are on break from school. boredom sets in.  They won’t admit it, but it is true!  No matter if it is the  ten days for  the December holidays ,  a long weekend,  spring break or  summer vacation,  there will be a time when they say “I’m bored!”  Reading a book or during chores is a great boredom buster, but having something different for them to do like fun science projects give you variety.

Actually it is a good thing when kids get  bored and have to figure out something to do.  We tend to run the risk of overbooking our kids, so downtime  at home is important.  It won’t hurt to have some fun activities around so kids can find them on their own when bored.

Yes, it is true vacation means having a vaction!  But you don’t need to let that brain turn into mush either. Fun hands-on projects that happen to make you think and maybe even learn something  still give  kids a break and will  the brain cells moving.

Many families  start early and make doing different hands on activities with their kids part of their  routine,  so adding some one day science fair projects for kids will just blend into the mix.  Here is how to do it:

  • From  kindergarten on always have something fun ready for them to do over the long weekends and vacations. Sometimes you will get to it, other times not, but it is still there.
  • Find a project you can  download that was written by teachers uses the basic steps of the scientific method and have then ready on your computer. you might even check and see if there are materials you need to gather so you  have them around if needed.
  • As they grow older, have projects for their age available, but let them choose which one they feel like doing that day.

Over time, as long as you have  projects on hand, they will naturally head that direction when boredom blues arrive. Often these digital products cost less than what you would pay for a pizza.  They can be used when a friend sleeps over, or to fill up a rainy day.  When they really come in handy is when you need a last minute home science projects for those times you procrastinate or they “forget” to tell you about it!

Looking for fun Science Projects  for your next break? Look no further!