Middle School Science Projects and Ideas on How to Start them by Robert Watson

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Middle School Science Projects and Ideas on How to Start them
by Robert Watson

Werent those science experiments fun when you were in school? You had to run around like crazy to get it done because you had waited so long. Did your parents remind you that they had to do all the running around for you? Your kids will have to do the science fair projects too and now you can be the ones running around like crazy.

If you need an idea that is more of a display than actual work, consider one of these: Shells and the animals that live In them For this one you can always just draw the shells if you are not able to go find some, same thing for the animals that live in them. This can all be done neatly on a poster board. Or perhaps cloud types and what they mean, this is good if you are able to access the Internet or something similar in order to get pictures of clouds. If not you can always make your own clouds using cotton to form their different shapes, glue them on poster board and then label them with the correct information. Show how quickly or slowly fruit ripens. Take 3 bananas, put 1 in the refrigerator, leave 1 at room temperature and put another one in a warm place. Check them daily and record your findings. Another good one: Is it possible that the shape of ice affects how it melts? If so, how? Find several different types of containers and fill them all with the same amount of water and put them in the freezer. Take them out later and record how long each one took to melt. How about making a tornado? Fill a glass jar about full of water; add some food coloring and about 1 teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. Put the lid on the jar, shake it up and give a good twist. The liquid inside the jar will form a vortex that looks and acts just like a real tornado. It will even lengthen and contract just like the real thing. If you want to add a little humor to this, take a few monopoly houses and put them in the water.

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.

Author's Biography:

Robert Watson is a high school math teacher with over 4 years experience as a science fair judgeat a local school. Visit his website for more information about

Posted on: February 10,2008

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