Science Project Ideas from Students

I get science project ideas sent to me all the time from real student who have had real success at their science fair. Every so often I'll post the best of these, complete with helpful suggestions, to this blog to help you find winning ideas for your science fair project.

Do you have an winning idea to share? Please do so through the "comment" box below this post.

Dr. Shawn

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Dear Dr. Shawn

I did this project in the fourth grade and I got 1st place out of my entire school (K-8), then I got sent to state where a won a small scholarship. My question was:

"Whose mouth is cleaner, a dog's mouth or a human's mouth?"

I started off with 4 Petri dishes filled with gelatin. [You can find Petri dishes here. I suggest making the gel from augar flakes, which you can purchase at any well-stocked health food store. You may want to add a nutrient to at as well, like teaspoon of boiled beef broth. Dr. Shawn] Then took a swab of my mouth, my partners mouth, my dog's mouth and my partner's dog's mouth. I put these all in separate Petri dishes. I then observed the growth of different molds and fungus on the gelatin. I let them sit for about 3 weeks.

The experiment had a surprising result!

Meredith

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Dear Dr. Shawn

Last year for 7th grade, I did this really cool experiment on soda.

My idea was to see which soda contained the most fizz Cherry Pepsi, regular Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Coca Cola. The "fizz" comes from the carbonated water. I reasoned that soda with the most sugar in it should have less room for carbonated water and therefore less fizz, so I took that to be my hypothesis.

I made a little machine out of a few household items and some wood that stirred the sodas until all the fizz was gone. Then I carefully weighted samples of each type of soda, stirred them vigorously until all the fizz was gone and then weighed them again. The soda that lost the most weight had the most fizz to start with. [You'll probably want to carry this out using a triple beam balance. See if you can borrow one from your school if you want to do this project. Dr. Shawn]

I got First Place!

This is a great project because after demonstrating at the science fair, you can hand out the free soda and that will make everyone want to come and see your project! (Trust me, it works!) It would also be a good 8th grade experiment or even 9th grade!

Lish

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Dear Dr. Shawn,

In 7th Grade, I got took First Place honors at both my county and stat science fair.

I wanted to see how well moisturizers retain moisture. You'll need these things:

1) Nine Petri dishes [You can find Petri dishes here. Dr. Shawn]

2) Five name brand lotions- Lubriderm, Origin etc.

3) Four ingredients of Lotions--100 percent cocoa butter, 10 percent baby oil, 100 percent aloe Vera, and petroleum jelly

4) Three packets of clear gelatin [I suggest making the gel from augar flakes, which you can purchase at any well-stocked health food store. Dr. Shawn]

5) Bent butter knife (op)

6) Triple beam balance [See if you can borrow one from your school. Dr. Shawn]

7) Large cookie sheet

Make the gelatin according to box, then disperse it evenly into your Petri dishes. Put all the Petri dishes on a large cookie sheet and put then in fridge. Let them set overnight. The apply the same amount of each product on to 8 of the Petri dishes. Be sure to label each Petri dish so you won't get mixed up and record everything in your notebook.

Leave one plain, as this will be your control.

Put all Petri dishes on the cookie sheet again and leave in a place at room temperature where they will not get disturbed. Weight each dish every day and record your results. Keep weighting until the control stops loosing weight. Record all your data and graph the weight of each Petri dish vs. time.

Which product works best? You'll have to try it to see!

Marz K.

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Dear Dr. Shawn,

In the 8th grade I did a science fair project involving the effectiveness of various hygiene products on the inhibition of bacteria.

I left meat on my counter for several hours and rubbed it on the agar of 10 Petri dishes. Then I soaked 60 hole punch circles in hygiene products---10 in mouthwash, 10 in antibacterial hand soap, 10 in Lysol, etc. Next I placed one of each type of circle at equal intervals around each Petri dish. [You can find Petri dishes here. I suggest making the gel from augar flakes, which you can purchase at any well-stocked health food store. You may want to add a nutrient to at as well, like teaspoon of boiled beef broth. Dr. Shawn] I allowed bacteria to grow for 48 hours under a bed and checked for bacterial growth. My hospital administrator allowed me to visit the hospital lab, and the technicians offered to make slides of the bacteria and performed Gram Stains, which really made the bacteria visible under the microscopes. We were able to identify the type of bacteria and I measured the absence of growth around each soaked circle and recorded the zone of inhibition(where the bacteria could not grow) and plotted the results.

It was a very interesting experiment that seemed to refute a lot of claims of products that supposedly kill so much bacteria. I learned so much and I really gained an interest in the field of microbiology!

Morgan
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Dear Dr. Shawn,

I did a project on whether snow was warmer on top or underneath. First, I filled a plastic container with snow. Next, I took two film canisters and filled them with warm gelatin. Then, I put one canister under the snow and one on top. After that I took two small regular thermometers and put one on top and one under the snow. After a while take the canisters and open them. I found that the top had a little ice in it but the other did not. Take the thermometers, to see which temperature is higher.

Do this several times with different thicknesses of snow. Record your data, plot your results, and state your conclusion.

Hilary King
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Dear Dr. Shawn,

My idea was to test the water found in our local areas to see if it has any threatening chemicals inside of it. Just buy a testing kit from epa.com/watersafe. (Only $6) Then gather up water from anywhere around your local wetlands and test it with standard EPA approved water. Trust it is a good project idea!

Megan
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Dear Dr. Shawn

My project was called Hay Infusion. It tested how bacteria grow in hay under different conditions.

It can be done with 4 glass jars and 2 lids. Put hay and water in each of the jars. Seal 2 of the jars. These will be your "anaerobic" samples--that is, samples grown in the absence of oxygen. [Actually, you should first boil the water vigorously, place it into the jars, seal the jars and set them aside to cool to room temperature BEFORE you add the hay. The water has oxygen gas dissolved in it (that's how fish breath) and boiling the water removes that gas before you start your experiment. You have to let the jars cool to room temperature, however, or you'll kill the bacteria on the hay when you put it into the jar. Dr. Shawn]

Put one anaerobic jar in the dark and the other in the light. Do the same for the two open jars. Let them set for a two weeks and see how much bacteria grows in each jar. Measure the turbidity (cloudiness) of the water by transferring some water to test tubes and measuring how much light gets through the test tube. You school probably has a colorimeter you can use for this test. If not, you can measuring the brightness of an LED [Light emitting diode. Dr. Shawn] through the water using a simple photocell you can buy at Radio Shack. Most house hold devices have LEDs on them. It doesn't much matter which color LED you use, just make sure all the room lights are off when you make the experiment. I made my measurements in my basement at night.

Put observations in research. If possible, use a high magnification and take pictures with a microscopic camera. Use a high contrast board. It stands out.(felt, construction paper and computer printouts)

THIS PROJECT GOT FIRST PLACE OVERALL!

Julie

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Dear Dr. Shawn,

My Idea was to measure the amount of fungus on my feet. For three days I wore three different kinds of shoes. Then I took the fungus off my feet with a Q-Tip. I put the fungus in a paper bag and wet it with water. Then I let it grow for five days. At the end of the five days there was a lot of fungus there.

Dominique

For more FREE help, visit my Super Science Project Support Site. Check out my collection of killer science fair project downloads. Are you running out of time? Check out my Desperation Science Projects for complete science project instructions that can be carried out in just one day! Or, better, have a complete science experiment sent directly to your home for professional results fast! And, of course, you'll find plenty of science project ideas at my science project idea bank, or my student-driven science project idea exchange.

Comments

[Michelle]

Dear Dr. Shawn,

I did a science project last year in which I studied the production of carbon dioxide by yeast at different temperatures. I measured how long it took a given quantity of yeast at a given temperature to displace 100 millileters of water.

To do so, I placed the yeast in closed canning jar that was airtight. I cut a small hole in the lid and placed a tub inside, then sealed all around the tube with silicone cement. I placed the other end inside a glass jar that I filled with water and kept upside down in a tub of water. As the yeast generated gas, the excess gas flowed into the jar in the tub and displaced the water inside. I marked a line on the jar that represented 100 milliliters and measured the time that it took for the displaced air inside the jar to reach the line.

I repeated each trial three times and averaged the results at each of six different temperatures from ice bath to about 120 degrees. I measured the temperatures using a glass thermometer. By graphing the results I was able to predict the optimum temperature for yeast growth. When I tested the prediction by measuring the gas production rate at that the temperature suggested by my graph I got very good agreement!

I took first place with this project.

Michelle

[Viahney]

I did a science project on which soap leaves more film on your skin. I needed cofee filters and cups. I placed the coffee filters on a cup and tied it with a rubber band. Then I poked a tiny hole at the center of the of the coffee filter and left each cup alone for half an hour. Then I took notes and graphed it. It was pretty fun.

[m]

I am in the process of doing the moisture in lotion experiment, and i used plain gelatin not agar flakes is that ok?

[LACEY]

WITH THE CLEANER MOUTH PROJECT DO YOU JUST WIPE THE SAMPLE FROM YOUR MOUTH ON TOP OF THE GELETIN OR DO YOU STICK THE CUTIP INSIDE , AND ARE YOU LOOKING FOR SPECIFIC BACTERIAS OR IF THEIR IS A LOT OF BACTERIA

[Carolina]

Hi dr.shawn, the DNA extraction kit is great! thank you! I have a question though.Please try to respond as soon as possible. How can you tell how fresh DNA is? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (and thank you)help me!!!! I cant find it anywhere on the internet. Please try to respond befor the first of november.

[science fair project ideas]

These are some great ideas. As a judge of a science fair myself, I'm so sick of seeing the same old stuff over and over again. Thanks for promoting the idea of unique science fair projects!

[7th Grader]

I want to do the lotion experiment, but I can't find any petri dishes! Is there anything I can use to substitute them?

[7th Grader]

Please respond as soon as possible!

[Kiara Brooks]

Hello,
I have been participating in science fairs for most of my life. I have to ask a question aobut the Who's Mouth is Cleaner:Peoples or Dog. Just one thing, how are you able to determine that if you only tested a limited amount of test subject. I say this because people have diffrent brushing habits and your dogs are raised by two diffrent owners. What factors did you consider and not consider in your project.

Thankyou and Goodnight!

[Kiara Brooks]

Hello,
I have been participating in science fairs for most of my life. I have to ask a question aobut the Who's Mouth is Cleaner:Peoples or Dog. Just one thing, how are you able to determine that if you only tested a limited amount of test subject. I say this because people have diffrent brushing habits and your dogs are raised by two diffrent owners. What factors did you consider and not consider in your project.

Thankyou and Goodnight!

[luke]

hi doctor shawn im in 7th grade and i need help on my prject

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[Sarah]

Hello. My experiment was; do organic or non-organic foods appeal more to people on average? I got to go to the regional science fair with this idea. Hope I helped someone, bye!

[Sarah]

Hello. My experiment was; do organic or non-organic foods appeal more to people on average? I got to go to the regional science fair with this idea. Hope I helped someone, bye!

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