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Free Resources
and Free Access
What Makes a Good Project?
Want to create the best possible science project? You’re in
exactly the right place! While you’re here browsing for the
perfect project, don’t forget to check out our library of free
project advices.
Ever wonder why some science project ideas are better
than others? Discover the answer right here...
Read
more.
Choose Your Project
We’ve got nearly 1,000 projects.
Try to choose one
that’ll teach you something you’ve always wanted to know!
Look at the list of Science
Project ideas for your grade. If they are divided to different
science categories (physics, chemistry, ...), then narrow down
your choice to one of the existing categories. Finally look at
the list of project in your favorite category and select the
ones that you are interested in. For each project you are
interested in, you may click on the project title and see the
Introduction page. After reviewing the introductory information,
you can choose one as your project.
If you want to come up with a
new idea, these are some of your options:
- Use your experiences Remember a time you noticed something
and thought "I wonder how that works?" or "I wonder
what would happen if..." then turn that into a project.
Check the science section of the school library. Browse
and look at book titles, then look inside the ones that look
interesting to you. Also thumb through encyclopedias and magazines.
Good magazines for ideas are: National Geographic, Discover,
Omni, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Mother Earth News,
High Technology, Prevention, and Garbage. Perhaps go to the downtown
Library.
- Think about current events. Look at the newspaper.
People are hungry in Africa because of droughts - a project on
growing plants without much rain, which types grow ok with little
water? Or the ozone hole over Antarctica - how can we reduce
ozone? -a project on nonaerosol ways to spray things. Or oil
spills. how can we clean them up? -a project on how to clean
oil out of water
- Watch commercials on TV. Test their claims. Does that
anti-perspirant really stop wetness better than other ones? What
are the real differences between Barbie and imitation Barbie
dolls? Can kids tell the difference between coke and pepsi if
they don't know which they are drinking?
When you have a new idea for
your science project, you may still be able to get support for
your project. All you need is to be an Advanced member and have
the approval of your project advisor for your project.
Do Your Project
Understand the key steps you’ll need to follow to get
accurate data you can really use. Following are the steps you
take while doing your project.
- Gather Background Information
Gather information about your topic from books, magazines, the
Internet, people and companies.
Keep notes about where you got your info
- Scientific Method
State the Purpose of your experiment - What are you trying to
find out?
Select a variable (something you will change/vary) that will
help you find your answer.
State your Hypothesis - your guess about what the answer will
be.
Decide on and describe how you will change the variable you selected.
Decide on and describe how you will measure your results.
- Run Controlled Experiment and Record Data
Do the experiment as described above.
Keep notes in one place. Write down everything you can think
of, you might need it later.
Your project guide usually
contains samples of gathered information, purpose, hypothesis,
variables and experiments.
Present Your Project
Turn your data into knowledge... then turn your knowledge
into an outstanding display! Following are some important steps
to consider for presenting your project.
- Graphs and Charts
What happened? Answer that question, then put the results in
graphs and charts.
- Construct an Exhibit
or Display
It has to be neat, but it does NOT have to be typed.
Make it fun, but be sure people can understand what you did.
Show that you used the Scientific Method.
- Write a short Report
Tell the story of your project - tell what you did and
exactly how you did it.
Include a page that shows where you gathered background
information. It can be 2 pages or even more.
- Practice
Presentation to Judges
Practice explaining your project to someone (parent, friend,
grandparent, etc.) This will help you be calm on Science
Fair Day. The judges are very nice and will be interested in
what you did and what you learned.
Project guides have links to
the instructions for making graph, making display boards and
writing reports.
Tip: Get a Project Kit
Short on time? Don’t want to spend hours tracking down all
the components you need to build your project? Visit our
affiliated scientific suppliers for low-cost kits
and hard-to-find materials! No more guessing whether a part will
do the job... we’ve bundled it all together for you!
Following are affiliated
suppliers:
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