Anybody have an interesting but inexpensive Science Fair Project idea?

[elehhhhna]

My 4th grader has one week to do it. Rather than testing brands of paper diapers or measuring condensation drops, I'm hoping someone here has a fun one.

[ZombieNixon]

1. Here's one. Test the acidity of various liquids.

The easy way: boil up some red cabbage and strain the juice. Red cabbage juice is a perfect neutral solution as well as an indicator. If you put something acidic (say, lemon juice) in it, it turns pinker. If you put a base in it (like ammonia), it turns blue.

That was my SF proj about then.

If you have to quantify it, then know that neutral pH is 7, lemon juice has a pH of 2 and ammonia has a pH of 10.

[elehhhhna]

4. Good one! Can't we buy PH strips to measure acidity or am I confused?

[ZombieNixon]

5. Sure you can, but the cabbage juice is the dead-end cheapest way.

If you wanted to impress the judges, you could do both and see which method is more accurate.

[elehhhhna]

6. That's whant I'm thinking. Thank you!

[Debbi801]

2. Last year, my 5th grader cleaned pennies...

(when she was in 4th grade) with various liquids--water, soda, apple juice, vinegar. She had to hypothesize on which liquid would clean the pennies best and she photographed her results.

Not sure what she is doing this year in 5th grade. :shrug: They're just beginning to start on it.

My 7th grader is designing paper airplanes to see which style (out of 3) flies the furthest. He is comparing them to a 'standard" balsa wood airplane that he bought at a hobby shop.

Previous years, he has wrapped ice cubes in various materials (paper towels, saran wrap, foil, fleece to see which would melt the fastest and also monitored his heart rate during different activities. A friend of my daughter's bought little seedlings and monitored their growth when watered with water, coffee, juice, etc.

Good luck!

[elehhhhna]

3. COOL! Thanks!

[Fleshdancer]

9. she should have used Taco Bell hot sauce...that REALLY cleans a penny

all of those projects sound great.

[Fleshdancer]

7. She can make a camera

Oddly enough, this is what I did for my 4th grade science project and it was really cool. Here's a website that explains how to do it: http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~mukluk/pin.html

My only complain is that I won 2nd place instead of 1st. I DESERVED 1st place damn it. I did all my own work and the photo came out clear. Who won? Tammy. With what you ask? She measured the temperature of different colored water. :eyes: Please. How does THAT beat a home made working camera?? It doesn't. Her mommy was head of the PTA and also the judge. :grr: Yep. I'm still bitter, but I'm ok with that.

The next year, I dyed cloth using the juices of various fruits and vegetables. If you do this, learn from my mistake and don't use coffee or beets. My died fabric made the entire gym stink.

on edit: I dyed the cloth, not "died" the cloth. lol

[Squatch]

8. Potassium permangenate, aluminum, and iron oxide

Add glycerine, stand back, and enjoy.

Gets 'em every time.

[elehhhhna]

15. what happens? they have a "no explosions/volcanos" rule. lol

[Squatch]

16. Well, there goes that idea.

Try growing crystals out of supersaturated liquids.

[lakemonster11]

10. I made a solar oven in elementary school.

I don't remember exactly how to do it, but I'm pretty sure it just involved lining a cardboard box with aluminum foil and setting up a mirror/glass on a hinge on top to reflect the sunlight into the oven. I roasted some potatoes in it.

Here's one description of how to do it:
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/articles/build-a-solar-oven-project.html

[Fleshdancer]

13. that sounds cool! n/t

[lakemonster11]

21. It was!

This one looks like mine:



http://www.solarcooking.org/minimum.htm

[AllegroRondo]

11. Some that did well at my daughter's school

1- analyze local weather reports from different radio/tv stations and newspapers to see whose is the most accurate

2- compare different brands of microwave popcorn to see which has the most / least unpopped kernels

3- test the reflexes of students using the 'yard stick drop' method, compare results based on gender, grade, etc. (this is where you drop a yardstick between the subject's thumb and forefinger, and measure how many inches if falls before the can catch it)

[rustydog]

12. Make a model of how the ear works:

it takes an empty oatmeal cereal tube (ear canal) paper plate (ear lobe)
tissue paper and rubber band (ear drum) string, tape, thumbtack, drinking straw (3 ear bones; malleus, incus, stapes)

You trace out the tube on the paper plate and cut out. tape the plate to an end of the tube.
Stretch tissue paper tightly over other end of tube and set in place with rubber band.
Tape a piece of string to the tissue end of the tube tie and tape the straw to the string end. poke the tack into the end of the straw. the end of the straw & tack should touch the center of the tissue paper drum.

When you make a sharp noise at the ear lobe end, the noise wave moves the paper making the 3 iner ear bones move making the noise signal travel up the string to the "brain".

[Strong Atheist]

14. Egg packaging. Find out how little (weight wise) it

takes to protect an egg in a fall of X feet.

[frogmarch]

17. DNA Extraction

It's fun and fairly easy to do. I think it would be an interesting school science project.

http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/activities/extraction/

[CarpeDiebold]

20. whoa that's intense!

[KitchenWitch]

18. Make a model of the solar system

[ET Awful]

19. Perpetual motion device?

:P

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

22. Here's one!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/

Oh... wait... you said INexpensive... nevermind. :D

[seemunkee]

23. How slow is molasses?

In comparison to other liquids?

[bertha katzenengel]

24. Cup of Dirt.

Sorry... from a Brian Regan stand-up comedy routine. :hi:

[Kali]

25. related to the watering plants with different stuff

try "pollutants" used motor oil, laundry detergents, soap (grey water), other cleaning products, paint, etc.

We did this one year using seeds but you don't have much time so you will have to buy already growing plants - to get real extravagant one might see what common garden plants are more resistant to polutants by doing several trials.

[Lisa]

26. organic packaging (possible replacements for styrofoam chips?)

For background, do a little research on environmental impacts of foam manufacturing (petrochemicals, etc.) -- formerly CFCs were used, and though they have now been phased out because of the ozone layer protection laws, the substitutes can also cause problems. So in the interests of waste reduction, it would be good to use packing materials which are recyclable, or at least will decompose. (Could also do some research on the amount of non-biodegradable packing materials which are discarded, in your town -- call businesses, schools, etc.)

Get a bunch of similar-sized cardboard boxes and some identical glassware, or little cartons of eggs. Devise some stress tests for them (throw boxes off building, throw heavy stuff on top of them, etc.) Compare styrofoam pellets to other materials -- wadded newspapers, popcorn? (Some companies also make starch pellets which degrade naturally, but they're sometimes hard to find.)