IDEAS / TOPICS FOR SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS



Products Testing
  • Which soap works better
  • Which fertilizer makes plants grow healthier
  • Which motor oil withstands heat the best
  • Which gasoline provides better fuel economy?
  • Detergent properties
  • Washing in hard water/soft water
  • Cell phone reception
  • Calculation speed on computers
  • Frozen foods and taste
  • Radiation to preserve food
Botany
  • The effect of different light on plants (vary intensity, color)
  • Hydroponic Plants
  • Growing Plants with different soils / fertilizers
  • Plant Growth and Artificial Lighting
  • The effects of crowding in plant life
  • Microscopic structure of plant cells
  • Osmosis in plants
  • Plant diversity in a field
  • Plant genetics
  • Plant diseases
  • Plant-insect relationship
  • Plant identification
  • Phosphate effects
  • Fossil plants
Zoology
  • Animal territoriality (mice, rats, etc..)
  • Animal societies
  • Animal sounds
  • Food habits
  • Migration studies
  • Motion studies
  • Habitats
Earth Science
  • Effects of water impurities in plant growth
  • Effects of magnetic fields on plant growth
  • Organic Fertilizer vs. Chemical Fertilizers
  • Erosion Control
  • Biodegradability
  • Air purification methods
  • Water purification methods (filtering/distillation)
  • Analysis of lightning strikes
  • Depletion of ozone layer
  • Global warming
  • Local rain fall patterns
  • Rock and mineral classification
  • Physical properties of minerals
  • Local weather computer model
  • Recycling and landfill space
Physics
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Magnetically Levitated Trains
  • Aerodynamics (wind tunnel)
  • Motion
  • Friction
  • Electrochemical cells
  • How to tell a positive battery pole
  • How does a dry cell generate electricity
  • Testing the strength of electromagnetic fields
  • Can electricity be produced by friction
  • What is a spark?
  • Compare sliding and rolling motion
  • How to make heat by friction
  • What factors does the force of friction depend on
  • Reducing friction
  • Transmission, reflection, and adsorption of colors
  • Light refraction
  • Speed of sound
  • Mechanical advantage
Engineering
  • Test different metals (conductivity, tensile strength, heat dissipation)
  • Analog computers
  • Autonomous robots
  • Electrostatic precipitation
  • Electroplating
  • Solar furnace
  • Solid state lasers
  • Conductivity of metals
Mathematics
  • Boolean algebra
  • Learning algorithms
  • Symbolic logic
  • Probability
  • Survey accuracy
  • Fuzzy logic
  • Calculation accuracy of pocket calculators
  • Chaotic systems
  • Random systems





The Scientific Method involves the following steps:
1.  Observation- You observe something in the material world, using your senses or machines which are basically extensions of those senses. 
2.  Question- You ask a question about what you observe. 
3.  Hypothesis- You predict what you think the answer to your question might be
4.  Method - You figure out a way to test whether hypothesis is correct. The outcome must be measureable. (quantifiable) 
5.  Result- You do the experiment using the method you came up with and record the results. You repeat the experiment to confirm your results. 
6.  Conclusion- You state whether your prediction was confirmed or not and try to explain your results.
A conclusion will often lead to another question, which can lead to another experiment, which can lead to another conclusion, and on and on. Science is like doing a giant puzzle, with the handicap that you are missing an unknown number of pieces. Each new scientific fact is a piece of the puzzle. Each new piece can change the appearance of entire sections of the picture or fit where one did not expect it to. When scientists have an answer to a question they have asked, they share their results with other scientists in papers, magazine articles, lectures, posters or displays at conventions. This way, new puzzle pieces can be checked out, and the fit tested. You will present your results at the science fair in the form of a display. 

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