Science Fair Project Ideas

[Anonymous]

I need some ideas for my 9 year old daughter's (3rd grade) science fair project.

[MattH]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
I need some ideas for my 9 year old daughter's (3rd grade) science fair project.

---

How about a simple data mining project?  Lots of data on the web, both in explicit form (various public databases) and IMPLICIT form (for instance, she could define categories of advertisements, then compare their relative frequencies on major websites, or whatever).  A bright third-grader could almost certainly do a much better job at presenting simple statistical data than the average corporate chartjunk purveyor!

In a world that is drowning in data, the ability to tell wheat from chaff is fast becoming an extremely important skill at all levels.  The past was dominated by who had access to the best data, but the future will be dominated by who has the best crap detector.

Here's an example of what one curriculum expects third-graders to learn in math class; I have seen plenty of evidence in the news media of politicians failing to understand what a bright third grader should know about graphs!

http://investigations.terc.edu/library/curric-gl/math_content_g3_2ed.pdf

Message Edited by MattH on 03-13-2009 07:22 AM

[haulingthescoreup]

Errr, and I was thinking baking-soda volcanoes!

Anyway, some fun sources for things like this are Girl Scout and Boy Scout handbooks. There are generally copies at the public library, and often at the school library. Since this is spring of her third grade, I'd suggest looking at Junior Girl Scout handbooks and Webelos handbooks. They often have projects that are part of badgework, and the materials are generally pretty easy to locate. Leader handbooks for these age groups also have ideas.

At any rate, there might be some ideas there that are off the beaten track. Springtime migration bird counts with backyard feeders, etc etc.

[Anonymous]

My son went to state with this one.

An easier way to dispose of disposable diapers.

In order to get the testing just right we discovered human waste has the same ph as humus (a food). He froze one with dry ice and crushed it. one was burned in the fire pit (gross) and I apologize but I can't recall the third.

It is a timely subject and there is a lot of information online to help.

Good Luck!

[marty56]

Little fluffy's (the cat) voyage into space.

[Anonymous]

I helped my nephew with a good one last year but I think it is too advanced for a 9 year old.. but I'll tell you anyway :-)

We did, "what antibacterial consumer products work best"

Took a cutting board and divided it into 6 parts, one was a control.

Took pieces of chicken and left them out over night on the cutting board in all 6 squares.

The next day we removed the chicken and rinsed the board in plain water, no rubbing.

Then we used various cleaners such as; lysol disinfectant spray, mr clean antibacterial all purpose, bath and body works hand sanitizer.. etc any you want. and we used separate rags for each one to wipe down (gently, no abrasiveness, more like a dabbing) the square that we assigned to that cleaner, none on the control square.

we let them sit for 30 minutes then using agar plates and sterile swabs that a hospital lab donated to us (thank you), we swabbed each area and made a Z pattern just once on the corresponding plate. 

We let those sit in the window sill (in the hot desert) for 24 hours then checked to see which ones had the most growth! it was beautiful and my nephew learned a lot in the process.

Some younger kids often do "can plants survive on soda" or something like that. 

Good Luck! 

Message Edited by mermaid81 on 03-14-2009 02:57 PM