School Science Project ideas
The following are ideas for kids ages 10 - 15 to do for science projects. I feel these are important because there is so much crap that people are believing, we actually need kids to show how easy it is to do evaluations. Consider that 10 year old Emily Rosa single-handedly (OK, mom and dad helped some) debunked a practice done by thousands of nurses and got big time press coverage at the same time.
1. Astrology. Get a $10 program and 10 volunteers who are not
familiar with their sign, have people see if they can figure out which reading
is them for the previous week. The trick is to have people try to
pick which one best describes them. Studies have already shown that no
astrological system works better
than chance. More on this subject at:
Activities
About Astrology
http://www.phact.org/e/astrolgy.htm
2. Super car mileage. See if car mileage changes if you strap a
magnet on a fuel line. You would need your parents to help keep mileage
records.
More on this subject at http://www.phact.org/e/dennis27.htm
3. Laundry balls. See if these magic little balls really help washing
machines clean better (under double blind tests) than either nothing or
soap. You could display purposely stained and soiled clothes washed with
either magnetized water, regular water or water and soap. There is
information on what I consider bogus laundry
balls at Laundry Balls (the
people selling them are cheats)
4. Pyramids. See if seeds germinate faster under one than seeds not under one.
5. The Exo-ultra-matic-pain-zapper. make some bogus box, have kids clap their hands until they hurt and then report if some mumbo jumbo and a bogus box makes the pain go away. This could prove how susceptible people are to placebo.
6. ESP. see if kids can pick up sent messages above chance. More
7. Magnet water. See if an area of grass watered with magnetized water grows better than regular water.
8 "the emperors new booze" (not paranormal - but controversial) See if a group of adults can really tell the difference between some cheap wine and snobby fancy wine. My guess is that adults just act like one kind of booze is better than another. It would be good for the display to warn of the many dangerous affects of alcoholism.
9. Sugar hype. See if people told one group of peers and has drunk more sugar water than another group think they are more hyper during the day. Most people believe that sugar hypes your up - the evidence now shows that sugar has little effect on kids activity levels - old people just think it does.
10. TV ghosts, tune to a nothing channel - see if people can really see that an image keeps drifting (pick a direction). Or if you can convince people they can cause the pattern to change. - there is a common psychological tendency for people to make meaning out of randomness.
11. Dopey Smokers. Get a set of intelligence test
puzzles. See how well smokers vs non-smokers do. You can also test
reflexes by having someone grasp their hand around (but not quite touch) the
bottom of a yardstick. Let it go and see how many inches it falls until they
grasp it. (by the way, just because you may prove that smokers are
dumber, does not necessarily mean the cigarettes made them dumb. It could
mean only dumb people smoke)You may find the following funny: Eric's Tobacco Addiction test
Existing tests show
that smoking seems to correlate with mental retardation and mental illness -
but it would be interesting to prove that it can make people stupid.
12. Does Flute Playing damage Hearing? On this, use a simple Radio Shack electronics kit to generate known power levels of tones at a frequency that can just barely be heard by most kids. Then see if bank kids who play flute in piccolo have a decreased level of hearing on their ear on the side they play. If it does - then get a few successive years of flute players to wear plugs on the one side and see if it helps.
13. Can yogurt prevent infectious diseases?. Many people feel that left over DNA fragments from bacteria (which yogurt is made from) activate the bodies immune system. Some cultures of people who eat yogurt are known for longevity. It may be that if you get two groups of mice and mix in yogurt into the feed of one group and then after a few weeks dunk both cages in dirty pond water for 20 seconds, that the treated group would have a much higher survival rate. (Note, there may be some more humane way to expose the mice to "infectious challenges" - but remember, that rodents have caused a lot more misery to humans through spreading plague than we will ever cause them).
14. Does bad cell phone reception cause bad driving? For some reason people can drive and talk to a passenger reasonably safely but people on cell phones are always driving right through red lights. Could it be that the bad sound quality of cell phones takes up so much brain power to make sense of that people don’t have enough brain power left over for driving? A way to test this hypothesis would be to have kids play a video game while talking on a regular phone and also while talking on a bad cell phone (Voicestream has pretty poor quality) – compare the scores. The press would likely be interested in this one.
I could go on and on with this stuff. Please report any results to me at
eric@phact.org
For more information on the value of critical thinking, Go to Eric's skeptic
page or his science page or sign up to
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Science Fair Websites
Submitted by Remy C.
Science Fair info from:
http://www.yahooligans.com
Science Fair Central - includes cool project ideas, a science fair
handbook, reviews of students' experiments, and more from Discovery Channel
School.
http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral
Science Fair Project Resource Guide - samples, ideas, magazines,
resources,
and more.
http://www.ipl.org/youth/projectguide
Math Ideas for Science Fair Projects - cool ideas for projects you can do
that involve the use of math.
http://mathforum.org/teachers/mathproject.html
What Makes a Good Science Fair Project? - short guide written by a group
of
experienced judges for the California State Science Fair.
http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/Resources/Good_Project.html
Math Projects for Science Fairs - suggestions for possible projects on
topics that could make exciting and interesting projects, from the Canadian
Mathematical Society.
http://camel.cecm.sfu.ca/Education/mpsf
Cyber Fair - see sample fair projects, look through other student's
examples, and see the steps involved in judging projects.
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/welcome.html
Experimental Science Projects - outlines steps in preparing a project
(complete with an ideas list), and suggests the best ways to prepare one at
different grade levels.
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/SciProjIntro.html
Bunsen Bob's Science Hunt - includes tons of science fair project ideas,
tips for creating successful projects, information on how judges think,
advice for your parents, and so much more!
http://www.sciencehunt.com/HuntHow.nsf/MainFrame?OpenFrameSet
California State Science Fair - read about this science fair which has
been
going on since 1952! You can learn how to enter, get help with your own
project, or see a directory of past projects.
http://www.usc.edu/CSSF
Ventura County Science Fair Ideas - get ideas for science projects on
several topics, or find out about this yearly fair in California.
http://www.west.net/~vcsf/vcsfidea.htm
Virtual Science Fair - projects, experiments, and inventions by first
through sixth graders.
http://www.parkmaitland.org/sciencefair/index.html
Park Maitland School - visit this Maitland, FL elementary school for
student and staff homepages, a virtual science fair, class headlines, and
alumni info!
http://www.parkmaitland.org
USGS: Science Fair Project Ideas - lots of earthquake science fair
project
ideas from the USGS!
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/4kids/sciencefair.html
Where can I get science fair project ideas?
http://www.yahooligans.com/content/ask_earl/20020123.html
Soil Science Education Page - check out some cool info on soil. Includes
soil songs, science fair ideas, and much more!
http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/globe/index.htm
Birch Hill Farm of Miniature Horses - get to know these unique horses
from
this breeding farm in Milford, Indiana. Includes photos of the horses and
stories about their 4-H Fair fun.
http://www.patsites.com/BirchHillFarm
Mr. Phillips' Science Page - science page with guides for a science fair,
planning curriculum, class expectations, homework help, and a garden club.
http://umu.massed.net/~wphillip/index.htm