Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Give It a Lift With a Lever

For Students 3rd - 8th
Simple machines allow us to do difficult tasks like lifting objects heavier than our body weight. In this science project you'll build a tabletop lever and measure how much effort it takes to lift an object by altering the length of the...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: Make a Phonograph From Everyday Items

For Students Pre-K - 1st
In this physics science fair project, the student will use common materials to play back sound from a vinyl record album. The student will investigate what kinds of materials produce the best sound. The Science Buddies project ideas are...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Forensics: How Does It Matter? Measure the Spatter!

For Students 9th - 10th
Every criminal leaves behind evidence at the crime scene. The trick to catching the criminal is collecting all of the evidence and making sense of it. This is what the forensic expert does. In this science project you will be correlating...
Website
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Career Profile: Park Ranger

For Students 9th - 10th
Working in beautiful scenery is just one of the perks of being a park ranger. This Science Buddies site lays out the requirements needed to become a park ranger, as well as the education and job description. Included are interviews with...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: Popping an Ollie: Skateboards and Physics

For Students 3rd - 5th
In this science fair project, investigate the effect of speed on the distance and height of the skateboard trick the "ollie". The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Swing Low: Investigate the Motion of a Pendulum

For Students 3rd - 5th
Kids love to ride the swings at the playground. The back-and-forth motion of a swing demonstrates the physics of a pendulum. In this experiment, you will investigate the factors that affect the speed and duration of a pendulum's swing.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Long Will My Sleepy Yo Yo Sleep?

For Students 9th - 10th
Yo-yo's are a fun toy and there is nothing simpler than a string wrapped between two connected disks. But there's a lot of physics that makes a yo-yo work. In this science fair project, learn more about how and why a yo-yo works. You...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Physics of Cheating in Baseball

For Students 9th - 10th
This week-long project asks you to examine the density of certain materials, such as "corked" baseball bats and regular baseball bats, and whether they can cause a ball to travel different distances.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Supercooling Water and Snap Freezing

For Students 6th - 8th
Can water remain liquid below its normal freezing point? If it does, that water is supercool(-ed). This project shows you a method for supercooling water. You can test water from different sources to see whether or not it can be...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Fast Can You Shoot a Hockey Puck?

For Students 6th - 8th
In this project, you'll need: a puck, a hockey stick, a tape measure, at least one helper with a stopwatch and an empty rink. Have your friend start the watch just as you make contact with the puck, and stop it when the puck hits the...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Heart Health: How Does Heart Rate Change With Exercise?

For Students 6th - 8th
Your heart starts beating before you are born and keeps right on going through your whole life. Over an average lifetime, the human heart beats more than 2.5 billion times. Keeping your heart healthy means eating right, not smoking, and...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: What's the Fastest Way to Cool a Soda?

For Students 9th - 10th
When you are craving an ice cold drink of soda, the last thing you want is to be stuck with a bunch of soda cans at room temperature. This fun science experiment sends you on a discovery to find the fastest way to cool soda with...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Build a 'Breath Spray Bomb' to Study Small Explosion

For Students 9th - 10th
Hold onto your hats. In this science fair project, you will make a device that sends a film canister across the room with a small chemical explosion. The energy for the explosion is derived from the combustion of ethanol. You will...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Building Beaches

For Students 3rd - 5th
A day at the beach is a wonderful way to spend time with your family and friends. You can swim, play games, and build sand castles. But have you ever thought about how all of that sand got there and wondered why the shoreline weaves in...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Strength of an Electromagnet

For Students 3rd - 5th
Has anyone ever told you that you have a magnetic personality? Have you ever heard that opposites attract? These common phrases are both based on the properties of magnets and magnetic electricity. In this science fair project, learn how...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Project Ideas: How Primary Colors Combine to Make New Colors

For Students 3rd - 5th
In this science fair project, paint color pie slices onto a wheel and spin the wheel on an electric drill. See how colors add together to make new colors. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Abracadabra! Levitating With Eddy Currents!

For Students 9th - 10th
Did you know that not all trains run on tracks? Some of the world's fastest trains are magnetic levitation trains (maglev). This means that the carriage of the train is suspended over the rails with no support, but only with magnetic...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Cat's Meow: Designing an Enrichment Toy

For Students 9th - 10th
A great Science Fair project that involves analyzing your cat's behavior and designing toys that will be stimulating both physically and mentally. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract,...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Outer Space, the Silent Frontier: An Experiment on Sound Waves

For Students 3rd - 5th
In outer space there is utter silence. There are no sounds of traffic jams or thunderstorms or crashing waves. No buzzing bees or babies crying. Just silence. In this experiment, you will discover why empty space is void of sound.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Under Pressure: Ball Bouncing Dynamics

For Students 6th - 8th
Many sports use a ball in some way or another. We throw them, dribble them, hit them, kick them, and they always bounce back. What makes a ball so bouncy? In this experiment you can investigate the effect of air pressure on ball bouncing.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Physical and Chemical Changes

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The teacher will conduct the whoosh bottle demonstration to engage students. The class will then begin discussion of endothermic and exothermic physical and chemical changes. The students will then conduct the Science in Motion lab...
Website
Edutopia

Edutopia: Room to Learn: Mystery Science Theatre

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Read and see examples of how one physics teacher turns his classroom into a student-centered, project-based and fun place to be.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Let's Get Physical! (Or Chemical Weathering)

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This lesson helps students learn the differences between physical and chemical weathering. Students will complete various activities in which they identify and describe the type of weathering that is taking place.This lesson plan was...
Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Colliding Spheres

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lab activity from the Illinois Institute of Technology lets students investigate the impact of collisions upon the velocity and momentum of the colliding objects. Requires understanding of vectors.