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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Levitating Magnets: Floating Isn't Just for Magicians

For Students 3rd - 5th
If you ever seen a magician float an object in the air, you might think that levitation is just a magic trick, but the truth is you can use an invisible physical force to levitate a magnet. Try this simple, week-long science project to...
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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...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Height Limits and Linearity of Bouncy Balls

For Students 9th - 10th
You might think that plants and animals have little in common with batteries, springs, or slingshots, but they actually do have something in common. Both living and non-living things store and transfer energy from one form to another. In...
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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...
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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...
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Science Buddies: Slime Chemistry

For Students 3rd - 5th
Have you ever wondered how fun toys like Silly Putty, Gak, and Slime are made? These products are so much fun because of the properties of polymers, which make them delightfully bouncy, stretchy, sticky, moldable, breakable, hard, soft,...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Science Careers: Industrial Safety and Health Engineer

For Students 9th - 10th
On the job safety is an important goal for industry. The industrial safety and health engineer is the one responsible for recognizing risks, and developing strategies to address them. This Science Buddies site lays out the requirements...
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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...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Distance and Speed of Rolling Objects

For Students 9th - 10th
This project is an experiment in classical physics. You'll be following in Galileo's footsteps, and investigating Newton's laws of motion, but you'll be taking advantage of modern video recording technology to make your measurements. The...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Power Kicks: The Physics of Martial Arts

For Students 9th - 10th
If the discipline, precision, and power of martial arts is your bag, try this project out for size. You won't be sparring with any opponent other than a swinging kick bag, but you'll learn a few powerful lessons about the physics of...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Converting Potential Energy to Kinetic Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
If you'd like to investigate the physics of amusement park rides, then this project is for you. You'll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape, and see how much the marble's potential energy...
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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.
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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...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies:brain Body Connection: Can Exercise Make Our Brains Work Better?

For Students 3rd - 6th
We all know physical exercise is important to keeping our bodies fit. But how important is physical exercise to your brain? In other words, is there any connection between an active body and increased brain power? This is an easy project...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Guitar Fundamentals: Wavelength, Frequency, & Speed

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a rockin' project for guitarists with an interest in the physics behind music. If you have ever wondered why the pitch of the note changes when you fret the string, this project will help you understand by applying basic...
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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.
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Walking Coins on a (Vertical!) 'High Wire'

For Students 9th - 10th
Here is a project that is almost like a magic trick: with a strong magnet and a simple apparatus you can build yourself, you can make a coin "walk" up and down a wire coat hanger. This project is an interesting way to learn about the...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Measuring the Speed of 'Light' With a Microwave Oven

For Students 9th - 10th
In this experiment, you will measure the speed of light using a microwave oven, some egg white, and a ruler. This short project proves to be an extremely interesting choice for a science lab, with pictures for illustration, and thorough...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Build a Motorboat Powered by Surface Tension

For Students 3rd - 8th
If you look carefully, you could find dozens of similar interesting phenomena that are all linked to the surface tension of water. Here is a project that will help you understand and measure the properties of water surface tension.
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Does Color Affect Heating by Absorption of Light?

For Students 9th - 10th
Light is an example of an electromagnetic wave. Electromagnetic waves can travel through the vacuum of interstellar space. They do not depend on an external medium-unlike a mechanical wave such as a sound wave which must travel through...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Measuring Light Intensity Using the Inverse Square Law

For Students 9th - 10th
You've probably heard that compact fluorescent light bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs. More of the electricity they use goes into producing light, and less into producing heat than with incandescent bulbs. How much more...
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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...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Roller Coaster Marbles: How Much Height to Loop the Loop?

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a really fun project even if you don't like going on roller coasters yourself. You'll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape, and see how much of an initial drop is required to get...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: What Is the Maximum Intermediate Height for a Siphon?

For Students 9th - 10th
If you have ever had a fish tank, you have owned an operating siphon. A siphon is a handy device for emptying out a liquid reservoir that has no drain. As a result, they are great for cleaning fish tanks. Liquid in a siphon flows...