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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Can You Change the Rate of a Chemical Reaction?

For Students 9th - 10th
The ingredients in Alka-Seltzer tablets undergo a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide gas as soon as the tablets hit water. Do you think you can cause the tablets to produce gas faster by breaking them into smaller pieces...
Lesson Plan
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Measuring the Earth's Core With Seismic Waves

For Teachers 9th - 10th
When an earthquake occurs, seismic shock waves travel out through the earth from the source of the event. The shock waves travel through the earth (body waves), or along the Earth's surface (surface waves), and can be recorded at remote...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Do Milkweed Bugs Show a Color Preference for Egg Laying Sites?

For Students 6th - 8th
Milkweed bugs, as their name suggests, have a close relationship with the milkweed plant. The plant produces a milky sap, and toxic compounds, but somehow the milkweed bug is unaffected by them. Instead, it concentrates chemicals from...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: What Seeds Do Birds Prefer to Eat?

For Students 5th - 8th
In this project you'll build a bird feeding platform with four separate feeding areas. You'll be able to observe birds at close range, find out what birds inhabit your area, and learn about their seed-eating preferences. So get out your...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Applying Hooke's Law: Make Your Own Spring Scale

For Students 9th - 10th
Hooke's law says that the opposing force of a spring is directly proportional to the amount by which the spring is stretched. How accurately Hooke's law describe the behavior of real springs? Can springs be used to make accurate scales...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Beach Bum Science: Compression of Wet Sand

For Students 9th - 10th
Did you ever notice the cool patterns around your footprints when you take a walk in the wet sand at the beach? The pressure of your feet has effects far outside your footprints. Here's a project that uses a simple experimental apparatus...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Make Your Own P H Paper

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this "kitchen chemistry" project about acid/base chemistry, you will measure the acidity or alkalinity of a solution using a logarithmic scale called the pH scale. As you learn about the pH scale, you will have the chance to make your...
Activity
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...
Activity
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: What Makes Ice Melt Fastest?

For Students 6th - 8th
If you live in a place that gets cold in the winter, you have most likely seen trucks spreading a mixture of sand and salt on the streets after a snowfall to help de-ice roads. This basic chemistry project gives you clues to discover how...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Saturated Solutions: Measuring Solubility

For Students 9th - 10th
Many essential chemical reactions and natural biochemical processes occur in liquid solutions, so understanding the chemical properties of liquid solutions is fundamentally important. This project will challenge you to discover how much...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Wave Blockers

For Students 3rd - 5th
What do the radio, TV, radio controlled cars, and cell phones all have in common? They all use invisible waves to transmit information. Find out which materials block radio waves, and which materials allow radio waves to pass through in...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Do Submarines Need Fins?

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this science project, you can investigate how submarines use stabilizing fins to move forward. Exploring friction and buoyant force you will get closer to understanding how these large ships function. Research resources are included...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Is That Cat Fat?

For Students 3rd - 5th
There are over 58 million overweight cats and dogs in the United States alone. In this science project you will determine what percentage of the pets you know are overweight and how their weights compare to weight of pets throughout the...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How Does a Chick Breathe Inside Its Shell?

For Students 3rd - 5th
Whether a chick can breathe inside its shell is an interesting question. Every animal needs oxygen to survive, so the chick must get air somehow. Try this science project to discover if the pores in a chicken egg shell allow water to...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Liver Stinks!

For Students 3rd - 5th
Sometimes science can be really messy or use pretty disgusting ingredients. That is what it takes to understand how the world works, even if the experiment isn't pretty. If you like chemical reactions that stink and ooze foamy bubbles...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Do Oranges Lose or Gain Vitamin C After Being Picked?

For Students 9th - 10th
Are oranges highest in vitamin C when they are fresh from the tree (or, in a pinch, the grocery shelf)? In this project you'll learn how to measure the amount of vitamin C in a solution using an iodine titration method.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Solar Speedway

For Students 6th - 8th
Solar power is hot these days. Gleaming, black solar panels soak up rays on more and more rooftops of homes and businesses providing a clean, alternative source of heat and electricity. You might guess that different times of the day...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: What Electric Bills Can Tell You About Energy Use

For Students 9th - 10th
This project is a great way to "bring home" the concept of energy use. All you need to get started is a good-sized sample of monthly electric bills from households in your area. Building from this simple beginning, you can ask questions...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Deep Knee Bends: Measuring Knee Stress With a Mechanical Model

For Students 9th - 10th
Prosthetic limbs and artificial joints can help people with disease or injury lead a normal life. Sports medicine or physical therapy is also an area that relates to this experiment. Either way, this project serves as a good match if any...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Measuring Your Threshold of Hearing

For Students 9th - 10th
How your ears and your brain turn the sound waves out there in the world into the experience of music in your head, remains a mystery to many, but yet we all experience and even enjoy sounds and music. If you're interested in doing a...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Twirls, Whirls, Spins, & Turns: Reflexes & Dizziness

For Students 9th - 10th
Tilt-A-Whirls, Merry-Go-Rounds, Spinning Tea Cups. Just the thought of these rides is enough to make someone dizzy, or queasy. Learn about spins, turns, and the mixed signals that fire in our brains when the sensation of dizziness takes...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Can Garlic Prevent Crown Gall?

For Students 9th - 10th
Crown gall is a plant disease caused by the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This project uses tomato plants to investigate whether garlic extract can prevent crown gall infection. Though this is a lengthy experiment, a...
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Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Singing Wine Glasses

For Students 6th - 8th
Making a glass sing is not always as easy as it looks. This project explains the science behind the interesting hobby. You will be asked how the amount of fluid within a glass affects its pitch.