Tech Science Fair Projects: 10 Innovative Ideas for High School Students
What is a science fair.
As a high school student, science fairs are the perfect opportunity to get involved with research and different projects that can show your interests.A science fair is an event where students can research a topic of their choice and show it to a panel of judges, peers, teachers, and the general public. Often, this research is presented in the form of scientific projects, experiments, or reports. A science fair allows you to apply the scientific method or the engineering design process in real-life situations. It is also a great opportunity for those interested in other fields to merge their interests with science and engage in interdisciplinary projects! If you’re someone who is interested in computer science and technology, entering a science fair with a tech project could be a great starting point.
What are the elements of a good science project?
It first begins with a journey of discovery, driven by curiosity! 1. Identifying a problem: Through identifying a problem, you can start proposing a relevant hypothesis or raising a relevant question! 2. Conducting thorough background research and covering multiple aspects of the problem statement / research question. 3. Solid experiment design: The conclusions you will draw will only be as good as your experiment set up and data collection mechanism. You will be judged on how well you follow scientific methods of experiment design. 4. Data collection, documentation and analysis: using the right analytical and statistical tools will be important, so be sure to figure out your skill sets and bridge any gaps. 5. Presenting findings: This would mean presentations, focusing on communications, and thinking through potential questions. Last, but certainly not the least, understand and think through any ethical questions in your experiment.
Why should you participate in science fairs?
One of the main benefits of participating in a science fair is highlighting your ability to apply your theoretical knowledge to practical problems and projects - a skill college admission officers highly value! Science fairs are also an opportunity to network with peers and professionals in your field. These connections can show your commitment to your chosen field and are excellent references for letters of recommendation and future job prospects! It is important to note that projects you work on will likely require you to have basic programming skills. This would mean a foundational understanding of programming concepts like variables, loops, conditional statements, functions, and at least one programming language. However, there are some great tech projects that are great for you if you are looking to get started!
1. AI-enhanced Recipe Developer
This is a beginner-friendly topic where your bot can suggest recipes based on available ingredients! You could include a health analysis where the bot can analyze the nutritional count, macronutrients, and more. You could also add a feature where your bot can suggest ingredients from different sites that complement the recipes you choose to do. If you want to challenge yourself, add an ingredient substitution feature where your bot recommends different ingredients based on your allergens or preference! An existing app that does recipe development is Yummly ; however, you have to pay to unlock all of the features. Skill Level: Beginner Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of basic programming skills (e.g., Python, JavaScript) Limitations: You might only cover some possible recipes or ingredients (e.g., Being unaware of regional recipes and ingredients).
2. AI Athlete Performance Tracker
This is another project for beginners where you can develop a basic mobile app that allows athletes to input their training statistics. This could include their workout routines, daily timings, and vitals. Over time, the app could analyze this data and give athletes insights into their performance. Moreover, it can provide suggestions for areas the athlete needs to improve. There are a lot of Athlete Performance Trackers, such as Sports Performance Tracking and STAT Sports . You can create a virtual coach to provide real-time feedback during workouts to make your project unique. An alternate option is to predict any injuries based on the athlete's physical condition! Skill Level: Beginner Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of basic programming skills (e.g., Python, Web development) Limitations: The accuracy of the data is based on the inputs given by athletes, which can be manipulated.
3. Virtual Reality Museum Tour
If you enjoy visiting museums, you should consider developing a virtual reality application where users can get an interactive museum tour. You could add details about the exhibits and objects, even given virtual brochures for information. To stand out, you could add interactive features such as a historical reenactment or allow users to compare each exhibition to other museums worldwide. If you are interested in history, this project is perfect for you! Skill Level: Basic Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of programming languages such as Unity, C#, or similar languages. Limitations: You will have to integrate your app with VR hardware.
4. AI-Driven Personalized Fashion Stylist
If you are interested in fashion, you could merge your interest in fashion and coding by developing a personalized fashion stylist! For this project, you could have users fill out a quiz for their style and then recommend daily outfits based on what is in their closets and most appropriate for the weather. Another element you could add is recommending pieces someone can purchase based on style! Skill Level: Beginner Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of basic programming languages (Python, web development experience would also help) Limitations: The recommendations might not suit everyone’s taste, i.e., it will be a longer-term project to have the app give perfect suggestions.
5. Plant Disease Tracker
A disease tracker is helpful for farmers and casual gardeners as they can upload pictures of plants to detect any diseases. Your program can use image-based detection to identify any defect in the plant and suggest treatment accordingly. You can also add a community chat feature where more experienced farmers can give their advice! A project you could take inspiration from is Prisha Bhat who won 1st Place in Agriculture and Food Security in the 2023 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) . Her project explores how genetically-modified rice results in the breakdown of arsenic in natural environments. Skill Level: Beginner Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of basic programming languages (Python, web development experience would also help). Limitations: The detection accuracy is highly dependent on the quality of the image.
6. AI Health Assistant
You can use AI to create an app that can act as an assistant - making medical appointments, tracking users' vitals, recovering previous records, and tracking health data. If you are into health sciences, this is a good introduction tousing medical data to give viable medical advice! A more advanced form of this project is Doctor.AI - an AI-powered bot that processes patient symptoms, identifies correct treatment, and acts as an assistant physician! A project in this topic was done by Lakshika Nanda Kumar Reddy who used Machine Learning to detect cataracts from front-view retinal images. Her project won 3rd place in the Global Health category of the 2023 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) ! Skill Level: Intermediate Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of basic programming languages (e.g., Python, JavaScript) Limitations: Cannot substitute medical advice and can only be used for tracking historical data compared to prescribing treatment.
7. In-Time Communication Translator
An In-time communication translator would help overcome language boundaries in a foreign country! The key here would be to focus on the accuracy to make the program as valuable as possible. To stand out, you could include special features such as real-time multilingual group chats (where people from different cultures can interact without a language barrier) or create a translator that adopts a native accent when translating! However, this will require a more advanced understanding of programming. Skill Level: Intermediate Prior Knowledge Required: Programming languages such as Python/Javascript (Note. Knowledge of natural language processing will be very useful!) Limitations: The accuracy of the translations can fluctuate (E.g., It might not be able to detect everyday slang used).
8. AI-Based Educational Platform
If you want to create an app that students can use, you could develop an online tuition platform that helps students across all subjects. Choosing to create this will involve concepts such as sentiment analysis and named entity recognition, user-feedback analysis and more! Additionally, through collaborative and content-based filtering, you can also personalize their work based on their workloads and scores based on previous assignments. Some existing platforms use this model, such as Knowji , but you can tailor your app based on the requirements of your peers (e.g., Focusing on subjects where scores tend to drop as a whole)! Skill Level: Intermediate Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of basic programming languages (Python, web development experience would also help) Limitations: It can only cover some subjects effectively, and tailoring the app is limited based on your added levels and materials.
9. App to Assist the Elderly
For another project that caters to the community, you could create an app to help the elderly in your area. It could give them basic tutorials on using technology, tracking their health, and sending signals if their vitals are dropping. This project combines existing apps such as Pill Reminder Pro or Senior Safety App (which allows caregivers to monitor the elderly from their phones). Another fun feature would be a chat where the elderly can communicate with younger people, ask for help, or have some company! Students like Kosha Upadhyay, Bellevue Senior High School, won third place in May 2022 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) with her project that cognitively profiles individuals and personalized therapy recommendation for dementia patients! Skill Level: Intermediate Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of basic programming languages (e.g., Python, JavaScript) Limitations: To effectively monitor vitals, you might need to integrate your app with hardware (Note. This is a unique idea that can be integrated with smartwatches!)
10. Mental Health Chatbot
If you are interested in psychology, you could use AI to create a personalized mental health chatbot. The bot could adapt its answers based on the emotional state of the user and could suggest daily mindfulness exercises to practice. It could also recommend highly ranked specialists in different price ranges so any individual can get expert advice when required! An example of this project done on a larger scale is the Woebot app! Woebot uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to provide daily therapy sessions for anxiety and depression. Some student projects include Kosha Upadhyay, Bellevue Senior High School, who won Note: If you want your app to be accurate, connect with Mental Health Professionals who can guide you with the right mindfulness exercises. They can also help identify when the bot needs to recommend professional treatment! Skill Level: Intermediate Prior Knowledge Required: Knowledge of basic programming languages (Python, web development experience would also help) Limitations: Mental health is a sensitive topic, and your app cannot replace any treatment professionals give. You will need to be knowledgeable in psychology and research the proper resources to provide.
If you’re looking to build unique projects in the field of AI/ML, consider applying to Veritas AI !
Veritas AI was founded by Harvard graduate students, and through the programs, you get a chance to learn the fundamentals of AI and computer science while collaborating on real-world projects. You can also work 1-1 with mentors from universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more to create unique, personalized projects. In the past year, we had over 1000 students learn data science and AI with us. You can apply here !
12 Free Computer Science Programs for High School Students
Everything you need to win the microsoft imagine cup.
25 Science Projects Ideas From Easy to Hard
By Alex Yang
Graduate student at Southern Methodist University
14 minute read
Science fairs can be invaluable experiences that help you explore a specific topic and also teach you the principles of scientific discovery. Science experiments also offer opportunities for you to showcase your creativity and can be a great springboard to further academic or career pursuits in STEM. An added bonus is that you usually have a finished product that you can proudly showcase to others and put on your resume.
However, it’s easy to get stuck on what science fair project to do as there are so many ideas to choose from. In this article we’ll go over 25 science fair project ideas that can hopefully provide some inspiration and also don’t require fancy or expensive materials. Want even more inspiration, explore our Project Ideas Generator and find the project idea perfect for you.
1. How Different Types of Light Affect Vitamin C Content in Fruits
This easy science fair project involves studying how different light sources affect the vitamin C content of fruits. You can expose samples of different fruits to varied light conditions, including natural sunlight, LED, and fluorescent light. Then, using some potassium iodide and a sheet of watercolor paper, you can measure the vitamin C content of the fruits. Here’s an article and video to help you with the vitamin C test .
Difficulty: Easy
Topic: Chemistry
Materials Needed: Fruits, light sources, 3% aqueous solution of iodine in potassium iodide, a sheet of watercolor paper, a cotton ball, a disposable plastic cup.
2. The Effects of Exercise on Heart Rate
This project investigates how different types of exercise impact heart rate. By measuring heart rate before, during, and after activities such as running, cycling, and jumping jacks, you can analyze how the heart and body respond to exercise and which movements push your heart rate the most. You can then do further research into the health sciences behind why certain exercises lead to a higher heart rate than others.
Topic: Kinesiology
Materials Needed: Stopwatch, heart rate monitor, or pulse oximeter if you have one (if not, you can just count your heartbeats)
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3. The Aerodynamics of Paper Airplanes
Learn about aerodynamic principles by observing the flight of paper airplanes. By constructing paper airplanes with different designs, including variations in wing shape, size, and folding techniques, you can analyze their flight performance and see what design flies the farthest or is airborne for the longest. After testing, you can explore further by presenting why the top design did well based on the science concept of aerodynamics, and how you would make the design even better.
Topics: Aerodynamics, Physics
Materials Needed: Paper, ruler, tape, stopwatch.
4. How Sleep Impacts Academic Performance
You can use yourself or your friends as test subjects for this experiment, where you analyze the correlation between sleep duration and academic performance. You can collect sleep data through your phone or a smart watch, and then have all test subjects take a test the next morning, and to repeat that for several days potentially. What’s important for this kind of project idea is that there are many other factors that could potentially impact test performance besides sleep, so in your experimental design you’ll have to use critical thinking to control other variables without jeopardizing the scientific method.
Difficulty: Medium
Topics: Psychology, neuroscience
Materials Needed: Phone or smartwatch, tests that you can give to subjects
5. How Urban Green Spaces Impact Mental Well-being
Conduct surveys or interviews in a city near you to assess the perceived benefits of urban green spaces (parks, gardens, etc.) on residents' mental health and well-being. Try to gain an understanding for why these spaces matter and how residents view them. How do parks and gardens impact the day to day life of city dwellers?
Topics: Psychology, urban planning
Materials Needed: Phone to record interviews
6. Design Your Own Hydroponic System
Construct a homemade hydroponic system using recycled materials and test its effectiveness. Hydroponics is soilless gardening that can be done either indoors or outdoors. Once you’ve made your hydroponic system you can then compare the growth rates and yields of the plants with traditional soil-based cultivation methods. Here’s an article on how to build a simple hydroponic , but we encourage you to also do your own earth science research while building!
Difficulty: Hard
Topics: Biology
Materials Needed: Recycled materials, twine, soda bottle, other inexpensive materials
7. Mindfulness to Reduce Smartphone Addiction
Investigate whether mindfulness exercises such as meditation can help reduce smartphone addiction. You can choose to focus on a particular mindfulness exercise and/or participant demographic. You can then lead these mindfulness exercises for participants and also measure participants' smartphone usage over a certain period of time. There are a ton of different choices you can make in terms of testing your hypothesis, so feel free to be creative with it!
Topics: Psychology
Materials Needed: Smartphones
8. Memory Enhancement Techniques
Compare the effectiveness of various memory enhancement techniques. You can start by researching popular techniques such as mnemonics, spaced repetition, and mind mapping so that you develop an understanding of how these techniques work. Then you can begin experimenting by gathering a group of subjects and creating a memory test. Remember to control other variables that could impact your data and carefully think through your experimental design to ensure it follows the scientific method.
Materials Needed: None
9. Build a Model Roller Coaster
If you’re a big fan of amusement parks this could be a great idea for you. Design and construct a model roller coaster using different materials like cardboard, foam tubes, and marbles. You can experiment with factors like height and angles to see what creates the most velocity for the coaster. Be sure to document how specific changes in factors affect the outcome of the roller coaster ride!
Topics: Physics
Materials Needed: Cardboard, foam tubes, marbles
10. Build a Model Suspension Bridge
Start out by sketching your bridge design on paper and looking up images of real suspension bridges for inspiration. From there you can begin to use your popsicle sticks and glue to construct the bridge. If you’re a bit stuck on how to prepare and construct the bridge, check out this Youtube video on how to build a suspension bridge . Once you’re done building your bridge you can then begin to test its stability and how it holds under pressure!
Materials Needed: Popsicle sticks or craft sticks (for the bridge deck and towers), string or thin wire (for the suspension cables), glue (such as wood glue or hot glue) scissors or craft knife, ruler or measuring tape, cardboard or sturdy base for the bridge foundation (optional)
11. Build a Wind Turbine to Generate Electricity
Through this engineering project you’ll gain hands-on experience with learning about renewable energy. You’ll start out by designing the turbine blades and frame, then install the generator and wire the generator. Once you’ve built your wind turbine you’ll want to test it in an environment with sufficient wind speed and observe how much electricity you’re able to generate! You can also experiment with the shape of the frame and blades to see if that changes the electrical output.
Topics: Physics, engineering, renewable energy
Materials Needed: PVC pipes or wooden dowels (for the turbine blades), DC motor or small generator, magnets, copper wire, bearings or bushings, PVC fittings or other materials for constructing the turbine, wire connectors, multimeter (for measuring voltage and current)
12. Analyzing Different Water Purification Methods
What would be the safest way to purify water if you were out in the wild? Evaluate the effectiveness of different water purification methods (filtration, boiling, chemical treatment, etc.) and discover which method performs the best. To test the initial quality of the water samples, use pH strips to find the initial pH of the water. Then perform the water purification method and measure the pH after to see if there’s a considerable change.
Topics: Chemistry
Materials Needed: Water source, containers to hold water, filtration materials like coffee filters, boiling apparatus, pH test strips
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13. How Soil Moisture Affects Plant Growth
Experiment with soil moisture levels to see how it affects the growth and development of plants. An easy way to do this would be to buy a lot of the same plant and grow them all at the same time but vary the soil moisture for each plant. You can decide the increments for how much you want to vary the soil by and from there measure plant growth to see if you can find a correlation. This is also a great idea to apply statistical analysis of your data.
Materials Needed: Plants, soil, water
14. The Impact of Light Pollution on Nocturnal Insect Populations
In this project you can first explore the concept of light pollution and what its effects are. From there you can research nocturnal insects and learn about their behaviors. The second part of the project involves conducting an experiment to see how nocturnal insect populations vary based on artificial light intensity. You can go to several different locations that have different artificial light intensities to see whether certain locations have a greater abundance of insects or a greater diversity. Keep in mind the tricky part of this experiment is how to collect the insects - there are various methods such as light traps or sticky traps that you can try.
Topics: Biology, zoology
15. Build a Solar Oven
Construct a solar oven using reflective materials such as aluminum foil. You can explore this article that explains step by step how to build the oven, but the basic idea is that you want to line the inner flap with aluminum foil so that the sun's rays reflect off of it and also create a small opening so that sunlight can come through. You can try heating up food in the middle of the day when the sun is directly overhead to see what happens!
Topics: Chemistry, Food Science
Materials Needed: Reflective material like aluminum foil, insulation (foam board, newspapers), heat-absorbing container, thermometer, food items for cooking.
16. How Temperature Affects Battery Performance
Explore how temperature affects the voltage output and lifespan of batteries. Select a variety of different batteries and expose them to different temperature conditions. You can also vary the length of time that the batteries are left in a given temperature. After, use a voltage meter to measure the output of the batteries. How does temperature impact the voltage output?
Topics: Electrochemistry, energy storage
Materials Needed: Multiple types of batteries, thermometer or temperature sensor, voltage meter or multimeter.
17. Testing the Strength of Different Types of Paper
Compare the strength of various types of paper (printer paper, construction paper, tissue paper). To do this you can either measure the force required to tear each type of paper ( tensile strength ) or just observe how difficult it is to tear. Record observations and also analyze the different materials used in each type of paper to hypothesize why the paper might be difficult or easy to tear.
Materials Needed: Different types of paper, ruler or measuring tape, weights or force gauge, clamps or clips.
18. Pendulums
In this easy science fair project, construct your own basic pendulum with string and a weight, and see how the length of a pendulum affects its period (the time it takes to complete one full swing). You can also conduct trials where pendulums of varying lengths are released from the same angle, or vary the angle from which the pendulum is released.
Materials Needed: Pendulum apparatus (can be as simple as a string and weight), stopwatch or timer, protractor for measuring angles.
19. DIY Catapults
In this project you’ll explore the principles of projectile motion and trajectory. Build a simple catapult or trebuchet and investigate how launch angle and projectile mass affect the trajectory of a launched object. If you want to take the project a step further and add a history component to it, explore a few various catapults that were used in ancient or medieval times and observe the differences in their launch angles and typical projectile masses. Were these catapults effective?
Materials Needed: Catapult or trebuchet construction materials (wood, rubber bands, etc.), objects that the catapult can launch, measuring tape or ruler.
20. Friction
Explore the concept of friction by pulling objects across different surfaces and measuring the frictional force. You can investigate how different surface textures impact how easy it is to pull the object across the surface. To take the science fair experiment to the next level you can share your findings about one real world application where the concept of friction is very important (think things like sports or transportation).
Materials Needed: Objects of different weights, various surfaces (e.g., wood, metal, sandpaper), force sensor or spring scale, ruler
21. Studying the Effects of Music on Stress Reduction
We all have our playlists or songs that help us relax, but how can we actually confirm that music actually plays a role in reducing stress? In this project you can conduct experiments where participants listen to different types of music (e.g., classical, jazz, nature sounds) and their physiological stress responses (e.g., heart rate, cortisol levels) are measured before and after listening to the music. Before conducting the experiment see if you can do some preliminary research on the topic and what other experiments have been done.
Materials Needed: A device to play, physiological monitoring equipment, stress assessment scales.
22. Ocean Acidification and Coral Bleaching
Study how ocean acidification, driven by increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, impacts coral reef ecosystems. You can also look into coral bleaching and learn how it’s also related to ocean acidification. This science activity can be a bit more focused on research rather than actual experimentation, but if you’d like to develop a model to demonstrate ocean acidification and see how carbon dioxide affects water we encourage you to do that as well.
Topic: Chemistry, marine biology
Materials Needed: Cups, water, acid base indicator, baking soda, vinegar
23. Studying the Effects of Deforestation on Local Climate Patterns
Learn how deforestation affects regional climate conditions such as temperature, precipitation, and humidity. Specifically, you can analyze satellite imagery to assess changes in land cover in deforested areas over time. To get you started, check out this article on how scientists have been tracking deforestation in the Amazon for decades .
Topic: Climate, environmental science
Materials Needed: Satellite imagery or aerial photographs
24. Investigating Sinkholes
Sinkholes may seem like a chaotic once in a lifetime phenomenon but there are actually geological processes involved in the formation of sinkholes. Explore these processes and their potential hazards to human settlements. To learn further you can research specific areas that are known to have a lot of sinkholes and try to understand why this occurs from a geological perspective.
Topic: Geology
25. How Color Affects Mood and Emotion Description
Explore whether different colors influence people's mood and emotional state. You can design experiments where participants are exposed to different colors through images or objects and their mood responses are measured with self-reported scales or surveys. Analyze data and see if you can find any patterns. The more subjects you have in your experiment the better!
Topic: Psychology
Materials Needed: Images or objects that show mainly one color
How to Showcase Your Science Fair Project
Once you’ve completed your science fair project you can obviously present it at your local or school science fair, but we highly encourage you to also enter your project and findings for a bigger competition. There are so many great regional and national competitions where you can submit your work, and we’ve compiled the ultimate guide below based on science topic. Keep in mind that many of these competitions have very specific submission guidelines, so you might have to adjust the format of your project slightly to fit the rules
Top 8 Neuroscience Competitions for High School and Middle School Students
Top 9 Physics Competitions for High School Students
The 10 Best Chemistry Competitions for High School Students
10 Best Engineering Competitions for High School Students
Top Psychology Competitions For High School and Middle School Students
Still Stuck On What Idea to Choose?
Work with a Polygence research program mentor who can help you brainstorm the right idea for you. From there they can help you with executing your project and making sure you’re on track to finish by your deadline. If you’re interested, apply for our flagship mentorship program !
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20+ Technology Projects for Kids They’ll Love
You can search the internet for some of the best technology projects for kids , but we have done the hard work for you! This list is sure to get those creative juices flowing! Use this set of 28 Days of STEM Activities and STEAM Activities for Kids (and a few more, too!) posts to excite the kids all year long. Learn using STEM and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, & math) concepts while you explore forces of motion, chemistry, sound, and so much more!
20+ Technology Projects for Kids
Kids love all things tech! Help your creative kids with coding, robots, and more! You’ll find all kinds of great science, technology, engineering, art, and math ideas woven into this set of technology projects for kids. Bookmark this page for great problem-solving ideas you can try this year!
Plus, to get you started, we pulled together a super-helpful Introduction to Circuits printable. It makes a great worksheet companion to all of these fun builds! Just fill out the form below and it will be emailed to you.
FREE! INTRODUCTION TO CIRCUITS PRINTABLE ACTIVITY
Circuits Cards and More Circuit Activities for Kids
These circuit projects are sure to teach kids all about electric circuits!
- How to Make a Lighting Bug Circuit Paper Card || Left Brain Craft Brain – This little bug is so much fun! It’s sure to bring a little light to your next circuit activity!
- How to Make a Coin Battery || Teach Beside Me – Who knew? Learn how to stack coins to make a battery. You want to be sure to try this with adult supervision.
- Light Up Circuit Valentines || Left Brain Craft Brain – Show your love for your friends and family with a sweet light up Valentine!
- Make a Light Up Paper Circuit Thaumatrope || One Time Through – We are fascinated with thaumatropes! This time your STEAM kids can make a light up thaumatrope with just a couple simple materials.
- Fruit Stand Circuits || Left Brain Craft Brain – Who knew? Your favorite fruit has an electrical charge! This is a really awesome science fair project too!
- Solar-Powered House || Left Brain Craft Brain – The kids will learn about alternative energy with this DIY paper house complete with a solar panel!
- Paper Circuit Cards || Science Kiddo – I love this one! You’ll want to grab some copper tape for this easy circuit card. Make your own creations in a couple minutes!
- Circuit Flowers || STEAM Powered Family – These circuits are gorgeous enough to give as a gift!!
- Light Up May the Fourth Be With You Cards || Left Brain Craft Brain – You know we are HUGE Star Wars fans and we make these every year.
- Electric Circuit Kids Valentine || JDaniel4’s Mom – Your Valentine is going to be so surprised with this light up reminder of how much you care!
- Light Up & Pop Up Circuit Flower Card || Left Brain Craft Brain – Who wouldn’t love a light up flower card? This is perfect to add to your technology projects for kids this spring!
Check out the May the Fourth Be With You Circuit Card in action!
Bots and More
You’re going to love this set of STEM ideas for busy kids because bots are so fun to make with kids! And bots are totally our thing over here… Want to make bot-building easy, fun, and successful? Start with The Bot Book we designed with Babble Dabble Do. Check out some of the fun builds in this video…
- 14 amazing bots to build, for beginners to expert engineer kids
- 5 fun ways to play with bots
- Bot basics to help you get started
- Helpful teacher guide to building bots with groups
- Introduction to electric circuits activity
Here are a few more fun bot ideas to try!
- Minion Brush Bot || Left Brain Craft Brain – Aren’t Minions awesome? If you have a little Minion fan at home, make your own Minion bot is just a couple minutes!
- Code Your Own Art Bo t || Kids STEAM Lab – Art bots are the wave of the future! Grab this simple
- Build a Hexbug Maze with Straws || Buggy and Buddy – Add this one to your list of technology projects for kids! Kids will find new life with their old bot with a DIY maze!
- How to Make a Modern Art Steady Hand Game || Left Brain Craft Brain – We are all about amazing STEAM ideas here! This is one of my favorite learning activities for creative kids with an open ended result.
We have had a lot of fun with computers and computer parts over the years. Here are some of our favorite projects!
- Computer Destruction || Left Brain Craft Brain – You know you want to give this a try! Don’t throw out that old computer. Instead us it to explore!
- 8 Ways to Play with an Old Keyboard || Left Brain Craft Brain – For some reason, old keyboards seem to find their way to our house. We had so many! So we left our preschooler explore and learn.
- Play Dough Robots || Left Brain Craft Brain – This is sure to be a favorite for your kids! Grab your favorite play dough recipe and old computer parts for this open ended play idea.
- Computer Part Mandalas || Left Brain Craft Brain – Teach kids about the inner workings of computers while creating a quirky (or should I say QWIRTY?) mandala.
Coding Activities for Kids
Coding is the language of the future! Here are some unique ways to help them learn.
- Unicorn Color by Coding || Left Brain Craft Brain – Kids LOVE this programming upgrade to color by number.
- Lego Secret Code || Frugal Fun for Boys & Girls – I’m in love with this! What a great way to entertain kids with STEM!
- 3 Coding Games to Learn Shapes and Geometry with a Cool Coding Toy || iGameMom – Kids love coding games. Here are 3 to try!
- If-Then Backyard Coding Game for Kids || Left Brain Craft Brain – We always have neighbor kids hanging out at our house. If you do too, try this fun game that even your preschoolers will LOVE!
- Coding a Lego Maze || Research Parent – Bring new life to your Lego stash with this fun coding game you can customize for any learning level.
- Candy Cane Coding || Left Brain Craft Brain For a little festive fun, be sure to code your candy canes this year!
Even More! Fun Technology Projects for Kids
Not sure where to start with coding? I wasn’t either until I started collecting ideas! Here’s the very best Coding for Kids activities for you to get started with today.
Looking for some more STEAM inspiration that you can use right now? Instant gratification style? Check out STEAM Explorers!! The coolest creative experience for kids is here! It's a digital book of the month club filled with tons of fun stuff for the kids to do and learn. All engineer, teacher, and mom-approved. And most definitely KID APPROVED!
What’s included?
- A monthly digital magazine with cool themes that are fun to read
- Hands-on, exciting projects the kids will love.
- Science, tech, engineering, art, and math learning YOU’LL love.
- Delicious recipes the kids can make.
- Fun printables and games
Join us as we explore civilization in the month of October!! Inside this issue, you’ll learn about the key elements that make civilizations and society work, all with a STEAM-filled punch. Everyone will love inventing tools for pyramid building, expressing themselves with poster printing, exploring architecture with playdough, freezing up a delicious cake, and coding their own election. You'll love the helpful standards-based learning, printables, and tools that make STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, & math) exploration easy!
We’ve split the STEAM Explorers Civilization issue into four weekly themes:
- WEEK 1: Agriculture & Architecture
- WEEK 2: Language & Culture
- WEEK 3: Technology & Tools
- WEEK 4: Community & Government
28 Days of STEM Activities and STEAM Activities for Kids
These projects are part of an amazing, month-long series of hands on STEM and STEAM projects for kids. Click on over to 28 Days of STEM Activities and STEAM Activities for Kids for 60+ FREE science, tech, engineering, art, and math projects from 30+ education writers. All ready to get your kids excited to learn.
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76 Easy Science Experiments Using Materials You Already Have On Hand
Because science doesn’t have to be complicated.
If there is one thing that is guaranteed to get your students excited, it’s a good science experiment! While some experiments require expensive lab equipment or dangerous chemicals, there are plenty of cool projects you can do with regular household items. We’ve rounded up a big collection of easy science experiments that anybody can try, and kids are going to love them!
Easy Chemistry Science Experiments
Easy physics science experiments, easy biology and environmental science experiments, easy engineering experiments and stem challenges.
Also, be sure to grab your free printable science experiment recording sheet to use with any of the experiments below.
1. Taste the rainbow
Teach your students about diffusion while creating a beautiful and tasty rainbow. Tip: Have extra Skittles on hand so your class can eat a few!
Learn more: Skittles Diffusion
2. Crystallize sweet treats
Crystal science experiments teach kids about supersaturated solutions. This one is easy to do at home, and the results are absolutely delicious!
Learn more: Rock Candy Experiment
3. Make a volcano erupt
This classic experiment demonstrates a chemical reaction between baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar (acetic acid), which produces carbon dioxide gas, water, and sodium acetate.
Learn more: Baking Soda Volcano (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
4. Make elephant toothpaste
This fun project uses yeast and a hydrogen peroxide solution to create overflowing “elephant toothpaste.” Tip: Add an extra fun layer by having kids create toothpaste wrappers for plastic bottles.
Learn more: Elephant Toothpaste (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
5. Blow the biggest bubbles you can
Add a few simple ingredients to dish soap solution to create the largest bubbles you’ve ever seen! Kids learn about surface tension as they engineer these bubble-blowing wands.
Learn more: Giant Soap Bubbles (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
6. Demonstrate the “magic” leakproof bag
All you need is a zip-top plastic bag, sharp pencils, and water to blow your kids’ minds. Once they’re suitably impressed, teach them how the “trick” works by explaining the chemistry of polymers.
Learn more: Leakproof Bag (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
7. Use apple slices to learn about oxidation
Have students make predictions about what will happen to apple slices when immersed in different liquids, then put those predictions to the test. Have them record their observations.
Learn more: Apple Oxidation
8. Float a marker man
Their eyes will pop out of their heads when you “levitate” a stick figure right off the table! This experiment works due to the insolubility of dry-erase marker ink in water, combined with the lighter density of the ink.
Learn more: Floating Marker Man
9. Discover density with hot and cold water
There are a lot of easy science experiments you can do with density. This one is extremely simple, involving only hot and cold water and food coloring, but the visuals make it appealing and fun.
Learn more: Hot and Cold Water Science Experiment
10. Layer more liquids
This density demo is a little more complicated, but the effects are spectacular. Slowly layer liquids like honey, dish soap, water, and rubbing alcohol in a glass. Kids will be amazed when the liquids float one on top of the other like magic (except it is really science).
Learn more: Layered Liquids
11. Grow a carbon sugar snake
Easy science experiments can still have impressive results. This eye-popping chemical reaction demonstration only requires simple supplies like sugar, baking soda, and sand.
Learn more: Carbon Sugar Snake
12. Mix up some slime
Tell kids you’re going to make slime at home, and watch their eyes light up! There are a variety of ways to make slime, so try a few different recipes to find the one you like best.
Learn more: 4 Slime Recipes (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
13. Make homemade bouncy balls
These homemade bouncy balls are easy to make since all you need is glue, food coloring, borax powder, cornstarch, and warm water. You’ll want to store them inside a container like a plastic egg because they will flatten out over time.
Learn more: Make-Your-Own Bouncy Balls
14. Create eggshell chalk
Eggshells contain calcium, the same material that makes chalk. Grind them up and mix them with flour, water, and food coloring to make your very own sidewalk chalk.
Learn more: Eggshell Chalk
15. Make naked eggs
This is so cool! Use vinegar to dissolve the calcium carbonate in an eggshell to discover the membrane underneath that holds the egg together. Then, use the “naked” egg for another easy science experiment that demonstrates osmosis .
Learn more: Egg and Vinegar Experiment (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
16. Turn milk into plastic
This sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but don’t be afraid to give it a try. Use simple kitchen supplies to create plastic polymers from plain old milk. Sculpt them into cool shapes when you’re done.
17. Test pH using cabbage
Teach kids about acids and bases without needing pH test strips. Simply boil some red cabbage and use the resulting water to test various substances—acids turn red and bases turn green.
Learn more: Cabbage pH
18. Clean some old coins
Use common household items to make old oxidized coins clean and shiny again in this simple chemistry experiment. Ask kids to predict (hypothesize) which will work best, then expand the learning by doing some research to explain the results.
Learn more: Cleaning Coins
19. Pull an egg into a bottle
This classic easy science experiment never fails to delight. Use the power of air pressure to suck a hard-boiled egg into a jar, no hands required.
Learn more: Egg in a Bottle
20. Blow up a balloon without blowing
Chances are good you probably did easy science experiments like this when you were in school. The baking soda and vinegar balloon experiment demonstrates the reactions between acids and bases when you fill a bottle with vinegar and a balloon with baking soda.
Learn more: Baking Soda and Vinegar Balloon (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
21. Assemble a DIY lava lamp
This 1970s trend is back—as an easy science experiment! This activity combines acid-base reactions with density for a totally groovy result.
22. Explore how sugary drinks affect teeth
The calcium content of eggshells makes them a great stand-in for teeth. Use eggs to explore how soda and juice can stain teeth and wear down the enamel. Expand your learning by trying different toothpaste-and-toothbrush combinations to see how effective they are.
Learn more: Sugar and Teeth Experiment
23. Mummify a hot dog
If your kids are fascinated by the Egyptians, they’ll love learning to mummify a hot dog! No need for canopic jars , just grab some baking soda and get started.
24. Extinguish flames with carbon dioxide
This is a fiery twist on acid-base experiments. Light a candle and talk about what fire needs in order to survive. Then, create an acid-base reaction and “pour” the carbon dioxide to extinguish the flame. The CO2 gas acts like a liquid, suffocating the fire.
25. Send secret messages with invisible ink
Turn your kids into secret agents. Write messages with a paintbrush dipped in lemon juice, then hold the paper over a heat source and watch the invisible become visible as oxidation goes to work.
Learn more: Invisible Ink
26. Create dancing popcorn
This is a fun version of the classic baking soda and vinegar experiment, perfect for the younger crowd. The bubbly mixture causes popcorn to dance around in the water.
Learn more: Dancing Popcorn (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
27. Shoot a soda geyser sky-high
You’ve always wondered if this really works, so it’s time to find out for yourself. Kids will marvel at the chemical reaction that sends diet soda shooting high in the air when Mentos are added.
Learn more: Mentos and Coke Experiment (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
28. Send a teabag flying
Hot air rises, and this experiment can prove it. You’ll want to supervise kids with fire, of course. For added safety, try this one outside.
Learn more: Flying Tea Bags
29. Create magic milk
This fun and easy science experiment demonstrates principles related to surface tension, molecular interactions, and fluid dynamics.
Learn more: Magic Milk Experiment (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
30. Watch the water rise
Learn about Charles’s law with this simple experiment. As the candle burns, using up oxygen and heating the air in the glass, the water rises as if by magic.
Learn more: Rising Water Experiment
31. Learn about capillary action
Kids will be amazed as they watch the colored water move from glass to glass, and you’ll love the easy and inexpensive setup. Gather some water, paper towels, and food coloring to teach the scientific magic of capillary action.
Learn more: Capillary Action
32. Give a balloon a beard
Equally educational and fun, this experiment will teach kids about static electricity using everyday materials. Kids will get a kick out of creating beards on their balloon people!
Learn more: Static Electricity
33. Find your way with a DIY compass
Here’s an old classic that never fails to impress. Magnetize a needle, float it on the water’s surface, and it will always point north.
Learn more: How To Make a Compass
34. Crush a can using air pressure
Sure, it’s easy to crush a soda can with your bare hands, but what if you could do it without touching it at all? That’s the power of air pressure!
35. Tell time using the sun
While people use clocks or even phones to tell time today, there was a time when a sundial was the best means to do that. Kids can create their own sundials using everyday materials like cardboard and pencils.
Learn more: Make Your Own Sundial
36. Launch a bottle rocket
Grab a cork, plastic bottle, cardboard, duct tape, and bike pump to learn about the laws of motion.
Learn more: Bottle Rocket (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
37. Make sparks with steel wool
All you need is steel wool and a 9-volt battery to perform this science demo that’s bound to make their eyes light up! Kids learn about chain reactions, chemical changes, and more.
Learn more: Steel Wool Electricity
38. Levitate a Ping-Pong ball
This experiment is really all about Bernoulli’s principle. You only need plastic bottles, bendy straws, and Ping-Pong balls to make the science magic happen.
39. Whip up a tornado in a bottle
There are plenty of versions of this classic experiment out there, but we love this one because it sparkles. Kids learn about a vortex and what it takes to create one.
Learn more: Tornado in a Bottle
40. Monitor air pressure with a DIY barometer
This simple but effective DIY science project teaches kids about air pressure and meteorology. They’ll have fun tracking and predicting the weather with their very own barometer.
Learn more: How To Make a Barometer
41. Peer through an ice magnifying glass
Students will certainly get a thrill out of seeing how an everyday object like a piece of ice can be used as a magnifying glass. Be sure to use purified or distilled water since tap water will have impurities in it that will cause distortion.
Learn more: Ice Magnifying Glass
42. String up some sticky ice
Can you lift an ice cube using just a piece of string? This quick experiment teaches you how. Use a little salt to melt the ice and then refreeze the ice with the string attached.
Learn more: Sticky Ice
43. “Flip” a drawing with water
Light refraction causes some really cool effects, and there are multiple easy science experiments you can do with it. This one uses refraction to “flip” a drawing; you can also try the famous “disappearing penny” trick .
Learn more: Light Refraction With Water
44. Color some flowers
We love how simple this project is to re-create since all you’ll need are some white carnations, food coloring, glasses, and water. The end result is just so beautiful!
45. Use glitter to fight germs
Everyone knows that glitter is just like germs—it gets everywhere and is so hard to get rid of! Use that to your advantage and show kids how soap fights glitter and germs.
46. Re-create the water cycle in a bag
You can do so many easy science experiments with a simple zip-top bag. Fill one partway with water and set it on a sunny windowsill to see how the water evaporates up and eventually “rains” down.
Learn more: Water Cycle in a Bag and Water Cycle Lesson Slides and Video
47. Learn about plant transpiration
Your backyard is a terrific place for easy science experiments. Grab a plastic bag and rubber band to learn how plants get rid of excess water they don’t need, a process known as transpiration.
Learn more: Plant Transpiration
48. Clean up an oil spill
Before conducting this experiment, teach your students about engineers who solve environmental problems like oil spills. Then, have your students use provided materials to clean the oil spill from their oceans.
Learn more: Oil Spill
49. Construct a pair of model lungs
Kids get a better understanding of the respiratory system when they build model lungs using a plastic water bottle and some balloons. You can modify the experiment to demonstrate the effects of smoking too.
Learn more: Lung Science Experiment
50. Experiment with limestone rocks
Kids love to collect rocks, and there are plenty of easy science experiments you can do with them. In this one, pour vinegar over a rock to see if it bubbles. If it does, you’ve found limestone!
Learn more: Limestone Experiments
51. Turn a bottle into a rain gauge
All you need is a plastic bottle, a ruler, and a permanent marker to make your own rain gauge. Monitor your measurements and see how they stack up against meteorology reports in your area.
Learn more: How To Make a Rain Gauge
52. Build up towel mountains
This clever demonstration helps kids understand how some landforms are created. Use layers of towels to represent rock layers and boxes for continents. Then pu-u-u-sh and see what happens!
Learn more: Towel Mountains
53. Take a play dough core sample
Learn about the layers of the earth by building them out of play dough, then take a core sample with a straw. ( Love Play-Doh? Get more learning ideas here. )
Learn more: Play Dough Core Sampling
54. Project the stars on your ceiling
Use the video lesson in the link below to learn why stars are only visible at night. Then create a DIY star projector to explore the concept hands-on.
Learn more: DIY Star Projector
55. Make it rain
Use shaving cream and food coloring to simulate clouds and rain. This is an easy science experiment little ones will beg to do over and over.
Learn more: Shaving Cream Rain
56. Blow up your fingerprint
This is such a cool (and easy!) way to look at fingerprint patterns. Inflate a balloon a bit, use some ink to put a fingerprint on it, then blow it up big to see your fingerprint in detail.
57. Snack on a DNA model
Twizzlers, gumdrops, and a few toothpicks are all you need to make this super-fun (and yummy!) DNA model.
Learn more: Edible DNA Model
58. Dissect a flower
Take a nature walk and find a flower or two. Then bring them home and take them apart to discover all the different parts of flowers.
59. Craft smartphone speakers
No Bluetooth speaker? No problem! Put together your own from paper cups and toilet paper tubes.
Learn more: Smartphone Speakers
60. Race a balloon-powered car
Kids will be amazed when they learn they can put together this awesome racer using cardboard and bottle-cap wheels. The balloon-powered “engine” is so much fun too.
Learn more: Balloon-Powered Car
61. Build a Ferris wheel
You’ve probably ridden on a Ferris wheel, but can you build one? Stock up on wood craft sticks and find out! Play around with different designs to see which one works best.
Learn more: Craft Stick Ferris Wheel
62. Design a phone stand
There are lots of ways to craft a DIY phone stand, which makes this a perfect creative-thinking STEM challenge.
63. Conduct an egg drop
Put all their engineering skills to the test with an egg drop! Challenge kids to build a container from stuff they find around the house that will protect an egg from a long fall (this is especially fun to do from upper-story windows).
Learn more: Egg Drop Challenge Ideas
64. Engineer a drinking-straw roller coaster
STEM challenges are always a hit with kids. We love this one, which only requires basic supplies like drinking straws.
Learn more: Straw Roller Coaster
65. Build a solar oven
Explore the power of the sun when you build your own solar ovens and use them to cook some yummy treats. This experiment takes a little more time and effort, but the results are always impressive. The link below has complete instructions.
Learn more: Solar Oven (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
66. Build a Da Vinci bridge
There are plenty of bridge-building experiments out there, but this one is unique. It’s inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s 500-year-old self-supporting wooden bridge. Learn how to build it at the link, and expand your learning by exploring more about Da Vinci himself.
Learn more: Da Vinci Bridge
67. Step through an index card
This is one easy science experiment that never fails to astonish. With carefully placed scissor cuts on an index card, you can make a loop large enough to fit a (small) human body through! Kids will be wowed as they learn about surface area.
68. Stand on a pile of paper cups
Combine physics and engineering and challenge kids to create a paper cup structure that can support their weight. This is a cool project for aspiring architects.
Learn more: Paper Cup Stack
69. Test out parachutes
Gather a variety of materials (try tissues, handkerchiefs, plastic bags, etc.) and see which ones make the best parachutes. You can also find out how they’re affected by windy days or find out which ones work in the rain.
Learn more: How To Make a Parachute
70. Recycle newspapers into an engineering challenge
It’s amazing how a stack of newspapers can spark such creative engineering. Challenge kids to build a tower, support a book, or even build a chair using only newspaper and tape!
Learn more: Newspaper STEM Challenge
71. Use rubber bands to sound out acoustics
Explore the ways that sound waves are affected by what’s around them using a simple rubber-band “guitar.” (Kids absolutely love playing with these!)
Learn more: Sound Experiment
72. Assemble a better umbrella
Challenge students to engineer the best possible umbrella from various household supplies. Encourage them to plan, draw blueprints, and test their creations using the scientific method.
Learn more: Umbrella STEM Challenge
73. Grow rock candy
Turn science into a sweet treat by making rock candy. Dissolve sugar in hot water to create a solution, then let it cool as crystals slowly form on a stick or string. The best part is that the kids get to eat their experiment when it’s done!
74. Create a rain cloud in a jar
Bring weather science indoors with this fun hands-on project. Use shaving cream to mimic clouds and add drops of food coloring to simulate rain. It’s a great way to explore the water cycle without even having to step outside!
75. Brighten up with rainbow celery
Make your science lesson more vibrant with a splash of color. Drop celery stalks into glasses of water with food dye, and watch as the beautiful colors travel up through the stems.
76. Safely view a solar eclipse
Teach your students about the solar eclipse, and help them safely view this exciting event with just a few simple materials.
Learn more: Solar Eclipse Viewer (Guide + Printable Reflection Sheet)
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150+ Engaging STEM Projects for Kids and Students
STEM projects, which encompass science, technology, engineering, and math, are the perfect way to ignite curiosity, develop problem-solving skills, and have a blast while learning.
Are you looking for exciting and educational activities for your kids, students, or even the whole family? Look no further! STEM projects, which encompass science, technology, engineering, and math, are the perfect way to ignite curiosity, develop problem-solving skills, and have a blast while learning. In this blog post, you’ll discover over 150 engaging STEM projects for young learners, elementary school students, middle school students, high school students, and even projects the whole family can enjoy together. Let’s dive in and explore the exciting world of STEM!
Key Takeaways
- Introduce young learners to STEM concepts with fun and easy projects!
- Encourage kids to explore technology, renewable energy, and water filtration through engaging projects.
- Inspire the whole family to learn about rocketry principles, meteorology & astronomy by creating DIY telescopes & backyard weather stations!
Fun and Easy STEM Projects for Young Learners
Young minds are naturally curious and eager to explore the world around them. Fun and easy STEM activities for kids, like creating homemade slime, building LEGO towers, and conducting homemade volcano experiments, are perfect for introducing young children to STEM concepts while keeping them engaged and entertained. These projects not only teach kids about science, technology, engineering, and math, but also help them develop critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
Starting with basic supplies, most activities can be completed in just 15 to 30 minutes, making them perfect for classroom or home use. The hands-on nature of these projects allows kids to learn by doing, which is often the most effective way to teach and engage young learners. Now, here are some thrilling STEM projects that young learners can immediately embark on!
Creating Homemade Slime
A classic and fun STEM activity for kids is creating homemade slime. This gooey, slimy concoction not only provides hours of entertainment, but also teaches kids about chemical reactions and properties of matter. As they mix ingredients like glue, baking soda, and contact lens solution, they’ll observe how the combination results in a fascinating new substance with unique properties.
To get creative with slime, kids can:
- Experiment with different colors, textures, and even add-ins like glitter or small toys
- Follow instructions and ideas from online resources like Slime Design/Science Buddies and STEAM-Powered Family
- Make slime in various ways, with the range of choices being infinite
This promises endless fun with the egg drop challenge!
Building a LEGO Tower
LEGO bricks have been a popular toy for generations, and they’re also fantastic STEM resources for kids to develop their creativity, problem-solving skills, and engineering abilities. Building a LEGO tower is an exciting engineering challenge that encourages kids to think critically and strategically about how to construct the tallest tower possible.
This activity can be done individually or in groups, making it perfect for both classroom and home settings. Kids can experiment with different building techniques, materials, and styles, and even compete with their friends to see who can build the tallest tower. With this captivating STEM challenge blending enjoyment and education, there are no limits when it comes to stem stands!
Homemade Volcano Experiment
Who doesn’t love a good volcano eruption? The homemade volcano experiment is a classic science activity that introduces kids to chemical reactions and geology in a fun and exciting way. Using simple materials like baking soda, vinegar, and some food coloring, kids can create their very own volcanic eruption right in their own kitchen or backyard.
This hands-on science experiment not only provides a thrilling experience for young learners, but also helps them develop a deeper understanding of how chemical reactions work and the geological processes that occur within our Earth. This enjoyable activity ignites curiosity, motivating kids to delve into the intriguing world of science.
STEM Projects for Elementary School Students
Elementary school students, especially younger kids, are ready to take on more challenging STEM projects that help them develop their problem-solving skills, critical thinking, creativity, and engineering skills. Activities like simple machine construction, solar-powered car design, and building water filtration systems are perfect stem ideas for engaging young minds and teaching them valuable STEM concepts.
By participating in these hands-on projects, elementary school students will not only develop a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering, and math, but also gain a sense of accomplishment and pride in their creations. Let’s delve into some thrilling STEM projects suitable for elementary school students.
Simple Machine Construction
Simple machines are the building blocks of many complex devices we use in our daily lives. They make tasks easier by allowing us to use a single force to do work. Some examples of simple machines include:
- Inclined planes
- Wheels and axles
By understanding how these simple machines work, we can better understand and appreciate the technology that surrounds us.
By constructing their own simple machines, kids can gain a hands-on understanding of how these essential tools work and apply them to various tasks. To build a simple machine, kids will need to choose the type of machine they’d like to create, gather the required materials, and assemble the machine. This activity fosters creativity and problem-solving skills, while enhancing appreciation for the ease that simple machines bring to our lives.
Solar-Powered Car Design
Designing and building a solar-powered car is an exciting and rewarding STEM project for elementary school students. This activity combines engineering, design, and environmental awareness as kids learn about the power of renewable energy and create their own solar-powered vehicles.
To gather materials such as a small solar panel, a motor, wheels, and a lightweight body made from recycled materials, you can create an alternative energy vehicle, like a balloon powered car.
Kids can design, build, and test their cars to see how well they perform in various conditions. This project not only imparts essential STEM concepts, but also cultivates an understanding of the importance of sustainable living and energy efficiency.
Water Filtration System
Clean water is essential for life, and understanding the science behind water filtration can help kids appreciate this vital resource. In this project, kids will create their own water filters using simple materials like:
- Plastic bottles
- Activated charcoal
By building their own water filtration system, kids will learn about the importance of clean water, the process of water filtration, and the effects of pollution on water sources. This practical activity not only imparts crucial STEM concepts, but also encourages kids to consider their actions’ environmental impact and the value of conservation.
Engaging STEM Projects for Middle School Students
Middle school students are ready to tackle more advanced STEM projects that challenge their critical thinking skills and creativity. Activities like coding challenges, bridge engineering, and circuit experiments provide the perfect opportunity for students to delve deeper into the world of STEM and apply their newfound knowledge to real-world problems.
These projects not only help students develop a strong foundation in STEM concepts, but also instill a sense of curiosity, determination, and resilience as they work through challenges and find innovative solutions. Let’s discover some intriguing STEM projects that middle school students can confidently undertake.
Coding Challenges
In today’s increasingly digital world, coding is a valuable skill that can open doors to exciting career opportunities. Introducing middle school students to computer programming through coding challenges and activities is a fantastic way to ignite their interest in this essential skill.
Platforms like Scratch and Code.org offer intuitive interfaces and engaging activities that make learning to code fun and accessible for students of all skill levels. Participation in coding challenges allows students to enhance their problem-solving skills, refine their logical thinking, and deepen their understanding of computer programming.
Bridge Engineering
Bridge engineering is an exciting STEM project that teaches students about engineering principles, materials, and construction techniques. By designing and building their own bridges, students can develop an understanding of the forces at play in bridge construction and the importance of strong, stable structures.
Using materials like toothpicks, popsicle sticks, or even newspaper, students can experiment with different building techniques and styles to create bridges that can support weight and span distances. This practical activity not only imparts essential STEM concepts, but also instills a sense of achievement and pride in their creations.
Circuit Experiments
Electricity is a fundamental part of our daily lives, and understanding how circuits work is essential for students to grasp the principles of electrical engineering. Circuit experiments are a great way for middle school students to learn about electricity, components, and circuit design by building their own circuits using simple materials like batteries, wires, and light bulbs.
By creating and testing their own circuits, students can develop a hands-on understanding of how electrical components work together and the role of electricity in powering our devices. This captivating project not only imparts essential STEM concepts, but also ignites curiosity, encouraging students to delve into the intriguing world of electrical engineering.
Advanced STEM Projects for High School Students
High school students are ready to tackle advanced STEM projects that challenge their knowledge, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Activities like robot building, energy-efficient home design, and chemistry experiments provide the perfect opportunity for students to delve deeper into the world of STEM and apply their skills to real-world problems.
These projects not only help students develop a strong foundation in STEM concepts, but also instill a sense of curiosity, determination, and resilience as they work through challenges and find innovative solutions.
Let’s explore STEM projects that high school students can confidently undertake and discover captivating ideas through a fun stem challenge.
Robot Building
Robotics is an exciting and rapidly growing field, and introducing high school students to robot building is a fantastic way to ignite their interest in this cutting-edge discipline. Building robots not only teaches valuable engineering and programming skills, but also encourages creativity and innovation as students design their own robots using kits or DIY materials.
By constructing and programming their own robots, students can gain a hands-on understanding of how robotics technology works and the potential applications of robots in various industries. This captivating project not only imparts essential STEM concepts, but also ignites curiosity, encouraging students to delve into the intriguing world of robotics.
Energy-Efficient Home Design
With growing concerns about climate change and the need for sustainable living, understanding energy-efficient home design is more important than ever. This project challenges high school students to design and build a model of an energy-efficient home, incorporating elements such as insulation, energy-efficient windows and doors, and renewable energy sources like solar panels.
By designing and constructing their own energy-efficient homes, students can develop an understanding of the importance of sustainable living and the role of energy efficiency in reducing our environmental impact. This practical activity not only imparts essential STEM concepts, but also fosters a sense of responsibility and awareness of the importance of conservation.
Chemistry Experiment
Chemistry experiments are an exciting way for high school students to explore the world of chemical reactions, properties of elements, and more. Hands-on experiments allow students to develop an understanding of the principles of chemistry and the role of chemical reactions in our daily lives.
By conducting their own chemistry experiments, students can gain a deeper understanding of the scientific method, develop critical thinking skills, and ignite their curiosity about the fascinating world of chemistry. This captivating project not only imparts essential STEM concepts but also encourages students to explore the marvels of science through engaging science experiments.
STEM Projects for the Whole Family
STEM projects aren’t just for kids! Engaging in STEM activities as a family is a fantastic way to bond, learn, and have fun together. Projects like homemade rocket launches, DIY telescope construction, and backyard weather stations are perfect for bringing the whole family together and sparking curiosity and creativity in everyone, regardless of age.
By participating in these family-friendly STEM projects, you’ll not only create lasting memories, but also instill a love for STEM in your children, setting them up for success in their future endeavors. So, gather the family and embark on some thrilling STEM projects that everyone can relish!
Homemade Rocket Launch
Launching homemade rockets is a thrilling and educational activity that’s perfect for the whole family. By building and launching rockets using simple materials like plastic bottles, baking soda, and vinegar, kids can learn about physics, aerodynamics, and the science behind rocket propulsion.
This practical activity not only offers a thrilling experience for the whole family, but also aids kids in developing a more profound understanding of rocketry principles and science’s role in powering our world. So, gather the family and prepare for lift-off with this enjoyable and educational project!
DIY Telescope Construction
Astronomy has fascinated humans for centuries, and building your own telescope is an exciting way for the whole family to explore the wonders of the night sky. Using simple materials like PVC pipes, lenses, and mirrors, kids can construct their own telescopes and learn about the principles of optics, astronomy, and the vast universe.
This practical activity not only offers an engaging learning experience for the whole family, but also fosters a sense of curiosity and awe about the universe. So gather your materials and set off on a starry journey with this DIY telescope project!
Backyard Weather Station
Understanding the weather is essential for everyday life, and building a backyard weather station is a fantastic way for the whole family to learn about meteorology and weather patterns. Using simple tools and materials, kids can create their own weather station that measures:
- Temperature
This practical activity not only imparts essential STEM concepts, but also encourages kids to develop an appreciation for the environment and the natural world. So, assemble the family and begin weather tracking with your very own backyard weather station!
In conclusion, STEM projects offer a world of exciting and educational opportunities for kids, students, and families alike. From fun and easy projects for young learners to engaging activities for middle and high school students, there’s a STEM project out there for everyone. By participating in these hands-on activities, we can foster a love for science, technology, engineering, and math, setting our children up for success in their future endeavors. So, whether you’re a parent, teacher, or student, dive into the exciting world of STEM and unleash your creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving skills!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good stem project.
The Egg Drop Challenge, DIY kite-building, solar oven-making, landmark building, and bridge-building are all great STEM projects for learning and fun.
Unleash your creativity to build something amazing!
What does STEM project mean?
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics and is a learning approach that integrates these fields. It allows students to develop problem solving, creative, and critical analysis skills, making it an important priority for U.S. job markets.
STEM education is becoming increasingly important in the modern world, as it prepares students for the jobs of the future. It encourages students to think critically and develop skills that are essential for success in life.
What is STEM project in high school?
STEM projects in high school give students the opportunity to develop their skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in a fun and engaging way.
These projects can help students gain a better understanding of the concepts they are learning in the classroom, as well as giving them the chance to apply their knowledge in a practical setting. They can also help to develop problem-solving skills.
What are some cool STEM projects?
Explore the exciting world of STEM with these 10 simple and fun activities for kids - from building volcanoes to constructing paper circuits!
Unlock your child’s creativity and develop their science, engineering, and technology skills today.
What age group is most suitable for the STEM projects listed?
The STEM projects listed are best suited for elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as for the whole family.
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Agricultural Technology: Experiment with Factors that Affect Roundup® Weed Killer: Agricultural Technology: Fish + Food = Science of Aquaponics: Agricultural Technology: Green Technology: Build an Electronic Soil Moisture Sensor to Conserve Water: Agricultural Technology: Growing Great Gardens: Using Human Urine as a Fertilizer ...
Aug 30, 2023 · As a high school student, science fairs are the perfect opportunity to get involved with research and different projects that can show your interests. If you are interested in tech related fields, focusing on a project that showcases that is a great idea! We have compiled a list of 10 tech science fair project ideas for high school students.
Feb 8, 2024 · Science fairs can be invaluable experiences that help you explore a specific topic and also teach you the principles of scientific discovery. Science experiments also offer opportunities for you to showcase your creativity and can be a great springboard to further academic or career pursuits in STEM.
These projects are part of an amazing, month-long series of hands on STEM and STEAM projects for kids. Click on over to 28 Days of STEM Activities and STEAM Activities for Kids for 60+ FREE science, tech, engineering, art, and math projects from 30+ education writers. All ready to get your kids excited to learn.
Dec 16, 2024 · Easy Chemistry Science Experiments; Easy Physics Science Experiments; Easy Biology and Environmental Science Experiments; Easy Engineering Experiments and STEM Challenges; Also, be sure to grab your free printable science experiment recording sheet to use with any of the experiments below. Myranda McDonald for We Are Teachers
Aug 29, 2023 · STEM projects, which encompass science, technology, engineering, and math, are the perfect way to ignite curiosity, develop problem-solving skills, and have a blast while learning. In this blog post, you’ll discover over 150 engaging STEM projects for young learners, elementary school students, middle school students, high school students ...