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Science Fair project ideas- 5th grade (1 Viewer)

El Floppo

El Floppo

Footballguy
Floppinho has signed up for his school's science fair... which means I've been signed up for his school's science fair.

I've never done one of these before- looking for some good ideas that will knock the socks off the judges. (and also won't be too ridiculous to achieve inside a cramped NYC apartment)

Jr will be doing most of this- I'm an involved, but not a do-his-work-for-him type of parent. I'll be buying supplies and helping coordinate the meetings with his project partners (groups of 2-4).

If you need more info, please let me know.

TIA for the genuine and schtick ideas.

ETA... It's 5th grade now. 

 
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Anything with DC motors, magnets, wind energy or water energy is a staple at science fair. 

Material is important but the presentation is what gets people's attention.  there are about 25 or 30 examples of DC power and renewable energy out there using Google. 

Now if he was in high school think of problems and design a solution to a problem but 4th graders you probably are not designing the next air bag out of recycled styrofoam. 

 
Both of my kids won best of show at the Science fair----One was a 5th grade experiment with different types of music played to goldfish (basically rap, country, rock music played to a goldfish and observing their behavior to each--fish have complicated hearing organs) and the other one did a conditioning experiment with nightcrawlers in a maze (and seeing if they could remember the path to an apple at the end of maze).  Both experiments were big successes--like killed the other experiments at the local level and then went on to win BOS at the district level and then just sort of won like 4th at the state level--but you had kids there that had like pocket nuclear reactors.

The one drawback is we bought two goldfish for the experiment--one in case the other one died and 2 years later, they are still alive. They are huge and I ultimately had to buy a 60 gallon tank for my living room which now houses them. They grown to some obscene length like 14-18 inches and already 7 inches long.

 
El Floppo said:
Floppinho has signed up for his school's science fair... which means I've been signed up for his school's science fair.

I've never done one of these before- looking for some good ideas that will knock the socks off the judges. (and also won't be too ridiculous to achieve inside a cramped NYC apartment)

Jr will be doing most of this- I'm an involved, but not a do-his-work-for-him type of parent. I'll be buying supplies and helping coordinate the meetings with his project partners (groups of 2-4).

If you need more info, please let me know.

TIA for the genuine and schtick ideas.
Click to expand...
You're doing it wrong

 
I think it was 5th or 6th grade when I did the baking soda volcano, only I added a twist by playing "God of Thunder" by KISS at top volume as it erupted. I didn't win, but I rocked their ####ing ###es off. 

 
take four plants

give each plant a different amount of water each day/week or whatever, keep it constant

Big report with results and the plants at the fair

This was my project in 5th grade and I got robbed because I did all my own work and some other kid's parents put theirs together.

 
coming from a former science teacher, my favorite all time science fair project was a simple popcorn comparison.  Kid got different brands of popcorn, did a really good job of controlling variables, then did a cost/amount of popped popcorn analysis to determine the best value.  It was a simple concept, but the way the kid used the scientific method to address a practical problem was outstanding.  

 
Prince Myshkin said:
coming from a former science teacher, my favorite all time science fair project was a simple popcorn comparison.  Kid got different brands of popcorn, did a really good job of controlling variables, then did a cost/amount of popped popcorn analysis to determine the best value.  It was a simple concept, but the way the kid used the scientific method to address a practical problem was outstanding.  
Click to expand...
Did the kid win though?

 
My daughter it wasn't really a science fair per se but the basic premise for 5th grade.  Everyone puts together a project. Creates a display etc.

Anyway she invented a cane for old people that dispenses rock salt, for winter.  It was a pretty neat idea.  I bought a bunch of pvc.  Cut it and she put it together and painted it.  We used beads as rock salt.

 
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Don't know how much you're willing to spend, but something I want to do with my kids when they're the right age is to buy a weather balloon, some helium and see how close to space we can get. There are a few guides out there on the how too. (would likely have to take a trip outside of NYC).

If you really want to get tricksy, throw an ant farm in there and do some sort of near-space experiment. Or barometric reading, or temperature, or O2 levels.

You've got 6lbs of payload before the FAA starts to ask questions.

 
Gawain said:
Don't know how much you're willing to spend, but something I want to do with my kids when they're the right age is to buy a weather balloon, some helium and see how close to space we can get. There are a few guides out there on the how too. (would likely have to take a trip outside of NYC).

If you really want to get tricksy, throw an ant farm in there and do some sort of near-space experiment. Or barometric reading, or temperature, or O2 levels.

You've got 6lbs of payload before the FAA starts to ask questions.
Click to expand...
ants on hydroponic weed in space balloon

- saintfool

very cool idea... yeah, the NYC thing means something we'll do in our (or his partners') apartment. 

we're running into an issue of him, his two partners and their science teachers agreeing on a worthwhile experiment. welcome to the real world I guess.

 
My daughter (i.e. me) did an experiment with electromagnets to see how to make them stronger.  In a nutshell, she wrapped different amounts of wire around a bolt (20, 40, 60, 80 wraps) , hooked up to a switch and a D battery, and compared.  She measured strength by counting how many nails she could pick up. Actually got some pretty good data. Simple, using equipment from around the house, and interesting to her. 

Will report back on how she did. 

 
El Floppo said:
Ok, stoner
Click to expand...
i wasn't thinking about it like that. more that using the color spectrum to identify the "best" ROYGBIV light conditions for a plant to grow. it takes time though.

 
moleculo said:
My daughter (i.e. me) did an experiment with electromagnets to see how to make them stronger.  In a nutshell, she wrapped different amounts of wire around a bolt (20, 40, 60, 80 wraps) , hooked up to a switch and a D battery, and compared.  She measured strength by counting how many nails she could pick up. Actually got some pretty good data. Simple, using equipment from around the house, and interesting to her. 

Will report back on how she did. 
Click to expand...
What KISS song are you using in conjunction with the experiment when presented?

 
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