Up, Up, and Away!


Box office sales over the weekend will tell the story, but the hype around Disney/Pixar's newest release, UP (opens May 29), has been "floating around" for months. For movie-goers of all ages, there's a certain level of enchantment to the idea of a man who ties enough balloons to his house to turn it into a giant balloon and sets off on a Helium-powered adventure. That's exactly what the 78-year-old retired balloon salesman at the heart of UPdoes. With thousands of balloons attached to his house, he heads for South America only to find his 8-year-old nemesis stowed away on board.

To take a look at what's going on behind the idea of a house being used at a balloon-powered aircraft on the big screen, check out these Science Buddies science fair project ideas:

  • How Does a Hovercraft Work? (Science Buddies' difficulty rating: 1)
    In this experiment you will test if different volumes of air will cause a balloon powered hovercraft to travel for longer periods of time.
  • An Uplifting Project--The Buoyancy of Balloons (Science Buddies' difficulty rating: 6-7)
    The objective of this physics science fair project is to measure how the buoyancy of helium-filled latex balloons changes over time.


thumbnail
Christina Ren, a high school junior and founder of Science Alliance Network believes student-to-student mentorship is key to keeping young kids excited about science.

thumbnail
School and family science weekly spotlight: use paper chromatography to see what makes up the colors of flowers.

thumbnail
A swarm of "scientists" ran the streets of Chicago in celebration of science and science education, thanks to Astellas Pharma US, Inc. Bystanders in the Chicago area a few weeks ago may have caught an unusual site—a swarm of scientists...



Your Science!
What will you explore for your science project this year? What is your favorite classroom science activity? Email us a short (one to three sentences) summary of your science project or teaching tip. You might end up featured in an upcoming Science Buddies newsletter!


Kit Image

Science Buddies Kits

Science Buddies' convenient project kits contain everything you need to perform one of our Project Ideas—all in one box!


Help With Your Science Project

The following popular posts are designed to help students at critical stages of the science project process.


You may print and distribute up to 200 copies of this document annually, at no charge, for personal and classroom educational use. When printing this document, you may NOT modify it in any way. For any other use, please contact Science Buddies.