Science Fair Projects with Kits

Science Buddies has partnered with AquaPhoenix Education to produce complete project kits for some of our more popular Project Ideas. No more driving to ten different stores to find the supplies you need, with our kits you will have everything for your project delivered to your door.

• 10% of proceeds go to support Science Buddies!
• FREE ground shipping on all deliveries within the continental US

Note: The list below is sorted by "Difficulty" level.

• Shimmy, Shimmy Soda Pop: Develop Your Own Soda Pop Recipe  
  On a hot summer day, don't you just love opening a can of your favorite soda pop and taking a deep drink? The bubbles in the soda tickle your tongue's taste buds and propel the ingredients to your palate and nose so that you get a kick of flavor. But how do the bubbles, fizz, and taste get into the water? In this cooking and food science project, you will work with baking soda, citric acid, and sugar to create a your own soda pop. Once you develop your recipe, try it out on your friends and family. Who knows? You might create the next soda pop sensation!
  

  Difficulty =   3      Add to favorites
  
  
• Shaking Up Some Energy  
  Have you seen the new Shake N' Light flashlights on TV? How do they get energy to light up the bulb without using batteries? Do this experiment to make your own motion powered generator and find out.
  

  Difficulty =   4      Add to favorites
  
  
• Is this connected to that? Use a homemade electronic tester to find out if electricity can flow between two objects.  
  What do lamps, computers, televisions, printers, and kitchen appliances all have in common? They all need electricity to work. In order for electricity to provide power to these devices, it has to flow into and out of them. In this electronics science fair project, you will make your own simple circuit tester and use it to study how electricity flows through a lamp.
  

  Difficulty =   4  –  6      Add to favorites
  
  
• Crime Scene Chemistry: Determine the Identity of an Unknown Chemical Substance  
  Picture this situation: Several kids have become sick after eating at the school cafeteria, each complaining about stomachache and nausea. After questioning the sick kids, it becomes clear that they all had one dish in common—the chili. Upon further investigation, it turns out that a bottle containing aspirin in the form of crystals is missing from a chemistry classroom. Did the aspirin somehow end up in the chili? In order to find out, you need to determine if some unlabeled white crystals found in the cafeteria are a normal ingredient (salt, sugar, or cornstarch) or if they are aspirin. In this chemistry science fair project, you will perform a series of tests to identify the unknown substance.
  

  Difficulty =   4  –  5      Add to favorites
  
  
• Veggie Power! Making Batteries from Fruits and Vegetables  
  Did you know that you can get electricity out of a potato? In this project you will learn how do build a simple battery using a variety of different fruits and vegetables - REALLY! You'll be able to figure out things like: How many lemons does it take to turn on a light bulb? Does an orange make a better battery than a potato? Can you use each segment of a grapefruit to make a super-grapefruit battery? You will also learn some of the basics of electricity and circuits: What is voltage? What is current? What is resistance? How much power can you get out of a veggie battery? Does an orange battery run out of "juice"? So, do a little produce shopping and then learn about batteries and electricity.
  

  Difficulty =   4  –  7      Add to favorites
  
  
• From Dull to Dazzling: Using Pennies to Test How pH Affects Copper Corrosion  
  Pennies are bright and shiny when they're new, but become quite dull with time. What causes such a drastic change? Oxygen in the air combines with the copper in the penny to form copper oxide, which makes the penny look dull and dingy. You can make the pennies look like new again by soaking them in an acidic solution, like vinegar. Vinegar dissolves the copper oxide, making the pennies look like new. It turns out, however, that the same process that makes the pennies shiny has bad consequences when it comes to copper pipes: corrosion. In this science fair project, experiment with copper chemistry using an easy test that turns copper-containing solutions a deep blue.
  

  Difficulty =   5  –  7      Add to favorites
  
  
• I Love Ice Cream, But It Doesn't Love Me: Understanding Lactose Intolerance  
  What do pizza, milk shakes, and ice cream sundaes have in common, besides being delicious and loaded with calories? You might be surprised to learn that these foods, because they contain dairy products, cannot be eaten by the majority of people around the world. Dairy products contain the sugar molecule lactose, and the majority of people on the planet slowly begin to lose the ability to digest lactose after the age of 2. In this human biology and health science fair project, you will investigate the activity of lactase, the enzyme responsible for the ability to digest lactose.
  

  Difficulty =   5  –  7      Add to favorites
  
  
• Spin Right 'Round with this Simple Electric Motor  
  Did you know that you probably used an electric motor today? Yes, that's right. If you put on clothes that were washed in a washing machine, rode in a car, ate food from a fridge, warmed up lunch in a microwave, or played a video game, you used an electric motor! Try this science fair project and you'll learn how to make a simple electric motor by having two magnets "talk" to each other. As they interact, they will alternate between "liking" each other (being pulled together), and "disliking" each other (pushing away from one another). All that pushing and pulling will create some serious spinning, and you will have built an electric motor!
  

  Difficulty =   5  –  7      Add to favorites
  
  
• Build Your Own Crystal Radio  
  Here's a science fair project that shows you how to build your own radio receiver! You'll learn the basic circuit elements required for receiving radio signals, and you'll be able to listen to AM radio broadcasts with something you made yourself. A nice feature of this project is that you can make it as easy or as advanced as you want.
  

  Difficulty =   5  –  9      Add to favorites
  
  
• Avoid the Shock of Shocks! Build Your Own Super-sensitive Electric Field Detector  
  Wouldn't it be nice to avoid those nasty electric shocks you get after you've walked around on carpet and then shake a friend's hand, or all those crazy flyaways you get after brushing your hair? These are caused by static electricity. In this science fair project, you will build a super-sensitive charge detector to investigate the positive and negative electric fields created by static electricity. The detector can sense invisible electric fields, so try this science fair project to avoid the shock of shocks!
  

  Difficulty =   6  –  8      Add to favorites
  
  
• How Do You Take Your Tea? Make a Simple Electronic Device to Measure the Strength of Tea  
  A nice hot cup of tea sure can wake and warm you up in the morning. In this science fair project, you will investigate the chemistry of tea. The longer you steep a tea bag in hot water, the stronger the tea will be. But how does the strength of the tea change with longer brewing time? In this food science project, you will make a very simple electronic device to measure the strength of tea. The device will determine how strong the tea is by measuring the amount of light the tea absorbs.
  

  Difficulty =   6  –  7      Add to favorites
  
  
• How Sweet It Is—How Much Sugar Is Really in That Soda?  
  You know there is sugar in non-diet soda, but just how much sugar? Sure, you can look on the ingredients label, but how do food scientists actually measure the amount of sugar in a solution? They use a simple scientific device called a hydrometer. The hydrometer floats in the solution that is being tested, and the higher it floats, the more sugar there is! In this science fair project, you will use a precision hydrometer to measure the amount of sugar in soda.
  

  Difficulty =   6      Add to favorites
  
  
• Forensic Science: Building Your Own Tool for Identifying DNA  
  When biologists want to separate different pieces of DNA, RNA, or proteins they use a technique called gel electrophoresis. In this science project you'll build a gel electrophoresis chamber and use it to discover how many components are in different colors of food coloring dye.
  

  Difficulty =   7  –  9      Add to favorites
  
  
• Electrolyte Challenge: Orange Juice vs. Sports Drink  
  The makers of sports drinks spend millions of dollars advertising the benefits of their products. One of these featured benefits is often electrolytes, which your body loses as you sweat. In this chemistry science fair project, you will compare the electrolytes present in a sports drink with those in orange juice to find out which drink has more to replace the ones you lose as you're working out or playing sports. When you are finished, you might even want to make your own sports drink!
  

  Difficulty =   7  –  8      Add to favorites
  
  
• The Chemistry of Clean: Make Your Own Soap to Study Soap Synthesis  
  Soap comes in many varieties and forms—from bars to bottles to boxes. The uses for soaps are just as expansive—from cleaning our hands, hair, and faces to a variety of household cleaning jobs, such as dishes or laundry. One thing all these different soaps have in common is their chemical origin; they were all made by mixing fat or oil with a strongly basic solution, such as lye. In this chemistry science project, you will carry out the chemical steps needed to transform coconut oil into a usable bar of soap, and purify it with salt to measure how its pH changes with its purity.
  

  Difficulty =   7      Add to favorites
  
  
• Burning Calories: How Much Energy is Stored in Different Types of Food?  
  Have you ever wondered how nutritionists know how many Calories a certain food contains? In this project you'll learn a method for measuring how much chemical energy is available in different types of food. You will build your own calorimeter to capture the energy released by burning a small food item, like a nut or a piece of popcorn. This project gives a new meaning to the phrase "burning calories."
  

  Difficulty =   7      Add to favorites
  
  
• Investigating the 'Mpemba Effect': Can Hot Water Freeze Faster than Cold Water?  
  This physics project seems like it should have an easy answer. Instead, it turns out to be a great illustration of why it is important to base scientific conclusions on the outcome of controlled experiments. Things don't always turn out as we expect!
  

  Difficulty =   7  –  9      Add to favorites
  
  
• Make Your Own Low-Power AM Radio Transmitter  
  Have you ever wondered how an AM radio station works? In this project you will learn the basics of how your favorite songs are transmitted by a radio station. You will learn how you are able to tune to your favorite station and listen to music. This is a very simple project that requires very few materials to make, but it gives a basic knowledge of how a radio transmitter works.
  

  Difficulty =   7  –  9      Add to favorites
  
  
• Do Oranges Lose or Gain Vitamin C After Being Picked?  
  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.
  

  Difficulty =   7  –  8      Add to favorites
  
  
• Which Orange Juice Has the Most Vitamin C?  
  Which type or orange juice has the most vitamin C? In this project you'll learn how to measure the amount of vitamin C in a solution using an iodine titration method. You'll compare the amount of vitamin C in three different types of orange juice: home-made, premium not-from-concentrate, and juice made from frozen concentrate. Which do you think will have the most vitamin C?
  

  Difficulty =   7  –  8      Add to favorites
  
  
• Build Your Own Radon Detector  
  Electronic devices can be designed to detect dangerous fumes or other hazards, such as smoke or carbon monoxide. In this electronics project, you will build another potentially life-saving detector—a radon detector. Radon gas is radioactive and can pose a hazard to your health if you live in an area where it leaks from the ground. In this electronics science project, you will learn how to collect radon with an ordinary dusting cloth mounted on the intake of a fan, and then measure its radioactivity using a simple ionization chamber. The simple apparatus that you will make is full of possibilities—it can be used to track down the sources of the radioactive gas, to observe statistical equilibrium, and even to demonstrate radioactive half-life.
  

  Difficulty =   8      Add to favorites
  
  
• What is in this Water? Experiments with a Homemade Turbidity Meter  
  Light interacts with matter in a variety of ways—it can be absorbed, reflected, refracted (bent), and scattered. The scattering of light explains why the sky is blue, why milk is white, and why the Mississippi River is called "The Big Muddy." In this biochemistry science fair project, you will make an electronic device to measure the amount of scattered light in milk. You will also use the device to track the activity of protease (a type of enzyme) in pineapple juice, based on its ability to chop up the proteins in milk, which cause it to thicken and become less opaque.
  

  Difficulty =   8      Add to favorites