Eighth Grade, Computer Science Projects, Lessons, Activities (50 results)

From cell phones to social media, computer science is a part of your daily life. Everything from traffic lights to medical devices requires both computer hardware and software these days. Creative problem solvers are using computer science to tackle social problems, improve agriculture, make great entertainment, and start exciting new companies. What could you create and innovate with a bit of tinkering and programming?

Wildfire Simulator

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Wildfires can devastate communities, destroying homes and creating smoke that can affect air quality over huge areas. A wildfire could start from a natural cause like a lightning strike, or humans being careless with cigarette butts or campfires. What if you could predict how a wildfire will spread to help give people an advanced warning to get out of harm's way? Can forest management techniques like controlled burns—intentionally setting smaller, more controlled fires—help reduce… Read more

Make a Color Detector App to Help Colorblind People

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Do you know anyone who is colorblind, or are you colorblind yourself? What if you could carry a device in your pocket that could identify colors for you? Many people already carry around the device they need to do this - a smartphone! Since phones have built-in cameras, you can make an app that uses the camera to identify colors. In this project you will use a program called MIT App Inventor that makes it easy for anyone, even with no programming experience, to design your own mobile app. Read more

Storytelling Alice: Once Upon a Time in a Computer-generated Land...

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up. What do these Pixar films have in common? They are all computer-animated films. While the writers and directors came up with the compelling stories and the kinds of scenes that would best tell the stories, the computer animation experts brought the films to life. In this computer science project, you will easily be able to create your own animated story using a simple computer programming environment called Storytelling Alice. To create your animation, you will… Read more

Make Your Own Wireless Alarm System

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Have you ever wished you could have an alarm to prevent your little brother or sister from sneaking into your room? How about an alarm to prevent someone from stealing your favorite toy or from taking cookies out of the cookie jar? In this project you will learn how to program your own customized, wireless alarm systems to send you alerts about whatever you want! Read more

Build an Automatic Dog (or Cat) Treat Dispenser

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Does your dog get bored when you are not home? Do you ever toss them a few treats right before you head out the door? What if you could keep them busy by automatically dispensing treats throughout the day? What about training them to sit in a certain place or even press a button by automatically rewarding them with treats? In this project you will build your own automatic dog (or cat, or other pet) treat dispenser that you can customize to react to different sensors. Read more

Happy or Sad? Use Artificial Intelligence to Classify Faces

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Do you think artificial intelligence (AI) is too complex to use? Think again! In this project, you will use AI to teach a web-based tool to classify happy and sad faces, or other objects, poses, or sounds. This experiment requires no coding skills; instead, you will need curiosity, creativity, and a critical eye. Why not give it a try yourself? Read more

Identify Road Signs with Machine Learning

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Driverless cars use machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, to identify road signs and other things they encounter on the road, like pedestrians and other vehicles. In this project you will take your own pictures of different types of road signs and use machine learning to identify the signs using a free online tool (no programming is required). You will then attempt to improve your machine learning model so it can identify signs in a variety of environments. Read more

Blocking RFID Readers from Reading your ID Card

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you've ever watched an adult pay for something by simply touching their credit card to a machine at a store, or you've done the same with a bus pass, you've seen an RFID tag in action. An RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification) tag allows a card to be read by a computer from a short distance away. This is very convenient, but it also allows criminals to steal information about you. For instance, on the subway or the bus, someone standing next to you can use an RFID reader to access the data on… Read more

The Point of a Parabola: Focusing Signals for a Better Wireless Network

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever been annoyed by poor Wi-Fi reception for your phone, tablet, or laptop? Do you wish there was something you could do about it? In this project you will learn how to build a parabolic reflector that you can attach to the antenna of a regular wireless router to help boost its signal. Read more

Introduction to Arduino

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

10 reviews

This lesson plan will introduce your students to physical computing: the process of building circuits and programming a microcontroller (an Arduino UNO®) to interact with them. The lesson is broken into seven activities that will walk your students through the basics of setting up the Arduino and interacting with circuit parts like LEDs, buttons, and resistors. This introductory material will help prepare your students for more advanced Arduino projects. Read more

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