Eighth Grade, Electricity & Electronics Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 5)

Use Super-strong Magnets to Make a Simple Motor

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

In this science project, you will build what might be the world's simplest motor. It has just four basic parts: magnets, a battery, a screwdriver, and a short piece of wire. It takes only minutes to assemble, but it provides a wonderful device to explore how electricity and magnetism combine to produce a fast-spinning motor. Read more

Build a Reed Switch Motor

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Motors are used in many things you find around your house, like your refrigerator, coffee maker, and even a lawn mower. In this electronics science fair project, you will get to build a simple motor, using a kit, and then test how the number of batteries (amount of voltage) used to power the motor affects its performance. Read more

Build an Arduino Strobe Light for the Stroboscopic Effect

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

The Science Buddies project Build a Levitating Water Fountain with the Stroboscopic Effect shows you how to illuminate a dripping stream of water with a strobe light to make it look like the drops are hovering in mid-air. If you have not already, read the background section of that project and watch the following two videos. Make sure you understand frequency, period, and duty cycle before you proceed with this project. The project has you use a strobe light app on your phone. The advantage… Read more

Does Your Mobile Phone Radiate? Measuring Cell Phone Electromagnetic Radiation

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Every day, no matter where you are, you will see people using their cell phones. People use their cell phones for more than just making calls though. They use them for texting and searching the Internet, too. But some health groups are concerned that using your cell phone too much can be hazardous to your health as it exposes your body to electromagnetic radiation. In this electricity and electronics science project, you will investigate how much radiation your cell phone emits when used… Read more

Engineer an LED Night-Light

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Night-lights can be found in many homes; you might even have one in your bedroom! Using a night-light is a great way to avoid stubbing your toe on furniture during a midnight trip to the bathroom. In this fun engineering project, you will design and build your own night-light. You will need to build the circuit, but you will also need to think about the physical design of the product. Most people probably do not want an ugly, bare circuit board sitting around their house. Can you make a… Read more

Environmental Monitoring

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

Does human activity impact the environment? If so, how can we measure our impact on the environment? How can we use these measurements to change our behavior? In this project, your students will explore these questions by designing and building an electronic circuit that can measure environmental parameters like water quality or light pollution. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Find the Best Place to Put a Solar Panel

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Imagine trying to put a solar panel on your roof or outside your home to generate clean, renewable energy. Where would you put it so it generates as much power as possible throughout the day? What direction should it face? Is there a way to take measurements to find the best location before you install the panel? In this project, you will use a tiny programmable device called a micro:bit to record light data and find the best place to put your panel. Read more

How Do You Take Your Tea? Make a Simple Electronic Device to Measure the Strength of Tea

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

A nice hot cup of tea sure can wake and warm you up in the morning. In this 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 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. Read more

How Does LED Brightness Vary with Current?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are electronic components that convert a portion of the electrical energy flowing through them into light. How does the intensity of the light produced vary with the current flowing through the LED? To find out, you'll build some simple circuits to vary the current flowing an LED. You'll also build a simple light-to-voltage converter circuit to measure LED output. Read more

How Far Can Sparks Jump?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Piezoelectric barbecue fire starters work by creating a spark that ignites the volatile lighter fluid, which then starts the charcoal burning. They are low current, high voltage devices. How high does the voltage have to get to make a spark in air? This project shows you a way to find out by with an inexpensive experimental setup to measure the distance that the spark can travel between two spherical electrodes. Read more

Eighth Grade, Electricity & Electronics Projects, Lessons, Activities (75 results)

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