Materials Science Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 3)

Fishing Line Strength

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you like to fish and you'd rather not be telling the story of "the one that got away," then this is a project for you. What combination of properties makes for the best fishing line? Here are some suggestions for getting started on your background research into fishing line properties: knot strength, abrasion strength, shock strength, tensile strength, limpness, controlled stretch, and desired range of visibility (Dodson, 2006). Choose the properties that you think are most important, and… Read more

Materials for Sound Barriers

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What are the best materials to use for blocking out unwanted noise from the environment? You can build a test box (or test frame) around an audio speaker. Use a sound level meter to measure the speaker output. Use different materials to cover the walls of your test box (or frame), and see which materials do the best job at blocking the sound. For a more advanced project, perform your tests using different sound frequencies. Are some materials better at blocking certain frequencies than… Read more

Pounding Papyrus: How Ancient Egyptians Made the World's First Paper

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

It's hard to imagine a world without paper. You wouldn't have things like books, cards, comics, newspaper, construction paper, notebooks, cereal boxes, or that nice sound of shredding wrapping paper on your birthday. There was a time, though, when the only thing people had to write on were slabs of soft, squishy clay. When these slabs dried in the sun, they preserved simple ideas, but they were heavy, like carrying around a load of rocks. Not exactly easy to put in your pocket and carry around.… Read more

Which Metal Is the Most Resistant to Corrosion?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Here's a practical engineering challenge: you need to build an enclosure for your dogs, using material that they can't chew through. It's going to be a lot of work to build, so you want to do it right. What material should you choose for the fencing? This project uses the scientific method to evaluate materials. Read more

Can Beeswax Wraps Replace Plastic Wraps?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you ever use plastic wrap to cover a container? Did you know that it is made of plastic, which significantly contributes to the amount of waste in our landfills? There are many alternatives to plastic, and one popular product is beeswax wraps. Are beeswax wraps a suitable replacement for plastic wrap? Find out in this experiment! Read more

Can You See Through Me?

Lesson Plan Grade: 1st

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21 reviews

In this lesson, students explore firsthand what transparent, translucent, and opaque mean, and how they are related to light. They will place a variety of materials in front of an illuminated object and predict if and how well they will be able to see the object through the material sheet. In doing that, students will realize that different materials allow different amounts of light to pass through. Remote learning: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. The Engage section of the… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

1-PS4-3. Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.

LivingLoom: Clothing With Live Plants

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

LivingLoom looks at how plants can take an active role in making textiles instead of just being used as raw materials. By spinning microgreen seeds into biodegradable yarns, the textiles can actually sprout and grow over time. The project opens up new ways to think about sustainable, care-based design, and invites us to rethink how we connect with plant life through the things we make and use. Read more

Make Soft Robotic Skin

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

When you think about robots, do you think of something made from metal? What if robots could have stretchy, flexible skin just like humans? How would they detect when someone tapped them on the shoulder or something rubbed against their arm? In this project, you will learn how to make artificial robotic skin using flexible rubber with an embedded conductive fabric. You can also connect the artificial skin to a microcontroller and use it to control outputs like LEDs or motors. Read more

Strength in Numbers?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Ever try to tear a telephone book in half? Even though you can easily rip one or a few pages to shreds, the entire phone book has strength in numbers and holds together. This project is an introduction to measuring and comparing the strength of materials. Does spaghetti get extra strength if you bundle it together, or does strength simply increase proportionally with the number of strands? If you are interested in materials testing, get cracking! Read more

Talk About a Bad Hair Day!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Did you know that you can make a simple hygrometer (a device for measuring the relative humidity of the air) with hair? Search online for instructions to build one. Does the type of hair used in the hygrometer affect the accuracy of the results? Do some types of hair respond faster than others? Do some types of hair give a larger (or smaller) response? You could get hair samples from classmates, or a local beauty shop. Use hair samples of equal length to construct each hygrometer. To force… Read more

Materials Science Projects, Lessons, Activities (74 results)

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