Middle School Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 124)

Protect Coastal Communities from Storm Surge Waves

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Sea level rise and more-intense storms, both driven by climate change, threaten coastal communities around the globe. In this engineering project, your students will build a model coastline and design a seawall to protect houses from waves as the sea level rises. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. Materials can be distributed for each student to work independently at home on the challenge and report back. Alternatively, students can design a barrier (draw… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Red Eye

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

How does the angle between the lens, the subject's eye, and the flash effect the appearance of red eye? How does the subject's eye color effect red eye? Read more

Relationships Between Variables: Using Correlation and Linear Regression

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Here's a project that combines sports and math. You'll learn how to use correlation analysis to choose the best team batting statistic for predicting run-scoring ability (Albert, 2003). You'll also learn how to use a spreadsheet to measure correlations between two variables. The project description Which Team Batting Statistic Predicts Run Production Best? provides the details. Read more

Remodeling and Energy Efficiency

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Has your house (or one of your friend's houses) been remodeled recently? Were any improvements made for energy efficiency (solar systems, better insulation, passive solar heating, better lighting)? Compare your family's energy costs for a similar time period before and after the remodeling (remember that energy usage often varies seasonally). Monthly bills often have a bar graph showing energy usage for the previous 12 months. You may also be able to get information on past energy usage… Read more

Respiration and Gills: What Factors Affect Respiration in an Aquatic Environment?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

During metabolism, organisms experience physical and chemical changes. All animals need some way to exchange chemical waste generated during metabolism for fresh nutrients. One way that these metabolic chemicals are exchanged is during respiration, the process by which used carbon dioxide gas is exchanged with fresh oxygen and circulated throughout the body. How do organisms living underwater respirate? They use gills, which filter oxygen from the water and pass the oxygen into the… Read more

Rocket Catcher Challenge for Grades 6-8

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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In this fun engineering lesson plan, your students will build a rocket-catching device to help a falling rocket land vertically without crashing, using simple and readily-available materials. Elementary and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available. This lesson was part of the 2025 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Scale Models

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Many industries rely on scale models to develop new products and designs. Architects, industrial designers, artists, clothing designers, and car manufacturers all use scale models. Each model is built to a scale that relates the actual object to the model through a ratio. Can you determine a formula for constructing a scale model? You can use your formula to make a model of your house, school, neighborhood, or town (CUBE, 2002). You can make scale models of the Wright Brothers aircraft… Read more

Should My Robot be More or Less Squishy?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

In our introductory VoxCAD project, we provided a template with four materials: two active materials that expand and contract in the physics sandbox mode, and two passive materials — one hard and one soft. The project mentioned material properties, but it did not go into much detail — you just used the default settings from the template. Changing the material properties can drastically change how your robots behave. Engineers must take material properties into account when designing… Read more

Skateboard Extremes: Which Wheels are Best for Speed & Turns?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Skateboarder alert: Extreme performance needed in this project. You can cruise and carve while you investigate which skateboard wheels produce the fastest (and slowest) rides on your terrain in these experiments. You pick the wheels and design the tests you think will produce the most extreme results for speed and turns. Do this project and you can work on your ride and learn some science about the speed, spin, and design of skateboard wheels. Read more

Sky Science

Lesson Plan Grade: 4th-8th

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"Mammatus clouds and crepuscular rays" © 2007 Brocken Inaglory Why do we see different colors in Earth's sky at different times of day? After this activity, students will be able to support an explanation for the colors we see in Earth's sky with evidence from a scientific model. Read more

Middle School Projects, Lessons, Activities (1,334 results)

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