Middle School Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 84)

How Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Take Over

STEM Activity

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Have you ever had to take antibiotics? Your doctor probably told you to finish taking all the pills even if you felt better after one or two days. But why is that? Why shouldn't you stop taking antibiotics as soon as you feel better? You might be surprised to hear that if you do, you might contribute to the creation of antibiotic resistant "superbugs!" Find out how these superbugs can develop in this activity by rolling dice to model how different bacteria respond to an antibiotic treatment. Read more

How Biodiverse is Your Backyard?

STEM Activity

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Have you ever wondered how many different types of animals live around your home, like in your backyard or a local park? Animals come in all shapes and sizes, each a small part of the amazing diversity of life. These differences can help people use systems to classify animals into different groups. One way people classify animals is by their phylum. Do you know which phylum you belong to? In this science activity, you will investigate the diversity (or biodiversity) of the animal life around… Read more

How Can Life Survive on a Planet with Extreme Tidal Locking?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever wondered what life might look like on other planets? Life might need to survive conditions that would seem very extreme to us. Such conditions likely exist on planets that orbit abundant red dwarf stars. These planets can undergo tidal locking, which means one side is a perpetual, freezing night and the other is a perpetual, scorching day! How does life stand a chance? In this science project, you will test what extreme temperatures microscopic life can survive to model some of… Read more

How Do Flowers Develop?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Flower development is an important part of plant growth. When a plant has reached maturity, it needs to develop flowers in order to reproduce. The male and female parts of the flower have specialized structures for reproduction that develop as the plant matures. How do flowers develop over time? Which structures develop first? You can answer these questions by dissecting the flowers of a gladiola. Gladiola flowers grow and develop along the stem, with the most mature flowers opening at the… Read more

How Do Food Preservatives Affect the Growth of Microorganisms?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This project uses liquid cultures and agar plates to investigate the effects of different concentrations of a food preservative on microbial growth. Read more

How Do Under-Inflated Tires Affect the Difficulty of Riding a Bike?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you ride a bike, you probably know that you have to occasionally pump up the tires to keep them fully inflated. Over a long period of time, the tires slowly leak air, so their pressure will decrease. Have you ever noticed that it is actually harder to ride a bike when the tire pressure is too low? This is because the tires are a big factor in the rolling resistance of the bike. In this sports science project, you will measure how tire pressure affects the force required to move a bike. How… 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 Does Snow Cover Affect Solar Panel Power Output?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What happens when solar panels get covered in snow in winter? Does some sunlight make it through the snow? Does the power output of the panels drop considerably? Is it worth it to go scrape the snow off the panels if temperatures will remain below freezing? How hard is this to do for rooftop solar panels or a large solar farm? These are all questions you can answer yourself in a science project using a small solar panel and a multimeter (Figure 1). You can follow a procedure similar to those… Read more

How Does Soil Change with Depth?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What covers less than 10% of the Earth's surface, yet is a vital natural resource for terrestrial life? What filters ground water and supports most of our food production, not to mention the production of building materials and paper? The answer, often overlooked, is: soil. With this project you can get all the dirt on soil formation, soil horizons, and the composition of different soils. Read more

Middle School Projects, Lessons, Activities (1,332 results)

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