Middle School Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 88)

Can You Crowdsource a Better School Environment?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

How can you motivate students and teachers to make positive changes in their school? Why not try using what is in everyone's pocket—a smartphone! With this project you'll try your hand at harnessing the power of crowdsourcing and mobile technology by creating an app that motivates users to change their school for the better. Do not worry about the app creation, the MIT App Inventor tool makes that part easy; the instructions provided here will lead you through it step-by-step. Will your… Read more

Can You Make a Happy Song Sad?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Are there some songs that always make you feel sad when you hear them? How about "Scarborough Fair," George Gershwin's "Summertime," or the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby"? All of these songs are in a minor key. Minor and major scales both use the same number of notes and include the same number of semitones (also called half tones), but in a different pattern. Some musicologists (people who study music) maintain that minor-key songs are more likely to be perceived as sad, while major-key songs are… Read more

Candy Confusion: Can Small Children Mistake Medicine for Candy?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Many medicines come in bottles with special child-proof caps so that small children can't accidentally open the bottle and eat the pills. To a small child who can't read the label, the pills might look just like candy. What cues do we use to tell the difference between medicine and candy? At what age can we tell them apart? This project can show you how to find out. Read more

Catch the Wave!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

There is a lot of energy that can be harvested from moving water. Energy can be extracted from water rushing over a waterfall and from the regular patterns of the ocean's tides. The energy that propels waves forward in the oceans can also be extracted and used. But can wave energy power plants be built anywhere there is water? In this energy science fair project, you will use ocean buoy data and mathematics to determine which locations along the coasts of the United States can sustain a wave… Read more

Cha-cha-cha by Latitude

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

You probably know that where you live on Earth affects your weather. If you live in a far northern or far southern latitude, you experience colder temperatures than people who live near the equator at latitudes close to zero. Your latitude on Earth affects many aspects of your culture, like how you dress, what kind of house you live in, what foods you eat, and even how your day is structured: what time you go to school, to dinner, and to sleep. Some cities at latitudes closer to the equator,… Read more

Choosing the Best Gear Ratio for Maximum Bike Speed

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Are you into cycling and speed? Then this is the science fair project for you! In this science fair project, you will determine the best gear ratio for your bike, to get the highest speed after a curve and onto a straightaway. You will learn a lot about applied mechanics and gears, all while having fun riding your bike. Read more

Classical Music and Cognitive Tasks

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Does listening to classical music help or hinder concentration and performance on cognitive tasks? You'll need help from a teacher to design two short, age-appropriate worksheet tests for this experiment. The tests should be of equal difficulty. You'll also need the cooperation of several additional classroom teachers in order to test enough students (at least 50-100, see the Science Buddies resource: How Many Participants Do I Need?). Half the students will take test A while listening to… Read more

Classroom Noise Meter

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Do you feel like it is always too loud in your classroom? In this lesson you can find out exactly how loud it is. Using a mobile phone and a sensor app, your students will measure and graph the sound levels in your classroom for different working scenarios. How loud are your students when doing independent work, having a group discussion, or listening to their teacher? Based on your students' data, you will determine as a class which sound levels are ideal for each scenario and create a… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

Lesson Plan Grade: 5th-8th

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"Surprise Glacier" © 2010 Jiuguang Wang Do sea levels rise when ice melts? Does it matter whether the ice is on land or in the ocean? Students design an experiment to find out. They collect data, graph their results, and interpret their findings. Along the way, they learn about density, displacement, and climate change. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

5-PS1-2. Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.
MS-PS1-5. Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

Coffee Buzz: How Does Caffeine Affect the Physiology of Animals?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Caffeine is a type of chemical called a stimulant. When you drink a caffeinated beverage, the caffeine enters into your blood stream dilating the capillaries and causing blood to flow more quickly. This gives your body a feeling of speeding up which can cause the jitters and wakefulness. How does caffeine affect the physiology of other animals? You can use over-the-counter caffeine supplements, like Vivarin, to test the effects of caffeine on animals. Try dissolving the caffeine in… Read more

Middle School Projects, Lessons, Activities (1,335 results)

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