High School Science Experiments (Page 63)

Slip Sliding Away: Experimenting with Friction

STEM Activity

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Have you ever driven up a mountain, seen a sign reading "Hazard! Icy Roads Ahead," and wondered why ice makes roads dangerous to drive on? The answer has to do with friction—specifically, the lack of it. Specifically, in the case of driving a car down the road, the friction that allows the car to move occurs between the tires and the road. This friction normally allows the car to "grip" the road—keeping the tires in contact with the relatively rough road… Read more

Social Media: When and Where Do People Post?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Social media is all the buzz on the internet. What can we do with all the information generated by millions of people posting, tweeting, taking pictures, and chatting? How do companies convert it into profit? While you do not have the tools to analyze data from millions of social media posts by yourself, you will be able to analyze a scaled-down version. Follow the instructions in this project to try your hand at extracting data from a couple of social media sites and use it to create… Read more

Soil Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

Blog Post

In this week's spotlight: a pair of environmental science and geology projects that let families and students investigate a biogeochemical cycle, a kind of reuse and recycling process that helps support an ecosystem. In either the independent science project or the family science version, students create and cultivate a miniature biosphere, called a Winogradsky column, to explore the relationship between available nutrients and the microorganisms that grow in a sample of… Read more

Study the Effect of Fertilizers on Algal Growth

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

You might not know it, but a lake without algae would be a very dull place. If there were no algae, there would be no small animals feeding on the algae, and there wouldn't be any fish eating the small animals that eat the algae. You might conclude that since some algae is good, more algae is even better, but algae growth has a down side. If there is too much algae, they can deplete the oxygen in the water, killing off other species in the water. What is one culprit that leads to algal growth?… Read more

Suck It Up: Capillary Action of Water in Plants

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever heard someone say, "that plant is thirsty" or "give that plant a drink of water"? We know that plants, and even bouquets of cut flowers, need water to survive, but have you ever thought about how the water moves within the plant? In this science project, you will use colored water and carnations to figure out where the water goes. Read more

Surface Science: Where Does a Basketball Bounce Best?

STEM Activity

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Playing basketball can be hard work. Players not only constantly run around the court, but just dribbling the basketball takes effort too. Have you ever wondered why that is? It has to do with how the basketball bounces. When the ball hits the court, its bounce actually loses momentum by transferring some of its energy into a different form. This means that to keep the ball bouncing, players must continually put more energy into the ball. In this activity, you will explore how high a basketball… Read more

Take a Musical Step Back in Time: Make Your Own Phonograph from Everyday Items

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Don't you just love listening to music? In the 1980s, people listened to music on the Sony® Walkman®. Now, people listen to their favorite tunes on MP3 players and on their Apple® iPhonesTM. But listening to music on devices actually started in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In those days, people would gather around their phonograph to listen to their favorite tunes—people were just as amazed with the phonograph as you would be to handle an iPhone. In this physics science… Read more

The Design Process: Creating a Stronger Truss

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This is an interesting project that explores which geometrical shapes make the strongest bridge truss structures. It is a good introduction to the engineering design process. You'll design three different trusses, and use online simulation software to analyze the distribution of load-bearing forces in each design. Then you'll build and test prototypes of each design. Read more

The Science of Spin: How Does Spin Affect the Trajectory of a Kicked Soccer Ball?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Imagine a symmetrical grid of nine points superimposed over the ball. Kicking the ball squarely on the center point imparts no spin, but kicking on any of the other points will impart spin on the ball. How will the resulting spin affect the trajectory of the ball for each of the 8 outer grid points? Kicking the ball with a sliding motion of the foot is another way to impart spin. Once you've made your predictions, you can set up to test them with a soccer ball, video camera and a tape… Read more

Track the Journey of Harbor Porpoises

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever wondered what life is like for different animals, and where it is that they roam? For example, how large is the area they live in, and why do they go to different locations? While we can set up cameras to watch animals that live on land, it can more challenging to see the lives of animals that live underwater, especially in the vast oceans. In this ocean science project, you will use satellite tracking data to learn about the activity patterns of harbor porpoises. How far do they… Read more

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