Middle School Science Experiments (Page 123)

How to Make a Guitar Sing

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This is a great project for a musician who is interested in the physics of stringed instruments. If you've ever played an acoustic guitar, you may have noticed that picking a single string can make one or more of the other (unpicked) strings vibrate. When this happens, it's called sympathetic vibration. What intervals lead to the strongest sympathetic vibrations? Find out for yourself with this project. Read more

How to Make a Piano Sing

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The renowned pianist Vladimir Horowitz once said, "The most important thing is to transform the piano from a percussive instrument into a singing instrument." In this project, you will learn how you can make piano strings sing using sympathetic vibrations. Find out which notes make another one sing the longest by measuring their sound intensities using a smartphone equipped with a sensor app. Read more

Huddle & Cuddle: How Puppies Keep Warm

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What is the first thing you do when you wake up on a cold, frosty morning? Snuggle down deeper under the covers? Animals, like puppies and piglets, do not like being cold either, but they do not have hands or blankets to wrap themselves up. So when animals get chilled, they change their behavior and do things like huddle—they curl up close to other animals. In this mammalian biology science fair project, you will see just how much huddling can help reduce heat loss. Read more

Hula Hooping with a Rubber Band

STEM Activity

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Are you any good at hula hooping? If not, there is good news: you can do this fun project without any hula hooping experience! You will examine some of the fascinating physics behind hula hooping using just a pencil and a rubber band. Read more

Human Perception of the Anomalous Mirror Symmetry Illusion

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The Science Buddies project Design Your Own 3D Printed Optical Illusion shows you how to make your own 3D printed "anomalous mirror symmetry" illusions (Figure 1). The illusions are based on the work of Dr. Kokichi Sugihara. You can read his original paper about the illusions in the Bibliography. Figure 1. Two versions of the "impossible arrow" shape that appears to point to the right while its reflection in the mirror appears to point to the left. Which version of… Read more

Human-Robot Interaction: Do Looks Matter?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you think robots are cute? Funny? Scary? How do robots make you feel? What words would you choose to describe a robot? Find out how people react to robots by building and decorating your own robot in this science project. Read more

I See a Full Moon Rising...and Shrinking...or Do I?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever noticed how the moon appears bigger at the horizon, just as it is rising over the treetops, than it does later in the evening when it is overhead? Of course, the size of the moon does not change, but our perception of its size changes based on where it is in the sky. In this human biology science fair project, you will investigate Emmert's law, which explains the full moon illusion. You will estimate the size of the perceived increase in the size of the moon at the horizon. Read more

Identify Road Signs with Machine Learning

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Driverless cars use machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, to identify road signs and other things they encounter on the road, like pedestrians and other vehicles. In this project you will take your own pictures of different types of road signs and use machine learning to identify the signs using a free online tool (no programming is required). You will then attempt to improve your machine learning model so it can identify signs in a variety of environments. Read more

Imagine Your Story - STEM Activities for Storytellers of All Ages!

Blog Post

Are you getting ready for a summer of reading with kids? Make things even more creative and fun this summer with free, hands-on science and engineering activities that help students bring their stories to life. Pair Summer Reading with Storytelling Fun! Library reading programs are a hallmark of summer break! Checking off "books read" on a colorful map, a multi-part bookworm, or some other engaging book log as part of your library's summer reading… Read more

Incorporating Physics in Video Games

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Have you ever played a video game and gotten so involved that you felt as if you were living inside the game? What were the characteristics of the game that made you feel part of the action? One component of an absorbing video game is an onscreen world that makes sense—a world that takes physics into account. A game in which the player feels the effect of trudging through mud, slipping on ice, or catapulting a bird is more fun than one with no environmental interaction. In this science… Read more

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