Sixth Grade Science Experiments (Page 163)

Out of Control!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever watched an inexperienced video game player pick up a controller and start playing a game? Often the player bumbles around trying to figure out which button makes the onscreen character jump, run, turn left, or perform other actions. Some games are different though, they have control schemes that are more real-world based. For example, most modern Mario Kart games give you the option of steering with a joystick or turning the entire controller like a steering wheel, which is more… Read more

Paper Maze Programming: Start to Finish Computer Logic

Blog Post

Explore the logic of computer coding — no computer required! Have you ever asked your student to give you directions, turn by turn, to get you home from a familiar landmark? It can be eye opening to hear how they might guide you, and you may or may not make it where you need to go! But the process of giving directions helps reiterate the steps involved in moving along a frequent path. Writing a computer program is similar in many ways. You need… Read more

Pet Poll: A Taste Test for Fluffy & Fido

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Has your dog ever barked, seemingly for no reason at all? Or has your cat ever stopped and carefully smelled a spot that looked perfectly clean to you? Pets, like people, have senses that they use to learn about and to react to their world, but their senses can be stronger or weaker than people's. In this mammalian biology science fair project, you'll study your pet's sense of taste by conducting taste tests and watching how your pet acts to determine his or her favorite type, flavor, or brand… Read more

PID Controller Tuning for a Drone

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Note: to do this project you will need the DIY Mini Drone Kit, available from our partner Home Science Tools®. An Arduino must be purchased separately. The Electronics Kit for Arduino, available from our partner Home Science Tools®, contains the additional parts you will need, including an ultrasonic sensor. The program in the DIY Mini Drone: Arduino™ Altitude Control project uses a proportional controller to control the drone's altitude. A potentiometer is connected to one… Read more

Pinwheel Magic: Take a Spin with Animation

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you enjoy watching cartoons and animated movies? Do you have fun playing video games? What do all of these things have in common? Fantastic computer animation, that's what! It's a cool job to take an interesting story or game and make it more entertaining by animating it. In this computer science project, you won't animate a full-length feature movie, but you will animate a pinwheel—a project that can go a long way toward creating your own longer animations! You will create an animated… Read more

Pinwheel Science: Weekly Science Activity

Blog Post

In this week's spotlight: an energy-focused family science experiment that explores the relationship between the potential power of a wind turbine and the source and location of the wind. Using a pinwheel, students create their own horizontal-axis wind turbine and experiment to see how the pinwheel spins when the wind comes at it from different directions—and how this translates into how much weight the wind turbine can lift. A pinwheel is a simple example of a wind turbine, but with… Read more

Plants Are On The Move! A Study of Gravitropism

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

As we humans zip from place to place, we often forget to stop and smell the roses. Compared to our fast-paced lifestyle, plants seem rooted to the spot. Don't be deceived by appearances however, plants are on the move! This experiment will investigate the stimulus/response relationship in plants and prove that plants can move up and down in response to gravity. Read more

Playing Games

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Almost all of the games we play are based on math in some way or another. Card games, board games, and computer games are designed using statistics, probabilities, and algorithms. Begin by reading about games and game theory. Then you can choose your favorite game and investigate the mathematical principles behind how it works. Can combinatorial game theory help you to win two-player games of perfect knowledge such as go, chess, or checkers? (Weisstein, 2006; Watkins, 2004) In a multi-player… Read more

Playing with Balance: Doing Fun Science at Home during School Closures (Activity #14)

Blog Post

Follow along with a Science Buddies parent who is using family STEM activities to keep her kids learning at home during the COVID-19 school shutdown. New posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today's adventure...building and balancing a creative mobile. A Balancing Act I have a half-dozen one-liners running through my head about how there is no "balance" for parents in today's pandemic world. I'll spare you though — you can probably… Read more

Point, Click, Shoot! Photography with a Pinhole Camera

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you like to take pictures with a camera? It can be fun to capture important and humorous events in your life on film or on a memory card. Photography is a hobby that people of all ages enjoy because they can creatively express themselves both artistically and scientifically. But when did the science of photography start and have cameras always been such complicated pieces of equipment? In this photography science project, you will experiment with a simple camera called a pinhole camera and… Read more

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