Computer Science Science Projects (66 results)

From cell phones to social media, computer science is a part of your daily life. Everything from traffic lights to medical devices requires both computer hardware and software these days. Creative problem solvers are using computer science to tackle social problems, improve agriculture, make great entertainment, and start exciting new companies. What could you create and innovate with a bit of tinkering and programming?

What Materials Can Block a Wi-Fi Signal?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever suffered from poor Wi-Fi reception for your smartphone, tablet, or laptop? Certain materials can actually block a Wi-Fi signal; do you think that could be part of your problem? In this science project, you will do an experiment to find out which materials cause the biggest drop in signal strength from a wireless router. Read more

Password Security: How Easily Can Your Password Be Hacked?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

We use passwords every day for our email and other computer accounts. How secure is the password that you use? How hard would it be for someone to guess your password? How hard is it to write a computer program to guess a password? You can see for yourself by writing a simple password guesser in the computer language Python. We will get you started with some ideas, a little sample code, and a few passwords for your computer program to try and guess. Read more

Write a Program to Analyze Text and Guess the Author

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Do you think you could figure out if two different anonymous messages were written by the same person? What about telling the difference between text written by a human and something written by artificial intelligence (AI)? How about identifying the author of a historical text? Each individual author may have their own personal style, and analyzing text mathematically can help you identify that style. Can you write a computer program that takes a passage of text as input, and calculates the… Read more

Follow the Bouncing Ball: A Web Animation Project

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This project is a fun way to try your hand at programming. You'll learn how to create some simple animations, and you'll perform tests and make measurements to help you create more realistic-looking animations. All you need to get started is a Web browser and a text editor (like Notepad). Read more

Wildfire Simulator

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Wildfires can devastate communities, destroying homes and creating smoke that can affect air quality over huge areas. A wildfire could start from a natural cause like a lightning strike, or humans being careless with cigarette butts or campfires. What if you could predict how a wildfire will spread to help give people an advanced warning to get out of harm's way? Can forest management techniques like controlled burns—intentionally setting smaller, more controlled fires—help reduce… Read more

Game of Life

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The Game of Life is the invention of the mathematician John Conway. It is a cellular automaton, consisting of a grid of squares that turn "on" or "off" depending on simple mathematical rules that involve neighboring squares. Depending on how the grid is first set up (i.e., the initial conditions), various interesting patterns appear. Can you write a Game of Life program in a programming language of your choice? If you are new to programming, check out these resources from the Raspberry Pi… Read more

Make Your Own Wireless Alarm System

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Have you ever wished you could have an alarm to prevent your little brother or sister from sneaking into your room? How about an alarm to prevent someone from stealing your favorite toy or from taking cookies out of the cookie jar? In this project you will learn how to program your own customized, wireless alarm systems to send you alerts about whatever you want! Read more

What's the Fastest Way to Sort a List?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Imagine that you have a list of names of all the people in your class. Someone asks you to put them in alphabetical order. How would you go about doing it? Would you first go through the entire list and look for all the "A" names? Then go through it again and look for all the "B" names, and so on? Do you think going through the list over and over again for each letter would be inefficient? What if you had hundreds, thousands, or even millions of names? How would you ever alphabetize them… Read more

Write Your Own Calculator Program

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

When you need a calculator, what do you use? A physical calculator? An app on your phone? A web browser? What features does the calculator have? Does it just do basic arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division)? Can it do other mathematical functions, like square roots or exponents? Can you use parenthesis? Does it have a backspace button? That is a lot to consider for a seemingly very simple device or program! For a computer science project, can you write your own… Read more

Make a Color Detector App to Help Colorblind People

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Do you know anyone who is colorblind, or are you colorblind yourself? What if you could carry a device in your pocket that could identify colors for you? Many people already carry around the device they need to do this - a smartphone! Since phones have built-in cameras, you can make an app that uses the camera to identify colors. In this project you will use a program called MIT App Inventor that makes it easy for anyone, even with no programming experience, to design your own mobile app. Read more

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