Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Eighth Grade Science Projects (Page 16)

Buoyancy of Floating Cylinders

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This science project presents an interesting puzzle. A disk of wood will float face-up; that is, with its circular cross-section parallel to the surface of the water. A long log of wood, however, floats on its side with the circular cross-section perpendicular to the surface of the water. If you think about it, disks and logs are both cylinders. Is there some intermediate length of cylinder that floats with the circular cross-section at a tilted angle? Try this experiment to find out! Read more

Slippery Slopes and Sticking Surfaces: Explore the Forces of Friction

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Whoopee! No matter what age, who doesn't like flying down the slides at parks and pools? In this experiment, you might be surprised what you can learn about the fascinating forces of friction while sliding down (or sticking to) those fun, slippery slopes. Caution: only speed demons need apply for this activity. Read more

Making It Shipshape: Hull Design and Hydrodynamics

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Sailboats, tugboats, barges, ocean liners, submarines are all different boats with different shapes. How does the shape of a boat's hull affect how easily it moves through the water? This project shows you how you can investigate this question using a homemade water trough and model boat hulls. Read more

The Chills and Thrills of Roller-Coaster Hills

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Think it's a good idea to stream music, watch videos, or check social media while doing homework? Are you a thrill-seeker? Well, this is the science fair project for you! What makes a ride so thrilling that people want to ride it over and over again even though it scares them? Is it the speed, the twists and turns, the vertical drops? In this science fair project, you will build and use an accelerometer to figure out what makes a roller-coaster ride worth standing in line for. Oh, and if Mom… Read more

Helicopter Liftoff: How Does the Speed of the Rotor Affect the Amount of Lift?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Helicopters are fascinating to watch. The spinning rotor blades on top of the helicopter generate lift, allowing it to take off vertically. They can land vertically, too, allowing them to set down in small spaces, such as hospital helipads or on a ship at sea. In this aerodynamics science fair project, you will fly a remote-controlled helicopter and measure how the rate of the rotor's rotation changes as the helicopter hovers and flies up or down. Read more

Measuring Density and Porosity of Sand

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

For many kids, a day at the beach would not be complete without building a sandcastle. Have you ever wondered how it is that you can pack sand into a mold for a sandcastle? Do some kinds of sand pack better than others? This project will show you how to measure the porosity of sand: how much air space there is in between the sand grains. Maybe you can use your knowledge from this project to help you make bigger and better projects with sand. Read more

How Secure Are Your Security Questions?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Many websites ask you to answer "security questions," like "What is your mother's maiden name?," to recover your account if you ever forget your password or login ID. However, sometimes the answers to those questions are easy to find online. Does this pose a risk to the security of important accounts like email and online banking? Are people even aware that this information about them is available online? In this project, you will investigate how secure people think security questions are, and… Read more

Climb Every Mountain with Your Own LEGO® Cable Car

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

If you ever rode in a cable car, ski lift, or gondola, you know they make moving over obstacles like lakes, valleys, rivers, or even up steep mountains seem easy. Though it would be pretty difficult to build a full-size cable car in your home, if you have a Mindstorms® kit, you can build a working-model cable car of your own. The engineering challenge is to build a LEGO® cable car that can travel across a string you have suspended somewhere in your house (between two pieces of… Read more

Make a Greeting Card Come to Life!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

A singing monkey? An elderly couple doing the chicken dance? What kind of funny electronic cards do you like to email people? Feel free to dream up your coolest and funniest card ideas, because in this science project, you'll create your own animated greeting card with a simple-to-use programming language called Scratch. Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create interactive stories, games, music, and art. When the program you have written is complete, you can even share it… Read more

The Wright Stuff: Using Kites to Study Aerodynamics

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The Wright brothers used kites extensively to test their design ideas in the years leading up to their first successful airplane flight. With this science project, you'll learn about kite aerodynamics, and then come up with your own hypothesis about building or flying a kite. You can test your hypothesis two ways: with an online kite simulation program from NASA, and outdoors with the real thing! A great feature of this science project is that it has many possible variations, so you can decide… Read more

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Eighth Grade Science Projects (213 results)

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