Eighth Grade Science Projects (Page 72)

Hey Gear Heads! The Physics of Bicycle Gear Ratios

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you have a multi-speed bike, you know that you can make it easier or harder to pedal just by shifting gears. Ever wonder how that works? You can investigate this a number of ways. A basic approach is to use a selection of spools of thread (with different diameters), a board with two nails, and a rubber band. Place a spool over each nail, and put the rubber band over them. Mark the 12:00 position on each spool so that you can count revolutions. Turn one spool through a full circle and… Read more

How Does Atmospheric Temperature Affect the Water Content of Snow?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Are you a snow aficionado? What atmospheric conditions produce light, powdery snow, and what conditions produce heavy, wet snow? This project shows you how to use data from daily balloon soundings of the atmosphere and your own snow measurements to find out. Read more

Under Pressure: Does a Child's Blood Pressure Depend on His or Her Age?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Every time you go to the doctor's office, the nurse measures your blood pressure. But why does he or she do this? What does your blood pressure tell your doctor about your health? And what exactly is blood pressure? In this life science project, you will learn about blood pressure and what causes it. You will even learn how to take blood pressure readings. Once you learn this skill, you will test a population of children and determine if blood pressure depends upon a child's age. Read more

Native Landscapes

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do your parents like to garden? Then you might have a beautiful lawn surrounded by flowers, or a vegetable garden. Humans have been introducing plants to our landscapes for centuries, which has dramatically altered the natural habitat of many environments. Chances are, the landscape you live in is not a natural landscape. One movement is to restore these habitats by re-introducing native plants. Conduct a survey in your area looking for native and non-native plant species. You can take… Read more

Do Different Tree Species Grow at the Same Rate?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Trees grow more during the early spring than they do the rest of the year. Because of this period of dormancy, or lack of growth, each year of growth is marked by a line called a tree ring. You can count the number of rings in the cross section of a tree trunk to show how old the tree is. You can also count the number of rings in a stem to see the age of a stem or branch. One way to measure the rate of growth of a tree is to count the number of rings per inch. Trees with high numbers of… Read more

Flash Floods

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

You can investigate how the geography of an area makes it prone to severe flash floods. Some areas, typically gullies or canyons, can flood extremely rapidly making it impossible to escape a flash flood. Compare the topography, or geographical shape, or these areas. What makes them prone to flash floods? Can you do an experiment showing how the flow of water increases as a channel narrows? Can you use topological maps of your region to identify areas at risk for flash floods? (NCAR, 2006;… Read more

A Prescription for Success: Drugs & Your Genetics

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever known someone who had a bad reaction to a prescription drug? Although pharmaceutical companies test new drugs on a large number of people to make sure the drug works the way it is supposed to, often a small percentage of people respond differently to the drug. A person's genetics plays a large role in determining his or her response to a given drug. Our genes are made up of hundreds to millions of nucleotides of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the genetic code. If just a single… Read more

Skeleton Building

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you like skeletons? One of the more interesting jobs at a natural history museum is the creation and care of the skeletons and bones. How do the curators clean and put together the skeletons? Many curators use the carrion beetle, Dermestes vulpinus, to quickly clean off the dead animal tissue from a corpse to reveal the skeleton. These insects do such a good job that sometimes the skeleton remains intact! Another method is to slow cook the carcass until the meat falls off. You can use… Read more

Do People Take Longer When Someone Is Waiting? Perception vs. Reality

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Maybe this has happened to you: you're going shopping with one of your parents and the parking lot is really crowded. You're helping out, scouting for an empty space. You see someone heading toward their car, taking their keys out, and you point them out. At last, you're going to get a spot. You wait for the person to pull out so you can park. Does it take them longer because you're waiting? Do they move out faster? Or does it just seem that they do? For information on people's… Read more

Testing Behavioral Incentives

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What motivates you to clean your room/mow the lawn/wash the dishes (substitute your own responsibility at home)? What motivates you to do something you really like to do? Or think about this: you'd like to get your younger brother or sister to do you a favor. What strategy works best? Here is a project designed to test which incentive strategy works best for encouraging small children to complete a task. Read more

Eighth Grade Science Projects (791 results)

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