Fifth Grade, Electricity & Electronics Science Projects (25 results)

Have you ever seen night lights that automatically turn on when it gets dark? What about art projects, like paintings or sculptures, with embedded lights? This project will let you combine the two, by adding lights to an art project of your choice. You can make the lights automatically turn on when it gets dark using a Raspberry Pi. Check out the video to see what this simple, but fun, project looks like. IMPORTANT: The instructions for this project were originally written using Scratch 2 on a… Read more

Imagine trying to put a solar panel on your roof or outside your home to generate clean, renewable energy. Where would you put it so it generates as much power as possible throughout the day? What direction should it face? Is there a way to take measurements to find the best location before you install the panel? In this project, you will use a tiny programmable device called a micro:bit to record light data and find the best place to put your panel. Read more

Solar cells are devices that can be used as a source of power when there is light shining on them, but they stop producing energy when they are not in the light. One way to store the solar energy for later use is to use a solar cell to charge something called a capacitor. The capacitor stores the energy as an electric field, which can be tapped into at any time, in or out of light. In this electronics science project, you will use parts of a solar car to experiment with the energy storage… Read more

You've seen that a magnet's attractive force can cause a small object (like a paper clip) to "jump" to the magnet. So a magnetic field can act through the air, but what about other materials? Here's an experiment you can do to find out. You'll need a strong bar magnet, a stack of books, a paper clip, some thread and tape. Place the bar magnet underneath the top book in your stack, so that it sticks out. Tie a piece of thread (as long as the stack of books is high) to a paper clip. You… Read more

You probably know that you can use iron filings to reveal the magnetic field produced by a strong magnet. If you sandwich the iron filings between pieces of waxed paper, you can make a permanent record of your magnetic experiments (Gardner, 2004, 66). Cover the wax paper sandwich with a layer of brown paper (from a roll, or cut open a paper shopping bag), and then (with an adult's help) use a hot, dry iron to seal the waxed paper together. You will have to experiment a little with your iron… Read more