Life on Land, Middle School Science Projects (Page 5)

How Do Plants Change the Buildup of Greenhouse Gases?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Global warming is how scientists describe the gradual warming of our global climate. Scientists think that the trend towards global warming can be attributed to the build up of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere from industrialization. Another problem is deforestation, as we remove plants and trees from the environment to meet a high demand for lumber or by clear cutting fields for farming and urbanization. By removing trees from the earth's environment, are we changing how greenhouse… Read more

Can Water Plants Be Used to Determine Water Quality?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Some plants grow only in water-logged environments. These plants are usually native to wetlands and are important for the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems. Wetland ecosystems are very fragile and susceptible to the toxic dumping of sewage and fertilizer run-off from neighboring farm land. One very common aquatic plant called duckweed inhabits many wetland marshes. Duckweed grows by asexual reproduction and floats at the surface of the water with tiny roots extending into the water below.… Read more

Rad Radishes: Effects of Irradiation on Seed Germination

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

DNA is the "instruction manual" for the successful growth of a living thing, from a single cell to a mature adult. When the DNA of an organism is somehow damaged, it can have an impact on the organism's development over time. In this plant science fair project, you will track how irradiation (exposure to radiation) of radish seeds affects germination (sprouting of a seedling from a seed). 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

Bacteria Can Fix It! A Comparison of Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria and Nitrogen Fertilizers

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you know what plants need to grow? Sure, they need soil, water, and sunshine. Everyone knows that. But here's a secret: they also need nitrogen. Plants use nitrogen to make DNA in their cells and the proteins that lead to healthy stems and leaves. The problem is, although the Earth's atmosphere is made up of 78% nitrogen, the form of nitrogen found in the atmosphere cannot be used by plants. So how do plants get their nitrogen? Either through nitrogen deposits in the soil, or through… Read more

Worm Hunt: Isolating Soil Nematodes from Your Backyard

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you know what is living in your backyard? How about at the playground, or in your compost pile? Nematodes, also called roundworms, are the most abundant animal on Earth and they might be living in any of these places. In this science project you'll isolate nematodes from several soil samples to discover the best nematode habitats. Read more

What is the Rate of Leaf Growth Along the Stem?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Leaves grow in a different pattern than stems and shoots. They do not elongate along one axis, but instead spread out over time. Do all regions of the leaf grow equally? You can use markings on different regions of a growing leaf to see if the whole surface grows, or if growth is focused in a particular region, like the veins or edges of the leaf. If you look along a leafy stem, you may notice that leaves at different positions along the stem are different sizes. You can do an experiment to… 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

Fruit Ripening

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Fruit is a strategy some plants use to attract animals to disperse seeds. The animals eat the fruit and disperse the seeds through the digestive system. To attract animals, fruit needs to ripen and develop an odor that acts as an attractant. How much more successful are ripe fruits at attracting animals? Try setting out an over and under ripe piece of fruit, and compare how many many insects are attracted to each fruit. How does ripening occur? You can do an experiment using a very ripe… Read more

Deforestation

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The conversion of forested to unforested areas has been occurring since humans began to impact and change their environments during the agricultural revolution. Recently deforestation has become a global problem, particularly for developing industrial countries and countries with very large populations. You can use satellite mapping resources to investigate the connection between urbanization, population growth and deforestation. You can also investigate the connection between deforestation… Read more

Life on Land, Middle School Science Projects (64 results)

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