Middle School Science Projects (Page 22)

Mean & Green: Fruit & Vegetable Hardening

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

When you open a can of green beans, have you ever wondered why the beans are not mushy, or more like a puree? Canning requires boiling the beans for a long period of time to kill bacteria, so why don't the beans fall apart into small pieces? Some fruits and vegetables—like cherries, apples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, beans, cauliflower, and tomatoes—have the ability to undergo hardening, or firming of their plant tissues. A special enzyme, called pectin methyl… Read more

Investigate the 'Death' of an Orange: How is Rate of Heat Loss Based on the Surrounding Temperature?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Imagine that you are a detective investigating a murder. You have a body that was found in a swimming pool, and someone reported hearing an argument near the pool at 10:00 PM the night before. Your first question might be "Was this person killed around 10:00 PM last night, or at some other time?" One way to answer this question is to measure the internal temperature of the body. The longer ago the killing occurred, the colder the body. But can you assign a specific time of death to a specific… Read more

Explore Perceptrons: A Simple Type of Neural Network

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Have the phrases "machine learning" or "neural network" caught your interest, but you are not really sure how to use them in a science project? This project is a great place to start for beginners. You will learn about a very simple type of neural network—a computer program modeled after the human brain—called a perceptron. The perceptron can make a simple yes/no decision based on several inputs. You can "train" your perceptron to improve its decision-making abilities. Try it and… Read more

Heart Rate Recovery Times

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Over an average lifetime, the human heart beats more than 2.5 billion times, supplying blood to the entire body. When a person exercises, the heart has to work harder than usual. Have you ever wondered how quickly your heart beats when you exercise, or how long it takes to recover back to its normal rate after you are done exercising? Is the heart rate recovery time faster for people who get regular exercise compared to people who do not? Try out this science project to find out! Read more

The Effects of Card Counting on a Simple Card Game

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you like to play cards? Here's a project that will get you thinking about strategy in card games and help you become a better card player. Read more

Measuring the Surface Tension of Water

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Did you know that when you dip your finger in water and pull it out, the water is actually pulling back on you? Here's a way you can measure how much. Read more

Locating the Epicenter of an Earthquake

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

When an earthquake happens, how are scientists able to determine the original location of the quake? In this project, you'll use archived data from a network of seismometers to find out for yourself. You'll create your own seismograms from the comfort of your own computer with an easy-to-use webpage interface. Then you'll analyze your seismograms to determine the distance of the quake from each seismometer station. By mapping your analyzed data, you will be able to determine the location of the… 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

Picture This: How Visualizing Data Can Lead to the Right (or Wrong) Conclusion

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Big data is one of the most promising and hyped trends in technology and business today. Big data refers to data-analysis jobs that are too large and complex to be analyzed by applications that are traditionally used. Big data sets hold valuable information. Many publicly available data sets have the potential to improve our everyday lives by giving us insight into the things we care about. How well-equipped are we to extract information from the data? Visualizations and aggregations (or… Read more

How Does the Stem Grow?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Plant stems grow through a process of elongation due to cell divisions within the stem. Does the entire length of the stem elongate evenly? Or do certain regions along the plant stem grow more or less than others? Regions that are involved in active growth are called vegetative. You can conduct an experiment to show which regions of a bean seedling are involved in vegetative growth. Use a marker to mark one inch sections along the main stem of a young bean seedling. Number the regions 1-6… Read more

Middle School Science Projects (309 results)

Explore Our Science Videos