Fourth Grade, Physics Science Projects (19 results)
Physics is the study of matter — what is it made of? How does it behave? What laws or equations describe it?
From subatomic particles, to the Big Bang, modern physicists study matter at a tremendous range of scales. There's a whole lot of interesting physics at the human scale, too.
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Do you think you could build a car powered by nothing but air? A balloon-powered car is pushed forward by air escaping from a balloon, and it is fun and easy to build with materials you already have around your house. Can you imagine how you would want your own balloon-powered car to look? Can you design a car that will travel as far as possible? You can even measure your car's speed using your smartphone and a special sensor app. Get ready to grab some simple supplies to bring your idea to…
Try your hand at this engineering challenge. Can you build a "launcher" device to launch a ball as far as possible and a "receiver" to catch it? Building a receiver provides an extra twist to a traditional catapult project. Add to the challenge by using a limited set of materials to build your machine and calculate a score based on your throw distance and materials used.
In this engineering challenge, you will use limited materials to build a paper tower as tall as possible, but there's a twist! Your tower must also support a heavy weight at the top without collapsing. Looking for inspiration? You can see how other students have tackled this and other annual Science Buddies Engineering Challenges.
Teachers, lesson plan versions of this challenge are also available.
In this engineering challenge, you will build a ball run from paper and tape, but there's a twist! You want to make your ball run as slow as possible. How long can you make it take for the ball to get from the entrance to the exit? You can see how other students have tackled this and other annual Science Buddies Engineering Challenges.
3... 2... 1... 0— blastoff! In this science project, you will use a bottle rocket launcher to launch your own bottle rocket. You will load it with water and pressurized air, make several launches, and find out what makes your rocket soar the highest.
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Can you build a volleyball machine? It will need one part to launch a ping pong ball over a net and another to return the ball. How many back-and-forth volleys can you get before the ball touches the ground? Looking for inspiration? You can see how other students have tackled this and other annual Science Buddies Engineering Challenges.
Teachers, lesson plan versions of this challenge are available.
What do sand, Skittles, and cereal have in common? They are all granular materials, which means they are made up of solid particles, but they can actually flow like liquid! Imagine pouring the sand out of a bucket or pouring the cereal out of a box— a lot like pouring water, right? In this physics science project, you will investigate how the size of granular materials affect how they flow.
In this engineering challenge, you will build a device that can pick up a ping pong ball from a distance and return it to a start line. The farther away the ball is, and the fewer materials you use to build your device, the higher your score. Enter your score in the 2023 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge for a chance to win prizes! Teachers,
lesson plan versions of this challenge are also available.
Did you know that you can use magnets to build a train that floats above its tracks? In this project, you will also use magnets to make the train stop, preventing it from crashing into the end of the track. Will adding more magnets help the train stop sooner?
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