Eighth Grade, Plant Biology Science Projects (27 results)

Plants provide us with so much — oxygen to breath, food to eat, materials to make clothing and paper, and beautiful flowers and leaves to admire! How can plants be so diverse and survive in so many kinds of climates? How do they know how to grow towards the sun? Why do some plants not have seeds? Explore the amazing and beautiful world of plants.

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A Toxic Test: Can Plants Be Genetically Resistant to Heavy Metals?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever wondered why a plant that grows well in one environment may not survive in a different environment? For example, plants that grow well in a wet jungle would probably not do so well in a dry desert, lacking enough water. This is because plants have adapted to their specific environment. Some plants have even adapted to tolerate chemicals that would usually be toxic, such as various heavy metals. In this plant biology science project, you will investigate whether different varieties… Read more

Are Soil Microorganisms Important for Plant Health?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Soil may look like a bunch of dirt, but good quality soil is actually a complex mixture of dirt, nutrients, microorganisms, insects and worms. What type of benefit do these microorganisms offer a growing plant? You can test this by baking soil in the oven to sterilize and kill the microorganisms. Do plants grown in sterile soil do better than plants in unsterilized soil? What about adding worms to one plant, but not to the other. Will the plant with worms grow better? Some insects are bad… 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

Build a Circuit to Automatically Water Your Plants

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Have you ever taken care of a plant? It can be tricky to get it right. You have to remember to water it regularly, and you also have to make sure to give it the right amount of water — not too much or too little. What if technology could help? In this engineering project, you will learn how to automate the entire process of watering a plant. Using a soil moisture sensor and a pump, you will build a circuit that will automatically detect when the soil is too dry, add water, and stop when… Read more

Can Plants Stop Soil Erosion?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Soil erosion can cost the world billions of dollars every year by washing pollutants into our streams and rivers and by causing the loss of farmland. What can you do about this problem? Help save the world (and some money!) with nothing more than a few plants! Read more

Chlorophyll Extraction

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Chlorophyll is a natural pigment found in green plants. It is the primary pigment that absorbs light energy from the sun for photosynthesis. This energy is then used by the plant to synthesize glucose from carbon dioxide and water. Chlorophyll in the leaves of plants can be extracted and separated using chromatography. A good source of chlorophyll for an extraction is a dark green leafy vegetable like spinach. Rub a fresh spinach leaf on the bottom of a strip of filter paper. You can get a… Read more

Cryopreservation: Freezing Plant Tissues

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Cryopreservation—storing seeds in ultra-cold liquid nitrogen—is one method for maintaining plant genetic stocks in seed banks. Can seeds withstand a really deep freeze and still germinate? 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

Earthworm Castings — The Ideal Proportion in Soil for Young Garden Plants

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Everybody knows that worms are good for the soil, but not everybody knows why. Here's a project that investigates just one of the ways earthworms improve the earth. Would earthworm castings (or earthworm manure) help your plants prosper and flourish? If so, how much should you use? Read more

Experiment with Factors that Affect Roundup® Weed Killer

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Farmers are constantly battling various types of weeds that compete with the crops they are trying to grow. One of the tools they use to combat unwanted plants is a chemical called glyphosate. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, a widely used weed killer. In this plant biology science fair project, you will explore the factors that affect the activity of glyphosate. Read more

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