Science Buddies

January 28, 2008 2:16 PM

Need an idea for a Science Fair project? The scientists at Science Buddies are here to help.
posted by pombe (13 comments total)

I've seen this before, but that doesn't mean it isn't an excellent reference site. I think our elementary school teachers point the kids there for ideas.
posted by misha at 2:56 PM on January 28, 2008

Metafilter: I think our elementary school teachers point the kids there for ideas.
posted by criticalbill at 3:38 PM on January 28, 2008

some further ideas
posted by caddis at 4:16 PM on January 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'm one of the coordinators for Let's Talk Science in Toronto, and this will be an amazing resource for our volunteers! Thanks pombe!
posted by reformedjerk at 4:26 PM on January 28, 2008

Nice site pombe, I added you to my K12HotLinks blog.
posted by jmnugent at 5:11 PM on January 28, 2008

More projects from Mefi's own Bill Beaty.
posted by Tube at 5:23 PM on January 28, 2008

Ok, kids, this is all you need to know - do something that you can illustrate with LOTS OF GRAPHS. Lots of graphs = a good grade, and possibly a prize. Lots of graphs.
posted by moxiedoll at 5:35 PM on January 28, 2008

There will never be too much science on the Internet. <- Not sarcastic.
posted by DU at 5:43 PM on January 28, 2008

Best science project I ever did: How Do Earthworms Affect Different Types of Soil? Got to county on that shit. Except...I just realized that the worms I plunked down in sandbox sand all died a terrible death.

I am a horrible (blue-ribbon-winning) person!
posted by LeeJay at 5:45 PM on January 28, 2008

This is awesome. I hope I'll be able to remember some of this in fifteen or twenty years, when I'm trying to encourage a love of Science in my kids or my friends' kids.
posted by wtdoor at 6:11 PM on January 28, 2008

Great post! Thanks!
posted by Mr_Zero at 6:56 PM on January 28, 2008

My son's Science Fair project this year (regionals Superbowl weekend):

"The Effect of Temperature on the Bioluminescence (Glow Intensity) of the Sea Firefly, Cypridina hilgendorfii."

Last year, he built a catapult.

I don't remember learning much at all in my science classes.
posted by misha at 7:59 PM on January 28, 2008

This Snell's Law project, which measures the concentration of dissolved solids in water using a laser pointer, is pretty slick. The availability of cheap laser pointers actually opens up a whole variety of projects that wouldn't be practical otherwise (e.g. the double-slit experiment, which is devilishly hard to do without a coherent, tightly-collimated source). Probably not the sort of thing that's likely to impress many judges, though.

Water filtration was always a big award-winner in my experience. Get a clear plastic tube, fill it with sand, pour dirty water in the top, watch clean water come out the bottom. Draw graphs. Bask in glory.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:42 PM on January 28, 2008