All Science Fair Projects

How are ladybugs affected by insecticides?
The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of insecticide on ladybugs. I became interested in this idea because I know that ladybugs are beneficial insects. They live around insect pests, which leads to accidental spraying of the ladybugs. Farmers need the ladybugs to help keep down pest population, and need to avoid killing them accidentally.

What is the effect of light on a Crayfish?
The purpose of this experiment was to determine if Crayfish are attracted to light or repelled by light. I became interested in this idea when I had Crayfish for a class pet in fourth grade, and didnít know weather to leave the lights on around them or to leave them in a dark area.

How to build a homemade magnetometer to study how the earth's magnetic fields are affected by solar storms
Solar storms can affect the Earth's magnetic field causing small changes in its direction at the surface which are called 'magnetic storms'. A magnetometer operates like a sensitive compass and senses these slight changes. The soda bottle magnetometer is a simple device that can be built for under $5.00 which will let students monitor these changes in the magnetic field that occur inside the class

Explain how the tilt of the earth works
Demonstrate that seasons exist because of the tilt of the earth and its impact on the intensity of the sunlight at a given location.

Does the level of precipitation differ in various parts of the United States?
We predicted that there would be different amounts of precipitation around the United States during a given month. Further, we felt that there would even be different amounts of precipitation in the different areas of Evanston and Skokie that we live in.

What is the water cycle?
Precipitation, evaporation, and transpiration are all terms that sound familiar, yet may not mean much to you. They are all part of the water cycle, a complex process that not only gives us water to drink, fish to eat, but also weather patterns that help grow our crops.

What does a barometer do? Make your own barometer to demonstrate how it can be used
What is air pressure? Did you know you can make something that will measure air pressure? You can actually do a bit of weather predicting from a simple made-at-home piece of equipment.

Why is the sky blue?
The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.

What is "weathering"? Demonstrate how it happens to mountains
When rocks are worn down by water, wind, or other means, that is weathering. Soil is made up of weathered rock particles, so without weathering, there would be no soil. Try the following activities to see how rocks can weather.

How to create an electrostatic charge using a handheld electrophorus
A hand-held electrophorus can produce significant amounts of charge conveniently and repeatedly. It is operated by first frictionally charging a flat insulating plate called a "cake". In Volta's day, the cake was made of shellac/resin mixtures or a carnauba wax film deposited on glass. Nowadays, excellent substitutes are available. TeflonTM, though a bit expensive, is a good choice because it is a