Middle School Ideas

Here are some ideas to get the creative juices flowing.  
You are definitely not limited to what is listed here. 
Remember you can not do any experiment/testing that involves a person.

See "Science Fair Links" to the left for more ideas.

  • Which bandage stays on best when placed in water?
  • Does fabric softener affect drying time?
  • Determine if laundry detergent affects algae growth.
  • Which type of string will stretch the most (nylon, polyester, etc.)?
  • Measure how much torque in newton-centimeters was required to turn a lag screw in a block of wood as the diameter of the screw, the depth of the screw, or the size of a pilot hole was changed.
  • Which kind of frozen liquid would melt the quickest?
  • Which wood would absorb the least amount of water?
  • The dissolution rates of different ibuprofen tablets in pH similar to stomach acid.
  • Which building materials are most resistant to mold growth?
  • Factors affecting seed germination (e.g. soil temperature, pH)
  • Calcium as an important plant nutrient
  • Can Garlic Prevent Fungi Growth?
  • Determine whether ethanol is a more efficient and clean burning fuel than gasoline.
  • Effect of different water sources on sprout time and early growth rate of seeds.
  • Enviromental Conditions Efects on Fingerprint Quality on Glass Surfaces
  • Test the load bearing capacity of different types of soil.
  • Test the effects of fire on the mineral content of soil.
  • The correlation between the amount of mosquito repellent applied and the amount of repelled mosquitoes.
  • The dissolution rate of different brands of ibuprofen
  • The Effect of Projectile Weight vs. Distance Traveled
  • The effects of gender and age on cricket mortality rates.
  • Which paper towel is strongest.
  • Which detergent cleans the best.
  • Which battery lasts the longest.
  • Molding:  Which bread molds fastest;  which food molds fastest; what can be done to prevent molding; etc
  • The relationship between the amount of information stored on a CD-R and the size of the burn area.  (Trubin)
  • Which smoke detector works best?
  • Test different materials to see if they block radio waves.  (Science Buddies
  • Hydroponics using fish aquarium and fish vs fresh water.
  • Will natural (not harmful to humans) pesticides repel crickets as well as chemical ones.  (virtualsciencefair.org/2012/hoareb)
  • Make a homemade generator and try different types of wire to see which works better.  version of: amasci.com/amateur/coilgen.html