Grandson needs ideas for cool science project. Due in 2 weeks. 6th grade.

[morningglory]

My first trip into the lounge (down under). You guys are having a good time down here!

[QueenOfCalifornia]

1. You can always

help him build a bomb.... That'll impress the science teacher (and the class)

Good time you say????

This is hard work.

Welcome to the Lounge... have a drink and stay a while.

[morningglory]

2. Reminds me, my oldest son made moonshine for a sci proj in 8th grade.

I warned him the teacher was not going to like it, but I admired him for his creativity.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

3. That's a good boy!

Just in case they bring back prohibition.

[TZ]

17. I did that project in 9th grade...

As did the whole class, with the teachers approval! We poured some on a desk and the test to see if we got and A or failed was if the alcohol caught on fire from a lighter! I got an A..and I even finger tasted it...yuuum!!
:D
( I bet this would never be allowed now)

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Stages of pumpkin decomposition

That could be interesting, if biological stuff is valid for his science project.

[AlCzervik]

5. he could make a compass, thats fun and useful plus you can buy a big ass magnet.

[Bucky]

27. A big ass magnet

I think it's called a Chevy El Camino Ride one of these and the big asses come running!

[Deja Q]

6. Mountain Dew, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide

Isn't there a youtube video of a person making that impromptu lantern?

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Yes, that's cool! Luminescent Mountain Dew!

Very cool.

[Frank Cannon]

19. Unfortunately, the "Mountain Dew glowstick" is a fraud

If you mix Mountain Dew, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide, all you'll get is a fizzy, non-luminous sludge. There are several YouTube videos that demonstrate this.

The fraud apparently was done by cutting open an actual glowstick and dumping the liquid contents into the Mountain Dew bottle. The glowstick fluid reacts with the hydrogen peroxide to produce the glow; the baking soda is just a red herring.

I was punked by this, as well.

[SOteric]

7. Try this:

http://www.cool-science-projects.com/high-school-science-fair-projects.html

[cobalt1999]

8. Kids like the heavier than air gas experiments...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvpenpBXAmM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRAhO4XESBU&mode=related&search=

[karmaqueen]

10. won with this one "water purification." very easy!

My child was in 6th grade and made a emergency water filter with thing you have in the house.(We live in a hurricane prone area and have had bad water many times.) I remember her using green scouring pads, stuffing for a pillow, fine rocks from the yard, I can't remember everything but she layered the stuff in a clear plastic jug, it worked great. She had three bottles of tainted water for them to run the tests on her filter. One had a lot of garlic in it so it smelled, one had red food coloring, and one just muddy water. It worked on all three. She won in her division in the school and it was entered in the city competition. No win there but it was fun,very easy to do.

[DarkTirade]

11. Or you could combine this suggestions with morningglory's and make a water still.

I thought about making one of those, as I also live in a hurricane-prone area. Also, Florida water has lots of chlorine and crap in it. :)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. Mold.

My 6th grade class did a group science project that involved growing all kinds of mold. It kind of stunk, but it was colorful.

[DarkTirade]

16. Might kill bacteria too. :)

[Lautremont]

13. The Sweet Science: Gladiators of the Square Circle

[KitchenWitch]

14. Fruit and vegetable based dyes.

[Coyote_Bandit]

15. kaleidoscope

Show how the angles of the internal mirrors affect the final image that is seen.

You can use Pringles cans or PVC pipe or some such and you can buy pre-cut mirror strips.

[Burma Jones]

18. I won, statewide, for testing mouthwashes

I took cultures from my mouth, grew them in beef broth, made an incubator with a 15 watt bulb, a cardboard box and aluminum foil. I made serial dilutions of the broth samples and inoculated them with different brands of mouthwashes. I put the test tubes with the inoculated beef broth back in the incubator. I then put the beef broth onto petri dishes with agar, and counted the growth of the bacteria.

The winner was Scope
Last place went to Listerine

[AllegroRondo]

20. Someone in my daughter's class studied microwave popcorn

he did a survey of a half dozen different brands to see which ones popped bigger, and which had the most/least unpopped kernels.

Other fun ones -
survey of local tv/radio weather forecasts to see who is most accurate
testing of dog mouths vs. human mouths - which is cleaner?

[dembotoz]

21. how bout "is water boarding torture?"

now if we could just get george bush to volunteer....

[applegrove]

22. What about the coca cola and the tooth? You know testing urban myths.

Get a sensitive scale. Weigh the tooth. Put it in coke for two weeks and see if it gets eroded. I think you need to use classic coke.

Or test out some other urban myth - like talking to plants or the like.

[flvegan]

23. Easy. Proving/disproving evolution. Watch FR and DU during the very same week.

Take notes. Compare, contrast.

Victory is thine.

I demand at least a footnote.

[Bucky]

24. two words: "kitten xylophone"

Trust me, this one's always a winner

[rug]

25. Atom bomb kit.

http://home.earthlink.net/~enigmaep/annihilation/buildabomb.html

[Parche]

26. How Vegetables Get Deformed

:hi:

[Dinger]

28. Easy One Here:

Use the concept of density. Make a somewhat interactive display, where observers can respond to questions like "Which one is more dense?"

Examples:

*oil, water, rubbing alcohol. Color the water and alcohol. See the layers separate. Observe results.
*Use other SAFE substances to test their density.

Here is a format that works for me:


PHEOC:

Problem: State the problem or question you are exploring.

Hypothesis: What will you try to prove?

Experiment: What materials did you use? What did you do? How did you do it?

Observation: What were your observations?

Conclusion: What did you find out?


Put this on a cardboard background that folds into 3 sections, so it can be set up as a display.

I would list and exaplain the "P" and "H" on the sides, and the "E," "O", and "C" in the middle section , with graphs and
photos, results, etc. , as needed.


There ya go!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

29. Toxic TV's Poison PC's.....E-Waste Tsunami - The dark Side of Digital Age

every CTR TV and Monitor has 4-9 lbs of lead dust in them...besides all the other toxins..HDTV coming this year all the old TV will be heading to the dump....200 million of them...you do the math (and that's just the TVs what about the PC monitors?

my son did this for his 7th grade science fair project and won tri-county with it.

http://svtc.igc.org/cleancc/pubs/poisonpc2004.htm

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/92/computers

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040322/login/main1.htm

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/01/57151


http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/01/57151

[Wcross]

30. Isn't that cheating your grandson out of a great learning experience?

Shouldn't he do the work himself thereby learning the lesson his teacher is trying to teach? Let him come up with the idea, sink or swim.

[jmowreader]

31. With only two weeks it's got to be a physical science project

There's no time for molds, mildew, marijuana or whatever to grow in two weeks.

How about testing the viscosities of three or four different brands of 5W30 motor oil to see which one is thinnest? The thinnest oil will give you the best mileage, because it drags less on the engine's working parts, so that's a good progressive project.

He'll have to build a viscosimeter (get a container, measure its volume then drill a hole in the bottom for the oil to run out of) and get some motor oil. Choose...oh, the cheap shit they sell at Wal-Mart, Valvoline, Castrol and Pennzoil.