Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Science Fair Central Choose a Project Idea
This helpful page from Discovery Education provides science fair ideas in Life Science, Earth Science, and Biology. Testable questions to get you started are listed beneath each domain.
Other
Earth's Birthday Project: Educating About the Earth
This site is loaded with science activities for elementary students. There are role plays, recipes, dances, writing exercises and craft ideas. You can also raise you own luna moths, praying mantids, ladybugs or carnivorous plants. Lots...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: How Does the Intensity of Light Change With Distance?
How far would you have to travel so that the light of the full sun would provide "daylight" no brighter than twilight on Earth? This project describes a method to verify the inverse square law: how light, sound, electrical signals, and...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Get Down and Dirty: How Does Soil Change With Depth?
What covers less than 10% of the Earth's surface, yet is a vital natural resource for terrestrial life? What filters ground water and supports most of our food production, not to mention the production of building materials and paper?...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Mapping Troposhperic Ozone Levels Over Time
Ozone in the stratosphere protects the earth by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. However, when ozone occurs in the troposphere, it is harmful to health. In this project you can use data from EPA monitoring stations...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Acid Rain and Aquatic Life
Chemicals from the Earth's atmosphere are making their way down to the planet. Not in spaceships, but in rain. The acid rain can infiltrate ground water, lakes, and streams. How does acid rain affect aquatic ecosystems?
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Calculating the Circumference of the Earth
In this project, you will estimate the circumference of the earth, using a method developed about 2,200 years ago, by Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician and the librarian of the great library at Alexandria, in Egypt.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Measuring the Earth's Core With Seismic Waves
When an earthquake occurs, seismic shock waves travel out through the earth from the source of the event. The shock waves travel through the earth (body waves), or along the Earth's surface (surface waves), and can be recorded at remote...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Similar Triangles: Using Parallax to Measure Distance
Want to stretch your imagination? One good way is to try to imagine how far it is to a distant star. How much farther away is it than the moon is from the earth? In this project, you'll learn one way of measuring the distance without...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Under Pressure: Sand Under Lateral Compression
Here's a project that involves a different kind of sandbox than the ones you usually think of. This one has a moving wall inside, acting like a piston, to compress the sand. You can make layers using two different colors of sand, and...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Earthworm Castings: Soil for Young Garden Plants
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.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: From Gas to Rust: Measuring the Oxygen Content of Air
Earth's atmosphere, the ocean of air that blankets the planet, is mostly nitrogen and oxygen, with small amounts of other gases. How much oxygen is present in air at sea level? Is air high up in the Appalachians or Rockies? Atop Mount...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Primary Productivity and Plankton
The oceans contain both the earth's largest and smallest organisms. Interestingly they share a delicate relationship linked together by what they eat. The largest of the ocean's inhabitants, the Blue Whale, eats very small plankton,...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Observatory Satellite Measures Motion of Coronal Mass Ejection
The sun sometimes releases huge bursts of electrified gases into space. These bursts are called coronal mass ejections (or CMEs). When CMEs are directed towards Earth they can generate auroras, the spectacular atmospheric displays also...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: What Goes Up, Must Come Down
Standing on a balcony near the top of the 179-foot tall Tower of Pisa, a young scientist dropped two iron balls into the crowd below. The scientist, young Galileo, was not trying to knock his fellow professors on the head, but was trying...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria and Nitrogen Fertilizers
Plants need nitrogen to build proteins and nucleic acids to grow healthy stems and leaves. Though the Earth's atmosphere is made up of 79% nitrogen, the form of nitrogen found in the atmosphere cannot be used by plants. In this...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: The Big Dig
Even though many cities have recycling programs, a lot of trash still ends up in the dump. Find out which materials will break down and which materials won't. Will the results of this experiment change which products you often buy?
Other
Cdli: Science Fairs Homepage
At this site from the Center for Distance Learning and Innovation there's a monstrous listing of possible science fair projects. You can choose from primary (grades 1-4), elementary (grades 4-6), intermediate (grades 7-9), or senior...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Projections and Coordinates: Turning a 3 D Earth Into Flatlands
Projections and coordinates are key advancements in the geographic sciences that allow us to better understand the nature of the Earth and how to describe location. These innovations in describing the Earth are the basis for everything...
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Aaas: Project 2061: Topic: Weather and Climate I: Basic Elements
[Free Registration/Login Required] Create a science test that checks for student understanding in science, for common misconceptions, as well as for correct ideas. This is a list of key ideas related to Weather and Climate I: Basic...
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Aaas: Project 2061: Topic: Plate Tectonics
[Free Registration/Login Required] Create a science test that checks for student understanding in science, for common misconceptions, as well as for correct ideas. This is a list of key ideas related to Plate Tectonics. For each key...
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Aaas: Project 2061: Topic: Weather and Climate Ii: Seasonal Differences
[Free Registration/Login Required] Create a science test that checks for student understanding in science, for common misconceptions, as well as for correct ideas. This is a list of key ideas related to Weather and Climate II: Seasonal...
abcteach
Abcteach: Earth Day Activities
[Free Registration/Login Required] How can you treat the earth with more respect? Check out this resource featuring links to elementary activities to celebrate Earth Day. You will find word searches, crossword puzzles, reading...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Growing, Growing, Gone! An Experiment on Nitrogen Fertilizers
Plants need nitrogen to build proteins and nucleic acids to grow healthy stems and leaves. Though the Earth's atmosphere is made up of 79% nitrogen, the form of nitrogen found in the atmosphere cannot be used by plants. In this...