Get ideas for science experiments targeted at the middle school educational level. Find out how to perform an experiment and get a hypothesis to test.
Experiments by Grade Level
Fruit Battery Experiment
kotz, stock.xchng
Make a battery using household materials and a piece of fruit. Does one type of fruit or vegetable work better than another? Remember, it's easiest to test the null hypothesis.
Hypothesis: Current produced by a fruit battery does not depend on the type of fruit that is used.
Battery Experiment Resources
How to Make a Fruit Battery
Electrochemical Cells
Potato-Powered LCD Clock
Human Battery Demonstration
Hypothesis: Current produced by a fruit battery does not depend on the type of fruit that is used.
Battery Experiment Resources
How to Make a Fruit Battery
Electrochemical Cells
Potato-Powered LCD Clock
Human Battery Demonstration
Bubbles and Temperature
brokenchopstick, Flickr
Blowing bubbles is fun. There is a lot of science to bubbles, too! You can perform an experiment to see what affect factors have on bubbles. What is the perfect bubble solution? What makes the best bubble wand? Can you color bubbles with food coloring? Does temperature affect how long bubbles last?
Hypothesis: Bubble life is not affected by temperature.
Bubble Experiment Resources
More about Bubble Life and Temperature
Make Your Own Bubble Solution
Glowing Bubbles
Bubble Fingerprints
Hypothesis: Bubble life is not affected by temperature.
Bubble Experiment Resources
More about Bubble Life and Temperature
Make Your Own Bubble Solution
Glowing Bubbles
Bubble Fingerprints
Breakfast and Learning
You've heard about how important breakfast is to performance in school. Put it to the test! There are several experiments you can design around this topic. Does eating breakfast help you stay on task? Does it matter what you eat for breakfast? Would breakfast help you equally well for math as for English?Hypothesis: Students who eat breakfast will not score differently on a vocabulary test than students who skippped breakfast.
Breakfast and Learning Experiment
Rocket Balloon Experiment
Pioneer Balloon Company, public domain
Rocket balloons are a fun way to study the laws of motion, plus they use a safe propellant. You can design a middle school experiment exploring the effect of balloon size on the distance a rocket travels, whether the temperature of the air makes a difference, whether a helium balloon rocket and an air balloon rocket travel the same distance, and more.
Hypothesis: The size of the balloon doesn't affect the distance a balloon rocket travels.
Rocket Experiment Resources
Make a Rocket Balloon
Make a Match Rocket
Newton's Laws of Motion
Hypothesis: The size of the balloon doesn't affect the distance a balloon rocket travels.
Rocket Experiment Resources
Make a Rocket Balloon
Make a Match Rocket
Newton's Laws of Motion
Crystal Experiments
Stephanb, wikipedia.org
Crystals are good middle school experimental subjects. You can examine the factors that affect the rate of crystal growth or the form of the crystals that are produced.
What Is a Crystal?
How to Grow Crystals
How to Make a Saturated Solution
Crystal Projects to Try
Sample Hypothesis
- The rate of evaporation does not affect final crystal size.
- Crystals grown using food coloring will be the same size and shape as those grown without it.
Crystal Experiment Resources
Crystal Science Fair ProjectsWhat Is a Crystal?
How to Grow Crystals
How to Make a Saturated Solution
Crystal Projects to Try
