5th Grade Science Fair Projects

By the 5th grade, students are expected to shoulder more responsibility in designing in doing a science fair project. There will still be a lot of parent and teacher help, but you want a straightforward project that ideally takes no longer than a week or two to complete. The ideal project is one the student can do pretty much by himself or herself, with guidance from adults as needed.

5th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas

• What household chemicals repel insects? Pick one particular type, common to your area, such as flies, ants, or roaches and test herbs, spice, etc. to see if you can come up with a non-toxic way to keep bugs away.
• Make a model tornado or vortex. You can use two bottles taped together or can make a cool tornado using water and vegetable oil. For the project, explain how the vortex works.
• Can people taste the difference between drinks sweetened with Stevia (a natural non-caloric sweetener) and sugar? Which do they prefer?
• Are there any dyes you can add to water living plants that change the color of their flowers? Hint: Some modern orchids are tinted blue using dyes, so it's possible.
• Do people have the same sensitivity to smell? Place people at one end of a room. Have another person open a scent, such as lemon oil or vinegar. Have your test subjects write down what they smell and what time they smelled it. Is the time the same for different scents? Does it matter whether the test subject was male or female?
• Use the streak test to try to identify different mineral samples. What other tests might you try to confirm your results?
• Does storage temperature affect popcorn popping? Store popcorn in the freezer, refrigerator, at room temperature, and in a heated location. Pop the same amount of each 'sample'. Count how many unpopped kernels remain. Can you explain the results?
• Does food cooked in the microwave cool at the same rate as food cooked in the oven or on the stove top? Heat foods to the same temperature. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature at set times. Explain your results.
• Can you sip the same amount of liquid through two straws at once as one straw? What about 3 straws?
• Collect a group of different substances. Rank the materials according to best to worse heat conductors (or insulators). See if you can explain your findings.
• Does the color of a light affect how bright it appears in fog? in water?
• For your project, explain how traffic lights work. What is the reason for the delay between when a light turns yellow and then turns red? How many cars are needed to trip a turn arrow? If you're examining a particular light, does its behavior change according to the time of day?
• Where is the best place to store apples? Where is the best place to store bananas? Are they the same?
• Does the temperature of a magnet affect its magnetic field lines? You can trace the magnetic field lines of a magnet by putting iron filings on a sheet of paper over the magnet.
• What brand of battery lasts the longest?
• Make ice cubes starting with different temperatures of water. Does the starting temperature of water affect how long it takes to freeze?
• Make a homemade sundial and explain how it works.