Environmental Science · Pollution
Measure air quality with sticky cards
Hang petroleum-jelly cards at five locations and compare the particles they collect in a week.
- Easy
- 2–7 days
- Under 250
606 projects · 13 streams · every class
Science projects 54
Experiments, working models and investigations in physics, chemistry, biology, earth and space. Most can be done at home or in a school lab, and each one says what it costs and how long it takes.
54 Science projects
Physics · Modern Physics
Measure Planck's constant with LEDs
Find the turn-on voltage of LEDs of different colours and get Planck's constant from the slope.
- Advanced
- 2–7 days
- 250–500
Astronomy and Space · Observational Astronomy
Track the Moon's phases for a month
Sketch the Moon every clear night for a month and explain the pattern with a ball-and-lamp model.
- Beginner
- 2–4 weeks
- Free
Biology + Data
Compare a DNA sequence across species with free tools
Download one gene from six species, align the sequences and build an evolutionary tree.
- Advanced
- 1–2 weeks
- Free
Chemistry + Nutrition and Food
Measure the vitamin C in fruit juices
Titrate juices with iodine and starch to compare how much vitamin C each contains.
- Intermediate
- 1 day
- Under 250
Biology + Environmental Science
Map the biodiversity of a school ground
Survey plants and small animals with quadrats and calculate a biodiversity index for different areas.
- Easy
- 2–7 days
- Free
Environmental Science · Climate
Calculate your household's carbon footprint
Collect a month of electricity, fuel, travel and food data and convert it into kilograms of carbon dioxide.
- Easy
- 2–7 days
- Free
Biology · Botany
Compare the stomata of different leaves
Take nail-polish peels of leaves and count stomata on upper and lower surfaces.
- Easy
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Biology · Cell Biology
Observe osmosis in potato strips
Soak potato strips in salt solutions and find the concentration at which they neither gain nor lose mass.
- Easy
- 1 day
- Under 250
Biology + Sports and Exercise Science
Measure how exercise changes pulse rate and recovery
Record pulse before, during and after exercise for several volunteers and compare recovery times.
- Easy
- 1 day
- Free
Environmental Science · Waste Management
Audit your school's waste for a week
Sort and weigh one week of school waste by type and propose how to cut the largest share.
- Easy
- 1–2 weeks
- Under 250
Environmental Science + Data
Analyse 50 years of your city's temperature data
Download long-term temperature records and test whether your city has warmed, and by how much.
- Intermediate
- 1–2 weeks
- Free
Physics · Current Electricity
Verify Ohm's law and find where it fails
Plot current against voltage for a resistor and a bulb and explain the difference.
- Easy
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Environmental Science + Physics
Compare the energy use of bulbs
Measure the brightness and heat of LED, CFL and filament bulbs and calculate the yearly cost of each.
- Easy
- 1–3 hours
- 250–500
Physics · Oscillations
Find g with a simple pendulum and a phone
Time pendulums of different lengths and get the acceleration due to gravity from a straight-line graph.
- Easy
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Astronomy and Space + Pure Mathematics
Measure the Earth's circumference like Eratosthenes
Measure a stick's shadow at local noon in two cities and calculate the size of the Earth.
- Intermediate
- 1 day
- Free
Chemistry · Analytical Chemistry
Separate ink colours with paper chromatography
Separate the dyes in marker pens on filter paper and calculate an Rf value for each colour.
- Beginner
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Physics · Optics
Build a spectroscope from a CD and analyse light sources
Split light with a CD and compare the spectra of the Sun, LEDs, CFLs and flames.
- Easy
- 1 day
- Under 250
Physics · Magnetism
Map the magnetic field of bar magnets with a phone
Use the phone's magnetometer to measure how field strength falls with distance from a magnet.
- Easy
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Biology · Zoology
Survey the birds of your neighbourhood
Do weekly point counts of birds at three sites and compare species between habitats.
- Easy
- 2–4 weeks
- Free
Physics + Music, Theatre and Writing
Study the physics of a musical instrument
Measure how the length of a string or the water level in a bottle changes the pitch.
- Easy
- 2–7 days
- Under 250
Chemistry · Thermochemistry
Measure the heat released when salts dissolve
Dissolve different salts in water and classify each as heating or cooling the water.
- Intermediate
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Physics · Dynamics
Test which shapes fall slowest: a parachute study
Make parachutes of different sizes and shapes and time their fall with the same load.
- Beginner
- 1 day
- Under 250
Chemistry · Analytical Chemistry
Estimate the calcium carbonate in eggshells
React eggshell with vinegar, measure the mass of carbon dioxide lost and calculate its purity.
- Intermediate
- 1 day
- Under 250
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