Need a science fair project for a first grader

[1969912 0]

I need a science fair project for my first grade nephew. It needs to be an indoor project, so my usual ideas about fire and explosives are not practical. Any ideas?

thanks

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[Lindsey 0]

You can put carnations in water with food coloring to teach about transpiration and cohesion. It's kinda fun for kids to see the flowers turn different colors. We did that one when Jay was in 1st grade.

Tonight we made our volcano. Has every kid in the history of school made a volcano? It's still pretty cool.

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[1969912 0]

Quote

You can put carnations in water with food coloring to teach about transpiration and cohesion. It's kinda fun for kids to see the flowers turn different colors. We did that one when Jay was in 1st grade.

Tonight we made our volcano. Has every kid in the history of school made a volcano? It's still pretty cool.

linz

Godd idea. I assume carnations start out white?

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[Squeak 17]

Quote

Quote

You can put carnations in water with food coloring to teach about transpiration and cohesion. It's kinda fun for kids to see the flowers turn different colors. We did that one when Jay was in 1st grade.

Tonight we made our volcano. Has every kid in the history of school made a volcano? It's still pretty cool.

linz

Godd idea. I assume carnations start out white?

Only white ones start out white...Red ones actually start out [RED]RED[/RED] and Pink ones welll.......

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[lawrocket 3]

How about the medicine dropper diver?
Get a 2 liter bottle of soda. Drink it. Fill it with water to the top.
Take a medicine dropper from some infant tylenol or something. Fill it with enough water so that it barely floats. Put the lids back on and seal it.

When you squeeze the sides, it sinks. Release the pressure and it floats.
Simple and easy and the kids love it.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Squeak 17]

Quote

How about the medicine dropper diver?
Get a 2 liter bottle of soda. Drink it. Fill it with water to the top.
Take a medicine dropper from some infant tylenol or something. Fill it with enough water so that it barely floats. Put the lids back on and seal it.

When you squeeze the sides, it sinks. Release the pressure and it floats.
Simple and easy and the kids love it.

it's called a cartesian diver, use weights on them to make them nove up and down faster or slower

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[1969912 0]

Quote

How about the medicine dropper diver?
Get a 2 liter bottle of soda. Drink it. Fill it with water to the top.
Take a medicine dropper from some infant tylenol or something. Fill it with enough water so that it barely floats. Put the lids back on and seal it.

When you squeeze the sides, it sinks. Release the pressure and it floats.
Simple and easy and the kids love it.

Yeah, a cartesian diver.

Reminds me of this project:
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1958140;search_string=micro%20sub;#1958140, the drunkest posts I've ever made.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[dorbie 0]

Electrolysis might be fun, and with only a mild hint of the pyrotechnic when you ignite your test tube of Hydrogen and use your Oxygen to reignite a glowing splint.

2H2O -> 2H2 + O2

And you discuss the reverse reaction when the H2 popped and the production of CO2 when the stick burned.

Add to that the trusty old lemon/potato battery to create current & go into more detail about the reactions at the cathode and anode.

Just my opinion but there's something fundamental & educational about splitting water into its elements.

If you're going to do transpiration I'd suggest tying it in with the photosynthesis respiration cycle to pack more of a lesson in there. At the very least experiment with different sunlight exposures, hopefully it'll show a difference, dunno with just a flower so make it a leafy one.

[dorbie 0]

Meh... never mind, I guess I missunderstood the age implications of first grade. At that age the most advanced 'science' my class did was planting crocus bulbs, and watching baby gerbils mysteriously appear.

[grue 1]

"Necromancy and you: The newly dead and your homework make a fine combination"

cavete terrae.

[1969912 0]

Quote

Electrolysis might be fun, and with only a mild hint of the pyrotechnic when you ignite your test tube of Hydrogen and use your Oxygen to reignite a glowing splint.

2H2O -> 2H2 + O2

And you discuss the reverse reaction when the H2 popped and the production of CO2 when the stick burned.

Add to that the trusty old lemon/potato battery to create current & go into more detail about the reactions at the cathode and anode.

Just my opinion but there's something fundamental & educational about splitting water into its elements.

If you're going to do transpiration I'd suggest tying it in with the photosynthesis respiration cycle to pack more of a lesson in there. At the very least experiment with different sunlight exposures, hopefully it'll show a difference, dunno with just a flower so make it a leafy one.

Thanks Dorbie,

I thought about that one, but the project needs to sit for a couple days with people walking by looking at it, so we can't refill water, etc.

I was thinking about the old paper clip electric motor. Perhaps it could be run using a solar cell if the school will allow a mains powered light.

There are a couple weeks left to think about it.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[wmw999 2,534]

A neighbor's son did one about band-aids. He (well, his mom) bought several brands of band-aid, and he put them all on his leg to see which ones lasted the longest.

Extra credit for putting duplicates on the other leg (sample size ).

My son's at about that age had to do with making flashlight batteries glow brighter or dimmer by changing the batteries. The project bored him after awhile, so he turned it back into a challenge by using his newly-acquired penmanship skills to write the entire board in cursive. Yes, of course I still have it.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[dorbie 0]

Quote

Quote

Electrolysis might be fun, and with only a mild hint of the pyrotechnic when you ignite your test tube of Hydrogen and use your Oxygen to reignite a glowing splint.

2H2O -> 2H2 + O2

And you discuss the reverse reaction when the H2 popped and the production of CO2 when the stick burned.

Add to that the trusty old lemon/potato battery to create current & go into more detail about the reactions at the cathode and anode.

Just my opinion but there's something fundamental & educational about splitting water into its elements.

If you're going to do transpiration I'd suggest tying it in with the photosynthesis respiration cycle to pack more of a lesson in there. At the very least experiment with different sunlight exposures, hopefully it'll show a difference, dunno with just a flower so make it a leafy one.

Thanks Dorbie,

I thought about that one, but the project needs to sit for a couple days with people walking by looking at it, so we can't refill water, etc.

I was thinking about the old paper clip electric motor. Perhaps it could be run using a solar cell if the school will allow a mains powered light.

There are a couple weeks left to think about it.

Just an electromagnet could be cool (I always thought so when I was a kid). A motor is a step up from that. There's definitely a load of material there.

I'd start with an electromagnet first, then simple induction with a magnet dropping through a coil in a circuit with a meter & bulb.

From there you can go with motors & dynamos. I'd make an electromagnet based buzzer first though.

Jumping straight to a motor without the basics is a leap. At some level you want an understanding to underpin the project.

[ChrisL 2]

Quote

I need a science fair project for my first grade nephew. It needs to be an indoor project, so my usual ideas about fire and explosives are not practical. Any ideas?

thanks

Sew a bunch of mismatched dead body parts together.
Shock it with lightning and watch it come to life.

fun for the whole family.

__

My mighty steed

[doug925 0]

1. Have him type the word "bomb" as many times as he can on internet forums. Then record the number of repetitions before the Dept. of Homeland Security, and FBI kick in your door!

2. Determine the growth difference of plants under dissimilar colored cellophane sheets.

3. The "Oreck" vacuum challenge.

4. An experiment to determine just how many "boobie, bewbie, or boob" posts there are on dz.com

5. Show the effects of terminal velocity of mommy/daddy with a parachute on, against those of the house cat....(without one)

6. Prove that the myth-busters are really a government supported propaganda machine.

Okay, I'm done now.

Doug

I have never developed indigestion from eating my words.
Winston Churchill

[fallinbear 0]

Quote

You can put carnations in water with food coloring to teach about transpiration and cohesion. It's kinda fun for kids to see the flowers turn different colors. We did that one when Jay was in 1st grade.

Tonight we made our volcano. Has every kid in the history of school made a volcano? It's still pretty cool.

Darn....I was gonna say that. But it IS a cool project for a first grader!!

There's also a couple of neat ways to make crystals. (sugar crystals, alum, etc. It's a cool way to teach a kid about saturation, supersaturation, and what not.) Good luck.

linz

I don't want to make all the decisions because if I screw up, then I can't blame it on you...

[BillyVance 34]

I remember two science projects that I did when I was in 1st - 4th grades... I just don't remember which grades exactly...

One was an experiment to show how waves in water were formed and how those waves react when interacting with obstacles. It was cool...

The other was a bit more complicated, but it was a home-made radio using an empty toilet paper cardboard roll, a good length of wire and a few other items, including batteries. It turned out fine! I think it was an AM radio though.

How weird was that for a deaf kid to build a radio???

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[willard 0]

Power a small lightbulb with a lemon. Easy, clean, will run for days and the kids get a kick out of it.

[lawrocket 3]

I thought of another one that would be fun for him, too - and scientific, "to bat" - pun very much intended. I thought of this one as a project I would do with my son when I had him (I thought about it while watching the World Series a few years back). Figure out for yourself the sweet spot of a baseball bat.

Rig up a pendulum with a baseball bat on it. Then rig a tee to hold the baseball. Make it adjustable to be able to strike the baseball at various points. Do ten or twenty hits each inch up the bat and measure the distances and average them and plot it out on graph paper.

Man, that's gotta be fun.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[JackC 0]

Build your own magnetic linear accellerator

Make your own sundial.

Figure out how long a drinking straw can be before you can't suck any juice up it any more.

Make a bicycle wheel with elastic rubber spokes and point a heater at one side, then explain why the wheel rotates.

Build your own solar cell

If you're feeling really adventurous, you could irradiate your friends with your very own particle accellerator!!!. That might be a bit advanced. And expensive.