Hi! i have been to a few science project sites.. so unsure of what we are going to do for our project..
Do/ did any of you have great science fair projects for a second grader?? Please share !
Thank you!
I still remember one of mine and I'm 36! Ha!
My Dad helped me show how water is filtrated. We made a rope out of papertowel and fishing line (you could easily use just a regular cotton blend rope).
Put one end in a jar/bowl of muddy water and the other end into a clear empty jar. The dirty water will soak up through the rope and come out clean into the empty jar! I loved it and it was so easy!
My daughter did a great one.... "which stain comes out the best".
She took a XL t-shirt and then 'stained' it... She used her thumb and rubbed in different stains a couple inches apart all over the t-shirt - ketchup, grass, dirt, blood (ok we used mine from my finger), a-1 sauce, etc etc. We took pictures. Then we let it sit for week and took another picture. Then we washed it (by itsself) and took another picture. Then she did a graph of the results. It was fun and wasn't too labor intensive. Plus - she could really do the whole thing herself (except picking up the pics at CVS).
Plus when she 'presented' she put on the t-shirt. Everyone thought it was cute.
O. child made her own petri dishes, swabbed a variety of sources, including her dog's mouth and her little brother's mouth and compared to see which grew the most bacteria.
We did the "Dancing Raisins" which I would not recommend because a lot of kids did that O..
Whatever your child is interested in, I would try to incorporate that into the project. And if you're crazy enough to actually let your child do all of the work, be prepared for all of the obviously parent-made displays! LOL
Here's a bunch of ideas:
http://www.education.com/science-fair/second-grade/
One of my favorites is "litmus cabbage": You just boil some red cabbage and pour the juice over a few everyday household acids and bases: half a lemon, baking soda or powder, etc. The objects will turn dramatically different colors based on where the are on the pH scale.
I don't know how involved you want to get, but my daughter did a science fair project on the colors of the rainbow & why there were what they were & what caused rainbows, etc. Seemed about right for a 7-8 year old.
Go to the kids' section of your local library. The nonfiction science section will have whole books of science fair ideas but be sure they are appropriate to your child's age and grade. You don't want one so easy that it could be done by a kindergartener or one so hard it frustrates your child and you end up doing the work -- which is not allowed anyway!
I dont know if this qualifies, but... years ago my daughter did motorskills from 0-1. She put pictures of her little sister and timelines. I know it may not be very scientific, but it was fun. We made a brain out of homemade clay and showed what parts aided in which development. (my sister added lights that light up if people got the trivia questions right)
Anything with plants would be good and age appropriate. You could water plants with a variety of things like water, vinegar water, etc. and see what the effects were on each plant. You could germinate some seeds and see which conditions work the best for germination or for continued growth of a plant or you could even buy a few different beans (they germinate quickly) and see which ones germinate faster and grow taller. The only problem with plants is that they are time consuming, but other than that they are pretty easy.
