Choosing Great Science Fair Experiments for Middle School

When your child has to find an experiment to do on their own for a middle school science fair project, there is always a risk that it could be too easy or too hard. You usually know the general topic, say geology or weather, but you need to be sure the experiment that is chosen is the right grade level. It helps if the teacher sends home a list, but if they don't, you have to use the search engines to direct you to the right levels.

For middle school there is often little difference between the difficulty of the grades when it comes to science. That is because curriculum usually spread over three years, so each area of science is covered once before they hit high school. The more complicated units are saved for 8th grade and the more basic in 6th grade. Nationwide there will be some variations, but in general you will find science fair experiments for middle school to be the right difficulty level.

One thing parents can do to help the search along is to include the grade level in the search box. So something like 6th grade geology science fair projects, or weather science fair projects for 8th grade will narrow down the choices for you. There will be science fair websites that have separate sections for grade levels and others divided up by topic. Resources for quick and easy science fair projects are available at the middle school level that can be adapted to fit the requirements spelled out by the teacher.

These search ideas are a kind of starting point and will eliminate projects that are way too easy or beyond your child's understanding. Middle School science fair projects can be fun to do, when you get just the right level for your child to work with.

By the time you get to middle school, the science fair projects will have to strictly meet the scientific standards that are used by science teachers, and scientists world wide. Usually these are spelled out clearly in the directions that are sent home with the specific requirements for science experiments for middle school science fairs. In 6th grade, this is a bigger adjustment, by 7th and 8th is becomes the norm.

What they are trying to do is be sure that the students follow the scientific method when doing their experiments. These are the steps to follow that make sure the experiment is valid and you can draw specific judgments from the data you collect in the experiment. If the project is too broad, you can't make any generalizations from it. If you did not make a prediction based on your observations and research, then you are just playing around and not trying to prove something and learn from it.

Teachers are usually very specific with the steps that need followed for their science fair experiments for middle school guidelines. The kids will have had plenty of experience in school with these steps, and using the format and recording procedures. Often it comes home in a booklet of some sort. Teachers also usually make the kids hand in each step along the way, so they can monitor the progress and suggest changes if they are headed in the wrong direction.

When looking online for projects, this is one thing to look for in the sales pages. Does the experiment follow the scientific method? The quality ones should advertise that, you should not have to dig too far. Knowing some of the terms like Hypothesis is another thing to look for. They will not use that word if they are not following the steps to the scientific method.

The free download The Non-Scientific Middle School Parent's Guide to a Science Project for Science Fair Projects helps explain the science teacher's expectations.

One of the things that can confuse people is understanding what is mean by limiting the variables. Questions, or hypothesis are usually about you want to see what the effect of "this" has on whatever. When the experiment is over you should be able to say, there is an effect and how much, there was no effect, or it was inconclusive. What the scientists do then, is design another experiment with some changes based on what they observed, and keep on going. But science fair experiments for middle school just deal with the one thing!

Here is an example. You want to do a project on plants and what makes them grow the fastest. But if you used different dirt and potting soils, different amounts of water and fertilizer, and put them in different windows in your house, you can't really say which thing made it grow faster. All you can say is one plant grew faster than the others.
By following the strict format of the scientific method, you would use the same potting soil that comes with the fertilizer already in it. They plants would all will be placed in the same window, so the only thing that changes is how often you water. That way you can make a judgment on watering and growth. Or you put them in different windows and some not in a window, but keep the watering schedule and amount the same, then you can make a judgment about light and/or the sun.

People do this all the time in everyday life, but do not realize it. What is the optimum time for a bag of popcorn in your microwave? Which gas gets the best mileage? What is he effect of eating breakfast Or the fastest way to get from home to work? All of these experiments you do informally are decided when you are able to adjust one variable from day to day.

You can find some great science experiments for middle school that are kid friendly and teacher approved to help make sure you get the right experiment.