Now that we know how to spot germs on our hands we can convert it into a full fledged science experiment. The objective is going to be to find out which part of the hand the germs cling to the longest and how the lenght of time spent washing hands affects them.

Besides the Glo Germ Gel and the Ultra Violet Light pen you are going to need a few friends to help you carry out this experiment. First record the area of germ concentration on the individual’s hands before washing hands with soap. Then record the reduced germ concentration areas. Then make them wash their hands for another two minutes thoroughly and see how many germs are left.

You will need to repeat the process with each friend who takes part in the experiment to collect enough data to examine. Now corelate the data to find which parts of the hand are the most difficult to rid of germs. You can divide the hand into sections like palms, fingers, between the fingers, around the fingernails and the back of the hand.

Note down all your observations and formulate the conclusion based on these observations. You can make two lists for after the first hand washing and the second hand washing. It is an easy and interesting science project to do.

There are a number of ways that a seed can move away from its parent plant and put down roots to reproduce. One of the most common means of seed dispersal is blowing in the wind. Here in this science project we will investigate how the size and shape of a particular seed can help or hinder in wind dispersal.

Take a look at the different kinds of seeds you will need. Make sure there is enough variety such as a coconut, a dandellion seed, burdock seed, apple seed and mango seed will do fine. Each seed is of a different size and has specific characteristics. Now we need to decide which one is ideal for wind dispersion based on their size, mass and shape.

A coconut is obviously much too heavy for wind dispersion due to its heavy mass. A mango seed is also heavy and these two may be better suited for water or animal dispersal. With seeds of apple, burdock and dandellion which are all relatively light consider the texture of the seeds.

 The hook like burdock seeds are better suited to clinging to animal fur and being dispersed and the smooth apple seeds are more likely to be swallowed by the animals. Blow all the seeds away and you will realize that the fluffy dandellion seeds are more suitable to parachute down greater distances from the parent plant in the wind. make detailed observations to support your science projects.

Using water and oil along with some food coloring you can make a fascinating science project. The liquid lava lamp is easy to make and is a wonderful play thing for children in the primary classes. they can actually spend hours just shaking the bottle and watching the pretty colors and blobs change.

To make a liquid lava lamp you will need a clear plastic bottle. Any 500 ml plastic Pepsi bottle will do. Just make sure that you wash and clean it out before you use it for the experiment. Now get one cup of water and one cup of oil. Add a few drops of liquid food color to the water and mix well.

Get ready to make the liquid lava lamp. You will find it easier to pour the fluids into the bottle with a funnel. In case you do not have a funnel handy, just use some thick paper to make a temporary funnel. Now add both the oil and the colored water to the bottle. Seal the bottle with its cap and give it a shake. Now watch as the different colored blobs move in and out of the non colored bits.

In this case the oil is of a lower density than the water, so it will not dissolve into the water. Thus when you stop shaking the bottle the two layers will come apart with the oil on top and colored water below. Try out some more science projects from this page.

In the last blog post we saw how honey, oil and water can be made into a mixture but will eventually separate out thanks to the difference in the density of the three fluids. Just as liquids have different densities solids too have different densities, and in this science experiment we are going to explore the different densities of a few small solids in the same mixture bottle which we made last time.

Set the bottle with the honey, oil and water mixture before you and wait till the three fluids settle into three distinct layers. Next get your hands on a wine bottle cork, a small coin and a grape. One by one you will add these three solids into the liquid bottle. You will find that the different densities of the solids will ensure that they sink through some fluids but float in others. In fact each of the three solids will find their way in to each of the three separate fluid layers.

Another way to display the different densities of liquids is by using vinegar and oil. Both the fluids are different densities and the oil will always settle down on top of the vinegar layer. You can add them and mix them but as soon as you leave the bottle and allow it to stand still they will come to rest in two layers. Try more science projects here.

In the last blog post we covered how to make a naked egg. Now we are going to turn the naked eggs you produced into a science project based on the principle of osmosis. Hopefully more than one of the six eggs you started out with survived the process and became a naked egg. If not, you can always do the experiment again.

To start this science project you need  a couple of naked eggs ready to use. You will also need separate containers for the eggs which can hold some liquid along with the eggs. You can  use coffee mugs for the purpose. Now take one shell-less naked egg and cover it with water. Take the other egg and cover it with corn syrup. Place the mugs into fridge for 24 hours.

When you take the eggs out of the corn syrup and water respectively you will find a difference between the two naked eggs. The egg that sat all day in water will be plump and firm, while the one which was in corn syrup will be shriveled and flabby. Why did this happen? The eggs in question have a semi permeable membrane, which means that small molecules can go through the membrane and large ones can not.

The egg white in the naked egg is 90% water and so when the egg is kept in water nothing much happens to it. However the corn syrup is just 25 per cent water and has large molecules which can not move past the egg membrane. So to balance out the different concentrations of water in the solution the water inside the egg white moves out making the egg shrivel. Get more experiments here.

What does one mean by a naked egg? An egg without a shell. It would make for an interesting science project to make a naked egg. And no its not as simple as hard boiling the egg and peeling off the shell. What we are going to do is actually dissolve the shell that surrounds the egg so that you get a translucent egg.  Sounds exciting? So lets get started.

Take about six eggs to start with. Now place them in a container large enough to keep the eggs with them touching each other. Cover the eggs with vinegar. You will see some bubbles coming up. Now cover the container and place it in the fridge for 24 hours.  After that when you open the container you will see the shells have gone.

The egg membrane is the only thing that keeps them together. Scoop out the eggs with a large spoon and place in another container gently. The reason we took six eggs is that during this process some of the egg membranes may break and the egg may ooze out. You can throw away these eggs.

Now cover the remaining eggs with some fresh vinegar and again put it into the fridge for 24 hours. At the end of which time you will be able to gentle hold the egg without a shell in your hands and squeeze it. Check out more exciting science  experiments here.

Part of the magic of doing science projects is the fun experiments that you get to conduct along the way. For instance if you told a person that you would make a coin vibrate without touching it, most would think you are setting out to perform a magic trick. Not true, all you would be doing is putting good use to the science principles you know.

Most of the tricks that are performed by magicians on stage are actually just a tribute to science and some fancy hand work. The hand moves faster than the eye can see after some practice and it becomes magic. That is why magicians never tell their secrets. It would kill the MAGIC!

For those of you still curious about how to make that coin vibrate, here’s the deal. You get a glass bottle and a coin which will cover the opening completely. Now place the bottle in the fridge and chill it. Take out the empty and by now cold bottle and place the coin on top of its opening.

Now place the bottle on a table with the coin on top. Hold the bottle with both hands and wait for the bottle to warm up. Soon you will see the coin begin to vibrate. Why does it happen? You heated the air inside the bottle with your hands. The air expanded and tried to escape from the mouth of the bottle! Get more Air Pressure Experiments here.

A laser is an interesting instrument. It allows you to study the nature of light and darkness. You can see what makes up a single stream of focused light if you know just how to split it up.

The word “LASER” stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Which means that it is essentially a constant stream of photons are emitted from a light source. A single beam allows the light to be focused on any point in the room that you desire.

This is what is also used as a pointer in presentations where the slide is reflected on a screen and the speaker needs to pin point a specific part. It can be a fun toy to play with. It can also be a good tool to learn more about the nature of light.

For experiments related to the use of lasers take a look at this article here. There are simple science experiments for you to perform which you will enjoy. And if you have access to a fog machine it will really look awesome.

Imagine interesting science projects that actually are fun to play with. Making sparks fly from the ends of swords or getting a gentle fog to descend on the room. These are not so difficult to do when you know the science behind them. And they can become a part of your science fair project with ease.

Simple but working science projects that actually do something are always more interesting than detailed models that do nothing. That is why even something as simple as a parachute dropping an egg from a height is much more interesting than charts and reports.

So the minute you add motion to the project it captures the attention of the viewers. If you add an interactive element it will become even more popular. That is why the games at a fair are more popular than the displays. Ever notice that they have the largest crowds?

They are also more likely to catch the attention of the judges. So put on your thinking cap and come up with interesting games and working models that use science principles. Check out the Fun Aero plane that you can make here. It would be fun to fly this at the science fair.

For a plant to grow healthy and strong it needs light, water, and fertile soil to grow in, but what happens of the light it gets is not enough? Is there an optimum level of light that the plant must have to grow well? In this science experiment we are going to use three plants of the same kind and roughly of the same size to check this fact out.

Does the plant that gets less light grow more or less than the one which gets a whole lot more light? To make the experiment easier to control we will use just artificial light on all three plants. We will set the three plants in cubicles in similar pots, but we will vary the quality of light that each plant will receive. To do so we will use a 25 watt bulb, a 100 watt bulb and a 200 watt bulb.

Now make a record chart for your observations of each plant. Make sure that the lights are far enough from the plants so that the heat generated from them does not damage the plants. Observe the condition of the plants over a period of 10 days on a daily basis. At the end of ten days which plant is looking the healthiest? Look out for more science experiments here.