Have you ever considered how much preparation goes into any mission planned to go into space? The number of science projects and science experiments that have been conducted on every single piece of equipment that will be used? It is an industry where the smallest error can make the difference between life and death.

A malfunctioning bulb can actually kill you in outer space. That is why everything has to be perfect. This is not a place where you can sit back and say 80% is good enough. If it is not 100% good it can not be used. That is why you find most people checking and rechecking every fact that they can before any rocket launch.

It is also a place where constant innovation and improvements are needed. To find a better way to do something in a shorter time and more efficiently is a constant ongoing effort. That is why even you high school science project could help a rocket scientist team.

Of course the original project may need some working on, but you will get credit for the original idea. So if you want to really make a mark with your science project you can think of super specializing in the field that will help the next mission going in to space. Consider some part that can be improved and get to work on it.

The idea of making a science project based on huge rocks slamming into planets and leaving craters is exciting and scary from a child’s perspective. To explain how and why the craters are formed you can touch on concepts of atmosphere, gravity and vacuum of space.

To simplify the concepts for elementary school kids try to make your own craters in dough and flour.  Get a big baking pan and keep a mixing bowl handy. Also collect a number of things to make craters with. Get all sizes and shapes possible. Ping pong balls, golf balls, and even a tennis ball will do.  And of course get some flour and water to mix up the dough.

Now get set to make your own landscape. Get the baking pan out and add some dry flour to it in soft peaks. Make a basic landscape full of many rising “mountains”. Now get those balls out. Check out what kinds of craters they make in half the baking pan area. Compare shapes and depths of all the different objects.

Now mix up some flour with water and add that dough to the other half of the baking pan. Try and make craters in this part too. See how the same shapes make different sized craters in the dough. Try and explain the concept of density to them as well. Then you can graduate to more complex science projects.

The equipment and dress of the astronauts will come next. Talk about the kind of fibers that are used in such cases. How they can resist water and fire to some extent. If possible get some raincoats and pour water on them to demonstrate the water proof effect.

Getting kids excited about space is almost like an investment in the future of the planet. Just let them know a few facts while they have a whole lot of fun.

Star gazing can yield some really good science projects. What if you were to discover a whole new world through your little telescope in the garden? There are some who would be skeptical that scientists with more powerful instruments are also gazing at the stars. And they are more likely to find any new worlds out there.

That is not always the case, as these scientists are busy looking at specific areas that they are studying. They may very often miss a whole new world before them. And then they might not. As Dr David Charbonneau, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre will testify at the discovery of a new “Waterworld” located 40 light years away.

This planet is relatively close to Earth and is about six times the size of our planet. However its surface is also covered in water to the extent of 75% of the total surface area. This makes it all the more likely to have life. Although the astronomers are debating that Earth like life may not be able to develop there due to the heat.

The planet is orbiting a small red dwarf star and so has a surface temperature of 200 degrees Celsius. Yet it is the smallest, coolest and most Earth like planet in the known exoplanets and that makes it an exciting study opportunity. It maybe not as exciting but your science fair project could help lead to such important discoveries. You never know how it will shape up in the future.

Choosing a science fair project can be time consuming and exhausting thing. There is so much that you can do, and there are an equal number of restricting factors. The branch of science you pick to do your project in will be one restricting factor, the time and resources on your hands will be another. At the same time it is up to you to do what you want in the science fair, so let your imagination guide you.

The ideal science project will meet all you needs and still be a prize winner. I have stressed time and again that you do not need to have an expensive or highly elaborate project to win at the science fair. You need to have a project that will catch the interest and attention of the judges at the science fair. As long as you can get the judges and other teachers to remember what you made, there is a chance that you will win.

You can pick up a working model from Physics, which is what I find the best given my background. Or you can do spend some some on a Chemical process and formulate a project report based on your experiments. There is also the option of growing projects from the plant and animal kingdom that can be used from Biology. These will take longer to make so ensure you have the required time available.

If you are looking for ideas about science fair projects you may want to get some ideas at the website here. It may just be the starting point for a great project idea for your science fair.

Does the actual presentation of your science project sound boring to you? May be it does seem like a never ending wait for the judges who don’t seem particularly interested in what you have to say. However it is every bit as important a stage in winning a science fair award as the actual project.

Depending on just how presentable your personal appearance is and what exactly you say to the judges you could win or lose the award. Of course it does matter that you do a decent science project for the fair, but how to present it to the teachers is also equally important.

So think of your presentation script before hand. Try and put in some obvious questions that you would like the judges to ask you. That way you can trick them into asking questions that you know the right answers to. Of course there is the possibility that they will see through that trick and ask you an all together unrelated question.

So make sure you know the principle that your science project is based on well.  No matter what you do as your science project, the presentation skills you possess will make all the difference. Even if you don’t know the answer you should not loose your confidence. Tell them honestly that you have not considered that aspect of the project. It will be better than blustering about with no real answer to give.

There is much more to the universe than the earth on which we live. Yet since we live on the earth it is of far greater interest to us than any other part of the universe. So why not set your science project on phenomena which is observed on the earth?

What are the naturally occurring phenomena that are of interest to us? How about the comets? We know a lot more about comets now than we did before.  Well at least we don’t think of comets as shadows of death and destruction to come any more, unlike they did in ancient times. In fact it may be possible to make your own comet as a science project.

Sounds too messy? Well how about another frequently observed natural phenomena the eclipse. Be it a making a pin drop camera to view the solar eclipse or staying up half the night staring at the moon to see the lunar eclipse, they are fascinating.  How about making more practical use of the information you can gather with viewing an eclipse? Use eclipses to calculate the distance of the sun and the moon from the earth.

Sounds too high blown? De-stress by making some slime! Okay I know that’s totally unrelated, but I’m sure it will be fun! Just try it out.

Mapping the different phases of the moon will make an interesting science fair project. In fact you can make a working model with a bulb powered sun and a highly reflective surfaced moon in the science project model. Think of the basic solar system model and draw inspiration for the design. You can always rework some elements as you go.

You can restrict the model to merely the sun, the moon and the earth to simplify it.  You can follow the phases of the moon from Full Moon to 3 Quarters to Crescent to New Moon with the help of diagrams. Make the rotation of your celestial bodies possible with a powered motor to make it more impressive.

Or just use your hands to move the spheres around to get the lighting on the moon to reflect all the phases from the sun. Use the lower portion of the model for the Earth. Have the sun fixed in a specific position and allow the moon to rotate around the sky region of your model.

And if all that sounds way too much effort to do, just go and blow up a volcano! After all you are supposed to have fun too. Maybe after you have done a simple project and done it well, you may feel challenged to do something even better. That’s when you can begin work on more complicated science fair projects.

What is the purpose of space travel? Is it to see the universe? Is it a science project that is challenging? Is it to discover a new world where we can live if something happens to our planet? Is it to discover if we are really alone in the universe? I suppose it is a little bit of all this and more.

Man has always been curious about just how vast the universe is and also about his place in the universe. Are we just an insignificant speck in the universe? One which has no importance at all in the vast scope of things? Or are we indeed very special beings?

Are we the only living creatures in this universe capable of space travel? Or are there others who are also capable of inter galactic voyages and have come to visit us? This is what fuels our science fiction industry, be it in books and comics or in multimillion dollar movies.

We need proof and that is why we are so fascinated with leaving the planet. It is actually a lot like a treasure hunt game and the stakes are really high. That is why the ultimate proof will be visual evidence seen by man.  Seeing is believing and if that’s how you view the world you might be interested in checking this article out.

A small thing like the set of rings around the planet Saturn can be turned into an interesting science fair project if you know how. Okay it would not be quite as exciting as a working model of an underwater remote controlled vehicle, but it will be an in depth analysis of the rings.

You could have a model constructed to show the various rings, or just use photographs of them. There are some truly amazing photos of the rings of Saturn available online. The stunning effect of light and shadows that is displayed in them is quite breath taking.

These photos are the kind that make you want to take up space travel to be able to see the  natural phenomena with your own eyes. You can explain why these photos come out the way they do by talking about the composition of the rings. How each consecutive ring is different from the one before it.

Some of the rings are made up of light gases, while others are heavier and may contain dust particles that make them look murkier and darker. Then you can debate about why Saturn has so many rings while our Earth has none. What are the factors conducive to the formation and maintenance of these rings around the planets?

I hope I have given you some food for thought for a different science project. Do your topic research well as the judges will want to see just how much you have really learnt about the rings of Saturn when you present your project at the fair.