Science Fair Project Ideas
Below is a list of great ideas for potential science fair projects. Pick something you're interested in and try it out for size. The projects are categorized by their difficulty.
If you're not sure about which project to pick, why not take our Quiz to see which project you might be interested in.
Also, feel free to take a look at our projects categorized by Subjects.
Easy Projects
Our easiest set of original projects. These can be completed by anyone with an elementary school education, and they generally take less time and effort than our more advanced projects. However, we think they're still pretty cool, and we've included a few ideas to extend the scale of each project to make it more engaging for you.
- Are You Really Random?
- Is it really possible to make something really random?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Math - Bag Strength
- In this project, you can find out how much a bag can hold, so you can impress people next time you go to the grocery store.
Related fields: Physics (Statics) - Battery Testing
- Which brand of batteries will let your CD player run the longest?
Related fields: Physics (Electronics) - Bouncing High
- Predict how high a ball will bounce.
Related fields: Mathematics (Analysis) - Coin Game
- Find out whether a simple game is rigged or not! Try to cheat your friends!
Related fields: Mathematics (Game Theory) - Cube Folding
- Which arrangements of six squares can be folded into a cube?
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry) - Food and your Heart
- What food makes your heart race?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Biochemistry - Paper Airplane Experiments
- See which paper airplane designs are the best.
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry), Physics (Dynamics) - Platonic Solids
- Investigate the five platonic solids.
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry) - Play to Win
- Play a simple counting game and develop a winning strategy.
Related fields: Mathematics (Game Theory) - Polygon Analysis
- Analyze polygons and determine some interesting properties
Related fields: Mathematics (Analysis) - Shapes and Patterns
- See if you can find mathematical relationships between shapes and patterns
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry) - Taste and/or Smell
- Learn about the link between taste and smell
Related fields: Biology (Physiology) - Tic Tac Toe Analysis
- Study the game of tic-tac-toe and try to develop an optimal strategy.
Related fields: Mathematics (Game Theory)
Medium Projects
Slightly more difficult (and hopefully, more impressive!) than the "Easy" projects, either conceptually or based on the amount of work required. None of these projects should be out of reach of any high-school students, although some independent research may be necessary.
- Balloons
- This poorly-named project investigates the reason that balloons expand and contract in different temperatures.
Related fields: Physics (Thermodynamics) - Bending Light
- How can we manipulate the light?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Physics (Optics) - Flipping Coins
- Use this experiment to see what the probability is of landing a coin on its edge.
Related fields: Mathematics (Statistics) - Galileo's Gravity Experiment
- Repeat the experiment that Galileo used to measure the acceleration of gravity.
Related fields: Physics (Kinematics) - Interrogation
- Check out this statistical experiment to test how phrasing questions might affect the answers.
Related fields: Mathematics (Statistics) - JPEG - GIF Conversion
- Today there are many methods for compressing digital images; in this project you'll get to examine two of the most popular formats.
Related fields: Computer Science (Graphics) - Light Pollution
- What else is polluting our night sky?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Enviormental Science - Lights and Sounds of Logic
- How to implement logic operations using simple circuitry that produces light and sound.
Related fields: Mathematics (Logic), Physics (Electronics) - Liquid Cooling
- How fast do some liquids cool compared to others? Find out inside.
Related fields: Physics (Thermodynamics) - Playing with Forces
- There are so many forces around us! So why don't we get to know them and play with them.
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Physics - Rate of Filtration
- How does thickness of a medium affect the rate of filtration?
Related fields: Math, Chemistry - Tower of Pisa
- How is it that the Leaning Tower of Pisa has not yet fallen over? This experiment may help you find out.
Related fields: Physics (Statics) - What do Fish care about?
- How can we understand them better?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Zoology
Advanced Projects
These projects require a good deal of research, a good deal of time, or a good deal of patience. Don't worry, all are doable at the high school level. Please don't let the difficulty rating scare you - we think that these projects are more likely to "wow" the judges than a papier mache volcano.
- Conductors, Semiconductors, Insulators, and Superconductors
- Let's investigate more about the materials that enabled us to have computers and other wonderful electronics.
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Material Science - M&M Packing
- Ever wonder how much candy you can fit in a Halloween bag, or a lunch box? Find out with this experiment.
Related fields: Mathematics (Geometry) - Measuring Characteristics of Planets
- You don't need to take a ruler to space to know how far and big planets are!
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Physics (AstroPhysics) - Plant and Animal Cell Tonicity
- Investigate the effects of osmosis and tonicity in plant and animal cells
Related fields: Biology (microbiology) - Plant Growth
- What effect do light and amount of water have on the rate of growth for a plant?
Related fields: Biology (Botany) - Riemann Integrals
- So you've seen plenty of curves in your algebra class. Ever curious if there was any more to the curve than just a line?
Related fields: Mathematics (Analysis) - Why Earthquakes?
- What causes this devastating natural disaster?
This is not a full project guide, but provides multiple ideas.
Related fields: Earth Science