70 Best 8th Grade Science Fair Projects and Classroom Activities

Whether your students are preparing for the science fair or you’re looking for classroom ideas to grab their interest, we’ve got you covered! This list of 8th grade science fair projects and experiments has projects from biology to physics, from easy to difficult. Plus, check out fun classroom demos and hands-on experiments and activities your students will love.

To make it easier to find classroom activities or science fair projects for 8th graders, we’ve rated all the projects and activities by difficulty and the materials needed:

Difficulty:

• Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
• Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
• Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time or effort

Materials:

• Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
• Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
• Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete

Jump to:

• Biology and Life Science 8th Grade Science Fair Projects
• Chemistry 8th Grade Science Fair Projects
• Physics 8th Grade Science Fair Projects
• Engineering 8th Grade Science Fair Projects

Physical Science: Chemistry & Physics

These 8th grade science projects help students explore chemistry, physics, matter, energy, force, motion, electricity, magnetism, heat transfer, and chemical reactions. Students can test variables, collect data, and connect classroom science to real-world systems and technology.

1. Try the magic milk experiment

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Milk, food coloring, dish soap, cotton swabs, shallow dish

Pour milk into a shallow dish and add drops of food coloring to the surface. Touch the milk with a cotton swab dipped in dish soap and watch the colors move and swirl. Students can observe how soap disrupts the fat molecules in milk while exploring surface tension, polarity, and molecular interactions.

2. Keep your hands warm using oxidation

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Iron filings, salt, water, zip-top bags, thermometer, paper towels

Students create a simple homemade hand warmer by combining iron filings, salt, and a small amount of water in a sealed bag. They can measure temperature changes over time and compare different amounts of ingredients. This project demonstrates oxidation, thermal energy release, and how chemical reactions can produce heat.

3. Compare electrolytes in sports drinks

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Sports drinks, water, multimeter, electrodes, cups, recording sheet

Students test the electrical conductivity of different sports drinks and compare the results with plain water. Higher conductivity can indicate more dissolved ions, or electrolytes, in the liquid. This investigation connects chemistry to real-world nutrition and helps students understand electrical properties of solutions.

4. Turn juice into spheres

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Advanced
• Materials Needed: Sodium alginate, calcium chloride, juice, bowls, droppers or syringes, spoons, adult supervision

Students use spherification to turn liquid juice into gel-like spheres. By dropping sodium-alginate juice into a calcium chloride bath, they can observe a thin gel membrane forming around the liquid. This activity introduces polymers, molecular interactions, and how chemistry can change the physical properties of food.

5. Grow a carbon sugar snake

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Sugar, baking soda, sand, heat-safe dish, lighter or heat source, safety goggles, adult supervision

Students observe a dramatic reaction as heated sugar and baking soda create an expanding black carbon “snake.” An adult should manage the flame or heat source. This demonstration helps students understand decomposition reactions, gas expansion, heat-driven chemical change, and carbon formation.

6. Create a rainbow of flames

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Metal salts, spray bottles or applicators, heat-safe surface, flame source, safety goggles, adult supervision

Students observe how different metal salts can create different flame colors. This teacher-led demonstration introduces atomic emission, spectroscopy, and the idea that elements can produce unique colors when heated. Because open flames and chemicals are involved, this should be handled only with careful adult supervision and proper safety procedures.

7. Extract bismuth from Pepto Bismol

• Difficulty: Advanced
• Materials: Advanced
• Materials Needed: Pepto Bismol tablets, mortar and pestle, beakers, heat source, safety equipment, adult supervision

Students investigate how a metal element can be isolated from a common product through chemical processing. This advanced activity demonstrates separation techniques, chemical composition, and the idea that everyday materials are made of identifiable substances. It should be completed only in a properly supervised lab setting.

8. Perform a starch test with iodine

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Iodine solution, droppers, paper towels, various foods, gloves, small plates

Place small samples of foods such as bread, potato, apple, or crackers on a plate or paper towel. Add a drop of iodine to each sample and observe any color changes. Students can identify which foods contain starch and learn how chemical indicators reveal the presence of specific molecules.

9. Try the balloon baking soda experiment

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Baking soda, vinegar, balloons, plastic bottles, funnel

Pour vinegar into a bottle and add baking soda to a balloon using a funnel. Stretch the balloon over the bottle opening, then lift it so the baking soda falls into the vinegar. Students can measure balloon inflation and explore acid-base reactions, carbon dioxide production, pressure, and gas laws.

10. Create candy geodes

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Sugar, water, eggshells or molds, jars, string or sticks, adult supervision

Dissolve sugar in hot water to make a concentrated solution, then pour it into eggshells or molds. As the solution cools and sits undisturbed, sugar crystals begin to form. Students can connect crystallization to geology and observe how crystals grow over time.

11. Extinguish a candle without blowing it out

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Vinegar, baking soda, container, candle, lighter or matches, adult supervision

Combine vinegar and baking soda in a container to produce carbon dioxide gas. Carefully pour the invisible gas over a lit candle without pouring the liquid. Students can observe the flame going out and learn how carbon dioxide affects combustion and why oxygen is needed for fire.

12. Make elephant toothpaste

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: 3% hydrogen peroxide, yeast, dish soap, warm water, plastic bottle, tray, safety goggles

Mix dish soap and 3% hydrogen peroxide in a bottle, then add activated yeast. Foam will expand quickly as oxygen gas is released and trapped in the soap bubbles. Students can observe an exothermic reaction while learning about catalysts, reaction speed, gas production, and energy transfer.

13. Discover the center of gravity

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Cardboard shapes, string, small weights, pencil, scissors

Cut cardboard into irregular shapes and hang each one from different points. Students can use string and weights to trace vertical lines and identify where the lines meet. This activity helps students explore center of gravity, equilibrium, balance, and force distribution.

14. Make an exploding lunch bag

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Baking soda, vinegar, paper lunch bag or zip-top bag, tissue, outdoor space

Place vinegar in a bag and wrap baking soda in a small piece of tissue. Add the baking soda packet, seal the bag, and step back. Students can safely observe gas production and pressure buildup in a closed system while learning about chemical reactions.

15. Make a lava lamp

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Oil, water, food coloring, antacid tablets, clear bottle or jar

Fill a clear bottle with oil and water, then add food coloring and a piece of antacid tablet. Students can watch colored bubbles rise and fall as gas forms. This experiment demonstrates density, solubility, gas production, and why some liquids separate instead of mixing.

16. Investigate advanced properties of liquids

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Water, oil, dish soap, thermometers, droppers, cups

Students compare how different liquids behave when dropped, stirred, warmed, or mixed. They can observe surface tension, viscosity, and how temperature changes liquid behavior. This investigation helps students analyze the physical properties that make liquids behave differently.

17. Make and test slime

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Glue, borax solution or contact solution, water, bowls, spoons, measuring tools

Students create slime and test its stretch, bounce, flow, and resistance to pulling. They can compare different recipes or ingredient amounts to see how the slime changes. This project introduces polymers, viscosity, elasticity, and material science.

18. Relight a candle without touching it

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Candle, lighter or matches, glass jar if desired, adult supervision

Light a candle, blow it out, then quickly hold a flame near the smoke trail above the wick. Students can observe the candle relighting as the vaporized wax ignites. This demonstration explores combustion, phase changes, and the role of wax vapor in a flame.

19. Build a candle carousel

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Candle, lightweight paper, pin, base, scissors, adult supervision

Students create a lightweight paper carousel that spins above a candle. As warm air rises from the flame, it pushes the paper and causes motion. This teacher-supervised activity demonstrates convection, thermal energy, and energy transfer.

20. Build a better light bulb

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Advanced
• Materials Needed: Wire, batteries, glass jar, filament materials, clips, adult supervision

Students design and test simple light-bulb models using different filament materials. They can observe which materials glow, heat up, or fail. This advanced investigation introduces electrical circuits, resistance, energy efficiency, and how electrical energy can become light and heat.

21. Test the strength of interleaved paper

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Paper strips or notebooks, weights, clamps or binder clips

Interleave two stacks of paper or two notebooks page by page, then try to pull them apart. Students can test how the number of interleaved pages affects strength. This activity demonstrates friction, surface area, and how small forces can combine to create a surprisingly strong hold.

22. Capture a picture of lightning

• Difficulty: Advanced
• Materials: Advanced
• Materials Needed: Camera, tripod, dark space or safe viewing location, adult supervision

Students learn how photographers capture lightning or electrical discharge safely from a distance. They can study long-exposure photography, static discharge images, or teacher-provided examples of electrical pathways. This project introduces electricity, branching patterns, and safe observation of natural phenomena.

23. Assemble a spring balance scale

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Springs, ruler, weights, frame or stand, string

Attach a spring to a frame and hang known weights from it. Students can measure how much the spring stretches with each added weight. This activity applies Hooke’s Law and helps students understand force, elastic potential energy, and measurement tools.

24. Make your own potato battery

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Potatoes, zinc nails or galvanized nails, copper pennies or copper strips, wires with clips, small LED or voltmeter

Insert zinc and copper electrodes into a potato and connect them with wires. Students can test whether one potato produces enough voltage or whether several potatoes need to be connected. This activity introduces electrochemical reactions, circuits, voltage, and energy transfer.

25. Build an infinity mirror

• Difficulty: Advanced
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Mirrors, one-way mirror film or acrylic, LED lights, battery pack or power source, frame, adult supervision

Students create an optical illusion by placing lights between reflective surfaces. When the LEDs turn on, repeated reflections make the lights appear to continue into the distance. This project combines light behavior, reflection, design, and engineering.

26. Do the egg-drop challenge

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Eggs, cushioning materials, containers, tape, straws, paper, boxes

Students design protective devices to keep an egg from breaking when dropped from a set height. After each test, they analyze which materials absorbed the impact best. This classic project explores force, momentum, energy absorption, and real-world safety engineering.

27. Demonstrate the “unpoppable” balloon

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Balloon, water, candle, lighter or matches, adult supervision

Fill a balloon with a small amount of water and hold it carefully above a candle flame. Students can observe that the balloon does not pop immediately because the water absorbs much of the heat. This demonstration explores heat transfer, conductivity, and thermal energy.

28. Measure the volume of coins

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Coins, graduated cylinder, water, recording sheet

Add water to a graduated cylinder and record the starting volume. Drop in a set number of coins and record the new water level. Students can calculate the volume of the coins using water displacement and connect the activity to density and scientific measurement.

29. Try the egg and vinegar experiment

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Eggs, vinegar, clear jars, spoons, labels

Place eggs in jars of vinegar and observe them over several days. The vinegar reacts with the calcium carbonate shell, causing the shell to dissolve and leaving the membrane behind. Students can explore acids, chemical change, and the structure of eggshells.

Life Science

These 8th grade science projects help students investigate cells, genetics, plants, body systems, ecosystems, fermentation, osmosis, and environmental responses. Students can use models, experiments, and observations to explore how living things function and interact.

30. Measure and compare lung capacity

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Balloons, ruler or measuring tape, calculator, recording sheet

Students inflate balloons with one full breath, then measure the balloon circumference to estimate lung capacity. They can compare results and consider factors such as breathing technique, activity level, or height. This project introduces the respiratory system, variables, and data comparison.

31. Guide a growing plant through a maze

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Potted plant, cardboard maze, light source, ruler

Students place a growing plant inside a simple cardboard maze with a light source at one end. Over time, they observe how the plant bends or grows toward the light. This investigation demonstrates phototropism and how plants respond to environmental stimuli.

32. Measure algae growth

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Clear containers, water, algae culture, fertilizer, light source, labels

Students grow algae samples with different nutrient levels or light conditions. They can compare color, cloudiness, or growth over time. This investigation models eutrophication and helps students understand how excess nutrients can affect aquatic ecosystems.

33. Determine a plant’s favorite music

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Similar plants, speakers, music playlists, ruler, observation sheet

Students expose similar plants to different music conditions while keeping water, light, and soil consistent. They measure growth over time and compare results. This experiment helps students practice controlling variables and evaluating whether sound or vibration appears to affect plant growth.

34. Find out whether plants need light

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Similar plants, boxes or covers, light source, water, ruler

Place one plant in light and another in darkness while keeping other conditions the same. Students can observe changes in growth, color, and overall health. This experiment reinforces the importance of light for photosynthesis and plant survival.

35. Create examples of symbiosis

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Paper, art supplies, optional modeling materials

Students create drawings or models showing organisms in symbiotic relationships. They can label examples of mutualism, commensalism, or parasitism and explain how each organism is affected. This activity helps students understand relationships within ecosystems.

36. Observe capillary action

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Paper towels, food coloring, water, cups

Arrange cups with colored water and connect them with folded paper towels. Students can watch water move through the paper towels and into neighboring cups. This experiment models capillary action and helps explain how water can move through plant tissues.

37. Demonstrate homeostasis

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Thermometers, water, containers, ice, warm water, materials to model feedback systems

Students model how organisms maintain internal balance by comparing systems that respond to temperature changes. They can use water containers and thermometers to show how feedback helps regulate conditions. This activity introduces homeostasis and feedback mechanisms in body systems.

38. Simulate osmosis with water beads

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Water beads, salt solutions, cups, ruler, labels

Place water beads in different solutions, such as plain water and salt water. Students can measure bead size before and after soaking to observe water movement. This model helps students understand osmosis and how cells regulate water balance.

39. Explain cell membranes with bubbles

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Bubble solution, bubble wands, straws if desired

Students create bubbles and observe how the thin film stretches, seals, and pops. Use the bubbles as a model for cell membranes, discussing how membranes form boundaries and can allow some materials to pass through. This activity introduces selective permeability in a simple visual way.

40. Cast animal tracks

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Plaster of Paris, water, containers, animal track molds or outdoor tracks, gloves

Students create casts of animal tracks using plaster. After the casts harden, they can compare shape, size, and pattern to infer how animals move and what habitats they use. This project connects anatomy, behavior, adaptation, and field observation.

41. Grow plants from scraps

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Vegetable scraps, jars, water, sunlight

Students regrow plants from food scraps such as green onions, lettuce bases, or celery ends. They can place scraps in water and observe roots or new leaves developing. This project introduces plant reproduction, sustainability, and resource conservation.

42. Extract DNA from an onion

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Onion, dish soap, salt, water, rubbing alcohol, containers, filter or mesh, adult supervision

Students break down onion cells with a soap and salt solution, then add rubbing alcohol to separate visible DNA strands. They can observe the cloudy strands that form and connect the lab to cell structure, chromosomes, and genetic material.

43. Explore plant seed dispersal methods

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Seeds, paper, fan, fabric, water tray if desired

Students test how different seed shapes move by wind, water, or attachment to fabric. They can compare seeds that float, stick, spin, or blow across a surface. This investigation helps students understand adaptations that support plant survival and reproduction.

44. Observe plasmolysis

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Advanced
• Materials Needed: Red onion, microscope, slides, salt water, droppers, adult supervision

Students view red onion cells under a microscope before and after adding salt water. They can observe cell contents shrinking away from the cell wall as water leaves the cells. This advanced lab reinforces osmosis, cell membranes, and water balance.

45. Extract your own DNA

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Salt, dish soap, rubbing alcohol, cups, water, clear container, adult supervision

Students collect cheek cells using a saltwater rinse, then mix the sample with soap and cold rubbing alcohol to reveal DNA. They can observe cloudy strands forming at the liquid boundary. This activity introduces heredity, cells, and molecular biology in a memorable way.

46. Water plants with different liquids

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Similar plants, water, salt water, soda, measuring cups, labels

Students water similar plants with different liquids and observe their health over time. They can track leaf color, height, and wilting. This activity helps students understand plant needs and how different substances can affect cellular processes and growth.

47. Optimize fermentation temperature

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Yeast, sugar, warm and cool water, thermometers, bottles, balloons

Students mix yeast and sugar with water at different temperatures, then place balloons over the bottle openings. They can compare how quickly each balloon inflates as yeast produces carbon dioxide. This project explores enzymes, metabolism, fermentation, and cellular respiration.

48. Brew root beer

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Root beer extract, sugar, yeast, bottles, water, adult supervision

Students investigate fermentation by making root beer in a controlled, food-safe classroom setup. They can observe how yeast produces carbon dioxide, creating bubbles. This project connects biology and chemistry through microbial processes, gas production, and fermentation.

49. Mummify an apple

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Apple slices, salt, baking soda, containers, labels

Students place apple slices in different drying mixtures and compare how each one changes over time. Salt and baking soda help remove moisture and slow decay. This activity introduces dehydration, preservation, and why microorganisms need moisture to thrive.

Earth & Space Science

These 8th grade science projects help students investigate water quality, climate, the carbon cycle, acid rain, UV radiation, surface temperature, and earthquakes. Students can model Earth systems, measure environmental factors, and analyze how natural processes affect ecosystems and human communities.

50. Test water quality

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Water testing kit, water samples, cups, notebook, labels

Students collect water samples and test factors such as pH, turbidity, or other available water-quality indicators. They can compare results across locations and look for patterns. This investigation helps students understand how water quality affects ecosystems and human health.

51. Show the carbon cycle

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Paper, markers, containers, beads or tokens

Students create a model showing how carbon moves through the atmosphere, organisms, oceans, soil, and rocks. They can use beads or tokens to represent carbon atoms moving between reservoirs. This activity helps students understand cycling of matter through Earth’s systems.

52. Study the effects of acid rain

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Chalk, vinegar, water, droppers, cups, labels

Place chalk pieces in water and diluted vinegar solutions to model how acid rain affects materials. Students can observe bubbling, softening, or surface changes. This experiment introduces environmental chemistry, chemical weathering, and the effect of acidic precipitation on buildings and ecosystems.

53. Model the greenhouse effect

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Clear jars, thermometers, plastic wrap, heat source or sunlight

Place thermometers inside two clear jars, covering one with plastic wrap while leaving the other uncovered. Put both jars in sunlight or under a lamp and record temperature changes. Students can model how trapped heat relates to the greenhouse effect and Earth’s energy balance.

54. Block the sun’s UV rays

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: UV beads, sunscreen, fabrics, plastic materials, sunlight

Place UV-sensitive beads under different materials, such as sunscreen-coated plastic, fabric, or clear plastic. Students can compare how much the beads change color in sunlight. This project connects ultraviolet radiation to sun protection, the atmosphere, and human health.

55. Measure surface temperature

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Heat lamp or sunlight, thermometer, various surface materials such as sand, soil, foil, paper, and fabric

Expose different surface materials to the same light source and measure their temperatures over time. Students can compare how quickly each surface warms and cools. This investigation introduces albedo, heat absorption, and Earth’s energy balance.

56. Make a seismograph

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Cardboard box, marker, string, weight, paper, tape

Students build a simple seismograph by suspending a marker from a weighted string above a moving strip of paper. When the box is shaken, the marker records vibration patterns. This project helps students understand earthquakes, seismic waves, and how scientists detect ground motion.

Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science & Science Fair Projects

These 8th grade science projects challenge students to design, build, test, and improve solutions using engineering and scientific reasoning. Many also work well for science fairs because students can change variables, collect data, and explain how their designs improved through testing.

57. Cook with solar energy using a solar oven

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Cardboard box, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, thermometer, food item, black paper, tape, sunlight

Students design and build a solar oven that converts sunlight into heat. They can test how well the oven warms or cooks a simple food item and measure temperature changes over time. This project explores renewable energy, reflection, insulation, and thermal transfer.

58. Make a solar desalinator

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Clear container, plastic wrap, salt water, small cup, rock or weight, sunlight

Students engineer a device that uses sunlight to evaporate water and leave salt behind. Condensed water collects in a smaller cup as it cools on the plastic wrap. This activity demonstrates evaporation, condensation, desalination, and real-world solutions to water scarcity.

59. Break out a leaf blower to demonstrate Bernoulli’s Principle

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Leaf blower, lightweight ball, open space, adult supervision

Use a leaf blower to suspend a lightweight ball in a stream of air. Students can observe how fast-moving air creates pressure differences that help keep the ball lifted. This demonstration introduces Bernoulli’s Principle, fluid dynamics, and concepts related to flight.

60. Construct a Rube Goldberg machine

• Difficulty: Advanced
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Assorted household or classroom materials, ramps, balls, cups, dominoes, string, tape

Students design a complex chain-reaction machine to complete a simple task. Each step should trigger the next using force, motion, gravity, or stored energy. This project encourages systems thinking, planning, troubleshooting, and the integration of multiple physics concepts.

61. Assemble a Newton’s cradle

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Advanced
• Materials Needed: String, metal balls, frame, tape or hooks, ruler

Students construct a Newton’s cradle using suspended metal balls. When one ball is released, energy and momentum transfer through the line of balls. Students can experiment with spacing and alignment to improve performance and observe conservation of momentum.

62. Make catapults

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Craft sticks, rubber bands, plastic spoon, pom-poms, measuring tape

Students design catapults and launch soft projectiles toward a target. They can test how launch angle, rubber-band tension, or arm length affects distance. This project explores force, energy transfer, trajectory, and engineering design.

63. Navigate a light maze

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Mirrors, flashlight or low-powered laser pointer, cardboard, tape, adult supervision

Students arrange mirrors to guide a beam of light through a maze or around obstacles. They can adjust mirror angles until the light reaches a target. This challenge introduces reflection, optics, problem-solving, and design iteration.

64. Create a magnet maze

• Difficulty: Easy
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Magnets, cardboard, paper clips, markers

Students draw or build a maze on cardboard, then move a paper clip through it using a magnet underneath. They can revise the maze to make it easier or more challenging. This activity explores magnetic force and engineering through hands-on problem-solving.

65. Race a balloon-powered car

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Balloon, straw, tape, toy car or student-built car, open floor space

Attach a straw to the opening of a balloon, then tape the straw and balloon to a small car. Inflate the balloon through the straw, release it, and watch the car move as air escapes. Students can test how car weight, wheel design, balloon size, or straw placement affects speed and distance.

66. Stand on a pile of paper cups

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Basic
• Materials Needed: Paper cups, flat boards or cardboard sheets, adult supervision

Students arrange paper cups under a board and test whether the structure can support weight. They can compare different cup arrangements and spacing. This project demonstrates load distribution, compression, stability, and structural engineering.

67. Create an electric circuit game

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Wires, batteries, foil, cardboard, buzzer or light, tape

Students design a simple game that uses an electric circuit, such as a steady-hand wire loop game or question-and-answer board. When the circuit closes, a light or buzzer activates. This project reinforces conductivity, circuits, switches, and electrical energy.

68. Design a robotic hand

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Cardboard, string, straws, tape, scissors, markers

Students build a mechanical hand using cardboard fingers, straw guides, and string tendons. Pulling the strings bends the fingers and mimics human movement. This project introduces biomechanics, mechanical systems, structure-function relationships, and engineering design.

69. Engineer a roller coaster loop

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Foam tubing or track, marbles, supports, tape, ruler

Students design a marble roller coaster with a loop. They can adjust the starting height, loop size, and track support until the marble completes the loop successfully. This project explores potential energy, kinetic energy, gravity, and motion.

70. Protect an egg in a crash

• Difficulty: Medium
• Materials: Medium
• Materials Needed: Toy car, ramp, building materials, egg, tape, cushioning materials

Students simulate a vehicle crash by rolling a toy car down a ramp with an egg passenger or payload. They design safety features to protect the egg from breaking. This project connects physics to real-world vehicle safety through force, impact, momentum, and energy absorption.

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