8th grade science experiments for science fair

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

Don’t Miss Your Chance. This Competition Teaches Video + Digital Storytelling Skills!

Every product is independently selected by our team of teacher-reviewers and editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.

50 Top 8th Grade Science Fair Projects and Classroom Activities

Find interesting ideas to engage all learners!

For even more free science ideas and printables,  head to our science hub!  You’ll find resources in every science subject for middle and high school.

Whether your students are preparing for the science fair or you’re looking for classroom ideas to grab their interest, we’ve got the answers! Find lots of 8th grade science fair projects across a spectrum of topics and difficulty levels (including plenty of easy science fair project ideas). 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
• 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

Biology and Life Science 8th Grade Science Fair Projects

Chemistry 8th grade science fair projects, physics and engineering 8th grade science fair projects, 8th grade science classroom demos, experiments, and hands-on activities.

Explore human behavior, plants and animals, the water cycle, and more with these 8th grade science fair project ideas.

FEATURED PICK

Ward’s Science OpenSciEd Kit : Earth’s Resources & Human Impact

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Easy (Everything is provided for you!)

Absolutely perfect for teachers using OpenSciEd’s free curriculum for middle school classes , this awesome classroom activity kit can be used by any teacher working with their students on subjects like human impact on Earth’s resources and climate solutions. Ward’s Science OpenSciEd kits come with every item you need to start exploring with your students immediately.

Measure and compare lung capacity

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium

This experiment combines math and biology to measure lung capacity using a balloon. There are a lot of interesting hypotheses students can form, document, and explore while taking these measurements.

Learn more: How To Measure Lung Capacity

Guide a growing plant through a maze

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic

Prove that plants really do seek out the light by setting up a simple or complex maze. This is a simple 8th grade science project with really cool results.

Learn more: Plant Light Maze

Explore symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium

Many plants depend on nitrogen for growth, but how important is it? This science project compares the growth of pea plants with and without nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Learn more: Symbiosis: Plants, Nitrogen, and Bacteria

Test water quality

A water-testing kit opens up limitless options for 8th grade science fair projects. Test the water quality of local streams, swimming pools, or even the taps at home.

Learn more: Water Quality Experiment

Cast animal tracks

Explore wildlife biology by becoming an expert tracker! Learn to identify tracks and take casts. Turn this into an experiment by trying different methods to take casts, or use it as a method of identifying wildlife in the woods.

Learn more: Animal Tracks

Determine a plant’s favorite music

Play different types of music for plants, then observe and document any changes in the growth and development of the plants as they’re exposed to different genres of music.

Conduct fingerprint analysis

Budding forensic scientists will love this idea. Learn to dust for prints and try a technique called “fuming” for trickier surfaces. See if you can compare prints and make accurate matches in the classroom. You can buy a fingerprinting kit just for kids  or use supplies from around the house.

Learn more: Fingerprinting

Examine the connection between personality and memory

Do introverts have better memories than extroverts? This science project aims to find out. Round up some willing volunteers and administer the Myers-Briggs personality test, then challenge your subjects with a memory test. The results may or may not surprise you!

Learn more: Memory and Personality

Measure algae growth

Fertilizer runoff has become a serious cause of water pollution. In this experiment, students will see its effects firsthand and brainstorm ways to keep it in check.

Learn more: Algae and Pollution Experiment

Water plants with different liquids

In this easy science fair project, kids water plants with different liquids, like rainwater, tap water, salt water, and even soda. They might be surprised at the results!

Learn more: Effecting Plant Growth

Beakers and test tubes, pouring and mixing … do it all with these fun chemistry science fair project ideas for 8th graders.

Perform a starch test with iodine

This simple chemistry experiment uses iodine to determine the starch content of food items. Use the process to perform a variety of 8th grade science experiments related to food.

Learn more: Starch Test

Keep your hands warm

If you live in a chilly part of the world, chances are you’ve seen chemical hand warmers for sale. In this 8th grade science fair project, use oxidation to make your own hand warmer, and find other creative ways to use this heating process.

Learn more: Homemade Hand Warmer

Compare electrolytes in sports drinks

Sports-loving kids will enjoy the chance to learn just how many valuable electrolytes their favorite sports drinks contain. Compare them with water or orange juice for a cool science fair project. You’ll need a few special supplies, like a multimeter and an ohm resistor , but they’re not too expensive and they’re easy to find.

Turn juice into spheres

You’ll need a few special supplies for this experiment , but the results are so cool. Turn spherification into a science fair project by experimenting with different beverages and liquids.

Block the sun’s UV rays

Use color-changing UV beads to test the protective power of medicine bottles, hats, clothing, and more. This is an easy 8th grade science fair project with nearly endless possibilities.

Grow a carbon sugar snake

Remember those little black pellets that fire up into long snakes on the 4th of July? This is the same concept but much bigger! The simple chemical reaction of sugar and baking soda makes it happen. Turn this into an 8th grade science fair project by varying the formula to create even bigger results!

Learn more: Carbon Sugar Snake

Create a rainbow of flames

You can change the color of fire by adding chemicals found at your local grocery store—what a sight! How can you use these flame colors to determine the chemical content of other materials? Sounds like a cool 8th grade science fair project!

Study the effects of acid rain

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic

In this project, students use chalk as a stand-in for stone to learn how acid rain affects buildings, statues, and more. Turn this into a science fair project by exploring ways to mitigate the effects of the acidity.

Extract bismuth from Pepto Bismol

Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Advanced

This is the kind of project that really makes you feel like a scientist. Grinding tablets with a mortar and pestle, filtering in beakers, heating over a Bunsen burner … this is what chemistry is all about!

Learn more: Extracting Bismuth

Optimize fermentation temperature

Delve into the mystery of how temperature affects the fermentation process and determine the optimum temperature for yeast development. (Test your hypothesis by baking a loaf of bread!)

Learn more: Hot Yeast

Brew up some root beer

Who says science can’t be delicious ? Tinker with the basic root beer recipe to make it sweeter, fizzier, or better in any way you like!

Learn more: Homemade Root Beer

For those who love to build and tinker, try a science fair project that experiments with various physics concepts like energy, electricity, motion, and more.

Build a better light bulb

First, use the steps at the link to build a simple light bulb with a jar, some wire, and a 6-volt battery . Then, turn it into an 8th grade science fair project by tinkering with the various materials to make a light bulb that lasts longer, burns brighter, or is powered by an alternative source.

Learn more: Build a Light Bulb

Test the strength of interleaved paper

Paper seems smooth and slides apart easily, right? Not when you add friction into the mix! Mythbusters was amazed at how much strength it took to pull apart two interleaved phone books. Try this with smaller books for an 8th grade science fair project that people won’t believe!

Stand on a pile of paper cups

Combine physics and engineering and challenge 8th grade science students to create a paper cup structure that can support their weight. This is a cool project for aspiring architects.

Learn more: Stand on a Paper Cup

Cook up a tasty treat with solar energy

Students can design and build a solar oven, and then use it to cook food to compare the cooking time and temperature with a conventional oven. See if you can improve on the original design by changing up the materials or construction.

Investigate advanced properties of liquids

Do surface tension and viscosity decrease with increasing temperature? Find out in this 8th grade science fair project.

Learn more: Surface Tension and Viscosity

Make a solar desalinator

Clean fresh water is a valuable commodity. Construct solar-powered desalination devices with readily available materials, and find the most effective desalination methods.

Engineer a roller coaster loop

Kids may have created roller coasters with marbles before, but have they ever built one with a loop-the-loop? They’ll have to experiment to find out which initial height gives a marble the speed it needs to complete the journey.

Capture a picture of lightning

Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Medium

Lichtenberg figures capture the branching path of electricity as it travels through an object. You can make your own in a variety of ways, including burning it into wood or acrylic.

Learn more: Lichtenberg Figures

Crash cars for science

This is a great class project for teachers, but it’s also excellent for an 8th grade science fair project. Build cars and crash-test them to learn the best methods of keeping passengers safe.

Learn more: STEM Car Crash Project

Discover the center of gravity

Once you find and maintain its center of gravity, almost any object will balance, even in surprising circumstances. Using this concept, what amazing objects can you balance and where?

Learn more: Center of Gravity Experiment

Power up homemade batteries

Building batteries is a classic science experiment for any age. Make it into an 8th grade science fair project by trying different variables and exploring the amount of power you can produce.

Learn more: DIY Batteries

Assemble a spring balance scale

Apply Hooke’s law to find out if the stretching of a spring can be used to accurately measure the weight of objects. The materials are simple, but you’ll need patience and physics to calibrate a spring and use it to test weights.

Design a robotic hand

This is a project that can be tweaked by coming up with ways to improve upon the design. Can you build a hand that can pick up a ball? How about one that can pluck up a piece of string? So many possibilities!

Learn more: DIY Model Robot Hand STEM Activity

Build an infinity mirror

Experiment with optical illusions by creating a tunnel of lights that seems to stretch away into infinity. Eighth grade science students will learn about engineering and the physics of optics along the way.

Construct a Rube Goldberg machine

Create a machine to complete a simple task in the most complicated fashion! This is a neat 8th grade STEM fair project because it allows you to use a variety of physics concepts in a fun way.

Explore a wide variety of 8th grade science concepts with these fun and engaging activities.

Protect an egg in a crash

We love this spin on the classic egg-drop project. In this version, students build a structure to protect an egg during a collision with a wall, making the connection between crash tests and physics concepts.

Drop an egg to prove the first law of motion

This experiment looks like a magic trick, but it’s firmly grounded in Newton’s first law of motion. When you knock the pie tin out of the way, the egg falls straight into the glass thanks to inertia. (Worried about making a mess? Use plastic eggs instead.)

Learn more: Egg Drop Inertia Challenge

Break out the leaf blower to teach Bernoulli’s principle

Eighth grade science students have probably seen a Bernoulli demo or two, often with straws and Ping-Pong balls. So grab their attention by trying it with a leaf blower and beach ball instead!

Assemble a Newton’s cradle

Newton’s cradle is a fascinating way of demonstrating momentum and energy transfer. Follow the directions at the link to build one, or challenge 8th grade science students to experiment with their own construction methods.

Learn more: Newton’s Cradle

Extinguish a candle without blowing it out

Combine an acid-base experiment with some fire science in this really popular classroom science demo. It seems like magic, but it’s just science!

Relight a candle without touching it

Tell students you’re going to relight a candle without touching the flame to the wick. The results will boggle their minds!

Learn more: Magic Traveling Flame

Demonstrate the “unpoppable” balloon

Your students won’t believe you when you say you can hold a balloon up to a flame without popping it. Use the conductivity of water to prove your point.

Extract your own DNA

DNA is the blueprint of life, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to extract your own with a few simple supplies. Preserve it in alcohol in the freezer when you’re done.

Learn more: How To Extract DNA at Home

Build a trash can air cannon

This is such a fun way to demonstrate an air vortex! It takes a little effort to build the air cannon, but you can use it year after year for amazing 8th grade science demos.

Separate water into hydrogen and oxygen

Use electrolysis to prove that water really is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It’s a simple concept but one that never fails to amaze.

Learn more: Separating Water Into Hydrogen and Oxygen

Assemble a ring of Pringles

Everybody loves an edible STEM challenge! Here’s one that seems simple but takes some time to work out: Build a ring of Pringles chips without using any other materials.

Construct a cup holder

Can your 8th grade science students build a device to stabilize and carry two cups of water using only a few simple supplies? Oh, and can they manage it in just 5 minutes? This timed challenge pushes their creative engineering limits!

Learn more: Cup Holder STEM Challenge

Navigate a light maze

Here’s the STEM challenge: Bounce a beam of light around a corner past an obstacle. Increase the difficulty by adding more obstacles and variables.

Make solar oven s’mores

Demonstrate the principle of converting solar radiation into heat in the yummiest way possible by having your students construct their own solar ovens and baking s’mores using nothing but the light from the sun.

Engage your 8th grade science students further with these 24 Science Kits for Middle and High School That Make Hands-On Lessons Easy .

Plus,  sign up for our newsletters  to get all the latest teaching tips and ideas straight to your inbox..

You Might Also Like

The Big List of Science Fair Project Ideas, Resources, and More

Options for every age, interest, and skill level! Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

*** Enter the $2,000 College Transitions No Essay Scholarship Contest ***

56 8th Grade Science Fair Projects – 2024

June 23, 2024

If you teach science to 8th graders, you might be looking for science fair project ideas to inspire your students. Or perhaps you’re looking for fresh classroom experiments to demonstrate biology, chemistry, and physics principles. Continue reading for 60 science fair project ideas for 8th grade with a range of topics and difficulty levels/

8th Grade Science Fair Projects – Things to consider

Each project below comes with a ranking according to difficulty and materials, which you can consider as you decide which projects to share with your 8 th grade students.

Difficulty : As you choose a project for your class, it’s important to consider the difficulty of the project. Do your 8 th grade students have enough time for this project? Have they reached a high enough level in the scientific area? Each of these projects is rated “basic,” “medium,” or “advanced” based on the complexity of the concept involved and the amount of time it will take.

Materials : The projects below also range in terms of materials and setup, and they are listed as “basic,” “medium,” or “advanced.” This can help you determine what kind of preparation is required in order to complete each project.

Biology Science Fair Project Ideas

56 Ideas for the 8th Grade Science Fair:

1) Balloon lung capacity

  Using simply a balloon and a tape measurer, this experiment allows students to measure human health and athleticism. It can be made more or less complicated depending on the measurements taken (circumference only vs. volume of the balloon, for example).

• Difficulty: basic
• Materials: medium
• Learn more: measuring lung capacity

8th Grade Science Fair Projects (Continued)

2) water quality testing.

  Do you have a water-testing kit on hand? If not, you can purchase one for under $30. This simple kit opens numerous possibilities for science fair projects, including testing the water quality of local streams, ponds, swimming pools, and drinking-water taps. Water testing is a great way to teach about pollution and the importance of clean water sources.

• Learn more: water quality experiment

3) Plant maze

  Ever noticed how plants grow towards light? With a simple experiment, your students can watch as a plant grows around obstacles. Your plant maze can be as simple or as complex as you’d like.

• Difficulty: medium
• Learn more: plant light maze

4) Animal track casting

Are your students up to a bit of detective work? In this experiment, they can track animals and study their tracks using a homemade plaster mold, and then comparing them for size, shape, and location.

• Learn more: find & collect animal tracks

5) Nitrogen and plants

  Explore how nitrogen aids plant growth with this 8 th grade science project, which involves comparing the growth of pea plants with and without nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

• Learn more: nitrogen and plants

6) Your plant’s favorite music

  Do plants appreciate the music you play? This experiment determines whether classical music affects the growth and health of plants (though you can use any genre you’d like, or test multiple different genres).

• Learn more: plant responses to music

7) Crime scene fingerprinting

This project is especially great for students interested in forensic science. It can be completed using a purchased fingerprinting kit and simple household supplies.

• Learn more: crime scene fingerprinting

8) Myers-Briggs and memory

  Are your students interested in exploring questions of psychology, memory, and mental health? This experiment involves asking volunteers to take a Myers-Briggs personality test, followed by a simple memory exam. They only need internet access and willing volunteers, no extra materials needed!

• Materials: basic
• Learn more: memory and personality

9) Tooth decay with eggs

  Since eggshells share similar properties to teeth, your students can use them to test how different beverages erode tooth enamel. This project teaches biology concepts while also encouraging healthy eating and dental care.

• Learn more: tooth decay egg experiment

10) Water your plants

  For an easy experiment on plant growth, try watering plants with different liquids. You can test different water sources (tap water, rain water, etc.), different salt-levels in water, or even the difference between water and soda.

• Learn more: plant growth with different liquids

11) Cooking and Vitamin C

  For a nutrition-focused experiment, see whether cooked fruits and vegetables have less Vitamin C than raw ones. This involves a slightly more complex procedure, so it’s perfect for your advanced 8 th grade classes.

• Difficulty: advanced
• Materials: advanced
• Learn more: Vitamin C determination

12) Algae growth

  Have you taught your students about fertilizer runoff and its harmful impacts on local waterways? In this experiment, students can test the effects of pollutants on algae growth using household fertilizers and other materials.

• Learn more: algae and pollution

13) Hydroponic vs. soil plant growth

  Perfect for students with a green thumb, this experiment allows students to test whether plants grow faster hydroponically or in soil.

• Learn more: hydroponic vs. soil

14) Bioluminescent bacteria

  For the glowing students out there (as well as the future marine biologists), this project allows 8 th graders to understand how glowing waves are caused by microscopic organisms in the ocean.

• Learn more: ocean bioluminescence

15) Extracting DNA from onions

  In this experiment, students can use a variety of household supplies to see if DNA is able to survive separately from other cell components.

• Learn more: onion DNA extraction

16) Sleep and memory

  Can sleep deprivation affect memory? Have your students ask volunteers a series of trivia questions after getting 8 or 5 hours of sleep. While this project takes some planning, organization, and willing volunteers, it’s a fun way to promote healthy sleep habits.

• Learn more: sleep and memory (plus a few more sleep-related experiment ideas)

Chemistry Science Fair Project Ideas

17) Starch test with iodine

  For a simple chemistry experiment, help your 8 th grade students to understand properties of starch and its presence in various foods.

• Learn more: starch test

18) Carbon sugar snake

  Through the simple chemical reaction of sugar and baking soda, you can make a fiery snake rise from the ground. Take note of safety while doing this experiment, since fire and lighter fluid are involved.

• Learn more: carbon sugar snake

19) Juice spherification

  Try this for a fun and aesthetically-pleasing experiment, which allows your students to create edible spheres, or to “spherify” water and other liquids.

• Learn more: spherification of water

20) Hand-warming chemistry

  Ever wish you could heat up your hands on a cold day? Instead of buying a commercial warmer, try making one of these. This experiment offers a practical solution to an everyday problem.

• Learn more: homemade hand warmer

21) Sports drink challenge (for electrolytes)

We’ve all heard sports drinks advertised as having electrolytes. What does this mean, exactly? Is drinking Gatorade really much better than a glass of orange juice? Try this experiment to find out. You’ll need a few special supplies, including a multimeter and an ohm resistor .

• Learn more: electrolytes in sports drinks

22) Find the best detergent

  Test which laundry detergent is really cleaning your clothes. After making coffee, ketchup, and makeup stains on white handkerchiefs, students will test several laundry detergent brands for effectiveness. For an extra challenge, they can analyze the ingredients in each detergent to see which is the most active.

• Learn more: laundry lab

23) Color-changing beads for UV resistance

Through this experiment, you can use color-changing UV beads to test the protective power of various household objects against the sun.

• Learn more: UV bead experiment

24) Taco sauce penny cleaner

  Can you really clean pennies with taco sauce? Have your students collect their most tarnished pennies and test the theory. Then, see which ingredient (or combination of ingredients) in taco sauce is the most effective by testing them separately.

• Learn more: taco sauce penny cleaner

25) Effects of acid rain

  In order to understand how acid rain affects buildings and other structures, students can use chalk for a stand-in for stone. For a more complex project, they can explore ways of protecting the structures, thereby mitigating the effects of acid rain.

• Learn more: effects of acid rain

26) Hot yeast experiment

  Discover how temperature impacts yeast fermentation. The ingredients are simple: clear glasses, 3 balloons, 3 packets of yeast, sugar, and water.

• Learn more: hot yeast experiment

27) Root beer brewing

  Root beer, a favorite soda for many, is actually just a combination of water, sugar, and flavorings (plus carbonation, which comes from carbon dioxide gas). For a delicious 8 th grade science fair project, test ingredients for the best root beer brew (students can test for fizziness, sweetness, or best flavor by popular vote).

• Learn more: root beer science

28) Extract bismuth from Pepto Bismol

  For a more complex chemistry procedure, grind some Pepto Bismol pills and extract bismuth, its active ingredient. This experiment takes a while, so make sure you leave time for multiple trials.

• Learn more: extract bismuth from Pepto Bismol

29) Homemade ice cream

  The secret to making ice cream is to lower the freezing point of ice. The secret to this secret? Salt. With this experiment, you can have delicious vanilla ice cream ready in about 20 minutes. Test different ingredients and times for the best results.

• Learn more: homemade ice cream

30) Rock candy

  Here’s another delicious one, which only requires dipping a string in some sugar water to create a beautiful candy crystal.

• Learn more: homemade rock candy

31) Waterproof fabric

  In this experiment, you can test different clothing materials (nylon? Wool? Polyester? Silk?) to see which is the most water resistant.

• Learn more: put your fabric to the test

32) Soap and surface tension

Surface tension, put simply, causes the molecules in the surface of a liquid to cling together. In this 8 th grade science fair project, you can test how soap affects surface tension.

• Learn more: soapy surface tension

Physics and Engineering Science Fair Project Ideas

33) build-a-lightbulb.

  Teach your 8 th graders about electricity with this simple lightbulb project. By experimenting with simple materials, students can explore how to create the longest-lasting and brightest light source.

• Learn more: build a lightbulb

34) Built-a-platform

  Any aspiring architects in your class? In this physics and engineering challenge, students create a paper cup structure (with three or more platforms for an extra challenge) that can support their weight.

• Learn more: paper cup structure

35) Solar-powered oven

  Food-related projects aren’t reserved for chemistry. Your students can make s’mores by engineering their own ovens, changing up the construction process for different results.

• Learn more: solar oven

36) Engineer a roller coaster

  Challenge your students to create a roller coaster, loops included. They can experiment with the height and size of the loops, as well as marble weight.

• Learn more: roller coaster building

37) Crash cars

  This experiment involves building cars out of basic classroom materials (plus miniature wheels and axles, which can be found easily online). Then, students can crash-test their cars with raw eggs inside as “passengers.” What structures best protect the egg?

• Learn more: car crash project

38) Find your center

  Help unexpected objects balance in unexpected places with this center of gravity experiment. Using pipe cleaners and clothes pins, play with raising and lowering an object’s center of gravity. Though this project is simple, but it certainly isn’t easy.

• Learn more: center of gravity experiment

39) Spinning glasses of water

While you might think that swinging a bucket of water over your head would leave you soaked, if you swing it around fast enough, you might actually stay dry. Your students can understand the physics behind this phenomenon by building homemade “centrifugal force boards.” Change variables such as speed and cup shape for added complexity.

• Learn more: spinning glasses of water

40) Power homemade batteries

  This experiment offers an excellent intro to electricity using materials that your students likely already have at home.

• Learn more: DIY batteries

 41)  Graphite circuit

  For another electricity-focused experiment, challenge your students to create an electrical circuit using pencil graphite. Since it involves drawing, students can put their art skills to use for a beautiful result.

• Learn more: graphite circuit

42) Homemade projector

  This experiment is a great way for students to understand the science behind light. All they need is a smartphone with videos, a cardboard box, a magnifying glass, and a few basic tools. Different box and magnifying glass measurements can be used as variables.

• Learn more: homemade projector

43) Parachute egg-drop

  Help an egg reach a safe landing by creating a homemade parachute. Test multiple kinds of parachutes to learn about force and gravity, and see which one protects the egg most effectively.

• Learn more: parachute egg-drop ideas

44) Coin tower

  In this demonstration, students build towers of coins and use physics concepts to remove the bottom coin with a butter knife. For experimental variations, use different amounts and sizes of coins.

• Learn more: coin tower challenge

45) Wind-powered car

  By creating a sort of sailboat-car-hybrid, students can learn the engineering behind basic vehicles, adjusting its components to test for speed and distance.

• Learn more: wind-powered car

46) Balancing water glass

  For another architecturally-relevant exercise, create a system of knives and bottles that can balance a full glass of water in the middle. Play with different design elements to conduct a challenging engineering experiment.

• Learn more: balancing glass trick

More Ideas for Classroom Learning – 8th Grade Science Fair Projects

47) newton’s cradle.

  Your 8 th grade students might have seen a Newton’s cradle, but have they created one? Teach them about energy transfer and momentum using only simple materials such as marbles, string, and popsicle sticks.

• Learn more: making a simple Newton’s cradle

48)   Floating compass

  With only a cork, a needle, and a glass of water, teach your students about magnetic forces and Earth’s poles.

• Learn more: floating magnetic compass

49)  Relight a candle

Once a candle goes out, it may seem impossible to relight it without a new match. Think again! This experiment teaches students about the seemingly magical workings of hydrogren, carbon, and oxygen. Take it a step further by changing the variables of wax temperature, wick size, and candle type.

• Learn more: magic traveling flame

50) Ring of Pringles

  This edible STEM challenge is perfect for a fun break mid-semester or for the last day of school . Though it seems easy, it will likely take students multiple tries to figure out.

• Learn more: ring of Pringles

51) Light maze

  Create a maze of objects and work to get a beam of light through. This is a great way to engage your students using objects you already have sitting around.

• Learn more: light maze

52) Build a cup holder

  For a challenging engineering exercise, give your students 5-minutes to create a device that can balance and carry two cups of water. Have them test their cup holders as a fun outdoor activity.

• Learn more: cup holder STEM challenge

53) Take DNA extractions

  DNA, found in the nucleus of cells, acts as a sort of blueprint for the development and functioning of organisms. While this may seem somewhat inaccessible to 8 th grade students, it’s actually possible to extract using classroom lab materials, soap, and mouthwash solution.

• Learn more: how to extract DNA

54) Separate water into hydrogen and oxygen

  For the 8 th grade chemistry teachers out there, you can demonstrate how water is actually formed out of two gases using electrolysis, a process that reduces H20 back to H and O.

• Learn more: separate water into hydrogen and oxygen

 55)  Unpoppable balloon

It may surprise your 8 th grade students that you can hold a balloon up to a flame without popping it. Thanks to water, a great absorber of heat, the rubber barely even weakens when it touches a flame.

• Difficulty: easy
• Learn more: fire water balloon

56) Grow garbage plants

For an ongoing class experiment that you can track over a series of weeks, grow plants using different kinds of compost and garbage to see which kind of matter facilitates the quickest growth. This project is a great way to promote collaboration and sustainability in your classroom.

• Learn more: multimeter

8th Grade Science Fair Projects – Additional Resources 

Whether you’re teaching your 8 th grade students about plant biology, discussing chemical properties, or helping them understand what it takes to engineer a car, these science fair projects and classroom learning activities are great ways to challenge your students. For further classroom resources relevant for middle school learning, we recommend the following articles:

• 124 Good Icebreaker Questions for Students/Adults
• 141 Fun, Weird, & Interesting Facts
• 60 Team-Building Activities for Kids & Middle/High School Students
• 150 Journal Prompts for Kids, Middle, & High School Students
• 60 Easy Science Experiments for Kids
• 62 Best Research Opportunities for High School Students 
• Teacher Tools

Sarah Mininsohn

With a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sarah is a writer, educator, and artist. She served as a graduate instructor at the University of Illinois, a tutor at St Peter’s School in Philadelphia, and an academic writing tutor and thesis mentor at Wesleyan’s Writing Workshop.

• 2-Year Colleges
• ADHD/LD/Autism/Executive Functioning
• Application Strategies
• Best Colleges by Major
• Best Colleges by State
• Big Picture
• Career & Personality Assessment
• College Essay
• College Search/Knowledge
• College Success
• Costs & Financial Aid
• Data Visualizations
• Dental School Admissions
• Extracurricular Activities
• General Knowledge
• Graduate School Admissions
• High School Success
• High Schools
• Homeschool Resources
• Law School Admissions
• Medical School Admissions
• Navigating the Admissions Process
• Online Learning
• Outdoor Adventure
• Private High School Spotlight
• Research Programs
• Summer Program Spotlight
• Summer Programs
• Test Prep Provider Spotlight

“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”

— Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Nationally Recognized College Expert

$2,000 No Essay Scholarship

Presented by College Transitions

• Win $2,000 for college • 1 minute or less to enter • No essay required • Open to students and parents in the U.S.

Create your account today and easily enter all future sweepstakes!

Enter to Win $2,000 Today!