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School Science Fairs - Picking the Right Type of Project
by Science Made Simple

Choosing your science fair project idea

Your first step is to come up with a great science fair project idea. When your teacher assigned this project, he or she trusted you with the freedom to be creative and choose your own idea.

It's important that you choose something that is both interesting and fun for YOU, so that you will enjoy working on the project for the days or weeks that it will take to complete it.



So what interests you? Before we pick a specific science fair idea, we should investigate the branches of science that you find most interesting. Let's look at a list of a few general scientific fields:.

FIELD THE STUDY OF
acoustics sound
aerodynamics movement in a flow of air or gas
anatomy structure of the body
anthropology human cultures
astronomy celestial objects
biology life
botany plants
chemistry properties of substances
climatology climate
cytology living cells
ecology environment
economics money and material wealth
geology earth's crust
mathematics numbers
mechanics action of force on objects
meteorology weather
optics light
physics properties of matter and energy
psychology mind
seismology earthquakes
semantics meaning
sociology society
urbanology cities
zoology animals


Wow! That's quite a few to choose from. And many of these general fields have a lot of sub-categories, so the list of potential ideas you can investigate is virtually endless. (For a much more extensive list, visit phrontistery.info/sciences.html)

So how do you go about choosing a science fair project idea? Well, one way might be to decide which subject you are best at in school.

Do you like math? Then you might be interested in a science fair idea involving early computers, calculating machines, geometry, algebra, or even computer software.

What about gym or health class? Then maybe you would be interested in anatomy, which is the study of the human body.

If you've ever used a microscope in a science class, then you could try a science fair project idea in microbiology, which is the study of tiny organisms, like bacteria and amoebas.

If none of the subjects in school interest you enough to do a science fair project on them, then think about what you like to do outside of school. Maybe you like the outdoors and the environment. In that case, try botany, which is the study of plants, or geology, which is the study of rocks and minerals, or nature conservation.

Do you have a telescope at home and enjoy looking at planets and stars? In that case, astronomy would be a great science fair idea.

There are many great books with more science fair project ideas that may help you choose a topic. Here's a great place to start searching.


Whatever science fair project idea you choose, it's important that it's something you are interested in and enjoy. After all, the science fair project isn't just about getting a good grade in school, it's about learning and having fun!

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