This project can be done in a single day and many different materials can be used. The main idea is to demonstrate a violent reaction, either physical or chemical, emerging from a caldera or bowl type structure. This causes a similar eruption to a volcano. Many different types of projects can be created from this main idea. The style of the volcano can play a significant role in the eruption of the volcano project because different craters will produce different blasts. A comparison project of different types of commonly used violent reactions can also be performed, like Mentos and Diet Coke compared to lemon juice and baking soda.
This project is simple but can be incorporable in many different types of elementary school science fairs. To make a piece of metal magnetic, the supplies needed are a piece of iron based metal, like a paper clip, and a permanent magnet. By rubbing the piece of metal repeatedly over the magnet, the piece of metal will become magnetized. This magnetizing process can be used to study the strength of magnets and magnetic fields, the capability and holding time of magnetized materials and several other magnet related science principles.
This can be completed with a circle that is separated into two halves by placing a shadow-casting object in between. By placing a piece that is shaped like a triangle with the point highest at the edge of the circle, the project has transformed into a simple sundial. It does not tell the exact hours yet. It is important to mark the shadow cast at each hour throughout the course of one day, to make an accurate sundial for that time of year. With a sundial, time can be explored in several ways including comparing sun time to standard time.
This elementary science fair project idea is quite similar to the magnetic project mentioned early. The only difference is that the piece of metal is a needle and a bowl of water and a piece of foam is needed. By magnetizing the needle and sticking it into the foam it is possible to get the floating foam to point to the north pole by allowing it to settle in a cup of water. This is because the north pole is a strong magnetic field the affects all magnetic fields slightly. If it is the only field present, then the magnetized item will align, or point, to it.