Ask students to gather a variety of metal products including a nail, silverware, steel wool pads, iron skillet and more. Include items that do not have an iron base. Display items on the wooden surface you place outside where the weather will reach the metal items. Students document what items were put outside and their condition. Each day, students check each item for changes. Take pictures of changes. Document rate of oxidation that creates rust. Some metals may not rust. Ask students to document what does happen to these metals. Discuss how corrosion is different from rust. At the end of four months, summarize findings.
Use three items of iron, three of nickle, three of tin and three of aluminum. Try to have them of similar size. Place each item on a separate sponge. Label three large plastic trays with one of the three liquids to be used in the science project: water, cola or vinegar. Place one each of the different metals in the separate trays on their respective sponges. For example, the water tray should contain one of each type of metal used in the science project. Several times a day, spritz the items with liquid. Only spray water on the metals in the tray labeled water, only cola on the metals in the cola-labeled tray and only vinegar on the metals in the last tray. Take pictures once a day. Document if, when and how quickly rust forms and on which items. After a month, summarize your findings.
Use items of iron, steel, stainless steel, gold, copper and bronze. Choose bowls large enough that the items can be halfway submerged. Add one metal per bowl and fill with enough water to submerge half the item. Add a ½ cup salt and stir until dissolved. Take pictures of the metals before placing them into the salt solution. Each day stir the salt solution and document any changes to the metals. If rust appears, note where it appears first and on which metal. Document whether rust forms as quickly above the salt line as beneath. Record the changes and, after two weeks, summarize your findings as to which metal rusts the fastest.
This science project tests to see if scratching the surface of metal hastens the rate of oxidation or rusting. Collect a variety of metals, two each, including samples of both cast and wrought iron, steel and stainless steel. Make a long scratch on the side of one of each item, making the scratches as similar as possible. Submerge in plain water, but in separate plastic or ceramic trays or bowls. Each day, document with pictures and by keeping written records, the appearance of the metals. Note how quickly rust appears and on which metals. Also, document whether the scratched metals rusted faster than the non-scratched items.