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7th Grade Honors Science Project Ideas

Seventh grade honors students can conduct science experiments in various disciplines of science. They can use the principles of physics to create a tornado in a bottle and collect stardust in order to examine it. Students can figure out the effects of temperature on microorganisms and find out how rising temperatures affect chemical reactions. Honor students should know about recording precise notes, using the scientific method and presenting results through charts, graphs and reports.
  1. Physics

    • Extreme weather phenomena can make people vulnerable to tornadoes. To demonstrate the centrifugal force that creates a tornado, use two liter size soda bottles. Glue the lids together and punch a hole in the middle of the lids. Fill one of the bottles with water colored with food coloring. You can also add glitter for a more pronounced visual effect. Screw the lids onto the full bottle and screw the empty bottle on the top. Keep the full bottle on top, and rotate the bottles. Watch as the air rises through the water to form a vortex. The water then twists into the empty bottle through centrifugal force like a tornado.

    Microbiology

    • You can conduct a microbiology experiment to find out how microorganisms survive temperature stress. Prepare six samples of yeast, using the same amount of yeast and water in each. Allow the yeast to activate for 10 minutes, and then put two samples in the freezer. Unfreeze one sample right after the water freezes, and keep the other sample in the freezer until the next day. Place three samples in hot water, and keep them there for five, 15 and 30 minutes, respectively. Then remove the samples and bring them back to room temperature. For the control sample, add a sugar solution and measure activity of the yeast by measuring the amount and the rate of gas production. Add sugar to the experimental samples and measure gas rate and production. Now you can find out if microorganisms survive heat or cold temperatures better.

    Astronomy

    • When galaxies formed billions of years ago, some of those "first generation" stars exploded, raining micrometeorites that still collide with the Earth today. This "stardust" in the form of micrometeorites can be collected here on Earth. To find and identify micrometeorites, place a sheet of paper or plastic outside and leave it there over night. Collect it the next day by holding the sheet carefully. Wrap a strong magnet with a thin plastic bag and then "scan" the paper or plastic with the magnet to collect all of the magnetic particles. Put the magnet over a container and then take the magnet out of the bag. The magnetic particles will then fall into the container where they can be examined with a microscope.

    Chemical Kinetics

    • It is accepted as fact that chemical reactions typically occur faster as the temperature increases. In this experiment you will find out if this is a linear dependence, and if it is the same for all chemical reactions. Using glasses of water with at least a 10-degree difference from 1 degree Centigrade to 99 degrees Centigrade, place an Alka-Seltzer tablet into each glass of water. Measure the time it takes to dissolve. Record the information on a graph. Repeat with a cube of sugar in each (clean) glass. Compare the curves on the graphs.

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