Thursday, November 13, 2008

Simple Science Fair Projects

by Doug Nicholson

Simple science fair projects can be fun experiences if you find the right ones. Do you know what the hardest thing is for most students when assigned a science project? Many would say it's coming up with an idea that interests them and then getting it started. If that is the case with you, then these ideas for simple science fair projects will be just what you need this year.

Gravity

Gravity is the earth's pull or attraction on objects. Gravity is what holds you and I to the ground and keeps everything else that moves from floating around in space. Everything from people, pets, rocks, water, books, schools, houses, cars, softballs, and more, have weight because of the earth's gravity. You may know that things have different weights depending on how big and dense they are. A small marble for example weighs less than a baseball.

Did you know that even though a baseball weighs more, a small marble and a baseball will both fall through the air at the same speed? In other words if they are dropped from the same height, at the same time, they will both hit the ground at the same time. This idea can be easily turned into a simple science fair project that you would enjoy.

Humidity

Humidity simply means how much water vapor or moisture the air around us contains. The amount of water vapor in the air will vary depending on the time of year, where you are located, the type of air mass over your area at the time, etc.

How well air can hold moisture depends also on the temperature of the air. The higher the temperature the more moisture air can hold. The lower the air temperature the less moisture the air can hold.

This is why we see dew on the cars and grass in the mornings sometimes. The air is often warmer during the day than at night and collects moisture from evaporation. At night when the temperature drops the air can't hold all the moisture it has collected and it condenses (the water falls out and collects on colder objects) onto cars, grass, etc. that are cooler.

Can you think of a simple science fair projects experiment to show that air can hold more moisture when its warmer than when its colder? How about taking a glass of cold water from the refrigerator and placing it on a table or counter in a warm room. Does water collect on the outside of the glass? The colder glass cools the warmer moisture laden air that is touching it causing some of the water to collect on the outside of the glass.

About the Author

My name is Doug Nicholson and I hope you will find these ideas for simple science fair projects interesting and helpful. I have made the 2 ideas here part of the 16 science projects in my new ebook Step By Step Science Fair Projects. Go check it out now at http://www.stepbystepsciencefairprojects.com.

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