For 6th Graders: Unique and Fun Ideas for Independent Research Projects

Making salt crystals

Make salt crystals!!

A science project that amazes you with “I can’t believe something this beautiful can come from something you eat,” thanks to its jewel-like appearance, is making salt crystals.

You add a large amount of salt to hot water, and as you keep adding it, the salt eventually stops dissolving.

Let that saturated solution cool, filter it, and leave it for a while—salt crystals will form.

By the way, if you make saltwater the same way and place the formed crystals back into it, you can grow them larger.

Why not try and see how big you can make them?

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Araki Jakkan

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autonomous self-driving robot car

Let's Build a DIY Self-Driving Robot Car: Science Experiment [Azabu Science Experiment Classroom]

Make and play! Here are some ideas for an autonomous robot car.

Many of you have probably played by moving toy vehicles like cars or trains by hand.

This time, let’s try building a robot car that moves on its own.

In the video, they use tools and kits.

The completed self-driving robot car runs along a course drawn with a black pen on paper.

When using tools, be sure to work together with a teacher or guardian.

Give it a try!

Filtration experiment

Easy “Filtration Experiment” with a Plastic Bottle [10th Science Festival in Ishikari, Executive Committee—Video Production Division]

Murky water turns clear! Let’s keep a record of our filtration experiment.

Prepare a plastic bottle by cutting off the bottom and turning it upside down.

First, make a small hole in the cap and pack it with cotton.

Then add the materials in this order: charcoal, gauze, gravel, gauze, and sand—the filter is complete.

Next, add baking soda solution and alum solution to the cloudy water to separate the impurities.

Pour the clarified supernatant into the plastic-bottle filter, and clear water will come out from the bottom.

It’s fascinating that ordinary sand and charcoal you can find around you can make water so clean.

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Araki Jakkan

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Survey on vehicle stopping rates

[Research Project Theme: Rate of Cars Stopping] A 6th-grade elementary school student investigates the “rate of cars stopping” for their independent research project—what is the total amount of fines for the vehicles surveyed?!

This independent research project is perfect for when you want to boost awareness of everyday traffic rules and safety.

The activity involves standing by a crosswalk and recording whether cars stop for you.

By checking with your own eyes, you can directly experience and better understand social and traffic rules as they are in real life.

Collecting data and summarizing it in graphs also helps develop analytical and communication skills.

It could be interesting to examine various perspectives, such as the type of car or the driver’s gender and age.

Please be careful to avoid heatstroke while conducting the survey.

Surprisingly addictive study of shapes

[Math for a summer project!?] Surprisingly addictive! 3 free-research ideas using shapes

Here’s a great recommendation for anyone looking for an independent research project that blends learning with fun! How about studying shapes? Shapes are everywhere in daily life—origami, buildings, even sweets—so they feel familiar, and engaging with them in a playful way can help overcome anxiety about math and build confidence.

In your research, it’s important to narrow down your theme and explore it in depth, and to actually see, touch, and experience things firsthand.

Use the videos as a reference, find a topic that interests you, and give it a try!

Research brimming with love for Dragon Ball

The summer vacation independent research project sent by an elementary schooler was bursting with incredible Dragon Ball love!

I think it would be fun to choose Dragon Ball, an anime that’s extremely popular with kids, as the theme for an independent research project! Dragon Ball is loved by a wide range of generations, from children to adults.

You could count the sound effects that appear in the manga, present them with graphs and numbers, and note how many times the same sounds are used.

It might also be enjoyable to think about how powerful the Kamehameha is, or to research how nutritious senzu beans are.

Over the long summer vacation, incorporating something you’re interested in into your independent research could help deepen your knowledge.

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mayumi

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[Oven-Bake Clay] Let’s Make Jomon Pottery

[Handmade Jomon] Making a palm-sized mini Flame-Style Pottery using 100-yen shop oven-bake clay #FlamePottery

Jomon pottery, said to have been used by people in the Jomon period for cooking and other purposes, has an impressive, uniquely shaped design.

This craft project involves making Jomon-style pottery out of clay, and it can also serve as a history lesson.

You’ll use oven-bake clay, which you can find at 100-yen shops, and form a pot sized to fit in your oven by adding torn-off pieces of clay onto one another.

It’s recommended to first create a central cylinder and then attach decorative parts onto it; smooth the seams to create a unified look.

While referring to textbooks and other materials, it could be fun to try your own original patterns as well.

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kappamaki

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