Stand out with your junior high school independent research! A collection of fun experiment and craft ideas
To all middle schoolers who want to wow teachers and friends with a “That’s awesome!” in your independent research project! There are tons of experiments in science and crafts that lead to surprising discoveries—even with simple materials.
Make a train run with copper wire and a battery, pop a balloon with an orange peel…
The real charm is getting to witness strange phenomena you’d never notice in everyday life with your own eyes.
Here, we’ll introduce fun experiments and crafts that can spark ideas for your project.
Whether you love science or not, you’re sure to find discoveries that make you go, “Aha!”
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Stand Out with Your Junior High School Independent Research! A Collection of Fun Experiment & Craft Ideas (141–150)
Let’s try making old-fashioned food.
Dishes that are prepared using cooking methods unique to a specific region and widely passed down are called “local cuisine” or “regional dishes.” In our grandmothers’ generation, these dishes were commonly made as everyday side dishes.
However, due to the effort involved or changes in taste preferences, they are being made less and less.
To rediscover the value of these regional dishes—and to learn about their history—let’s cook and present them.
Continuing the history of our predecessors’ wisdom in this way is truly wonderful, isn’t it?
Making a planetarium
When you think of a planetarium that lets you experience a starry sky indoors, you might picture large-scale installations, but you can aim for high quality even with a DIY build.
The mechanism is simple: light passes through a cover with holes arranged like stars, projecting a starry sky around it.
To faithfully recreate a realistic night sky, using a commercially available kit may make the process easier.
If you go with the method of punching the holes yourself, it takes more effort to achieve realism, but the upside is that you can create your own original constellations.
It’s recommended to decide which direction you want your planetarium to take and enjoy it with a free, creative mindset.
Slime Mold Maze
I also recommend the slime mold maze, where you can enjoy a truly mysterious sight.
To start, slime molds are, simply put, single-celled organisms that can move and proliferate like animals.
They’re also known for being able to find the correct path when placed in a maze.
It’s fascinating that a single-celled organism can solve a maze, isn’t it? How about researching the mechanism behind that? Even just recording how it solves the maze can be plenty of fun.
You could also try another approach: make the maze as complex as possible and challenge the slime mold with it.
Stand out with your junior high school independent research! A collection of fun experiment and craft ideas (151–160)
Aquatic Organism Survey
For those who live near the ocean or a river, an aquatic life survey is also recommended.
This involves investigating the creatures that live by the water.
Try looking into what kinds of organisms are there and whether there are differences between upstream and downstream areas.
You could also create and take home an aquarium display.
In the case of rivers, it’s a good idea to test the water quality as well.
Even using a simple test kit can reveal a lot.
It can be a good opportunity to think about environmental issues and the relationship between living organisms and water quality.
Straw thermometer
How about making a thermometer using a straw, water, and paint? You can tell changes in temperature by the height of the water rising inside the straw, so try placing the thermometer in different spots like under direct sunlight or in the shade of a tree.
While it won’t give you an exact temperature, the changes will be easy to see, which makes it quite fun.
The History of Instant Ramen
The story of Momofuku Ando, the founder of instant ramen, was even featured in an NHK morning drama and became a hot topic.
Instant ramen is one of Japan’s delicious and remarkable preserved foods, and it’s something everyone has eaten.
Nowadays, many kinds of instant ramen are enjoyed not only in Japan but in many countries around the world.
Wouldn’t it be fascinating to look into the history of instant ramen—along with the historical context surrounding it?
Original SDGs Sweets
Why not research the specialties and challenges of the area you live in and try creating SDGs-friendly sweets? Even a little investigation will lead to various discoveries, and if you can turn them into products that attract corporate attention, you might gain a valuable experience of changing the world through your own initiative.
For example, you could deliberately pair local specialties that don’t seem suited for sweets, or come up with ideas to reduce waste materials.
It may be a bit of hard work, but it will make for a rewarding independent research project.
