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 projects! A collection of fun experiment and craft ideas (161–170)
How to make a seismometer
Why not try making a seismograph using everyday materials? The word “seismograph” might sound difficult, but it’s actually easy to build.
A seismograph mainly consists of two parts: a pendulum that serves as a fixed point and a recording mechanism.
For the pendulum, fill a cup with clay, insert a bamboo skewer as the axis, and hang it from a support made of disposable chopsticks using a hook and thread.
The recording part can be made from a toilet paper roll with a bolt through it and a ballpoint pen.
The base of the device can be anything, so try to find a wooden box that can hold the setup.
pH measurement using vegetables
Let’s try a pH measurement experiment that tells you whether a liquid is alkaline or acidic.
For preparation, shred some red cabbage the day before and freeze it.
On the day of the experiment, knead it well in water to make purple cabbage water.
This colored water actually contains a pigment called anthocyanin that reacts to pH.
In the experiment, add the liquid you want to test to this colored water and observe the color change.
It turns red if acidic, purple if neutral, and blue or yellow if alkaline.
Gather different liquids and give it a try!
Can you really charge an iPhone with apples?
Charging with an apple… just the idea itself is funny, isn’t it? But is it really possible? If you try the experiment and bring it to school, your science teacher and your friends are sure to love it! And it might be interesting to test why charging works, whether it works with other fruits, and things like that too!
It seems that if you put an ice sphere in a vacuum, it boils and then freezes.
You might find it hard to try this experiment at home, but the video alone is interesting.
Think of a hypothesis about what happens when you put an ice sphere in a vacuum, then look for the answer.
The video has a somewhat laid-back vibe, but the experiment itself is really solid.
Highly recommended for science lovers!
Reflection and absorption of heat
In an experiment using liquids of various colors, we will investigate which color boils the fastest when heated under sunlight.
Since many factors are involved—such as light wavelength, reflection, and absorption—I think you’ll find it interesting to explore.
Please conduct it on a sunny day.
Maze vs. Pillbug
Pill bugs curl into a ball as soon as you touch them.
Many of you probably collected lots of pill bugs for no particular reason when you were little.
Yet many people may not actually know their behavior.
They have a habit called alternation of turn, meaning that after turning right they are highly likely to turn left next, and after turning left they are likely to turn right.
There are various theories for why—such as to escape predators or to maximize food intake.
Experiments with mazes produce very interesting results.
The Marble That Won’t Come Out
If you’re looking for an easy, hands-on science project, the “Unremovable Marble” is a great pick.
In this project, you’ll use the properties of wood to make a mysterious toy.
Wood becomes soft when soaked in water, and if you insert a marble into the wood at that time, it won’t come out once the wood dries.
When you see it in its dry state, it looks absolutely impossible to have put the marble in, so enjoy making it and look forward to everyone’s reactions when you reveal the trick!
