Stand out with your junior high school independent research! A collection of fun experiment and craft ideas

Rubber band engine

Rubber-powered engine

A rubber band engine is a power device that utilizes the property of rubber bands to contract when heated.

Cut cardboard or thick paper into a circle to make a frame, then make small notches around the outer edge and hook multiple rubber bands onto them.

Insert a thin rod through the center where the rubber bands intersect to serve as an axle, and mount it on supports made from metal plates or similar materials.

Next, apply heat only to the right side of the frame using a hair dryer or the like… As the rubber bands contract, the frame’s center of mass shifts and the frame begins to rotate.

Build this device yourself, then analyze its detailed mechanism and consider possible applications, and compile your findings into a report.

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Hane Keisuke

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Bernoulli’s theorem and lift experiment

Bernoulli’s Principle and Lift Experiment (9th Grade Independent Research)

This is an experiment where you explore Bernoulli’s principle—which is also applied in the design of airplanes and cars—and experience it through hands-on crafting.

You use a fan to blow air over a styrofoam wing model mounted on a straw and observe how it moves.

By seeing the mechanism that makes it rise when exposed to wind, you can deepen your understanding of how airplanes fly.

Another key point is that styrofoam is easy to work with, so it’s interesting to test different shapes in the airflow and examine how their movements differ.

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kappamaki

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milk crown

Milk Crown — Is a milk crown formed by the falling liquid or by the receiving liquid?

A “milk crown” refers to the phenomenon where the surface of milk in a cup splashes into a crown-like shape when a single drop of milk is dropped onto it from above.

Many people may have seen this in milk or cornflakes commercials.

If you choose the milk crown as a theme for an independent research project, start by attempting to photograph it.

A DSLR camera that allows you to adjust the shutter speed will help you capture it well.

Next, experiment by changing conditions—such as testing whether liquids other than milk produce a milk crown and what differentiates liquids that do from those that don’t—and then summarize your results.

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Hane Keisuke

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Making char cloth

The world’s easiest-to-understand guide to making char cloth — simple enough for anyone

If you enjoy camping with your family, making char cloth is highly recommended.

Char cloth is cotton fabric that has been carbonized; it will catch from small sparks—like those from flint and steel or a fire starter—and it holds an ember well, so it’s used for fire making.

Try actually making this char cloth, then research and consider why this method carbonizes the fabric, what carbonization is in the first place, and why char cloth is suitable as tinder.

Compile your findings and reflections into a report.

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Hane Keisuke

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A battery-powered train running through a coil

Summer science project: “Battery train running through a coil” [Research]

This is an experiment often called the simplest train in the world: running a battery through a coil made by winding copper wire.

It uses magnetic force described by the right-hand rule, and it’s fascinating to see the battery move on its own.

Although making the coil by winding copper wire around a tube takes some effort, once that’s done, the experiment is easy—just attach magnets to the battery.

The orientation of the magnets on the battery and the direction you insert it into the coil are crucial for getting it to run.

Let’s also learn what kind of motion occurs if these are set incorrectly.

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kappamaki

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Plant dyeing with vegetables

Plant dyeing with onion skins: Let’s make handkerchiefs with different patterns

Would you like to try natural dyeing with vegetables? This time, let’s give onion dyeing a try.

First, as preparation, get a plain white towel and soak it in a mixture of 1 part soy milk to 2 parts water, then let it dry.

For the dye bath, place onion skins in a mesh bag and simmer for 20 minutes to make the dye.

Fold the towel and tie it with rubber bands—changing how you fold it and where you tie it creates different, interesting patterns.

Put the towel into the dye bath and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, then rinse with water and let it dry.

Finally, fix the color using a mordant solution, and you’re done! Why not enjoy this as a free research project by exploring different perspectives, such as variations in patterns, results without the initial prep or mordant, and differences in color depth depending on simmering time?

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sasashina

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Investigation of global warming

Global warming, which is constantly cited as a serious problem for the Earth, refers to the rise in atmospheric and ocean temperatures caused by greenhouse gases.

Let’s take a closer look at the detailed causes of this phenomenon, the impacts it is having, and the measures being taken to address it.