30 Science Fair Projects for Middle School From Easy To Hard

Science fairs are one of the most exciting opportunities for you to showcase your curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving skills. They bring together ideas from biology, physics, chemistry, and engineering, giving young learners a chance to explore real-world problems with hands-on solutions. For middle school students, competing in a science fair is not just about winning awards; it’s about building confidence, learning how to test ideas, and developing the ability to communicate results clearly. At this stage, you are beginning to connect classroom concepts with the world around you, and a project can be the spark that fuels a lifelong interest in science.

The right project can also teach you how to plan carefully, think critically, and troubleshoot when things don’t work the first time. It’s an experience that feels like play but builds skills that will help in high school and beyond. To help you get started, we’ve put together a list of 30 cool science fair projects for middle school, organized into easy, medium, and hard levels so you can choose the one that matches your skills and ambition.

Easy Projects 

1. The Power of Plant Music

Have you ever wondered if music can affect how plants grow? In this project, you’ll test the growth of identical plants exposed to different music genres like classical, pop, rock, or silence. By tracking growth rates, leaf sizes, and overall health over a few weeks, you’ll be able to measure if sound waves play a role in plant development. It’s a fun way to mix science and art while learning about plant biology and controlled experiments.

• Materials: Pots, soil, seeds, ruler, music sources (speaker/phone)

• Suitable for: Beginners curious about biology and observation skills

2. Homemade Water Filter

Clean water is one of the biggest global challenges. This project helps you understand water filtration by building a DIY filter using simple materials like sand, gravel, and charcoal. By testing dirty water samples before and after filtration, you’ll observe how well your filter removes visible impurities. The project highlights environmental science and engineering while teaching problem-solving for real-world issues.

• Materials: Plastic bottles, sand, gravel, charcoal, dirty water samples

• Suitable for: Beginners interested in environmental science

3. Balloon-Powered Car

Turn simple materials into a working model of physics by building a balloon-powered car. As the balloon deflates, escaping air pushes the car in the opposite direction, demonstrating an exciting demonstration of Newton’s Third Law of Motion. You can test different designs by adjusting wheel sizes, body shapes, or balloon types, and then measure which version travels the farthest or the fastest. This project combines creativity with engineering while making abstract physics concepts easy to see in action. It’s hands-on, fun, and a perfect introduction to motion science.

• Materials: Balloons, straws, cardboard, tape, bottle caps (for wheels)

• Suitable for: Beginners excited about physics and hands-on building

4. Static Electricity and Cereal Jumping

Have you ever noticed your hair standing on end after pulling off a sweater? That’s static electricity in action. In this project, you’ll charge a balloon by rubbing it with wool or your hair, then use the static charge to make cereal pieces dance or aluminum cans roll. By testing different materials, you’ll see which creates the strongest effect and why. This experiment is a playful introduction to electrons, attraction, and repulsion, turning an everyday phenomenon into a fun physics lesson.

• Materials: Balloons, cereal, soda cans, wool cloth

• Suitable for: Beginners moving into intermediate-level physics

5. Testing Paper Towel Absorbency

Not all paper towels are created equal. In this experiment, you’ll compare different brands by measuring how much water each can absorb before dripping. By timing how quickly they soak up liquid and calculating the total volume absorbed, you’ll determine which brand performs best. This project teaches you how to design a fair test while applying basic math and science to an everyday product.

• Materials: Paper towels, water, measuring cup, stopwatch

• Suitable for: Students interested in consumer science and data collection

6. Rust: Which Liquids Corrode Metals Faster?

Why do metals rust, and why does it happen faster in some conditions? In this project, you’ll place identical iron nails into different liquids such as plain water, salt water, vinegar, and soda, then observe the changes over several days. By carefully recording how quickly rust forms in each sample, you’ll uncover how acidity and salt levels influence corrosion. This experiment makes abstract chemistry concepts visible while showing how oxidation impacts everyday structures like cars, ships, and bridges.

• Materials: Iron nails, jars, water, vinegar, salt, soda

• Suitable for: Students curious about chemistry and environmental science

7. Do Energy Drinks Really Boost Heart Rate?

Energy drinks claim to keep you awake and alert, but do they change your body? Using a digital heart rate monitor, you’ll record your resting pulse, then track changes after drinking small amounts of energy or sports beverages. With careful safety precautions, you can compare results across multiple participants to see if caffeine and sugar raise heart rates. This is an eye-opening project about human biology and health awareness.

• Materials: Heart rate monitor, drinks (energy, soda, juice), volunteers

• Suitable for: Students interested in human biology and data collection

8. Magnet Strength and Temperature

Does heating or cooling a magnet change how strong it is? In this experiment, you’ll test magnets at different temperatures by measuring how many paperclips they can pick up. This introduces you to the connection between heat, molecular motion, and magnetic forces. The project blends physics with experimentation, showing how real-world conditions affect scientific properties.

• Materials: Magnets, paperclips, freezer, warm water bath

• Suitable for: Students interested in physics and material science

Medium Projects 

9. Solar Oven: Cooking with the Sun

Imagine making gooey s’mores using nothing but sunlight. With this project, you’ll build a solar oven out of a pizza box, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap to capture and concentrate solar energy. As you measure cooking times and track how hot your oven gets, you’ll learn how renewable energy works and how heat transfer happens in real life. It’s a perfect mix of environmental science and hands-on engineering, plus you get a tasty snack as proof of your success!

• Materials: Pizza box, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, black paper, thermometer

• Suitable for: Students with intermediate skills in energy experiments

10. Testing Antibacterial Properties of Natural Substances

Can everyday spices really slow down bacterial growth? This project explores the antibacterial power of natural ingredients like garlic, turmeric, and ginger by testing them on safe bacterial sources, such as yogurt cultures. You’ll prepare samples with and without these substances, then observe differences in bacterial growth over time. To make your results stronger, you can compare them with the effects of a store-bought sanitizer. The experiment introduces you to microbiology and food science while testing age-old remedies through a scientific lens.

• Materials: Petri dishes, agar (store-bought), natural substances, gloves

• Suitable for: Students interested in biology and lab-style experiments

11. Measuring Sugar Content in Drinks with a Homemade Hydrometer

Soft drinks, juices, and sports beverages often hide surprising amounts of sugar. In this project, you’ll design a simple hydrometer using a straw, clay, and a graduated cylinder to measure liquid density. By testing different beverages, you can estimate their sugar content and compare it with nutrition labels. This project combines chemistry, physics, and health science while making you more conscious of what you consume daily.

• Materials: Straw, modeling clay, ruler, graduated cylinder, assorted drinks

• Suitable for: Students interested in chemistry and health science

12. The Greenhouse Effect in a Jar

Climate change may feel abstract, but you can model its mechanics at home. In this project, you’ll place thermometers inside clear jars, one with extra CO₂ added from vinegar and baking soda. By comparing temperature changes under sunlight, you’ll see how greenhouse gases trap heat. It’s a straightforward way to connect chemistry and environmental science to one of today’s biggest challenges.

• Materials: Clear jars, thermometers, vinegar, and baking soda

• Suitable for: Students curious about climate science

13. The Effect of pH on Enzyme Activity

Enzymes are the tiny biological machines that make chemical reactions happen faster, but they only function under the right conditions. In this experiment, you’ll test catalase, an enzyme found in potatoes or liver, by adding it to hydrogen peroxide and observing the foamy reaction it produces. Then, by changing the pH using vinegar, baking soda, or neutral water, you’ll measure how reaction speed varies. This project offers a hands-on introduction to biochemistry and shows why the human body must carefully control its pH.

• Materials: Potato/liver, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, baking soda

• Suitable for: Students interested in biology and chemistry

14. How Does Light Color Affect Plant Growth?

Plants rely on light for photosynthesis, but does the color of light change how well they grow? In this project, you’ll grow identical plants under filters of different colors, such as red, blue, and green, and measure changes in height, leaf size, or overall health. By comparing the results, you’ll see how plants respond to various parts of the light spectrum. This experiment makes the connection between biology and physics visible, with growth patterns you can literally watch unfold.

• Materials: Pots, soil, seeds, colored cellophane, light source

• Suitable for: Students exploring biology and physics

15. Testing Friction with Different Surfaces

Why does a soccer ball roll farther on grass than on tile? To find out, you’ll roll identical objects across different surfaces like carpet, wood, and concrete, and measure how far they travel. By analyzing your results, you’ll understand how surface texture affects friction and motion. This project makes physics practical by showing how forces shape everyday activities like sports and transportation.

• Materials: Balls or toy cars, measuring tape, surfaces to test

• Suitable for: Students curious about physics in action

16. Measuring Soil pH and Plant Growth

Soil acidity plays a major role in determining how healthy plants can become. In this experiment, you’ll measure the pH of different soil samples, either from various locations or after adding substances like vinegar, baking soda, or fertilizer. Then, you’ll plant seeds in each sample and track their growth over time to see how acidity or alkalinity affects development. This project bridges chemistry, agriculture, and environmental science, offering valuable insights into why farmers and gardeners test their soil so carefully.

• Materials: Soil samples, pH strips or meter, seeds, pots

• Suitable for: Students interested in biology and environmental chemistry

17. Testing the Speed of Chemical Reactions

What makes chemical reactions speed up or slow down? In this experiment, you’ll mix baking soda and vinegar under different conditions, such as varying the temperature or adjusting the amount of each substance, and measure how quickly carbon dioxide gas is produced. By comparing your results, you’ll see how factors like heat and concentration influence reaction rates. This project is a hands-on introduction to chemical kinetics and teaches you how to design fair, controlled experiments.

• Materials: Baking soda, vinegar, balloons, thermometer

• Suitable for: Students interested in chemistry and experimentation

18. Testing Memory with Colors

Can color improve how well we remember things? In this experiment, you’ll test participants by giving them word lists printed in different colors, then checking how many words they recall compared to a plain black-and-white list. By analyzing the results, you’ll see whether colorful visuals really enhance memory performance. This project brings psychology and brain science into action while offering practical insights into how learning strategies like using highlighters might actually work.

• Materials: Colored paper, printed word lists, volunteers

• Suitable for: Students curious about psychology and human behavior

19. The Stroop Effect and Reaction Time

Why does your brain get confused when a word’s meaning clashes with its color? In this project, you’ll test the Stroop Effect by showing participants words like “RED” printed in blue ink and asking them to name the ink color, not the word. By timing their responses, you’ll measure how long it takes compared to matching cases. This psychology experiment reveals how the brain processes information and why conflicting signals can slow down attention and reaction time.

• Materials: Printed word lists, stopwatch, volunteers

• Suitable for: Students curious about psychology and cognitive science

20. Soundproofing: Which Materials Block Noise Best?

Noise pollution is part of daily life, but which materials can reduce it best? In this project, you’ll set up a sound source and test barriers made of foam, cardboard, cloth, or plastic to see which blocks the most sound. Using a decibel meter app, you’ll record sound levels before and after placing each barrier. This experiment applies physics to a real-world challenge, helping you understand sound waves while finding practical ways to create quieter spaces.

• Materials: Speaker, sound meter app, test materials

• Suitable for: Students interested in physics and acoustics

Hard Projects

21. DIY Wind Turbine Power Generation

Build your own miniature wind turbine to see renewable energy in action. Using cardboard blades, a small motor, and a fan to simulate wind, you’ll design and test how different blade shapes, sizes, or angles affect power generation. By attaching an LED or light bulb, you can measure how much electricity your turbine produces under varying conditions. This project combines engineering design with environmental science, giving you a hands-on look at how optimization makes renewable energy systems more efficient.

• Materials: Small motor, cardboard, LED bulb, fan, multimeter

• Suitable for: Students with engineering or physics interest

22. Coding a Simple Weather Predictor

What if you could code your own weather forecast? In this project, you’ll use open-source weather data to build a simple program, either in Python or Scratch, that predicts tomorrow’s conditions based on past patterns. You’ll test your program’s accuracy against official forecasts, learning how algorithms, statistics, and data analysis come together to make predictions. This project strengthens your coding and problem-solving skills while showing how computer science can model real-world phenomena like the weather.

• Materials: Computer, coding platform, access to weather data

• Suitable for: Students interested in computer science and math

23. Water Desalination with Evaporation

Access to fresh water is one of the world’s biggest challenges, and desalination is one way to tackle it. In this project, you’ll create a small-scale desalination system by heating saltwater, capturing the steam as it evaporates, and then condensing it back into liquid form. You can test how effective your system is by measuring how much salt remains in the purified water compared to the original sample. This experiment connects sustainability with thermal science, showing how engineering can help solve real environmental problems.

• Materials: Pot, lid, heat source, saltwater, collection container

• Suitable for: Students interested in environmental engineering and sustainability

24. Building a Simple Electric Motor

Ever wondered how motors make things move? In this project, you’ll build a basic motor using a battery, copper wire, and magnets. By experimenting with coil size and magnet strength, you’ll see how electricity and magnetism combine to create motion. This is a classic physics project that shows the foundation of countless modern technologies.

• Materials: Battery, copper wire, magnets, paper clips

• Suitable for: Students interested in electricity and engineering

25. Testing Solar Panel Efficiency at Different Angles

Solar panels don’t produce the same amount of energy at every angle, but which position gives the best results? In this project, you’ll connect a small solar panel to a multimeter and record its output while adjusting the panel’s tilt at different times of day. By comparing the data, you’ll discover how angle and sunlight intensity affect efficiency. This experiment blends renewable energy with engineering design, challenging you to think like a scientist while solving a practical energy problem.

• Materials: Small solar panel, multimeter, protractor

• Suitable for: Students interested in energy and applied physics

26. Water Purification with UV Light

UV light is a powerful tool for disinfecting drinking water, but how well does it really work? In this project, you’ll expose water samples to a UV lamp and then compare bacterial growth in treated versus untreated samples using agar plates. By analyzing the differences, you’ll see how effectively UV radiation kills microorganisms. This experiment combines microbiology with public health, demonstrating how science provides practical solutions to one of the world’s biggest sanitation challenges.

• Materials: UV lamp, water samples, Petri dishes, agar

• Suitable for: Students interested in biology and health science

27. Earthquake-Resistant Building Models

How can a building stay standing during an earthquake? In this project, you’ll design and construct small model structures using everyday materials like straws, sticks, or cardboard. Then, you’ll place them on a homemade shake table to simulate earthquake conditions. By testing and comparing different shapes and reinforcements, you’ll discover which designs are most stable under stress. This project brings together physics, engineering, and architecture while challenging you to think creatively about solving real-world safety problems.

• Materials: Cardboard, straws, rubber bands, shake table (tray + marbles)

• Suitable for: Students interested in engineering and design

28. Investigating Biodegradable Plastics

With plastic waste a global problem, biodegradable alternatives are gaining attention. In this project, you’ll compare the breakdown of conventional plastic vs biodegradable samples in soil or water over several weeks. By tracking visible changes, you’ll measure which is more eco-friendly. This project combines environmental science and chemistry with long-term observation.

• Materials: Biodegradable plastics, regular plastics, soil/water containers

• Suitable for: Students interested in sustainability

29. Battery Life and Temperature

Do batteries really run out faster in the cold? In this experiment, you’ll store identical batteries at different temperatures, such as in the fridge, at room temperature, and in a warm spot, then test how long they can power a small device like a flashlight. By comparing the results, you’ll see how temperature affects chemical reactions inside batteries. This project bridges chemistry, physics, and consumer science while showing how environmental conditions impact everyday technology.

• Materials: Batteries, flashlight or small device, thermometer

• Suitable for: Students interested in energy and electronics

30. Bridge Strength Challenge

How strong can a simple bridge really be? In this project, you’ll design and build miniature bridges using materials like popsicle sticks, straws, or even spaghetti, then test their strength by gradually adding weight until they fail. By comparing different designs such as truss, arch, and beam bridges, you’ll discover which structures distribute forces most effectively. This experiment combines creativity with physics and structural engineering, giving you hands-on insight into the principles that make real bridges safe and reliable.

• Materials: Popsicle sticks, glue, straws, weights

• Suitable for: Students interested in engineering and architecture

Consider a mentored research program

If you’re looking to participate in science fairs, consider participating in a mentored research program. The Lumiere Junior Explorers Program provides structured mentorship. Thus, you can explore the topics that you are interested in while receiving guidance from PhD mentors at top research universities like Harvard, Oxford, and MIT. These mentors work 1:1 with you over 8 weeks to ensure personalized guidance as well as practical research experience. Through these programs, you can develop critical skills, build an impressive portfolio, and prepare for future academic pursuits.

Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.

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