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Whether your students are preparing for the science fair or you’re looking for classroom ideas to grab their interest, we’ve got you covered! This list of 8th grade science fair projects and experiments has projects from biology to physics, from easy to difficult. Plus, check out fun classroom demos and hands-on experiments and activities your students will love.
To make it easier to find classroom activities or science fair projects for 8th graders, we’ve rated all the projects and activities by difficulty and the materials needed:
Difficulty:
Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time or effort
Materials:
Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic (Everything is provided for you!)
Absolutely perfect for teachers using OpenSciEd’s free curriculum for middle school classes, but this awesome classroom activity kit can also be used by any teacher working with their students on subjects like human impact on Earth’s resources and climate solutions.
This experiment combines math and biology to measure lung capacity using a balloon. There are a lot of interesting hypotheses students can form, document, and explore while taking these measurements.
Prove that plants really do seek out the light by setting up a simple or complex maze. Then, put a potted plant at the start of the maze, provide sunshine at the other end, and observe what happens. This is a simple 8th grade science project with really cool results.
A water-testing kit opens up limitless options for 8th grade science fair projects. Test the water quality of local streams, swimming pools, or even the taps at home.
Explore wildlife biology by becoming an expert tracker. Learn to identify tracks and take casts. Turn this into an experiment by trying different methods to take casts, or use it as a method of identifying wildlife in the woods.
Play different types of music for plants, then observe and document any changes in the growth and development of the plants as they’re exposed to different genres of music.
Home Science Tools
Conduct fingerprint analysis
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Budding forensic scientists will love this idea. Learn to dust for prints and try a technique called “fuming” for trickier surfaces. See if you can compare prints and make accurate matches in the classroom.
Fertilizer runoff has become a serious cause of water pollution. In this experiment, students will see its effects firsthand and brainstorm ways to keep it in check.
In this easy science fair project, kids water plants with different liquids, like rainwater, tap water, salt water, and even soda. They might be surprised at the results!
The answer seems obvious, so the experiment and presentation is to figure out why plants need light and to explain photosynthesis. In this experiment, students create different light conditions and see if plants can grow in each.
This is the classic celery-and-colored-water demonstration. Eighth graders can focus on explaining capillary action and how it works in this example and others.
This project is about understanding and presenting the concept of mutualism and symbiosis. Students design and explain two animals that live in a symbiotic relationship. This is a great way to use a 3D printer if you have one.
This is a great science project that engages students in thinking about how plants grow, ways to reuse and recycle plant material, and the larger topics of how to reduce food waste.
Extract DNA from an onion
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
After studying DNA, students can extract DNA from an onion. This is a simple way to practice following procedures and explain what DNA is.
Model the greenhouse effect
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Show how greenhouse gasses trap heat with this demonstration that uses various gasses in glass jars and a thermometer to show what happens as the gas collects.
Show the carbon cycle
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Another way to show the greenhouse effect is by showing the carbon cycle. For 8th graders, explaining and modeling the carbon cycle is a good way to build on their understanding of cycles.
Plant seed dispersal methods
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
In this experiment, students study how seeds are dispersed and explore the results of different dispersal methods.
Observe plasmolysis
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
Use red onions to show plasmolysis. Put the onion on a cell slide and add salt water. After a few minutes, students can observe plasmolysis. Add pure water to reverse the reaction.
Home Science Tools
Extract your own DNA
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
DNA is the blueprint of life, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to extract your own with a few simple supplies. Preserve it in alcohol in the freezer when you’re done.
Beakers and test tubes, pouring and mixing … do it all with these fun chemistry science fair project ideas for 8th graders.
Biology Notes for IGCSE
Perform a starch test with iodine
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
This simple chemistry experiment uses iodine to determine the starch content of food items. Use the process to perform a variety of 8th grade science experiments related to food.
If you live in a chilly part of the world, chances are you’ve seen chemical hand warmers for sale. In this 8th grade science fair project, use oxidation to make your own hand warmer, and find other creative ways to use this heating process.
Sports-loving kids will enjoy the chance to learn just how many valuable electrolytes their favorite sports drinks contain. Compare them with water or orange juice for a cool science fair project. You’ll need a few special supplies, like a multimeter and an ohm resistor, but they’re not too expensive.
You’ll need a few special supplies for this experiment, but the results are so cool. Turn spherification into a science fair project by experimenting with different beverages and liquids.
Use color-changing UV beads to test the protective power of medicine bottles, hats, clothing, and more. This is an easy 8th grade science fair project with nearly endless possibilities.
Remember those little black pellets that fire up into long snakes on the 4th of July? This is the same concept but much bigger! The simple chemical reaction of sugar and baking soda makes it happen. Turn this into an 8th grade science fair project by varying the formula to create even bigger results!
Create a rainbow of flames
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
You can change the color of fire by adding chemicals found at your local grocery store—what a sight! How can you use these flame colors to determine the chemical content of other materials? Sounds like a cool 8th grade science fair project!
Study the effects of acid rain
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
In this project, students use chalk as a stand-in for stone to learn how acid rain affects buildings, statues, and more. Turn this into a science fair project by exploring ways to mitigate the effects of the acidity.
Extract bismuth from Pepto Bismol
Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Advanced
This is the kind of project that really makes you feel like a scientist. Grinding tablets with a mortar and pestle, filtering in beakers, heating over a Bunsen burner … this is what chemistry is all about!
Elemental Blogging
Optimize fermentation temperature
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Delve into the mystery of how temperature affects the fermentation process and determine the optimum temperature for yeast development. (Test your hypothesis by baking a loaf of bread!)
Students show how adding dish soap to milk changes the chemical bonds, creating hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules that create the chasing, swirling effect.
This classic science fair project can be elevated for 8th graders by focusing on why the chemical reaction occurs the way it does, and encouraging them to get creative with ways that they can make this reaction work to move a car or rocket.
Show what happens when an egg is in an acidic solution. This is a cool experiment to talk about chemical reactions, in this case the reaction that dissolves the outside of an egg.
Create a lava lamp using chemical reactions. This demonstration can be created right at the science fair, making it a good one to explain to participants.
STEAM Powered Family
Create candy geodes
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Students show the process of crystallization by creating candy geodes, a fun spin on the rock candy experiment.
Combine an acid-base experiment with some fire science in this really popular classroom science demo. It seems like magic, but it’s just science!
Exploding lunch bag
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
This demonstration shows the dramatic reaction between an acid and a base. Fill the bag with the ingredients, shake, and step back.
Make and test slime
Show how chemicals coming together can make more chemicals. Students can get creative in how they combine the slime ingredients to make their own version.
Water is an interesting molecule. Eighth graders can explore it with different experiments and demonstrations. They can answer questions about whether surface tension and viscosity decrease with increasing temperature.
Steve Spangler Science
Relight a candle without touching it
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
Tell students you’re going to relight a candle without touching the flame to the wick. The results will boggle their minds!
For those who love to build and tinker, try a science fair project that experiments with various physics concepts like energy, electricity, motion, and more.
123 Homeschool 4 Me
Build a better light bulb
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
First, use the steps at the link to build a simple light bulb with a jar, some wire, and a 6-volt battery. Then, turn it into an 8th grade science fair project by tinkering with the various materials to make a light bulb that lasts longer, burns brighter, or is powered by an alternative source.
Paper seems smooth and slides apart easily, right? Not when you add friction into the mix! MythBusters was amazed at how much strength it took to pull apart two interleaved phone books. Try this with smaller books for an 8th grade science fair project that people won’t believe!
Cook up a tasty treat with solar energy
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Students can design and build a solar oven, and then use it to cook food to compare the cooking time and temperature with a conventional oven. See if you can improve on the original design by changing up the materials or construction.
Clean fresh water is a valuable commodity. Construct solar-powered desalination devices with readily available materials, and find the most effective desalination methods.
Science Notes
Capture a picture of lightning
Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Medium
Lichtenberg figures capture the branching path of electricity as it travels through an object. You can make your own in a variety of ways, including burning it into wood or acrylic.
Once you find and maintain its center of gravity, almost any object will balance, even in surprising circumstances. Using this concept, what amazing objects can you balance and where?
Building batteries is a classic science experiment for any age. Make it into an 8th grade science fair project by trying different variables and exploring the amount of power you can produce.
Apply Hooke’s law to find out if the stretching of a spring can be used to accurately measure the weight of objects. The materials are simple, but you’ll need patience and physics to calibrate a spring and use it to test weights.
Build an infinity mirror
Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Medium
Experiment with optical illusions by creating a tunnel of lights that seems to stretch away into infinity. Eighth grade science students will learn about engineering and the physics of optics along the way.
Steve Spangler Science
Drop an egg to prove the first law of motion
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
This experiment looks like a magic trick, but it’s firmly grounded in Newton’s first law of motion. When you knock the pie tin out of the way, the egg falls straight into the glass thanks to inertia. (Worried about making a mess? Use plastic eggs instead.)
Break out the leaf blower to teach Bernoulli’s principle
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
Eighth grade science students have probably seen a Bernoulli demo or two, often with straws and Ping-Pong balls. So grab their attention by trying it with a leaf blower and beach ball instead!
Babble Dabble Do
Assemble a Newton’s cradle
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Newton’s cradle is a fascinating way of demonstrating momentum and energy transfer. Follow the directions at the link to build one, or challenge 8th grade science students to experiment with their own construction methods.
Your students won’t believe you when you say you can hold a balloon up to a flame without popping it. Use the conductivity of water to prove your point.
Middle School Science Blog
Measure surface temperature
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
Students measure and track the differences in surface temperature when various materials are put under a heat lamp.
There’s a lot students can do with earthquakes. They can create and test a structure that could withstand an earthquake or make a seismograph. Either way, this project will shake it up!
Even if you’ve done the egg drop challenge in class, some students might like to explore the principles and science behind it for the science fair. The trick, for the fair, is to be able to explain what students are doing and why they are making those decisions as they cushion or protect their egg.
Engineering projects are a great way to bring math and science together for students who love to build, build, build!
STEAM Powered Family
Make catapults
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Demonstrate principles of movement with catapults. This project is a great way for students to learn about movement and trajectory. Students can experiment with different ways to build catapults that produce large and small trajectories, and invite participants to try out their catapults too.
Here’s the STEM challenge: Bounce a beam of light around a corner past an obstacle. Increase the difficulty by adding more obstacles and variables.
Create a magnet maze
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Combine engineering and magnets with this project. Students create a maze that requires them to use a magnet to navigate through.
Science Sparks
Stand on a pile of paper cups
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Combine physics and engineering and challenge 8th grade science students to create a paper cup structure that can support their weight. This is a cool project for aspiring architects.
Students learn how to create an electrical circuit and combine multiple circuits to create a game. So fun!
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Create a wind-powered car
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
A great opportunity to use a 3D printer if you have one, creating a wind-powered car teaches students about engineering and physics.
Protect an egg in a crash
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
We love this spin on the classic egg-drop project. In this version, students build a structure to protect an egg during a collision with a wall, making the connection between crash tests and physics concepts.
Construct a Rube Goldberg machine
Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Medium
Create a machine to complete a simple task in the most complicated fashion! This is a neat 8th grade STEM fair project because it allows you to use a variety of physics concepts in a fun way.
Mombrite
Design a robotic hand
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
This is a project that can be tweaked by coming up with ways to improve upon the design. Can you build a hand that can pick up a ball? How about one that can pluck up a piece of string? So many possibilities!
This is a great class project for teachers, but it’s also excellent for an 8th grade science fair project. Build cars and crash-test them to learn the best methods of keeping passengers safe.
Kids may have created roller coasters with marbles before, but have they ever built one with a loop-the-loop? They’ll have to experiment to find out which initial height gives a marble the speed it needs to complete the journey.
Build a trash can air cannon
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
This is such a fun way to demonstrate an air vortex! It takes a little effort to build the air cannon, but you can use it year after year for amazing 8th grade science demos.
Navigating by Joy
Separate water into hydrogen and oxygen
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Use electrolysis to prove that water really is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It’s a simple concept but one that never fails to amaze.
Everybody loves an edible STEM challenge! Here’s one that seems simple but takes some time to work out: Build a ring of Pringles chips without using any other materials.
Homeschool Creations
Construct a cup holder
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Can your 8th grade science students build a device to stabilize and carry two cups of water using only a few simple supplies? Oh, and can they manage it in just 5 minutes? This timed challenge pushes their creative engineering limits!
Demonstrate the principle of converting solar radiation into heat in the yummiest way possible by having your students construct their own solar ovens and baking s’mores using nothing but the light from the sun.
Check out even more ready-to-go science kits for hands-on learning your students will love
Ward’s Science OpenSciEd kits come with every item you need to start exploring with your students immediately. Your students will develop their critical questioning, research, and teamwork skills while working to solve problems that feel real and important.
