The Best High School Science Projects

Good ol’ high school science projects. They often end up being some of the most memorable activities one completes during years of education. Giving students a chance to exercise their creativity while engaging in practical learning, a good high school science project combines knowledge, experimentation, and fun activities into one package. While every project should fall within the guidelines provided for each assignment (meaning not all of the assignments listed below will be appropriate in every instance), we’ve put together a list of some of the most fun and creative high school science projects.

Measuring the Reactivity of Alkali Metals in Water

For the student who loved making baking soda volcanoes in grade school, this is a high-school-appropriate project that’s just a little explosive. Or, if you use cesium, VERY explosive! (In other words, DO NOT use cesium for this experiment). Alkali metals tend to have violent reactions when exposed to water, giving students a chance to predict the outcome of different combinations of alkalis in different levels or types of water. Just be sure to check with your science teacher which alkali metals are safe to use, and be sure to take all necessary safety guidelines. Also, see if you can record the reactions and show them to the class; they are bound to be entertained by the different reactions!

Determining the Perfect Proportions for Catalysts

If there’s a particular chemical reaction involving the use of catalysts that a student is interested in, this experiment gives them a chance to perform it multiple times, and to experiment with it in ways that produce different results. It’s simple enough to complete: choose a chemical reaction involving a catalyst, predict how the reaction will be affected when different amounts of catalyst are used, and then test the results. Perform the experiment enough times to come to an accurate conclusion on the perfect proportion of the catalyst to use, and … voila!

Construct a Balsa Wood Tower

If a science project calls for the demonstration of engineering principles, constructing a balsa wood tower is a great way to build impressive looking structures that are within a high school student’s means to build. Depending on the guidelines for the experiment, the project can measure how different construction techniques affect how much weight a structure can support, how high it can be built while still maintaining structural integrity, etc. This is a great project for students who love to build, and who want to show off their creativity and building skills. Draw up an interesting design, or model it after a famous structure, and then see if your design hold up and can survive past being converted from paper to real life.

Looking for other ideas? How about testing color absorption by exposing different metals to flame? Or studying how electromagnets affect plant growth? With a little creativity and guidance, these are all projects that are within an average high school student’s ability, and should be interesting enough to keep them engaged with the learning process.

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