Science fair projects for 3rd grade

What to expect

By 3rd grade most fairs expect the full set: a question, a hypothesis, a list of materials, the steps, a table of results and a conclusion. A 3rd grader can do almost all of it with a grown-up checking, and the graph is the new part. A bar graph drawn by hand on squared paper is exactly right: one bar for each thing you tried, the height of the bar is the middle number.

This is also the age when kids start wanting the big, messy projects. The fizz test and the egg in salt water are good choices because they look exciting and still measure something. Watch for projects that only show something happening (a volcano erupting) without changing and measuring anything; judges see a lot of those, and a small question answered well beats a big demonstration.

Counted from the projects on this page: 30 about how things move, 28 about water, ice and mixing, 24 about growing and weather; 36 using kitchen things, 27 using paper, tape and toys, 19 using the outdoors and some seeds. 57 are free with what most houses have, and the rest cost about $3 or about $2 or about $1. Testing takes from 1 to 14 days. 11 have a step a grown-up does, marked on the page.