Science fair projects for 6th grade

What to expect

Sixth grade fairs often start using the language of independent and dependent variables. They're just the words for what you change and what you measure, and our variables card uses both. A 6th grader should be able to name every control and say what would go wrong without it.

This is a good age to try a project that might not work the way you expect. The rubber band, the pendulum and the egg in salt water all give clear numbers, and the result surprises plenty of grown-ups too. A hypothesis that turns out wrong is a good result: say so plainly in the conclusion, use the numbers, and say what you'd test next. Judges at this level are listening for exactly that honesty.

Counted from the projects on this page: 33 about how things move, 31 about water, ice and mixing, 27 about growing and weather; 39 using kitchen things, 30 using paper, tape and toys, 22 using the outdoors and some seeds. 57 are free with what most houses have, and the rest cost about $1 or about $2 or about $3 or about $4. Testing takes from 1 to 21 days. 13 have a step a grown-up does, marked on the page.