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13 Fun Science Projects for Kids

Kids science is such a blast when you mix and reuse everyday materials to see what happens. Read on for 13 fun science projects for kids.

Weather abounds with ideas for science project plans. An anemometer measures wind speeds, and a cup anemometer is a basic device using cup-like shapes to catch the wind and make the device spin.

Edible Biofuels

Middle-school students can make a cell model from edible materials to learn about biofuels. This life science lesson reinforces the knowledge that cells are Earth’s smallest units of living matter.

Biomass Energy

This experiment compares the amount of biogas produced by different types of biomass. Ideal for middle-school students, this project creates flammable gas, so conduct it in a well-ventilated area, away from an open flame.

Water Molecules on the Move

In this kids science experiment, students see whether hot molecules move faster than cold ones. You’ll need a clear glass full of hot water, a clear glass full of cold water and food coloring.

Homemade Glue

Students need skim milk, baking soda, vinegar, measuring cups and spoons, a rubber band and paper towels to make their own glue. Add two tablespoons of vinegar to 1/2 cup of milk. Then stir, and let sit for two minutes.

Rainbow of Flames

Middle-school students can change the color of fire by adding chemicals from the grocery store. Use a fuel that burns a clean blue flame. Easy to set up, this experiment requires safety precautions and adult supervision.

Model Volcano

A model volcano is ideal for fifth-grade students interested in simple chemical reactions. The classic recipe uses baking soda and vinegar, but you can also combine yeast and peroxide or Mentos and soda.

Dancing Raisins

To show density and buoyancy, add carbon dioxide gas to raisins to make them dance. Use baking soda and vinegar or clear carbonated soda to create carbon dioxide in the kitchen.

Fast-Melting Treats

Third-graders will love experimenting to find out whether ice cream or ice milk melts faster. Try it with frozen yogurt versus sorbet, too.

Spectrum of Visible Light

Try projecting the spectrum of visible light onto paper using a prism. The endpoints show how far into infrared and ultraviolet you can see. Seventh-graders can draw conclusions using the scientific method.

Potassium Nitrate

For a fun chemistry experiment, make potassium nitrate (also known as saltpeter) from common household ingredients. Ammonium nitrate from a cold pack and potassium chloride from salt substitute react to yield ammonium chloride and potassium nitrate.

Sports and Science

Teaching kids can be so much fun when you relate it back to the stuff they love. Have students compare a wooden baseball bat with a metal baseball bat to find out how the material affects their performance.

Bubble Basics

Bubbles are a great starting point for kids science ideas. You can observe the structure of bubbles by blowing bubbles between two plates or by making bubble prints.

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Science Fair Ideas That Will Help Society

Ideas for Projects on Energy in the Fifth Grade

A science fair is a time to showcase experiments and projects that ask a question, and then seek to find the answers. Depending on your grade level, you might be able to choose your own science fair project, or you may have a list of projects you can choose from. Either way, you can find projects and experiments that not only get you a good grade, but actually do some good for society.

Recycling is one way to benefit society because it eliminates waste, leads to less trash in landfills, and can also help produce energy. A project on recycling, whether it is exploring new or different options or figuring out how to raise awareness of it, is always a benefit to society.

Controversial Topics

Sometimes controversial topics are good for society because they encourage people to debate and make decisions about the long term risks and benefits of something that isn't popular today. Doing a project on donating blood, drug abuse education, or STDs might seem like you are entering a controversial area. However, if you bring awareness to a topic and get people thinking and talking about it, you can benefit society - especially if your project leads to a specific conclusion that is positive.

Alternative Energy

Alternative energy is a hot topic, but almost everyone can agree on the fact that it is a good idea to explore some renewable resources and see if they'll make a difference. Doing a project on wind power, water power, or solar energy is a good way to promote ideas of healthy experimentation with energy. You can make your own power generator with water, sunlight, or wind, or you can do an experiment on how much energy can be produced.

New Ways of Doing Things

A project that delves into new ways of doing things can be very helpful for society as a whole. Choose a project that researches ideas about how to do something in a new way, as long as the change is good for society as a whole. A project on a different way to produce energy, a different way to recycle trash, or a different way to commute or share the road can all be good for society in general.

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• Science Fair Buddies: Science Fair Project Ideas

About the Author

Missy Talbot started writing professionally in 2000. She has been published in "Grass Roots" magazine, "LifeTimes" magazine and on the websites TeacherWeb and The Teacher's Corner. Talbot holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and a Master of Arts in publishing. She is working on a Ph.D. in journalism.

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Sixteen science and engineering projects that could make the world a better place

Aug 11, 2016

Editor's note:  Today, we’re announcing  16 Global Finalists for Google Science Fair 2016 . One of these top projects will become the Grand Prize Winner, announced live at the sixth annual Awards Celebration in September from Mountain View, California. To follow the final stages of this year’s competition, visit the Google Science Fair site, and follow along with us on  Google+  and  Twitter .

From a breathalyzer test that could predict lung cancer to a carbon filter that may significantly decrease styrofoam waste, these top 16 projects from 9 countries around the world, represent the brightest ideas to make things better through science and engineering. 

Meet the finalists 

Please join us and our partners — LEGO Education, Scientific American, National Geographic and Virgin Galactic — as we welcome the 2016 Global Finalists and their incredible ideas.

Lactose-free milk for everyone!   Maria (16) - Brazil Maria (16) of Londrina, Brazil, wanted to solve a stomach-upsetting problem: around the world, most communities have a high percentage of people who don't produce the enzyme needed to properly digest milk, and in Brazil, at least 50 million people are affected. Buying lactose-free milk and non-dairy alternatives like soy or almond milk can be extremely expensive and difficult for most people to afford regularly, and while food manufacturers can produce lactose-free products fairly easily, the final product can reduce the quality and nutrient value of the milk in production. So Maria set out to create an affordable capsule that anyone can add to milk directly to neutralize its lactose in the comfort of their own home. After multiple experiments, she produced a reusable capsule that works from fridge temperatures to up to 37 degrees Celsius, and it performs equally well in both low-fat and regular fat milk. Her capsule can be reused to effectively neutralize the lactose enzymes in milk for up to seven days, and costs just pennies. Maria is excited to make her solution for removing lactose from milk easily accessible to anyone. 

Fighting foam waste with recycled filters Ashton (14), Julia (14), Luke (14) - United States

Ashton, Julia, and Luke (14) were stunned to learn how much expanded polystyrene waste (like disposable foam cups) littered the beaches of Central America. Back at home in Columbus, OH, the group were also dismayed to find that the US alone produces millions of pounds of polystyrene foam annually. This material takes up a quarter of America's landfills, and can take hundreds of years to degrade. Hoping to find a solution for recycling the material, the group's research showed that polystyrene foam is so difficult and expensive to recycle that most communities don't even make the effort to include it in their recycling efforts. Since expanded polystyrene consists of over 90% carbon, these young scientists put their heads together to see if they could find a cost-effective way to convert the material into something useful: carbon filters that can remove contaminants from polluted water. After testing several chemicals to break down the waste into an effective filter, the trio hit the jackpot, producing a carbon filter that could not only decrease polystyrene waste from any landfill, but also make water safe to drink. 

Nikhil (15) - United States

Nikhil (15), a student living in New Jersey, had a serious family health scare when his aunt nearly died of a particularly resistant malaria strain in 2015. Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide annually, mainly in less developed countries like Africa and India. Nikhil's aunt lives in a rural part of India, and while she was able to receive basic diagnosis and treatment, her doctor did not have access to laboratories that could determine how much of the malaria parasite she had in her blood, and to what degree her medications were working to remove them. His aunt almost didn't recover because of this, so Nikhil was determined to create an affordable solution to test for more than just whether or not a patient has malaria. Expanding on the basic principles of enzyme analysis used in immunology, he built an app and device that can analyze malaria parasite levels in the blood that requires no lab and minimal power: all you need is a photo from a smartphone camera to analyze the light and $50 worth of materials. Nikhil is currently in talks with the World Health Organization and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and hopes to share his malaria testing solution with the world. 

Kiara (16) - Johannesburg 

Kiara (16) lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, which like other nearby countries, is suffering from the worst drought the region has seen in over 20 years. Kiara believes that a critical solution to long term water needs is a special material that can hold hundreds of times their weight in water while stored within soil. Typically, these materials are man-made and filled with harmful chemicals that are both non-biodegradable and too expensive for local farmers to afford. Through her research, Kiara found the ideal material in a simple orange peel, and created a way to turn this everyday waste into soil-ready water storage with help from the avocado. Kiara hopes this low-cost material can reuse food waste while helping local farmers save both money and their crops. 

Shriank (16) - India 

In Bangalore, India, Shriank (16) enjoys engineering and coding applications to build innovative solutions that can help people in his community. He noticed that as we get older our ability to keep track of items we use on a daily basis deteriorates. This can make life particularly stressful and difficult for people with memory-related illnesses like dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or amnesia. So Shriank created a wearable device that can keep track of static (non-moving) objects in the world around you, as well as objects you may pick up and move yourself. While wearing the device, you can use Google Now to easily find out where you left everything from your medicine to your keys. With the ability to track objects with over 90% accuracy in ambient light, the KeepTab app relies on only your smartphone and your wearable device, making it easy to use and afford. Shriank hopes his invention can help people struggling with memory loss to improve the quality of their everyday lives. 

Marion (18), Joy (18), and Sonia (18) - Singapore 

Marion, Joy, and Sonia (18) live in Singapore and specialize in three different scientific fields: biomedical research, chemical engineering, and chemistry. These students decided to improve the design of the modern supercapacitor: an energy storage device that outperforms batteries significantly. It also lasts for over a decade, requiring less frequent replacement versus chemically-based batteries that can harm the environment as waste. Today, supercapacitors are physically created and mounted onto the surface of a device (like a smartphone). But, given their rigid shape, it can be difficult to apply them to non-standard shapes and they can be easily damaged. The trio of scientists created a paintable supercapacitor design: completely flexible, their design can adhere to a wide variety of surface types and still retain a significant amount of energy even when damaged. The group hopes their new design will be used throughout the electronics industry to improve devices like smartphones and even hybrid electric cars, making renewable, portable energy easily accessible for everyone. 

Mphatso (18) - Zambia

In Lusaka, Zambia, family involvement in local politics has made Mphatso (18) keenly interested in reducing poverty in his community. As Southern Africa struggles to recover from its worst drought in decades, farmers are seeing their crops destroyed due to El Nino weather changes, leading to famine for millions. Without crops, farmers can't make a living, making it harder than ever for them to pay for the farming supplies they need to keep their farms fertile and their families thriving. To help local farmers find low-cost, affordable solutions for pesticides and fertilizers, Mphatso investigated alternative ways of generating the supplies farmers need. He created a simple, portable production station that requires basic cooking materials like charcoal and local plant leaves from the ground. Based on his methods, Mphatso believes farmers can save hundreds of British Pounds in costs, saving ~50% on fertilizers and ~80% on pesticides to help them produce better, more abundant crops.

Anushka (13) - United States 

Anushka (13) lives in Portland, Oregon and she really enjoys chemistry. Inspired by Marie Curie, whose work contributed to major advances in modern medicine, Anushka wanted to find a solution for a commonly overlooked medical problem: chronic wound care. In the US there are about 165 million injuries a year, and many of those patients suffer from chronic, larger wounds that require more complex care. Recent science shows advanced wounds need a wet environment to heal, and if dressings are changed too often, these wounds can take weeks or even months to heal. This leaves many patients susceptible to recurring infections and pain for unnecessarily long periods. Anushka wanted to create a sensor that could help doctors analyze the state of a wound without removing its dressing, and after multiple iterations on her design, she created an ideal sensor design that is cheap to build and biocompatible. Anushka believes her solution can help people suffering from chronic wounds heal more quickly, so they can get back to living life. 

Nishita (13) - United States

Nishita (13), of San Jose, California, loves coding, physics, and biology. Fascinated with how cars are produced in vehicle manufacturing plants, she was surprised to discover that human specialists perform random visual tests to subjectively determine whether a car's exterior has any defects later in the car production process. This can mean expensive corrections, slowing car production down and lots of extra metal waste late in the process. Nishita was inspired to design an automated scanning system that can accurately find defects in metal sheeting at the beginning of the production process. Her system analyzes light reflection to detect dents, scratches, and other defects that aren't easily seen by the human eye. Nishita believes her system can easily be implemented via robotic arms in automated car production lines, and she hopes that her work can help reduce factory waste, improve car quality, and keep car costs low. 

Xin Yong (18) - Malaysia

Xin Yong (18) of Seremban, Malaysia, was shocked and worried when he heard that his mathematics teacher, a non-smoker, had suddenly developed advanced lung cancer - the most common form of cancer in the world. Whether or not smoking is the cause, patients’ breath contains similar chemicals once they have the disease. As a young scientist particularly interested in nanotechnology, Xin Yong used his skills to create a sensor that can detect the progression of lung cancer by analyzing their breath. He tested his device on patients formally diagnosed with cancer, as well as patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (who were yet to be diagnosed), and finally patients who were non-smokers and not diagnosed to have pulmonary disease. Xin Yong's device costs only $1, is easy for anyone to operate, and it can provide test results within 10 minutes. Given that the device only requires the patient to breathe into it, it's an easy test to administer. Xin Yong believes his device can help doctors and patients to catch lung cancer early enough to treat it easily and potentially eliminate the cancer entirely. 

Anika (14) - United States

As a young woman, Anika (14) of Cupertino, California is acutely aware of the health problems facing women around the world. In particular, breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women with cancer, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Curious about how current medicine predicts the likelihood of breast cancer, she researched testing methods and was disturbed to discover that more than 1/3 of the predictive tests using digital mammograms are inaccurate, relying on a 64% Area Under the Curve (AUC) accuracy that is too low to be useful. So, Anika set out to create a more accurate testing model, designing software that analyzes digital mammograms with 84% AUC accuracy. Anika is excited to offer a solution for predicting breast cancer that could eliminate costly and painful invasive procedures for women while helping them enjoy healthier, longer lives.

Ryan (15) - United States

Hailing from Arlington, Virginia, Ryan (15) loves programming and building apps. With his smartphone always by his side, he found himself wondering if the camera on his phone could be used to analyze a substance and immediately recognize that substance. After heavy research and experimentation, he coded a software program that analyzed images taken with and without the infrared smartphone camera setting to test them for color and shape to identify the exact substance. He used common items like food scraps, cotton cloth, aluminum foil, and a leaf for his tests, and his application correctly identified the substances in every case. Ryan hopes infrared imaging smartphone technology can be used by the health industry along with his program to identify substances like cancerous cells quickly at a relatively low cost or hazardous substances to protect scientists without the use of lab equipment.

Saliha (15) - Bangladesh

Growing up in Pakistan and Bangladesh opened Saliha's (15) eyes to the sheer volume of waste being generated by these densely populated areas, leading her community to host some of the world's largest landfills. Determined to find a solution to cut down on non-biodegradable waste, Saliha turned to a common personal hygiene item: sanitary pads. With the local economy booming with the sanitary industry, she knew it was only a matter of time before landfills would become overwhelmed with these products, which contain plastics and harmful chemicals. So, Saliha created a safer, chemical-free option made entirely of plant materials that will degrade in just two year's time. She hopes her new "Sreshto" pads will help more local women feel comfortable while also making the environment safer for everyone. 

Charlie (16) - United States

Charlie (16) lives on Martha's Vineyard Island, Massachusetts and he's fascinated with aerospace engineering, particularly rockets. Rockets are used in everything from exploring space to environmental research and the global positioning systems that help us figure out where we're going with our smartphone map apps. He's been building his own rockets since 6th grade, and Charlie was recently inspired to find out if he could make jet rockets even more efficient. Typical jet performance is controlled by fins built with complex mechanical pieces that can weigh down a jet and lead it to perform at lower speeds and altitudes. After experimenting with multiple fin types, Charlie determined that Synthetic Jet Actuators offer the best aerodynamic control for rockets. The more efficient rockets are, the less fuel they'll use, keeping costs low. Charlie believes that if the Synthetic Jet Actuator is used in the production of all rockets they'll be even more effective at performing their various missions on Earth or in space

Mansha (15) - India

In India, over 50% of people in India depend on agriculture, including rice cultivation, to make a living, but many farmers do not have the resources or knowledge to efficiently manage these crops. Even more alarmingly, many rice crops waste high volumes of water due to this problem, and farmers often over-water their crops, negatively impacting their own rice yields. Eager to find a solution, Mansha (15) of Hyderabad, India, wanted to create a low-cost way to monitor water levels in rice paddy fields as well as automate water levels for the best possible crop yields. She designed an automated irrigation system that waters crops based on their age, with the potential to save 30% of the water normally used per hectare of land as well as increase rice crop yields by up to 13%. Mansha looks forward to seeing her system conserve significant amounts of water while improving crops and minimizing financial stress and labor for farmers. 

Zain (16) - Saudi Arabia

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Zain (16) became interested in robotics at a young age and wondered how he could help the 200 million people living with disabilities worldwide. Many of these people suffer from lost motor function, and while some rehabilitation centers do offer robotic exoskeletons in recovery therapy, the equipment is often bulky, expensive, and focused only on assisting patients with regular exercise. Zain had a question: could an exoskeletal robot retrain a patient's brain to develop new pathways and completely recover or improve their motor skills? Using the human hand for inspiration, Zain designed an exoskeletal robotic glove that mimics the movement of a sensor hand in parallel. After testing, he found that his own motor skills in the "learning" hand appeared to be improved after use. Featuring a design that's lightweight and completely customizable to the wearer's hands, Zain believes his "ExoHeal" device can help physically disabled patients around the world navigate more easily through life. 

What’s next for these Global Finalists? 

This is just the beginning. We can’t wait to welcome these 13-18 year olds to the sixth annual Google Science Fair Awards Celebration in California for the chance to win one of our awards including a $50,000 scholarship. Here, an esteemed panel of judges will review the 16 finalists and announce the much-anticipated winners. Don’t miss the Awards Celebration, livestreamed on our website, on September 27th.

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Curriculum Resources > High School Science Fair Projects  

High School Science Fair Projects

Below you’ll find a list of high school science fair projects. Choose a topic that interests you, then begin your preliminary research.

High school science fair projects require a high level of original thought and development. Consider these ideas as springboards to help develop your own original project. To participate in an upper-level competition, your project should be relevant to current science and technology. The project should also present a benefit to society.

High School Science Fair Project Resources

For tips on performing your experiment and presenting your project, see our free science fair guide.

To start brainstorming, explore our Science Fair category for more project ideas and helpful kits.

Ideas for High School Science Fair Projects

Life science.

• Compare the effect of antibiotics on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. (Grow your own cultures with agar & petri dishes . For a sample procedure and more project ideas, see our bacteria science project guide .)
• Run a bioassay to test for toxicity in water or soil .
• Test the effect of ultraviolet radiation on bacteria growth.
• Do different types of bread grow different types of mold? Does temperature or light affect mold growth?
• Experiment with plant genetics (plant hybrids, cross-breeding).
• Test factors like smoke or pollution that might affect transpiration rates for plants.
• Investigate the effects of increased oxygen or carbon dioxide concentration on plant germination.
• Find out the differences in properties and effects of organic vs. chemical fertilizers.
• Explore methods of erosion prevention, test effects of different soil composition on erosion (e.g. how does more clay compare to more sand?).
• Experiment with methods of flood management and containment.
• Investigate the effects of sunspots on weather patterns.
• Work with methods for forecasting weather .
• Test the concentration and effect of minerals and pH in soil and water samples. (Use water test strips and a soil analyzer .)
• Determine chemical makeup of rain in your area; test possible hazardous effects.

Physical Science

• Study acoustic models and methods of noise control. (A sound measurement kit/ might be helpful.)
• Experiment with the effect of storage temperatures on batteries.
• Develop improvements in battery chargers; try methods of using solar cells to recharge batteries.
• Compare the bending strength and durability of different building materials.
• Build a potato-powered battery .
• Experiment with building materials that are fire-preventative.
• Design industrial uses of magnets ; test the effects of magnetic and electromagnetic fields on living organisms such as brine shrimp .
• Design a project in advanced robotic programming .
• Build a sensor-moving advanced bristlebot robot .
• Test the effects of the pH level of a solution on the corrosion of iron and copper ; explore different methods of corrosion prevention.
• Experiment with types, effectiveness, and the impact on the nutritional value of preservatives in food.
• Compare the properties and effects of artificial sweetener vs. sugar or other natural sweeteners. (For this and the following tests, you might consider the Chemistry of Food kit .)
• Test the chemical properties and physiological impact of saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats.
• Use indophenol to test the effect of different cooking methods on the depletion of vitamin C in food.
• Investigate the role of enzymes and yeast in the fermentation or cheese-making process.
• Experiment with different methods of water filtration/purification (such as solar distillation ).
• Analyze the by-products of gasoline; compare the efficiency of various octane levels.
• Conduct an orange juice titration demonstration

Environmental Science

• Compare or develop methods of hydrogen production and storage for use in fuel cells .
• Investigate methods of improving home insulation.
• Experiment with expanded uses of solar energy .
• Test methods for cleaning up and neutralizing the effect of oil in salt water with this oil spill cleanup kit .
• Work with methods of processing/recycling non-biodegradable items; experiment with decomposition aids.
• Experiment with design and function of wind turbines or water wheels .
• Test for harmful effects of pesticides; test or develop natural/organic alternatives; test the effectiveness of common pesticides such as DEET.
• Which type and color of roofing material provides the most energy efficiency?

For more in-depth high school science fair project ideas, we recommend the Science Buddies website.

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Citizen Science Projects

Learn about how you can participate in citizen science projects.

Biology, Ecology, Earth Science

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Did you know snapping mountain-top photos of smog and listening for frog calls can help scientists? Get ideas for how you can participate in citizen science—projects in which volunteers and scientists work together to answer real-world questions and gather data.

Bird Census

Join the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count and contribute to a wildlife census that will help scientists assess the health of bird populations.

Celebrate Urban Birds

Observe birds in an urban neighborhood for the Celebrate Urban Birds project, and send the data to scientists at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

Monitor Bird Nests

Join NestWatch , a continent-wide project to monitor bird nests. The project was started by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.

The Horsehoe Count

Join The Horseshoe Count , a survey that gets volunteers to count horseshoe crabs during spawning season at beaches in Delaware and New Jersey.

Butterfly Census

Contribute to a census of the butterflies of North America—in the United States, Canada, and parts of Mexico. Participate in a one-day butterfly count in your area for the North American Butterfly Association .

Search Space

Want a chance to have an interstellar dust particle named after you? Help NASA by volunteering for Stardust@home and searching images for tiny interstellar dust impacts.

World Monitoring Day

Celebrate World Water Monitoring Day . Use a test kit to sample local bodies of water for water quality data and share the results with other communities around the world.

Frog and Toad Populations

Survey frog and toad populations in your area by participating in the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program , which will teach you how to identify frogs and toads by their calls.

Count Birds

Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count , an annual event that gets bird watchers to count birds across the continent and then tallies the highest number of birds of each species seen together at one time.

Observe Appalachian Flowers

Monitor the timing of plant flowering in the Appalachian Mountains as you hike trails. The Appalachian Mountain Club will use the data as part of a study to understand how changes in climate are affecting mountain flora.

Survey Monarch Populations

Help the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project collect long-term data on larval monarch populations and milkweed. Volunteer to conduct surveys in your local area.

Learn About Local Plants

Join the National Phenology Network 's plant monitoring program. Learn about plant species in your area and record your observations about observable phases in the annual life cycle of plants.

Observe Plant Life Cycles

Join Project BudBurst to gather environmental and climate change information in your local area. Observe the life cycles of trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses to see when they have their first leafing, first flower, and first fruit ripening.

Take Mountain-Top Photographs

Be a visibility volunteer for the Appalachian Mountain Club . If you live or hike in states from Maine to Virginia, you can take photographs from a mountain view to help scientists study air quality and haze pollution.

Collect Weather Data

Volunteer to join the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network . The data you help collect will be used for weather forecasting and monitoring, severe weather alerts, and climate studies.

Classify Galaxies

Do what a computer can't! Join the Galaxy Zoo project to help scientists classify galaxies according to their shapes.

Bird Feeder Stakeout

Help Project FeederWatch with a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locations in North America.

Join eBird , an online checklist project created by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. Ebird allows people to report real-time bird sightings and observations.

Participate in a Field Survey

Be a part of an international effort to identify populations of an invasive plant—garlic mustard—in the Global Garlic Mustard Field Survey .

Observe Coral Bleaching

If you live in Hawaii, join Eyes of the Reef Network to help monitor and report on coral bleaching and disease and marine invasive species.

Measure Night-Sky Brightness

Join the Globe at Night program in documenting light pollution by submitting data based on the visibility of constellations.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Love the water and being outside? Get in touch with your state’s local water resource office  to find out how your class can volunteer for various projects like tree-planting or oyster-growing. Even if your class cannot do something hands-on, they can promise to take action signing the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint pledge , or something similar for your area.

Observe Wildlife Anywhere

Photograph plants, animals, and other organisms on your own or as part of a BioBlitz . Use the  iNaturalist app or iNaturalist.org to upload your observations and add them to a global database of biodiversity to support local to global research projects.

Document How Landscapes Change

Change in the environment happens gradually, so you can help tell the story by uploading a photo to Chronolog . Chronolog creates time lapses of important ecosystems to better understand how these landscapes are changing.

Exoplanet Watch

Discover strange new worlds and help NASA scientists as they search for planets outside our solar system with Exoplanet Watch .

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Last updated.

October 19, 2023

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