Turning Hobbies into Science Fair Projects

By Kylie Wolfe

Completing a science fair project and participating in a fair can help you gain critical thinking skills, improve your public speaking abilities, and practice your research methods. But finding the right project isn’t always easy—and that’s where your teachers and mentors can help.

Identify Hobbies and Interests

Start by asking yourself about hobbies, favorite subjects, or a TV show you enjoy. What do you love to do in your spare time? Unless you’re given class time to work on your project, you’ll likely be completing it after school, making it even more important to like what you’re working on.

Find someone to talk to about your interests. Whether your response includes sports, the arts, spending time outside, or playing video games, there are ways to turn each of these activities into creative, hobby-driven projects.

Create Projects from Passions

Once you’ve identified a subject you’d like to explore, it’s time to get curious. What questions would you like answers to? How can those questions turn into research, experiments, and a science fair project?

Ask yourself how your project could help solve real-world problems or lead to an interesting solution. Understanding how your idea stretches beyond the task at hand will be an important element of your science fair presentation. The more creative, the better.

For Students Who…

Play Sports: If you participate in sports, you might enjoy a science fair project that’s related to physics, chemistry, or biology. This could include comparing electrolytes in sports drinks or using a balloon to measure lung capacity.

Love the Arts: If you play a musical instrument or like photography, you might appreciate a science fair project that’s related to physics or social behavior. This could include learning how sound waves work or what colors attract the most attention in a photo or painting.

Spend Time Outside: If you like gardening, hiking, or fishing, you might want to explore Earth and space science or life sciences subjects. This could result in projects that investigate the effects of erosion or the success of different types of bait.

Enjoy Computers: If you play video games or are interested in robotics, you might find a computer science, engineering, or math project very worthwhile. These subjects could turn into projects about coding or testing bridges made from different materials.

Succeed at the Fair

Finding the right science fair project can make a difference in what you take away from the experience. The options and opportunities are endless—especially if you use your imagination.