Have a 6th grade science project coming up?  Whether it's a class assignment or a science fair project, we have what you need to get it done. 

This page contains specific information about what will generally be expected of a 6th grade science project at a school science fair.  If you are entering a state science fair, our 8th grade page may be more appropriate for you.

If you're looking to start with some ideas right away, start here.

We have information that can give you an edge over typical entrants at a 6th Grade Science Project fair in our winning projects section.

Read on, or choose a particular are to go to: Your Topic, Math Level, Research, Experiment, Display, or Judging.

Your Topic

For a 6th grade science project, expectations for originality are pretty reasonable - repeating a known experiment is OK.  Judging is primarily based on demonstrated mastery of the chosen topic by the student. 

Students that are able to understand all aspects of a smaller simpler experiment will be preferred over students with large complex projects that are poorly understood by the student. 

The best approach for choosing a topic is to home in on a personal interest.  Choose a topic that means something to you and focus the work down to a small part of that interest when doing the project.  This will allow enough time to master every aspect of the project.  We develop this idea further in our topic section.

Math Level

Using graphs is preferred over purely textual descriptions of the experiment.  You'll need to figure out what kind of variables are involved and relate them on at least a basic graph for your 6th Grade Science Project.

A computer generated graph will be preferred over a hand-drawn graph.  Microsoft Excel will do the job along with some other packages - ask for help on this point if you have never used spreadsheet software before.

At this level, it is OK to use qualitative descriptions for your variable relationships - you don't have to use equations to describe the relationships.  A text description to go along with the graph is typically expected.

Research

To research your information, it will be acceptable to use encyclopedias, web resources and middle school level textbooks. 

You might find it useful to contact your local librarian and ask him or her what would be a good resource for you - they often have an excellent idea of what would be appropriate material.

Make sure to note any resource you intend to use so that you can properly cite it in your project.

Experiment

You may only be asked to do a display for your 6th Grade Science Project.  Meaning that you simply do research and report on it with a display showing the data you found.

If you are asked to do an experiment, it's likely that you will only be expected to make your experiment consistent with your chosen question (unsure what that means?  We explain it all, starting here.)

Advanced data analysis is rare at this level.

Display

A standard display board is three feet wide and four feet high and is part of your presentation.  You will be expected to paste the pages of information you have gathered while doing your project onto the board so that people passing by can quickly look your project (and it's information) over.

Judging

For a 6th Grade Science Project, it is typical to have your project judged solely on your project notebook and your display.  Interviews are a rare event, but be sure to ask what will be expected for your fair to be sure. 

If you are asked to do an interview with a judge, you may want to read up on this topic further in our winning projects pages.

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