7th Grade Topic Ideas
How does density affect the layering of liquids?
How does the density of different liquids affect objects placement in the fluid?
What are different methods of growing crystals?
What factors are necessary for plant growth?
What are some traits that are common in families?
How do cells react to different chemicals or other things?
How does temperature affect the density of a liquid?
How do additives change the boiling points or freezing points of liquids?
What changes the amount of dry ice bubbles?
How can the rate of melting/freezing be changed?
How does light affect an animal’s responses?
How are different types of bubbles caused/created?
Investigate the diffusion of particles in different solutions.
Experiment on the natural sorting methods of various earth materials.
How do different liquids diffuse across a membrane?
Formulate and test a hypothesis on the relationship between temperature and motion.
How does pressure affect the boiling points of liquids?
Is there a relationship between density and viscosity?
How is diffusion affected by energy?
What affects the rate of diffusion?
How are specific organisms affected by changes in energy?
How well are plants preserved in different solutions?
8th Grade Topic Ideas
How do different environments affect crystal growth rates?
What are the reaction rates of different chemical combinations?
How can seed germination affected?
How do animals respond to various forms of energy?
How can cookies be baked using different heating types and methods?
Compare oxidation rates of different metals/ using different liquids.
How does changing the physical properties of a substance (size, shape, temperature, etc.)
affect the rate of a chemical reaction?
How can the rate of gas production be changed?
Formulate and test a hypothesis on the effects of air, temperature, water, or light on plants (e.g.,
seed germination, growth rates, seasonal adaptations).
Create a model ecosystem and alter the energy flow in it.
Engineer a structure using different methods to withstand earthquakes
Investigate the response of various organisms to changes in energy (e.g., plant response to
light, human response to motion, sound, light, insects’ response to changes in light intensity).
How does pressure affect reaction rates?
What factors affect the rate of weathering?
What is the ideal temperature for crystal growth?
What determines erosion rate?
Which liquid reduces friction the most?
Earth Systems Topic Ideas
How does an ecosystem change due to alterations in biotic or abiotic factors?
How do interactions within an ecosystem (pH, water temperature, weathering, etc.) influence
organisms and how do the organisms influence the physical environment.
Predict and model how plate movement impacts other Earth systems (mountain building
diverting waterways, uplifting altering plant and animal diversity, etc.)
How do changes in water quality and quantity affect ecosystems?
How do the physical properties of oceans impact organisms?
How does the nitrogen cycle impact water quality? Other biotic and/or abiotic factors?
How does concentrating or reducing CO2 impact other systems? How can structures be
designed to increase/decrease the greenhouse effect?
Construct models that demonstrate how the greenhouse effect can be increased/decreased.
Investigate and explore how weather patterns work and how those in turn impact systems.
Design and conduct a weather investigation.
Investigate air quality in various settings
Investigate physical environments (such as the Great Salt Lake) and how they impact living
systems.
Biology
What happens if you change just one variable in an ecosystem?
Research and experiment with how local (or global) practices impact ecosystems.
How can the rates of photosynthesis be changed in plants?
Experiment with microorganisms and/or plants to investigate growth and reproduction.
Examine the relationships of organ systems within an organism (e.g., respiration to circulation,
leaves to roots) and describe the relationship of structure to function in the relationship.
How would altering one organ in a plant affect the entire organism?
What agricultural methods would produce the most food stuffs with the least human impact?
How does water impact ecosystems?
How do fertilizers impact water life forms? How do the different components in the fertilizer
impact biotic factors?
Chemistry
How are light waves and energy altered and how could this information be applied?
What makes different types of chocolate (or something else) behave differently? What is the
best use of each?
What ALLOWS different chemicals to clean in different ways?
Design and conduct an investigation of the factors affecting reaction rate. How could this
information be used in real life?
How do the various factors (e.g., agitation, particle size, temperature) affect the relative rate of
dissolution and what are some practical applications of this?
 Effect of acid rain on plant growth.
 Effect of deicers on plant growth.
 Effect of acid rain on aquatic life.
 Effect of deicers on aquatic life.
Compare reactivity of metals
What is the relationship of wavelength and light energy?
How does radiation affect plant growth?
What is the relationship between energy given off during bond formation and the type of bond
being formed?
What is the relationship between melting point and bond type?
What is the relationship between conductivity and bond type?
What is the relationship between solubility and bond type?
Which liquid has the greatest surface tension/capillary rise?
What provides the greatest rust protection for iron/steel?
Corrosion of different metals
Which electrode types provide the greatest voltage output?
Which chemical makes baked goods the fluffiest (or rise the most)?
Is there a relationship between the energy released during combustion and the calories in the
food being burned?
What is the effect of pressure on reaction rate?
What is the effect of temperature on reaction rate? (How does temp affect glowstick longevity
and brightness?)
What is the effect of concentration on reaction rate?
Relationship of catalysts and reaction rates
What is the effect of concentration change on an equilibrium?
What is the effect of pressure change on an equilibrium?
What is the effect of temperature on an equilibrium?
Effect of solute concentration on freezing or boiling point.
What is the most economical salt to use on icy roads?
What are some effective natural acid-base indicators and at what pH range does the color
change occur?
Factors affecting dissolving of solutes
Seed germination/growth in presence of salt or other common chemicals
Effect of chemicals on aquatic life
Water quality testing of area water sources
Does Davis County have an acid rain problem?
What is the most effective antacid?
Do air pollution levels vary during the week or with the seasons?
Can plants remove heavy metals from soil?
Physics
Describe the balanced forces acting on a moving object commonly encountered (e.g. forces
acting on an automobile moving at constant velocity, forces that maintain a body in an upright
position while walking). How can you increase/decrease these forces in ways that can be
utilized in life?
Research and report on electric forces in everyday applications found in both nature and
technology (e.g., lightning, living organisms, batteries, copy machine, electrostatic precipitators).
How can you make it the technology more efficient?
How can energy loss between transformations be minimized?
What are ways to improve the use of electromagnetic radiation in everyday life (e.g.,
communications, lasers, microwaves, cellular phones, satellite dishes, visible light).