STEM fairs are a great way for students to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in a fun and practical way. But many students and parents get confused with one big question:
“Which STEM fair project should I choose?”
In this blog, you will find 101 easy and creative STEM fair project ideas. These ideas are simple to understand, use common materials, and help students learn real concepts. You can use them for school STEM fairs, science exhibitions, or project work.
I’ll also share examples and tips to help you select the best topic for your child or your class.
What Is a STEM Fair Project?
A STEM fair project is a hands-on activity or experiment where a student:
- Chooses a question or problem
- Plans a project to test it
- Collects data or builds a model
- Shows the results with charts, models or presentations
- Explains what they learned
Good STEM fair projects are:
- Simple and safe
- Connected to daily life
- Easy to explain with data or a model
- Interesting for the student
Websites like Science Buddies and Homesciencetools also share many school science project ideas that combine fun and learning.
Now let’s go category-wise and list 101 project ideas.
101 Creative STEM Fair Project Ideas
1. Biology & Health STEM Fair Project Ideas (1–15)
These projects are related to plants, animals, our body, health and germs.
- Does fast music increase heart rate?
- Do energy drinks affect heart rate more than water?
- Which drink stains teeth the most? (Tea, coffee, cola, juice)
- Handwashing and germs using bread slices
- Do plants grow faster with natural light or LED light?
- Does talking to plants affect their growth?
- Which type of soil is best for plant growth? (Sand, clay, garden soil)
- Do different colours of light affect plant growth?
- How does temperature affect seed germination?
- Do homemade fertilizers (compost) work better than chemical fertilizers?
- Does exercise improve reaction time?
- How does sleep duration affect memory test scores?
- Is there a difference between left-handed and right-handed reaction times?
- Which type of mask blocks droplets better? (Cloth, surgical, no mask)
- How does screen time affect the quality of sleep (survey project)?
Example: For project 1, you can measure pulse (heartbeats per minute) at rest, then after listening to fast and slow music. Make a bar graph and compare.
2. Chemistry STEM Fair Project Ideas (16–30)
These projects involve reactions, solutions, pH, and simple materials.
- Which brand of paper towel absorbs the most water?
- Which liquid makes ice melt faster? (Salt water, vinegar, plain water)
- How does temperature affect the thickness (viscosity) of honey?
- Homemade lava lamp using oil, water and effervescent tablets
- Which liquid causes the most rust on iron nails?
- Natural pH indicator from red cabbage
- Does hot water dissolve sugar faster than cold water?
- Which juice has the most Vitamin C? (Using simple iodine test)
- How does salt concentration affect the freezing point of water?
- Does adding salt change how high water boils?
- Which brand of soap removes oil better from dishes?
- How does baking powder quantity affect cake rising?
- Which type of milk spoils faster: full-fat, low-fat, or plant-based?
- Can you clean coins with vinegar, lemon juice, or cola?
- Does the size of salt crystals change when water evaporates slowly vs quickly?
Example: For idea 21, boil red cabbage leaves in water. Use the purple liquid as a pH indicator and test acids (lemon, vinegar) and bases (soap water, baking soda solution).
3. Physics & Engineering STEM Fair Project Ideas (31–50)
These ideas focus on motion, force, energy, and designs.
- How does ramp angle affect the speed of a toy car?
- Which paper airplane design flies the farthest?
- How does weight affect the bounce height of a ball?
- Do heavier objects always fall faster? (Using safe drop tests)
- Which bridge design holds the most weight? (Beam, arch, truss made from sticks)
- How does the length of a pendulum affect its swing time?
- Build a simple water wheel to show energy conversion
- Does adding fins to a bottle rocket improve its flight?
- Which material is best for soundproofing? (Cloth, foam, cardboard)
- How does the number of rubber bands affect the power of a catapult?
- Design different windmill blade shapes and test which produces most rotation
- How does temperature affect the air pressure inside a balloon?
- Which surface creates the most friction for a toy car? (Tile, carpet, sandpaper)
- Can you make a compass using a magnetized needle?
- Build a simple electric motor using wire, magnet, and battery
- How many paper clips can a homemade electromagnet lift?
- Which shape of parachute falls the slowest? (Square, circle, triangle)
- Does the size of a wind turbine blade affect power output (RPM count)?
- Build a simple solar oven and test how hot it gets
- How does adding weight to a model boat affect how low it sits in water?
Example: For bridge design (idea 35), students can build small bridges from ice-cream sticks or straws and load them with coins to see which design is strongest.
4. Technology & Coding STEM Fair Project Ideas (51–65)
These ideas are related to apps, coding, robotics, and digital data.
- Create a Scratch game that teaches kids multiplication
- Make a quiz app prototype on paper or Figma about recycling
- Use block coding (Scratch/MIT App Inventor) to control a character with keyboard input
- Compare typing speed with and without autocorrect (data project)
- Does using dark mode save battery life on a phone? (Simple observation project)
- Build a basic line-following robot using sensors (for advanced students)
- Design a chatbot flowchart that answers simple homework questions
- Is there a difference between desktop and mobile website loading times?
- Build a simple alarm system with a buzzer and light sensor (Arduino or kit)
- Compare different password styles (short vs long) for strength using an online checker
- Study how screen brightness affects battery life of a device
- Survey: How many classmates use educational apps daily?
- Create a digital poster about cyber safety and run a feedback survey
- Make a simple animation explaining the water cycle using coding
- Build a basic step counter using a microcontroller or phone sensor (concept demo)
Many STEM platforms and robotics programs encourage low-cost projects like simple robots and manipulators to engage high schoolers in engineering and coding.
5. Environment & Sustainability STEM Fair Ideas (66–80)
These projects connect STEM with saving nature, reducing waste, and clean energy.
- Which material decomposes fastest: paper, plastic, cloth, or leaves?
- Measure household plastic waste for one week and suggest reduction tips
- Compare water usage of bucket bath vs shower (measured in litres)
- Test DIY water filters using sand, gravel, charcoal
- Which location in the house gets the most sunlight (for solar panels/plants)?
- Do plants grow better in reused plastic bottles vs traditional pots?
- Does mulching (covering soil) reduce water evaporation from pots?
- Build a small rainwater collection model and measure water collected
- Do local plants attract more butterflies than foreign ornamental plants?
- Which type of light bulb uses less energy for the same brightness? (LED vs CFL)
- Measure temperature differences between shaded and non-shaded areas in your yard
- Can we reduce food waste by proper storage test (room vs fridge)?
- Study the effect of detergent on plant growth (grey water experiment)
- Which route to school has more traffic and pollution? (Observation and counting)
- Create a model of a green city with parks, solar panels, and rainwater harvesting
Example: For idea 69, make 2–3 different filters in plastic bottles and measure how clear the water looks before and after, or measure filtration time.
6. Math & Data STEM Fair Project Ideas (81–90)
These ideas use numbers, patterns, probability, and statistics.
- Which type of chart helps people understand data best? (Pie, bar, line)
- Do people guess lengths or weights more accurately?
- Study birthday months of classmates and see which month is most common
- Survey: Do students who do homework daily score better in tests?
- What is the probability of getting heads in 50 coin tosses? Compare theory vs real data.
- Test whether people can quickly find patterns in number grids
- Does practice improve speed in solving Sudoku puzzles?
- Measure how long it takes to solve different types of puzzles (word vs number)
- Does using a calculator help or harm speed/accuracy in basic arithmetic?
- Create a survey on favourite school subjects and analyse the data with graphs
Research has shown that using physical objects like Lego bricks to represent data makes statistical concepts easy for kids to understand.
7. Human Body, Brain & Psychology Ideas (91–101)
These ideas focus on brain, senses, memory, and behaviour. Keep them safe and simple.
- Does background music affect study concentration?
- Are people faster at recognising pictures or words?
- Does colour of paper (white, blue, yellow) affect reading speed?
- Which hand is stronger: left or right? (Squeeze test)
- Does chewing gum improve concentration in a simple task?
- Can people taste the difference between normal and low-sugar drinks in a blind test?
- Does smell (pleasant vs unpleasant) affect mood (simple rating scale)?
- How does stress (like a countdown timer) affect test performance?
- Do gamers have faster reaction times than non-gamers?
- Does drinking water before a task improve attention span?
- Memory test: Do people remember items better when they are grouped or random?
Many student-friendly projects explore heart rate, muscle fatigue and reaction time to understand how our body responds to exercise and stress.
Example: Simple Data & Calculation (Heart Rate Project)
Let’s take idea 1: “Does fast music increase heart rate?” as a quick example.
Step 1: Collect Data
Suppose you test 4 students:
| Student | Resting HR | HR with Slow Music | HR with Fast Music |
| A | 78 | 80 | 92 |
| B | 72 | 74 | 88 |
| C | 84 | 85 | 98 |
| D | 76 | 77 | 90 |
Step 2: Calculate Average Heart Rate
Add resting values:
78 + 72 = 150
150 + 84 = 234
234 + 76 = 310
Now divide by 4:
310 ÷ 4 = 77.5
So the average resting heart rate = 77.5 beats per minute (BPM).
You can similarly calculate the average for slow and fast music. Then you can write:
“The average heart rate increased from 77.5 BPM at rest to a higher value while listening to fast music. This shows that fast music can make our body more active.”
This makes your project scientific, clear, and strong for a STEM fair.
How to Present Your STEM Fair Project
Once you choose any of the 101 ideas, follow this simple structure for your display:
- Title
- Example: “Does Fast Music Increase Heart Rate?”
- Question / Problem
- What are you trying to find out?
- Hypothesis (Guess)
- “I think fast music will increase heart rate more than slow music.”
- Materials
- List of items used.
- Procedure
- Step-by-step method in simple points.
- Data / Observations
- Tables, graphs, photos.
- Results
- What did your data show?
- Conclusion
- Was your guess correct? What did you learn?
- Future Work
- What can be improved or tested next time?
Final Thoughts
STEM fairs are not about doing the most complicated or expensive project. They are about:
- Asking a smart question
- Planning a simple experiment
- Collecting real data
- Explaining your learning clearly
In this blog, you saw 101 STEM fair project ideas across:
- Biology & health
- Chemistry
- Physics & engineering
- Technology & coding
- Environment & sustainability
- Math & data
- Human body & psychology
You can use these ideas directly or combine two ideas to create a unique project.