Theodore Von Karmen said, “Scientists discover the world that exists, engineers create the world that never was." Is your child or student interested in designing something new that has never been created before? Many children around the world enjoy making their ideas a reality by building creative inventions.
Check our list below to find 7th grade engineering projects that your student can do with common materials to make their ideas into ground-breaking innovations.
1. Solar Oven
Your students or child can use common household items to design and build their own solar oven. While learning about how to harness solar energy, they will be able to experiment with their favorite recipes.
Learn more: Child Sci
2. Helping Hand
Everyone can use a helping hand! Check out the link below to learn more about how to construct a prosthetic hand while also learning about human health, biology, and anatomy.
Learn more: Science Buddies
3. Paper Roller Coaster
You can have your own amusement park in your house or classroom. Starting with paper track segments, your child or student can make curves, straight tracks, loops, or hills and connect them to build an entire amusement park!
Learn more: Science Buddies
4. Life Boat
Your child or student can craft a lifeboat and conduct experiments to test its strength while it floats on water. They will use their knowledge of buoyancy, displacement, weight, and measurement as they progress through the designing and hypothesis testing process.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
5. Water Wheel
Building a water wheel will showcase an early form of power and ingenuity before we had access to batteries and electricity. This activity has excellent connections to history lessons about how ancient civilizations harnessed their water resources.
Learn more: Deceptively Educational
6. Balloon Car
Learning about transportation can be a party. By using those left-over balloons, you can power a balloon car using balloon science. You can encourage your 7th grader to make more than 1 using different designs and race them or race their friends.
Learn more: Science Buddies
7. Marshmallow Catapult
Satisfy your sweet tooth by eating some marshmallows and taking on an engineering design challenge by creating a catapult that launches them into the air. Your student and child can conduct many trials to see which design launches marshmallows the farthest.
Learn more: DIY Network
8. Leprechaun Trap
Leprechauns don’t stand a chance against the leprechaun trap your young learner can put together. This activity can be used around St. Patrick’s Day in March or can be adapted to suit other holidays. Try an Easter bunny trap or Santa trap!
Learn more: The Best Ideas for Kids
9. Fire Snake
Learn all about chemical reactions by creating a fire snake. If you have 30 minutes to spare and safe space outside, children can experiment with chemical mixtures to learn about carbon dioxide gas and oxygen.
Learn more: Science Buddies
10. Pinball Machine
Channel your inner gamer while making a pinball machine. Your young learner will feel like they are in an arcade while using spare cardboard and some creativity. Don't forget to customize it!
Learn more: Make Zine
11. 3D Geometric Gumdrop Structures
By simply using candy and toothpicks, your child or students design 3D shapes and then create bigger structures from there. Try out: a cube, a rectangular prism, and a pyramid while not eating too many of your materials!
Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands
12. Straw Rockets
Learning about the force of air, drag, and gravity has never been so fun. Children can make predictions and test how far their rocket will go. They can think of strategies to reduce drag to let their rockets fly farther.
Learn more: Artsy Fartsy Mama
13. Egg Drop
Keep the egg safe by engineering a container to make sure it doesn't break when dropped from a high distance. The possibilities are endless using everyday items. Challenge your learner to drop their egg from a higher point every time!
Learn more: Buggy and Buddy
14. Newton's Cradle
You can reinforce your students' learning by building a version of Newton's cradle.
This project showcases the principle of conservation of momentum. Assembling simple materials can provide a visual application of this principle to help your child witness science in action.
Learn more: Babble Dabble Do
15. Rubber Band Helicopter
Soar to new heights with this rubber band helicopter activity. Your student or child will learn about the energy that is contained in the rubber band as they wind up the propeller. They will learn about air resistance and drag.
Learn more: Instructables
16. Mini Drone
If you are focusing on simple circuits with your young learner, this mini drone is a fantastic way to scaffold their learning as they discuss the wireless communication that occurs between the person and the drone itself.
Learn more: Science Buddies
17. CD Hovercraft
Building a CD hovercraft will teach your 7th grader about high pressure, low pressure, and lift. Your 7th grader can experiment with successful ways to make their hovercraft hover for a longer period of time.
Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands
18. Paper Airplane Launcher
Children who are also interested in woodworking may enjoy crafting this paper airplane launcher. They can also experiment with different folding techniques and paperweights to make their paper airplane fly the furthest and fastest.
Learn more: Big DIY Ideas
19. Mini Zipline
If you are looking for an adventurous activity, designing and constructing a mini zipline is an exciting way to teach your child about slope, acceleration, pulley systems, and friction using hands-on exploration.
Learn more: PBS Kids
20. Levitating Ping Pong Ball
This is an activity that demonstrates Bernoulli’s Principle. The device allows the ping pong ball to hover in the air above a straw that they blow into. How long can your student keep the ball in the air?
Learn more: STEM With The Standards
21. M&Ms in Space
Your 7th grader can design a delivery system and package that will let astronauts snack on M&Ms while they are in space. They can test multiple designs using their materials to see which delivery system and package are ideal.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
22. Solar Car
If you are teaching your 7th grade science students about solar power, different forms of energy, or the law of conversation of energy, this solar car is a hands-on application that can be customized. Try out different sizes or shapes!
Learn more: Home Science Tools
23. Homemade Flashlight
Light the way to your child’s learning by helping them to create a simple series circuit flashlight. Your child will learn about electricity and create a useful tool to use the next time there is a blackout.
Learn more: Teach Engineering
24. Bubble Blowing Machine
Your child can participate in the engineering design process by designing, building, and testing a bubble-blowing machine. This activity can be connected to lessons about molecule layers. How can they create the biggest bubbles?
Learn more: Teach Beside Me
25. Seismograph
Building a seismograph will allow you to teach, or reinforce, how scientists are able to measure the motion of the ground that occurs while an earthquake is happening. You can also discuss how different amounts of movement create different results.
Learn more: Scientific American
26. Lego Water Dam
Children can learn about controlling the flow of water by constructing a LEGO water dam. They can make predictions about which of their designs will work best. Doing this project outside will allow for even more fun and learning opportunities!
Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands
27. Straw Bridge
This activity can support your 7th grader’s learning about structures, specifically the mechanics behind the designs of bridges. Using a few simple materials, children can meet increasingly difficult challenges to test the best strategies for building the strongest bridges.
Learn more: The STEM Laboratory
28. Make Your Own Kite
Children can experiment with different sizes, shapes, and materials to determine which combination is the best to produce a kite that flies the highest out of all the rest. They can record their results. Don’t forget to add a tail!
Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands
29. Carnival Ride
Bring back memories of going to the carnival while building a ride that is as fun to create as it would be to ride. Challenge your children to incorporate as many moving parts as they can!
Learn more: Yuri Ostr
30. Water Clock
Measure time by taking note of the inflow and outflow of water. Children will learn about older methods of timekeeping while they construct a device that allows them to measure water lines.
Learn more: Nano Girl - STEM Activities for Kids
Refer to these activities if you are looking for fun and interactive ways to teach your 7th grader about the scientific method and engineering design process. These projects can be simplified or made to be even more complex as you meet the needs of the specific child or group of children, you are working with.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good science project for a 7th grader?
A good 7th grade engineering science project typically includes an experiment that produces observations, which lead to data and results. You can check out the list above for good 7th grade engineering science fair projects. Beyond those listed, some additional ideas include: designing a ball launcher or constructing a water filter system.
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