Science Experiments For High School: 40 Ways To Make Learning Fun

High school is first about curiosity and only then about textbooks and formulas. It's about asking 'why?' and finding the answers, thanks to your critical thinking skills. Experiments help you do just that. They turn theoretical facts into hands-on experiences so the students can actually understand what they're learning (and be excited about it!). What do you think will be more fun for a high school student, reading a chapter summary or blowing stuff up in the name of education?

This article has rounded up 40 science fair experiments for high school that bring scientific concepts to life and are genuinely fun to do. Our goal is to keep the students inspired and excited to ask the important questions and chase the thrill of answering them. Here's a sneak peek of 5 projects we'll break down below:

• Make a DIY lava lamp and explore density in real-time
• Extract DNA from strawberries using kitchen supplies
• Build a simple electric motor that actually works
• Test acids and bases using red cabbage (it’s cooler than it sounds)
• Create elephant toothpaste with an explosive chemical reaction

If you've already completed your experiments and now need to put all that research together in a report paper, you can rely on EssayPro's professional paper writing service for academic guidance. Just let our experts know what you need, and we'll give you all the academic support you need!

Need a Helping Hand?

Delegate your tasks to us!

Get Help

Top 10 Science Experiments for High School

Students get their hands dirty (sometimes a little foamy) in high school science labs. Let's review 10 interesting science experiment ideas for high school that won't put everyone to sleep and don't need high-tech equipment to conduct.

1. DIY Lava Lamp

Find a clear bottle and fill it with oil, water, and some food coloring. Drop in a fizzy Alka-Seltzer tablet and enjoy a lava show right in your bedroom! It's simple chemistry, but makes your home feel like a 70's movie.

• Total project time: 15 minutes
• Key concept: Density

2. Balloon-Powered Car

Build a tiny car with cardboard, straws (axles), and bottle caps (wheels). Tape a balloon to a straw and blow it up through the straw. Pinch the end, set the car down, and release to let the air rush out and push the car forward. This simple setup proves that every push has a push-back.

• Total project time: 30 minutes
• Key concept: Newton’s Third Law

3. Build a Simple Electric Motor

Wrap a copper wire around the nail, connect the ends to a battery with alligator clips, and place strong magnets beneath the nail. Flip the switch - you just made a baby motor with your own hands! If projects like this interest you, but you’re still stuck thinking, ‘Why can’t somebody just do my computer science homework for me?’ don’t stress, EssayPro’s expert writing guidance is always a few clicks away. 

• Total project time: 45 minutes
• Key concept: Electromagnetism

4. Elephant Toothpaste

This one is a classic for a good reason. All you have to do is mix hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, and yeast in a bottle. Boom! Now you've got a foamy eruption that looks like toothpaste fit for a giant.

• Total project time: 20 minutes
• Key concept: Chemical reactions

5. DNA Extraction from Strawberries

Mash up a strawberry, add salt and dish soap, and pour in rubbing alcohol. Sit back and watch as strands of real DNA separate out. It's really like magic; you don't even need a microscope to observe!

• Total project time: 30 minutes
• Key concept: Genetics

6. Red Cabbage pH Indicator

Boil red cabbage, pour the cooled purple juice into clear cups, and start testing different substances. Add lemon juice or vinegar and watch the liquid turn pink (acid). Baking soda will turn the purple juice green (base). You don't need a fancy lab to see the pH scale in action.

• Total project time: 30 minutes
• Key concept: Acids and bases

7. Invisible Ink with Lemon Juice

Dip your pen into lemon juice and write a secret message. Don't write something too secret, though, as it can be revealed simply by heating the paper with a lightbulb or iron. Spy vibes!

• Total project time: 20 minutes
• Key concept: Oxidation

8. Homemade Barometer

Stick a balloon over the mouth of a jar and tape a straw to it. The air pressure inside and outside the balloon will be the same at first, but you'll be able to monitor the weather changes as the pressure outside falls or rises.

• Total project time: 40 minutes
• Key concept: Atmospheric pressure

9. Solar Oven S’mores

Place foil and plastic wrap into a simple pizza box, then use the sun's power to melt marshmallows and chocolate. This delicious science experiment can actually feed you when you're knee-deep into homework.

• Total project time: 1 hour
• Key concept: Solar energy

10. Bouncing Egg

This one takes a bit more time. First, soak an egg in vinegar for 2-3 days, and you'll see the shell dissolve. What's left is a squishy egg you can carefully drop and bounce.

• Total project time: 2–3 days
• Key concept: Chemical reactions

Easy Science Experiments for High School

Each one of these simple science experiments for high school requires just some basic supplies and a little curiosity.

1. Walking Water

Place three cups next to each other. Pour the colored water into two and leave the cup empty in the middle. Roll paper towels into strips and place one end in each cup; the water will 'walk' to the empty cup.

• Total project time: 1 hour
• Key concept: Capillary action

2. Seed Germination in a Bag

Line a clear ziplock bag with damp paper towels and place several beans between them. Tape the bag to a sunny window and just observe it for the next few days. You'll see the roots and shoots appear really soon!

• Total project time: 5–10 days
• Key concept: Germination

3. Make a Rain Cloud in a Jar

Fill a jar with water, top it with shaving cream, then slowly drop in colored water. As the drops get heavier, they break through the 'cloud' and fall.

• Total project time: 15 minutes
• Key concept: Precipitation

4. Potato Battery

Stick a galvanized (zinc-coated) nail and a copper penny into a potato. Connect wires to a small LED. The potato will act as a low-voltage battery and turn the light on if everything’s placed right.

• Total project time: 30 minutes
• Key concept: Electrochemistry

5. Chromatography with Markers

Draw a line with a black marker near the bottom of a coffee filter strip. Once you dip the tip in water, you'll see how the ink separates into colors.

• Total project time: 20 minutes
• Key concept: Pigment separation

6. Moldy Bread Experiment

Spray a few slices of bread with water and seal each one in a separate plastic bag. Place them in different environments – like a warm room, a fridge, or a dark cabinet. Check daily - this experiment will help you see how temperature and light affect mold growth.

• Total project time: 5–7 days
• Key concept: Fungal growth

7. Color-Changing Milk

Pour milk into a shallow dish and carefully add a few drops of different food colorings. Dip a cotton swab in dish soap and gently touch the surface in the center. The colors will shoot and swirl as the soap breaks down fat molecules.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Surface tension

8. Egg in a Bottle

Set fire to a small piece of paper and drop it into a glass bottle. Quickly place a pre-boiled and peeled egg on the opening of the bottle and watch the egg get sucked in it as the flame goes out.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Air pressure

9. Plant Maze Box

Cut holes in a cardboard box, place a potted plant inside, and cover the box. The plant will bend toward the light coming from the openings. It’s one of the most eye-opening plant science experiments for high school.

• Total project time: 5–7 days
• Key concept: Phototropism

10. Balloon and Static Electricity

Rub a balloon on your hair or a wool sweater to build up static electricity. Then, hold the balloon near small paper pieces or a wall. The balloon magically sticks or lifts the paper without any glue.

• Total project time: 5 minutes
• Key concept: Static electricity

Fun Science Experiments for High School

The following high school science experiment ideas are still simple yet perfect for hands-on learning and a deeper understanding of some scientific principles.

1. Soda and Mentos Explosion

Take a two-liter bottle of diet soda outside, drop in a few Mentos mints, and get ready for the geyser. The candies cause an instant, dramatic release of gas bubbles from the soda. It’s not a chemical reaction – just a super fast, messy physical one.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Physical reaction

2. Pepper and Soap Magic

Pour some water into a shallow dish and sprinkle a little black pepper on top. Now dip your finger in dish soap and gently touch the water’s surface. The pepper suddenly scatters to the edges. It looks like magic, but it’s just science: the soap messes with the surface tension and makes the water molecules pull away.

• Total project time: 5 minutes
• Key concept: Surface tension

3. Glowing Water with Tonic

Pour tonic water into a clear glass and turn off the lights. Shine a blacklight on it, and the quinine in the tonic water will glow bright blue. This fun experiment shows how certain substances react to ultraviolet light through fluorescence.

• Total project time: 5 minutes
• Key concept: Fluorescence

4. Soap-Powered Boat

Cut a small boat shape from foam or cardstock and float it in a shallow tray of water. Add a drop of dish soap to the back of the boat. The soap reduces the surface tension behind the boat, pushing it forward across the water.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Surface tension

5. Coin Cleaning Challenge

Place tarnished pennies in separate cups filled with vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, water, and soda. Let them sit for 10–15 minutes, then remove and compare. The acidic liquids react with the copper oxide coating, cleaning the coins. You’ll quickly see which liquids work best and learn how acids interact with metal.

• Total project time: 30 minutes
• Key concept: Chemical reactions

6. Ice Fishing with Salt

Place a string across an ice cube, sprinkle salt on top, and wait one minute. As the salt melts the ice slightly, it refreezes with the string trapped inside. Gently lift the string – the ice cube comes with it! This clever trick shows how salt affects freezing points.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Freezing point depression

7. Slime Time

Grab a bowl and pour in some white glue, a splash of water, and a few drops of food coloring. Slowly stir in contact lens solution until the mix turns into stretchy slime. That’s polymer science: long chains of molecules bonding together to make something squishy and bouncy.

• Total project time: 15 minutes
• Key concept: Polymer formation

8. Floating Egg Trick

Fill one glass with plain water and another with salt water. Gently drop a raw egg into each. The egg sinks in the plain water but floats in the salty one. That's because salt increases the water's density, which causes the egg to lift.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Density and buoyancy

9. Invisible Ink with Baking Soda

Mix a spoonful of baking soda with water to create your invisible ink. Use a cotton swab or paintbrush to write a secret message on plain white paper. Let it dry. When ready, brush grape juice over the message to reveal your hidden writing.

• Total project time: 20 minutes
• Key concept: Acid-base reaction

10. Marshmallow in a Vacuum

Stick a marshmallow inside a big syringe (no needle, of course) or a small vacuum chamber. Pull the plunger back or remove the air, and watch the marshmallow expand like it's taking a big breath. Let the air back in, and it shrinks down to its original size.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Air pressure

Science Experiments for High School at Home

No lab? No problem. Go grab some simple supplies so we can get to some fascinating chemistry and physics science experiments for high school. Don't let anyone make you think you need fancy equipment to understand basic physics concepts!

These experiments will help you develop the kind of independent thinking that will benefit you in the next steps of your academic journey, like when you try to understand what is a capstone project and how to approach it with the right strategy. 

1. Bending Water with Static

Turn on a faucet to get a steady, thin stream of water. Rub a plastic comb or balloon on your hair to build up static electricity. Hold it near the stream, and the water bends toward it without touching.

• Total project time: 5 minutes
• Key concept: Static electricity

2. Sound Wave Visualization

Stretch plastic wrap tightly over a bowl, secure it with a rubber band, and sprinkle some rice or salt on top. Place a speaker close by and play music. You’ll see the particles dance as sound waves move through the air and vibrate the plastic.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Sound waves and vibration

3. Homemade Compass

Rub a needle on a magnet about 30 times in one direction. Place it on a small piece of cork or foam and float it in water. The needle will align with Earth’s magnetic field and point north. It's simple, but it can really show you how magnetic fields work.

• Total project time: 15 minutes
• Key concept: Magnetism and Earth’s magnetic field

4. Balloon Rocket

Tie a long piece of string between two chairs and thread a straw through it. Blow up a balloon (don’t tie it!), tape it to the straw, and then let it go. As the air rushes out, the balloon zooms along the string like a rocket. It’s a hands-on way to see Newton’s Third Law in action.

• Total project time: 15 minutes
• Key concept: Action and reaction

5. Bottle Crush

Boil water, pour a little into an empty plastic bottle, then quickly screw the cap on. Let the bottle cool. As the steam condenses, the bottle collapses in on itself. This is a dramatic way to show how pressure changes can affect physical objects.

• Total project time: 20 minutes
• Key concept: Air pressure and gas laws

6. Spinning Penny in a Balloon

Slip a penny into an uninflated balloon, then blow it up and tie it. Swirl the balloon in circles, and you’ll hear the penny spinning inside. The sound and motion are caused by inertia and centripetal force.

• Total project time: 10 minutes
• Key concept: Centripetal force

7. Water Bottle Barometer

Fill a clear plastic bottle halfway with water, insert a straw, and seal the neck with clay. As air pressure changes, water inside the straw moves up or down. Place the bottle near a window and track the changes each day.

• Total project time: 30 minutes + observation
• Key concept: Atmospheric pressure

8. Inertia Card Flip

Place a playing card on top of a cup and set a coin on the card. Flick the card sideways quickly and the coin drops straight into the cup. This experiment shows how inertia keeps the coin at rest while the card moves out from under it.

• Total project time: 5 minutes
• Key concept: Inertia

9. DIY Pulley System

Use a string, a spool (or curtain rod), and a small bucket to create a simple pulley. Try lifting objects with and without the pulley to feel the difference. It’s a basic but effective way to understand force, tension, and mechanical advantage, which are some of the most important topics in high school physics.

• Total project time: 20 minutes
• Key concept: Mechanical advantage

10. Thermal Expansion with a Jar Lid

Struggling to open a stuck jar lid? Run the metal lid under hot water for a few seconds and it loosens up. That’s thermal expansion at work. This simple experiment shows how heat causes materials to expand – a principle that plays a big role in engineering and everyday life.

• Total project time: 5 minutes
• Key concept: Thermal expansion

Benefits of High School Science Experiments

Some lessons are simply easier to understand when you actually do something with them. That's exactly why teachers encourage students to experiment - this way, you can take the textbook theories and turn them into real experiences.

• You actually see how stuff works: Practical understanding is always better than theoretical knowledge. A chemical reaction or a shift that happens before your own eyes turns science into something real.
• You polish your problem-solving skills: Things almost never go according to plan in the lab, but isn't that kind of the point? You don't stop at just memorizing facts; instead, you start asking better questions and figuring out what to do next.
• It sparks curiosity: One experiment can turn into five, especially when you actually see results or don't get the outcome you expected. That's real learning.
• You build useful skills: Education doesn't stop in high school. Every experiment here teaches you to observe and analyze - all skills that you'll definitely need as you move further in the academic world.
• You learn how to work with others: Most labs involve working with at least one partner, which is excellent for helping you develop communication skills. Even the most different people learn how to speak the same language in the lab.

If you’re one of those people who starts polishing their skills in advance, we’ve got you covered! Learn how to write an abstract for a dissertation before you move on to higher education; trust us, it’s a skill you’ll definitely need when the time comes. 

The Last Observation

Science class turns into something completely different when you can actually test and mess up the big ideas. That's practically the only way to understand how the fascinating world around us actually works. Through it all, you start asking better questions, analyzing the results, and chasing the answers just for the thrill of it all. Experiments make you gain a deeper appreciation for science, one weird reaction at a time.

Experiments are the fun part, though. Writing it all up? Not always as exciting, unfortunately. Lab reports are the kind of headache that might leave you stuck at the laptop for days on end. But you don't have to worry about that when EssayPro exists! Our professional academic writers have your back whenever you need a report, research paper, or expository essay writing service to keep balancing the many responsibilities that school throws at you. 

FAQ