STEAM education–science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics–prepares students for success beyond high school by helping them develop much-needed durable skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving.
An integrated STEAM education also puts students on the path to success with higher test scores, stronger attendance records, better disciplinary records, and increased engagement and graduation rates.
STEAM education is trending at an opportune time: The COVID-19 pandemic caused learning loss across the board, and a STEAM-centered curriculum that engages students while weaving important 21st-century education principles into real-world lessons is critical for success.
Let’s take a closer look at STEAM education:
What is an example of STEAM education?
Makerspaces are a great example of STEAM learning, letting students combine creativity and art elements into more traditional STEM topics. School makerspaces have emerged as centers of creativity, problem solving, collaboration, and more. These skills–often referred to as soft skills, but also known as durable skills for their importance in the workplace–are a focus of 21st-century classrooms. These days, school libraries often include makerspaces and librarians are becoming well-versed in the coding, robotics, engineering, and tinkering skills necessary to help students bring their ideas to fruition. Let’s look at some STEAM education facts: Here are 5 resources (digital and non-digital) for school makerspaces that might be worth a look.
What does STEAM do for education?
As STEM has risen in prominence over the past decade, arts education has yet to achieve the same recognition and integration. In order to provide a rich, robust, and inclusive curriculum for youth, STEM needs to evolve to STEAM. And in many ways, that transition is already taking place as technology and engineering drive the next wave of art and creative expression. You can’t have one without the other. As our digital world encompasses new storytelling mediums across design, audio engineering, music production, digital art, and more, new unique skill sets are required to prepare young people for careers of the future. STEAM education principles need to become embedded into media production, music production, and graphic design to enable the next wave of innovation and creativity needed for these major technological shifts. STEAM education lesson plans can incorporate so many learning principles. Here’s why creativity is essential in today’s curriculum.
What is STEAM and STEM activity?
Much STEM and STEAM activity happens in labs. A STEM or STEAM lab is an environment where students, irrespective of grade, can come together and actively participate in hands-on STEM and STEAM learning. These educational spaces encourage active learning and problem solving. In these STEM laboratories, students can develop their science, engineering, and mathematics skills by using technology to create, collaborate, and complete projects–learning and applying knowledge to find new solutions. Imagine a technology-enhanced learning environment where everything is student-centered and supports theme and project-based learning–that’s a STEM lab! And these are just a few STEM and STEAM education examples. Here are 4 ideas to consider when creating a STEM or STEAM lab.
What is the value of STEAM education?
Science, technology, engineering, and math are broad but dynamic subjects that contain innumerable and specific learning concepts. Arts and sciences have traditionally been perceived as different subjects with few commonalities, and STEM programs often omit the arts from the conversation. But with a STEAM-centered curriculum, students are trained to introduce design, agile thinking, and creative solutions to solve social and scientific problems and bring new inventions to fruition. What’s more, a multi-subject approach to a STEAM education promotes deeper conceptual learning and career self-determination, and prepares youth for interdisciplinary STEAM careers in a rapidly changing workplace. So, what’s the impact of STEAM education? A STEAM learning approach encourages collaboration to understand and distill new concepts. By integrating the arts, a STEAM-centered curriculum uses tools such as quantitative visualization or fine arts imagery to deepen one’s understanding of science, math, and technology. Here’s why students will benefit from STEAM learning.
What are 3 benefits of STEM?
A new study at the University of Missouri–in partnership with Harvard-Smithsonian researchers–shows that when colleges host ‘STEM Career Days,’ the students who attend are far more likely to pursue a career in a STEM-related field. The findings not only highlight the benefits of college recruiters introducing high school students to STEM-related opportunities, but they can also help increase and diversify the STEM workforce in the United States. The benefits of STEAM education and STEM learning help students develop much-needed skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. Students learn how to navigate challenging situations regardless of what career field they pursue. STEM learning benefits are invaluable.
Laura Ascione is the Editorial Director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland’s prestigious Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
Climate change can feel like an insurmountable problem to many students. How can they have a meaningful impact on this global issue? The right resources can make all the difference in helping young people see how they can take action in their own community to make a real difference. This climate action resource kit from World Wildlife Fund’s Wild Classroom contains an informative slideshow as well as several lesson plans that are a perfect place to start.
One common refrain you might hear is, “It snowed 20 inches today, so explain how global warming is real.” That’s when it’s time to tackle the difference between weather (the current conditions) and climate (the average of those conditions over time in a particular region). Make an anchor chart like this one from Hayley Taylor on Pinterest. Then try a sorting activity to help kids understand the difference between the two. You can make your own cards, or find them on sites like Teachers Pay Teachers.
4. Measure temperatures to learn about the greenhouse effect
Kid Minds
Global warming is a key component of climate change, and it’s caused in part by an enhanced greenhouse effect. Climate change activities like this one show kids just what that term means. Place two thermometers side by side in a sunny spot. Put one inside a covered glass jar, and leave the other one outside. Observe the temperatures after about 20 minutes to see which is higher. Learn more about this activity at Kid Minds.
5. Meet the greenhouse gases
NASA
Now that kids have seen the greenhouse effect in action, introduce them to the gases that make it happen. These fun trading cards of the six major atmospheric gases teach students what they are and where they come from. Each card has two sides, showing the positive and negative effects of that gas. Get the free printable cards from NASA here.
6. Make edible greenhouse gas models
Science Sparks
Dive deeper into the chemistry of greenhouse gases by making edible models from toothpicks and gumdrops. Science Sparks has all the details.
7. Do a climate change word search
Woo Jr.
Try this free printable word search to reinforce the terms kids are learning during climate change activities. It’s part of this larger free lesson plan from Woo Jr.
8. Eat some Earth toast
Left Brain Craft Brain
Show kids how too much heat can make things (like deserts and other inland areas) hotter and drier with this fun edible experiment. Kids use milk paint to create “Earth” from bread, then bake it in a toaster oven to see what happens. Learn more from Left Brain Craft Brain.
9. Learn about conditions affecting ice melt
Science Learning Hub
The accelerated melting of the polar ice caps and glaciers is of huge concern to climate change scientists. This simple experiment shows how ice in water melts faster than ice on land. Find out more from Science Learning Hub.
10. Explore how melting ice affects sea levels
Science Buddies
The North Polar Ice Cap sits on water, while the South Polar Ice Cap is on land. Learn which of these two can cause sea levels to rise with this experiment, perfect for a science fair project. Get the how-to from Science Buddies.
11. Simulate melting polar ice caps and icebergs
National Geographic
Ice-melting experiments are very helpful climate change activities for seeing sea level rise in action, so here’s another one to try. If you’re unable to perform this one in person, show National Geographic’s video instead.
12. Discover how melting sea ice affects animals too
Kitchen Counter Chronicle
Humans aren’t the only ones affected by global warming and sea ice melt. In this experiment, kids try to help model polar bears stay afloat as the ice around them starts to melt. Learn more from Kitchen Counter Chronicle.
13. Trap particles to learn about air pollution
Education.com
Particulates in the air are another cause of global warming and climate change. This experiment uses Vaseline and index cards to capture visible particulates from indoor and outdoor spaces, so students can compare them. Get the details at Education.com.
14. Water plants with acid solutions
Education.com
Acid rain isn’t in the news as much these days, thanks to the incredible effectiveness of the EPA’s Acid Rain Program. It’s still good for kids to learn about, though, since when unchecked, it can do real damage to plants and the environment. Try this experiment, in which kids water plants with regular water and a lemon juice–water solution, to see the effects. Learn how it works from Education.com.
15. Play the Carbon Cycle Game
COSEE
Carbon is another big contributor to global warming and climate change. Learn how the natural carbon cycle works, and how too much carbon throws the cycle off, with this free printable game from COSEE.
16. Track your carbon footprint
Kitchen Counter Chronicle
Good climate change activities should include action items kids and their families can take. Explore the term “carbon footprint” and then brainstorm ways to reduce it with this cute idea from Kitchen Counter Chronicle.
If you teach middle or elementary school science and you’re not already following @moonshotkidz on TikTok or Instagram, this is your sign to do so. @moonshotkidz shares easy and fun science, technology, and art projects, with the goal of inspiring their viewers to get creative. Their STEAM projects highlight simple circuitry, motors, and coding, perfect for meeting some of your elementary NGSS standards. Not to mention, the finished products are stunning.
While the science is relatively simple, the results are anything but. So, how can you use these videos to jump-start your next STEAM lesson plan? I’ll share my science teacher–approved ideas!
3 Ways To Use @Moonshotkidz in Your Science Class
1. Spark interest in a phenomenon
My first thought as I scrolled through the @moonshotkidz Instagram account was “Wow, how did they do that?”
Students will likely have the same reaction to the eye-catching projects. But don’t be too quick to give them the answers! Instead, leverage this excitement as an opportunity to get them experimenting.
Teachers in the 20 states that have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards will recognize the term “phenomenon-based instruction.” NGSS resources define phenomena as “observable events that occur in the universe and that we can use our science knowledge to explain or predict.” The goal of a phenomenon is to shift a lesson or unit from “learning about a topic to figuring out how or why something happens.” For a phenomenon to be effective, it must be engaging to students. They need to be excited about what they’re observing and invested in figuring out how it’s possible. Enter @moonshotkidz!
To utilize a @moonshotkidz project as a phenomenon, show students the final product, then present them with the materials they would need to re-create it on their own and let them try it out! Through trial and error, students can construct a simple circuit that produces light by correctly connecting wires, a battery, and a bulb. This one is perfect for Valentine’s Day:
However, completing the circuit doesn’t have to be the end of the learning. Students will have tons of questions about why some combinations worked while others were unsuccessful. Their experimentation can become the basis for generating questions (through a QFT or other method) to launch your NGSS-aligned unit on energy transfer. The circuitry-based videos are a wonderful launch for 4th grade teachers covering NGSS standards 4-PS3-2 and 4-PS3-4.
2. Embrace STEAM in a new and authentic way
Content-focused middle school science teachers already scrolling past this section, hear me out. The first time I heard about STEAM, I was wary. Even though I love art and consider myself a creative person, I didn’t think engaging students in art would have a meaningful impact on learning in my science classroom. I’d seen too many science lessons that attempted to incorporate an artistic or creative aspect only to have students regurgitate facts onto unoriginal, albeit visually pleasing, posters. And while I gave students opportunities to express themselves artistically, these extensions were always optional. The priority, I thought, needed to be the content. But as I explored @moonshotkidz, I started to consider this wasn’t always the case.
I began looking into STEAM instruction with a new lens. It turns out there was a lot more to it than I’d originally given it credit for. XQ, an educational institution dedicated to reimagining the high school experience, had a philosophy on STEAM that resonated with me. They share on their website that “the arts must be integrated into the lesson so students can see how each relevant discipline connects and works together. This allows students to develop and use skills naturally embedded in the arts and humanities, including empathy, creativity, and communication.”
The projects on @moonshotkidz truly integrate science with the arts. And there’s no glittery three-paneled science fair posters in sight! Let’s take a closer look at how these projects strike a delicate balance between rigorous scientific learning and art. We’ll also explore how you can collaborate with colleagues across your school to bring them to your students.
Many of the projects demonstrated by @moonshotkidz use small bursts of light or movement to enhance a piece of artwork. My personal favorites are this lighthouse:
And this jellyfish:
Both are impressive works in their own right, but only become more remarkable when illuminated or set in motion.
For art teachers, this is an opportunity to discuss the role that light or movement could play in a piece. It introduces questions about which pieces would be most enhanced by light or movement, and how this might change the way the artist communicates with their audience. After working to design and create an art piece, students could then use their STEM skills to add a light or movement component to their work. For a language arts component, students could write an artist’s statement explaining how the technology they’ve added contributes to their work. Taking a deep dive into the role technology takes in the finished piece creates a truly meaningful STEAM project.
3. Model another scientific concept
Recently, I attempted to teach my 7th graders about how neurons communicate messages from the body to the brain and back again, and how this process is disrupted as the result of concussive force to the brain. “It’s like wires!” I explained excitedly. “When you plug a light in, the signal can travel through the wire. When you unplug it, the signal can’t reach its destination!”
I’m sure the analogy resonated with a few of my students. But for the ones who need a more literal representation, the words on their own likely weren’t enough. Then, as I scrolled through @moonshotkidz later that same day, I saw my words come to life:
By connecting the wire to the battery, this video shows how a completed circuit allows a message to reach a receiver… just like the completed loop between the nerves, brain, and muscles I had described to my students.
Neuronal communication isn’t the only concept a circuit analogy can illustrate. In fact, it can be used to show how disrupting one step in a process can alter the entire outcome of a process driven by cause-and-effect relationships. Challenge yourself to rethink some of the analogies you use in your science classroom. Do you see any that could be improved with a @moonshotkidz visual?
Inspired yet?
If you’re ready to bring a @moonshotkidz project to your classroom, make sure to follow them on Instagram or TikTok. You can also become a supporter on Patreon to gain access to additional resources for a small fee per month. Your support will allow you to gain access to printable templates, project instructions, and video lessons. It’s worth suggesting to your admin to see if your district will sponsor adding these STEAM projects to your classroom Not to mention all of the profits from Patreon supporters go to materials and tools to create even more projects. So, what are you waiting for? Go forth and get creative with STEAM!
Steam’s Wishlist typically determines what the new hit game in the industry will be, becoming everyone’s obsession for a considerable amount of time. We’ve seen this happen with the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 and the most recent Palworld. And now, it’s time for another new contender to enter the race.
One that has been on many players’ radar is The First Descendent, and if you haven’t heard of it yet, you may want to strap in. It showcases similar elements to the popular Destiny 2, with all the looter shooter mechanics we know and love. The entry also combines some features from the underrated Anthem, capitalizing on a third-person perspective to maximize your view.
Currently, The First Descendant sits in the top 10 of the Steam Wishlist. It has passed a few titles, such as Nightingale and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.
Image Source: Steam via Twinfinite
When diving into the game, you’ll take on the role of a Descendant, a fighter who strives to save humanity. They excel in physical strength and occult mastery, stemming from ancient beings known as the “Ancestors.” With this power, players can take down the treacherous Vulgus, either solo or through co-op.
The team can hold up to four players, and they’ll find themselves up against countless deadly foes like the dreaded Colossal. Similar to many looter shooters, this will include a variety of missions, all while progressing through its immersive main campaign. You’ll have more than enough tools to survive through your journey, using three guns and four secondary accessories at your side.
Even though The First Descendant doesn’t have a set release, it is already shaping up to be a well-sought-out entry in 2024. Who knows? You may even see it climb up the Steam Wishlist charts once an official launch date has been placed.
So, if you’re looking for another RPG to get lost in, like Destiny 2 and Anthem, you should put it on your wishlist to prepare for this brand-new sci-fi experience.
About the author
Kristina Ebanez
Kristina is a Staff Writer and has been with Twinfinite for more than a year. She typically covers Minecraft, The Sims 4, Disney Dreamlight Valley, anime, Call of Duty, and newly released games. She loves the Metal Gear Solid series (Snake Eater especially), Rockstar’s Bully, the Horizon franchise, What Remains of Edith Finch, and many more. Her dog is also an avid video game watcher, primarily when there’s a horse or a cat. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and grew up gaming on the islands.
Palworld is now available in Early Access on Steam and in Game Preview mode on Xbox. The “Pokémon-with-guns” game is also playable on Valve’s Steam Deck, where I’ve been playing since Palworld launched.
Yes, Palworld is officially “Playable” on Steam Deck, which in Valve’s definition means that the game is “functional on Steam Deck, but might require some extra effort to interact with or configure.” Valve also warns some in-game text may be small and hard to read on the Steam Deck screen, and that users will need to adjust some graphics settings themselves.
Palworld on Steam Deck plays just like its bigger PC sibling — it’s a fully functional, open-world survival game with dozens of off-brand Pokémon pals in the palms of your hands. There’s no gameplay element the Steam Deck version lacks compared to the other versions, but it can also be a bit clumsy, and frequently feels slightly broken. I’ve had some difficulty using the Steam Deck’s gamepad controls to move through the game’s menus; some button presses simply don’t register consistently, and I’ve been befuddled by how to navigate certain menus. And Valve’s warning’s about tiny in-game text should be heeded. Palworld’s interface is built for much larger screens, and some button icons are difficult to discern.
Graphically, the game defaults to low settings, which delivers between 25-35 fps refresh rates. Tweaking those settings further will offer better performance without much sacrifice in visual quality. Palworld will look OK and run slightly better, generally at a 30 fps frame rate (which you can lock) with the following settings, with the Steam Deck’s native 1200 x 800 resolution:
VSync — off
Motion Blur — off
Max FPS — 30
Anti-aliasing — TSR (or TAA)
View Distance — low
Grass — medium
Shadows — medium
Effects Quality — medium
Texture Quality — medium
Manually setting all those graphics options to “low” will get you up to an inconsistent 40-50 fps, but the sheer ugliness of those visuals may not be worth the trade-off. A mostly solid 30 fps will likely serve your needs better.
Palworld obviously still needs a lot of work to be fully “Verified” on Steam Deck, particularly around various UI elements and improved game pad control support. But it’s more than playable for now, and worth trying out on your Steam Deck if you have one.
According to new data, it appears that Valve likely made about $1 billion from digitalCounter-Strike 2 (previously Global Offensive) cases and keys in 2023. Yes, that’s billion with a “B.”
The Week In Games: What’s Coming Out Beyond Alan Wake 2
In Valve’s immensely popular free-to-play tactical FPS Counter-Strike 2, players can get cases by playing and earning them through level drops, or purchase cases from Steam’s community market. These cases come in different variants and can contain extremely rare and valuable cosmetic items like weapon skins. But once you have a case, you don’t just open it. You also need a key, which must be purchased either directly from Steam or from other players on the community market. And because CS2 is very popular, this lootbox system is making Valve a lot of money.
As spotted by Dexerto, third-party website CS2 Case Tracker recently released its 2023 year in review for cases. And the biggest stat is the estimated $980,000,000 that Valve earned from players buying keys to open cases. Because keys are just digital items that unlock cases, it’s not like it costs Valve all that much to make them or maintain them so the company likely absorbed almost all of that staggering figure as profit.
But wait, that massive $980 million stat is only how much money Valve likely made from the sale of keys. It doesn’t factor in the 15% cut they get from every case sold on the community market. When you factor that in, it becomes very likely that Valve made well over $1 billion on cases and keys in 2023 alone.
That probably is one of the reasons Valve isn’t in a rush to make new video games. They don’t really need to. Instead, they can sit back and let Steam and Counter-Strike fund all their virtual reality experiments and other hardware projects. Honestly, it’s a miracle we ever got Half-Life: Alyx.
One last stat for the road: According to CS2 Case Tracker’s data the most popular day to open cases was Wednesday. Why? I don’t know. But there you go. You can now likely win a bar bet with this weird bit of trivia.
Palworld, the game that looks like, “Pokémon, but with guns,” was released Friday and is already one of the biggest releases of the year.
According to its developer, Pocketpair, the game has sold over one million copies within “about” eight hours of its release. Pocketpair shared the impressive sales number via X, but did not add any further clarification as to what that sales number included. Palworld launched to both Steam and Xbox Games Pass, so it’s unclear if that number includes copies of the game that Xbox Game Pass subscribers download as part of the service.
Polygon reached out to a representative of Pocketpair and asked the team to clarify what the sales number included. We will update the article as we hear back.
Regardless if the sales number counts the Xbox Game Pass downloads or not, Palworld has had an absolutely massive release day. According to Steam Charts, the game has over 340,000 concurrent players on Steam on Friday afternoon, beating out other popular titles like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Baldur’s Gate 3.
Palworld has been drumming up buzz for a long time now. Basically it stuck out for the contrast between its cute creatures and brutal conditions — previous trailers have shown its adorable monsters fighting with military-grade machinery and creatures toiling away in factories. It basically looks like a militarized Pokémon game, but with additional survival elements as well.
The cool thing about high school science fair projects is that kids are old enough to tackle some pretty amazing concepts. Some science experiments for high school are just advanced versions of simpler projects they did when they were younger, with detailed calculations or fewer instructions. Other projects involve fire, chemicals, or other materials they couldn’t use before.
Note: Some of these projects were written as classroom labs, but can be adapted to become science fair projects too. Just consider variables that you can change up, like materials or other parameters. That changes a classroom activity into a true scientific method experiment!
To make it easier to find the right high school science fair project idea for you, we’ve rated all the projects by difficulty and the materials needed:
Difficulty:
Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time or effort
Materials:
Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete
Jump to:
Biology and Life Science High School Science Fair Projects
Explore the living world with these biology science project ideas, learning more about plants, animals, the environment, and much more.
Extract DNA from an onion
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
You don’t need a lot of supplies to perform this experiment, but it’s impressive nonetheless. Turn this into a science fair project by trying it with other fruits and vegetables too.
Re-create Mendel’s pea plant experiment
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Gregor Mendel’s pea plant experiments were some of the first to explore inherited traits and genetics. Try your own cross-pollination experiments with fast-growing plants like peas or beans.
Make plants move with light
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
By this age, kids know that many plants move toward sunlight, a process known as phototropism. So high school science fair projects on this topic need to introduce variables into the process, like covering seedling parts with different materials to see the effects.
Test the five-second rule
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
We’d all like to know the answer to this one: Is it really safe to eat food you’ve dropped on the floor? Design and conduct an experiment to find out (although we think we might already know the answer).
Find out if color affects taste
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Just how interlinked are all our senses? Does the sight of food affect how it tastes? Find out with a fun food science fair project like this one!
See the effects of antibiotics on bacteria
Home Science Tools
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
Bacteria can be divided into two groups: gram-positive and gram-negative. In this experiment, students first determine the two groups, then try the effects of various antibiotics on them. You can get a gram stain kit, bacillus cereus and rodospirillum rubrum cultures, and antibiotic discs from Home Science Tools.
Experiment with the effects of light on the carbon cycle. Make this science fair project even more interesting by adding some small aquatic animals like snails or fish into the mix!
Learn more: Carbon Cycle at Science Lessons That Rock
Look for cell mitosis in an onion
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
Cell mitosis (division) is actually easy to see in action when you look at onion root tips under a microscope. Students will be amazed to see science theory become science reality right before their eyes. Adapt this lab into a high school science fair project by applying the process to other organisms too.
Test the effects of disinfectants
Amy Brown Science
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
Grow bacteria in a petri dish along with paper disks soaked in various antiseptics and disinfectants. You’ll be able to see which ones effectively inhibit bacteria growth.
Growing vegetables without soil (hydroponics) is a popular trend, allowing people to garden just about anywhere.
More Life Sciences and Biology Science Fair Projects for High School
Use these questions and ideas to design your own experiment:
Explore ways to prevent soil erosion.
What are the most accurate methods of predicting various weather patterns?
Try out various fertilization methods to find the best and safest way to increase crop yield.
What’s the best way to prevent mold growth on food for long-term storage?
Does exposure to smoke or other air pollutants affect plant growth?
Compare the chemical and/or bacterial content of various water sources (bottled, tap, spring, well water) etc.
Explore ways to clean up after an oil spill on land or water.
Conduct a wildlife field survey in a given area and compare it to results from previous surveys.
Find a new use for plastic bottles or bags to keep them out of landfills.
Devise a way to desalinate sea water and make it safe to drink.
Chemistry High School Science Fair Projects
Bunsen burners, beakers and test tubes, and the possibility of (controlled) explosions? No wonder chemistry is such a popular topic for high school science fair projects!
Break apart covalent bonds
Teaching Without Chairs
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Break the covalent bond of H2O into H and O with this simple experiment. You only need simple supplies for this one. Turn it into a science fair project by changing up the variables—does the temperature of the water matter? What happens if you try this with other liquids?
Are the calorie counts on your favorite snacks accurate? Build your own calorimeter and find out! This kit from Home Science Tools has all the supplies you’ll need.
Detect latent fingerprints
Hub Pages
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Forensic science is engrossing and can lead to important career opportunities too. Explore the chemistry needed to detect latent (invisible) fingerprints, just like they do for crime scenes!
Tweak this basic concept to create a variety of high school chemistry science fair projects. Change the temperature, surface area, pressure, and more to see how reaction rates change.
Determine whether sports drinks provide more electrolytes than OJ
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
Are those pricey sports drinks really worth it? Try this experiment to find out. You’ll need some special equipment for this one; buy a complete kit at Home Science Tools.
Turn flames into a rainbow
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
You’ll need to get your hands on a few different chemicals for this experiment, but the wow factor will make it worth the effort! Make it a science project by seeing if different materials, air temperature, or other factors change the results.
Discover the size of a mole
Amy Brown Science
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
The mole is a key concept in chemistry, so it’s important to ensure students really understand it. This experiment uses simple materials like salt and chalk to make an abstract concept more concrete. Make it a project by applying the same procedure to a variety of substances, or determining whether outside variables have an effect on the results.
Cook up candy to learn mole and molecule calculations
Dunigan Science on TpT
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
This edible experiment lets students make their own peppermint hard candy while they calculate mass, moles, molecules, and formula weights. Tweak the formulas to create different types of candy and make this into a sweet science fair project!
Take a closer look at an everyday item: soap! Use oils and other ingredients to make your own soap, learning about esters and saponification. Tinker with the formula to find one that fits a particular set of parameters.
Learn more: Saponification at Chemistry Solutions on TpT
Uncover the secrets of evaporation
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Explore the factors that affect evaporation, then come up with ways to slow them down or speed them up for a simple science fair project.
More Chemistry Science Fair Projects for High School
These questions and ideas can spark ideas for a unique experiment:
Compare the properties of sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Explore the impact of temperature, concentration, and seeding on crystal growth.
Test various antacids on the market to find the most effective product.
What is the optimum temperature for yeast production when baking bread from scratch?
Compare the vitamin C content of various fruits and vegetables.
How does temperature affect enzyme-catalyzed reactions?
Investigate the effects of pH on an acid-base chemical reaction.
Devise a new natural way to test pH levels (such as cabbage leaves).
What’s the best way to slow down metal oxidation (the form of rust)?
How do changes in ingredients and method affect the results of a baking recipe?
Physics High School Science Fair Projects
When you think of physics science projects for high school, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the classic build-a-bridge. But there are plenty of other ways for teens to get hands-on with physics concepts. Here are some to try.
Remove the air in a DIY vacuum chamber
Instructables
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
You can use a vacuum chamber to do lots of cool high school science fair projects, but a ready-made one can be expensive. Try this project to make your own with basic supplies.
Looking for a simple but showy high school science fair project? Build your own mini Tesla coil and wow the crowd!
Boil water in a paper cup
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Logic tells us we shouldn’t set a paper cup over a heat source, right? Yet it’s actually possible to boil water in a paper cup without burning the cup up! Learn about heat transfer and thermal conductivity with this experiment. Go deeper by trying other liquids like honey to see what happens.
Build a better lightbulb
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Emulate Edison and build your own simple light bulb! You can turn this into a science fair project by experimenting with different types of materials for filaments.
Measure the speed of light—with your microwave
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Grab an egg and head to your microwave for this surprisingly simple experiment! By measuring the distance between cooked portions of egg whites, you’ll be able to calculate the wavelength of the microwaves in your oven, and in turn, the speed of light.
Generate a Lichtenberg figure
Science Notes
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
See electricity in action when you generate and capture a Lichtenberg figure with polyethylene sheets, wood, or even acrylic and toner. Change the electrical intensity and materials to see what types of patterns you can create.
Explore the power of friction with sticky note pads
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Ever try to pull a piece of paper out of the middle of a big stack? It’s harder than you think it would be! That’s due to the power of friction. In this experiment, students interleave the sheets of two sticky note pads, then measure how much weight it takes to pull them apart. The results are astonishing!
Build a cloud chamber to prove background radiation
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
Ready to dip your toe into particle physics? Learn about background radiation and build a cloud chamber to prove the existence of muons.
Measure the effect of temperature on resistance
Science Project
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
This is a popular and classic science fair experiment in physics. You’ll need a few specialized supplies, but they’re pretty easy to find.
A basic bottle rocket is pretty easy to build, but it opens the door to lots of different science fair projects. Design a powerful launcher, alter the rocket so it flies higher or farther, or use only recycled materials for your flyer.
More Physics Science Fair Projects for High School
Design your own experiment in response to these questions and prompts.
Determine the most efficient solar panel design and placement.
What’s the best way to eliminate friction between two objects?
Explore the best methods of insulating an object against heat loss.
What effect does temperature have on batteries when stored for long periods of time?
Test the effects of magnets or electromagnetic fields on plants or other living organisms.
Determine the best angle and speed of a bat swing in baseball.
What’s the best way to soundproof an area or reduce noise produced by an item?
Explore methods for reducing air resistance in automotive design.
Use the concepts of torque and rotation to perfect a golf swing.
Compare the strength and durability of various building materials.
Engineering High School STEM Fair Projects
Many schools are changing up their science fairs to STEM fairs, to encourage students with an interest in engineering to participate. Many great engineering science fair projects start with a STEM challenge, like those shown here. Use these ideas to spark a full-blown project to build something new and amazing!
Solve a current environmental issue
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
A science fair project can also be an entry to the Slingshot Challenge. Produce a 1-minute video by February 1, 2024, with a solution to a current environmental problem (think: uniting creative waste reducers on social media or rehabilitating forests affected by fire) for the chance to receive up to $10,000 in funding.
Construct a model maglev train
Supermagnete
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Maglev trains may just be the future of mass transportation. Build a model at home, and explore ways to implement the technology on a wider basis.
Wind energy is renewable, making it a good solution for the fossil fuel problem. For a smart science fair project, experiment to find the most efficient wind turbine design for a given situation.
Re-create Da Vinci’s flying machine
Student Savvy
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Da Vinci sketched several models of “flying machines” and hoped to soar through the sky. Do some research into his models and try to reconstruct one of your own.
Smartwatches are ubiquitous these days, so pretty much anyone can wear a heart-rate monitor on their wrist. But do they work any better than one you can build yourself? Get the specialized items you need like the Arduino LilyPad Board on Amazon.
Race 3D printed cars
Instructables
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Advanced
3D printers are a marvel of the modern era, and budding engineers should definitely learn to use them. Use Tinkercad or a similar program to design and print race cars that can support a defined weight, then see which can roll the fastest! (No 3D printer in your STEM lab? Check the local library. Many of them have 3D printers available for patrons to use.)
Hydroponics is the gardening wave of the future, making it easy to grow plants anywhere with minimal soil required. For a science fair STEM engineering challenge, design and construct your own hydroponic garden capable of growing vegetables to feed a family. This model is just one possible option.
Delve into robotics with this engineering project! This kit includes all the materials you need, with complete video instructions. Once you’ve built the basic structure, tinker around with the design to improve its strength, accuracy, or other traits.
Return to the good old days and build a radio from scratch! This makes a cool science fair project if you experiment with different types of materials for the antenna. It takes some specialized equipment, but fortunately, Home Science Tools has an all-in-one kit for this project.
The challenge? Set up a system to alert you when someone has broken into your house or classroom. This can take any form students can dream up, and you can customize this STEM high school science experiment for multiple skill levels. Keep it simple with an alarm that makes a sound that can be heard from a specified distance. Or kick it up a notch and require the alarm system to send a notification to a cell phone, like the project at the link.
Balsa wood bridges are OK, but this plastic bottle bridge is really impressive! In fact, students can build all sorts of structures using the concept detailed at the link. It’s the ultimate upcycled STEM challenge!
With the pre-release of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown started, Ubisoft has chosen this week to rebrand its Ubisoft+ subscription services, and introduce a PC version of the “Classics” tier at a lower price. And a big part of this, says the publisher’s director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, is getting players “comfortable” with not owning their games.
The Best Reveals From The Game Awards 2023
It’s hard to keep up with how often Ubisoft has rebranded its online portals for its games, with Uplay, Ubisoft Game Launcher, Ubisoft Connect, Uplay+, Uplay Passport, Ubisoft Club, and now Ubisoft+ Premium and Ubisoft+ Classics, all names used over the last decade or so. It’s also seemed faintly bewildering why there’s a demand for any of them, given Ubisoft released only five non-mobile games last year.
However, a demand there apparently is, says Tremblay in an interview with GI.biz. He claims the company’s subscription service had its biggest ever month October 2023, and that the service has had “millions” of subscribers, and “over half a billion hours” played. Of course, a lot of this could be a result of Ubisoft’s various moments of refusing to release games to Steam, forcing PC players to use its services, and likely opting for a month’s subscription rather than the full price of the game they were looking to buy. But still, clearly people are opting to use it.
But it remains strange why enough people would want to subscribe—and at $17.99 a month it’s not cheap—to a single publisher’s output. That’s not a diss of Ubisoft’s games—although you might want to apply your own—but something that would be as true were it Activision Blizzard or EA.
You can subscribe to Game Pass, or PlayStation Plus, and get a broad range of hundreds of games from dozens of publishers, or you can pay significantly more to only get the games made by one single publisher, and indeed a publisher with a very distinct style of game. TV networks and movie companies tried this, and those numbers are thinning out fast, with many already compromising by returning their shows to the larger streamers.
What’s more chilling about all this, however, is when Tremblay moves on to how Ubisoft wishes to see a “consumer shift,” similar to that of the market for CDs and DVDs, where people have moved over to Spotify and Netflix, instead of buying physical media to keep on their own shelves. Given that most people, while being a part of the problem (hello), also think of this as a problem, it’s so weird to see it phrased as if some faulty thinking in the company’s audience.
One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games. That’s the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That’s a transformation that’s been a bit slower to happen [in games]. As gamers grow comfortable in that aspect… you don’t lose your progress. If you resume your game at another time, your progress file is still there. That’s not been deleted. You don’t lose what you’ve built in the game or your engagement with the game. So it’s about feeling comfortable with not owning your game.
Tremblay goes on to say to GI.biz, “But as people embrace that model, they will see that these games will exist, the service will continue, and you’ll be able to access them when you feel like.” But…we know that isn’t true! We know how often services don’t continue, how many games are no longer available.
One of my all-time favorite games was published by Ubisoft in 2003, called In Memorium (Missing: Since January in the U.S.), and that’s certainly not on its Classics range, I’m sure because the company long ago lost any rights to it. Luckily for me, I own a physical copy of it. But any number of other Ubisoft games from the early ‘00s I stick in its Classics site have no results. There’s no reason on Earth to think the same won’t be true of Ubisoft’s current games in 20 years.
There are still plans for Ubisoft to add streaming access to Activision Blizzard’s games to Ubisoft+, as bizarre as that may seem given the publisher’s recent acquisition by Microsoft. It’ll also seem fairly redundant, given all the games will come to the far more ubiquitous Game Pass, where they won’t be behind the technical hurdle of streaming. And indeed Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is already available to play via the Epic Games Store if you pre-ordered it there.
If, for whatever reason, you just adore Ubisoft’s output, then yes—for $17.99 a month you can play Skull & Bones, Avatar, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Anno 1800, and The Crew: Motorfest right now, which is a lot cheaper than buying them all individually. But you won’t own any of them, and you’ll need to keep paying that 18 bucks a month in perpetuity if you want to keep them, right up until you can’t any more.
The BMW Group, including BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, jumped into the in-car gaming world at CES, a consumer electronics trade show, today in Las Vegas. The ninth generation of BMW’s operating system utilizes third-party apps and games in the BMW ConnectedDrive Store to deliver the experience to customers.
In addition to games the app store will offer tools for communication, productivity, news and other infotainment. BMW joins Mercedes-Benz, Tesla and others now with ways to play in the vehicle.
“BMW is synonymous with both the ultimate driving machine and the ultimate digital experience,” said Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management responsible for BMW Group Development, in a press release.
“At the CES we are showing more content, more customization and more gaming. This is all underpinned by our in-house developed BMW Operating System. And we will take a look to the future with augmented reality and reliable artificial intelligence at the interaction between human and machine.”
BWM is adding in-car gaming to its ninth-generation operating system. BMW North America
At the electronics show BMW showed a game called Beach Buggy Racing 2, a throwback racing video game meant to feel like the home console titles of the ’80s and ’90s. Two passengers can compete against each other in the same vehicle with a split-screen setup, which the model is parked.
With connected vehicle technology becoming more advanced and popular, it wouldn’t be difficult to allow over-the-air play with other BMW drivers, experts believe.
BMW said that players will be able to connect their own favorite controllers to the vehicle via Bluetooth, a feature that is coming via an over-the-air update later this year.
All of this technology is in addition to the AirConsole App, which already lets BMW customers play single and multiplayer games in their car. Those are more casual games, like ones a player would play on their smartphone, which can also be used as a controller. The AirConsole list of games is also being constantly added to.
Games will be available via the BMW Digital Premium, and is only available for models with BMW Operating System 9. It can be found in the ConnectedDrive Store either online, in the MyBMW App or directly from the car.
BMW covers the necessary data usage from the package.
BWM will allow passengers to pair their favorite wireless controllers via Bluetooth. BMW North America
There was a lot of news about in-car gaming a few years ago, first when Tesla boss Elon Musk said that its Model S sedan could run the modern and graphically difficult video game The Witcher 3 and more recently when it added Steam compatibility.
Steam is a video game store and distribution platform and now Teslas with 16 gigabytes of RAM can download and play from a library of thousands of current-generation games.
Mercedes made news offering the casual Angry Birds smartphone game on its infotainment screen in 2023. Now at CES the luxury brand also announced a collaboration with retro games streaming service Antstream Arcade, which will integrate cloud gaming into the car.
The system is showcased in its 2024 E-Class sedan, and in an advanced future version demonstrated at CES.
Gaming formats are universal in their location within vehicles. Screens in front of the driver are not utilized. Instead, a centrally located infotainment screen and screens in front of the passenger
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Sixth grade science covers a wide variety of topics and varies depending on the curriculum. We’ve rounded up the best 6th grade science fair projects to inspire kids, as well as classroom science demos and activities that will grab their attention.
To make it easier to find what you’re looking for, we’ve rated all the projects and activities by difficulty and the materials needed:
Difficulty:
Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time or effort
Materials:
Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete
Jump to:
Biology and Earth Science 6th Grade Science Fair Projects
For students interested in anatomy, animals, geology, ecology, and more, these are the science fair projects they need!
Find the fastest way to ripen fruit
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Need to ripen those bananas or peaches in a hurry? Do some research and then experiment to find the fastest way to safely ripen fruit without sacrificing flavor.
Clean up an oil spill
Kitchen Counter Chronicle
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Learn why an oil spill is so devastating for wildlife and the ecosystem with this hands-on activity. Kids experiment to find the best way to clean up oil floating on water and rescue the animals affected by the spill.
Basic water-filtration systems are pretty simple, but they make terrific science fair projects. Experiment with different setups, and find a way to make safe drinking water for people who need it.
Shake it up with earthquake science
Love To Know
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Build simple model structures, then experiment to see how the actions of earthquakes affect them. Do research into what engineers and architects build in earthquake zones, then perform an experiment to see if you can improve on their findings.
Hydroponics is the hot new gardening trend, but is it really a better way to garden? Find out with a DIY hydroponics gardening setup, comparing the results with traditional container gardening.
Find out if chewing gum really helps improve test scores
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
One of the more popular 6th grade science fair projects answers the question: Does chewing gum affect test scores? You’ll be surprised by the results!
Create top-notch compost in a cup
The Happy Housewife
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
This is an easy science activity, and you can turn it into a science fair project by experimenting with different mixtures, layering, and conditions for your compost cups.
Do you really need to use poisons to keep ants out of your home? Explore other possible solutions in this science project idea.
Simulate a tsunami and find ways to protect people
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Build a model to simulate a tsunami, then come up with potential ways to minimize the damage future waves may cause.
Design a squirrel-proof bird feeder
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Squirrels can be real pests at backyard bird feeders, and people are always trying to come up with new solutions to the issue. Can you be the one who finally solves this pesky problem?
Chemistry 6th Grade Science Fair Projects
Students who love to mix up chemicals and explore the results will enjoy these 6th grade chemistry science fair ideas.
Compare baking powder and baking soda
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Baking powder and baking soda have similar names, but do they behave the same when used in a baking recipe? Bake up a few cakes and find out!
Devise a formula for creating the biggest soap bubbles
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Soap bubble formulas vary, and some allow you to make bigger bubbles than others. What does it take to make the biggest bubble of them all?
Learn if tea and cola damage teeth
Education.com
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
Use eggshells to explore how various beverages can stain teeth in this classic 6th grade science fair project. (It also teaches important lessons about dental hygiene!)
The human body needs iron to be healthy, and many breakfast cereal boxes boast that they contain it. Conduct a 6th grade science fair project to find out if cereals really contain all the iron they say they do.
Find the best way to clean up old coins
Gally Kids
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Use common household items to make old oxidized coins clean and shiny again in this simple chemistry experiment. Form a hypothesis about which method will work best, then do some research to explain the results.
Which do you think has more sugar, a glass of Pepsi or one of orange juice? Boil away the water to find out in this 6th grade chemistry experiment.
Explore the properties of plastic made from milk
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Making milk from plastic is actually pretty simple. Turn it into a science fair project by learning more about its strength, durability, and flexibility, and proposing a practical use for it.
Determine which type of juice has the most vitamin C
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Vitamin C might not immediately cure your cold, but it definitely has health benefits. Does orange juice really have the most vitamin C? Conduct an experiment using an iodine titration method to learn the answer.
Physics and Engineering 6th Grade Science Fair Projects
Calling all tinkerers! Build, create, and engineer a science fair project using physics principals.
Build a powerful paper-plane launcher
Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Here’s a cool 6th grade science fair project. Design and build a paper-airplane launcher that can fly a plane farther than anyone else’s.
Adding ice to a glass of soda cools it off, but it also waters it down. See if you can find a fast way to cool down soda while it’s still in the can or bottle instead.
Launch a bottle rocket higher or more accurately
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
A basic water-powered rocket isn’t that hard to assemble, but you can turn it into a bona fide 6th grade science fair project by playing around with the design. Figure out how to launch it higher, or change the trajectory to hit a certain target.
Identify the best insulating material
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
Insulating an item can prevent it from losing heat, like an insulated beverage bottle. What materials are the most effective insulators? How can you find out?
Drop parachutes to test air resistance
Education.com
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Use the scientific method to test different types of material and see which makes the most effective parachute. This is an easy project that’s perfect for kids interested in design and engineering.
Here’s one of those classic science fair projects that you can really customize to make your own. Try testing out a variety of fruits and veggies, or playing around with connecting several types of produce to see what happens. This inexpensive kit has all the supplies you need.
Engineer the strongest craft stick bridge
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
This is a classic science activity for the classroom, but it works well for 6th grade science fair projects too. Form a hypothesis about the strongest type of bridge design, then build your own models to test it out.
Assemble the best simple motor
Home Science Tools
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Looking for an idea that’s impressive but not too complicated? Build your own simple motor! You only need a few special supplies, including insulated copper wire and neodymium magnets. Turn it into a true 6th grade science fair project by altering the variables to see if you can increase the speed, reduce the noise, or make other improvements.
Learn if room temperature affects candle burn rate
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
This is a simple experiment to conduct, and it’s inexpensive too. Burn birthday candles in a variety of temperatures to see if they burn faster in higher temps.
Determine how much money energy vampires are wasting in your home
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
So-called “energy vampires” use up energy even when they’re not in active use. And energy costs money. Determine how much energy is being wasted by energy vampires in your home, and figure out how much money you can save on an annual electric bill by getting rid of them.
6th Grade Science Classroom Demos and Hands-On Activities
Engage students with a live demonstration showing the concepts they’re studying. Even better, give them a chance to get hands-on and do the science themselves!
Assemble motorized tiny dancers
Babble Dabble Do
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Build a homopolar motor to make little spinning wire dancers. It takes a little practice to get it right, but it’s a really fun way to learn about motors and energy.
No Bluetooth speaker? No problem! Build your own from paper cups and a toilet paper tube. This is a 6th grade STEM challenge that’s sure to amaze kids.
This is a neat way to talk about our genes. Have each student add pony beads to their bracelet to represent different traits. Then they can compare their differences and similarities. It’s likely that no two students will have the same bracelets!
Students dissolve the calcium carbonate eggshell in vinegar and discover the membranes beneath that hold the egg together. It’s a unique and intriguing way to learn about acid-base reactions.
Learn more: Naked Egg at Making Memories With Your Kids
Experiment with naked eggs
Exploratorium
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Now, submerge those naked eggs in corn syrup and water to learn about osmosis. The eggs shrink or grow depending on the liquid they’re placed in. So cool!
Explore the properties of cohesion and adhesion with this simple experiment using only water and cotton string. Expand the learning by trying the same experiment with different materials and liquids.
The rockets used for space flight generally have more than one stage to give them the extra boost they need. This experiment uses balloons to model a two-stage rocket launch, teaching kids about the laws of motion.
Change the color of a liquid in an instant
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Want to see your kids gasp in amazement? Perform the iodine clock reaction. You only need a few drugstore chemicals to change the solution from clear to dark blue faster than students can blink.
Levitate a Ping-Pong ball
Buggy and Buddy
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Kids will get a kick out of this experiment, which is really all about Bernoulli’s principle. You only need plastic bottles, bendy straws, and Ping-Pong balls to make the science magic happen.
Build model lungs using a plastic water bottle and some balloons to learn more about the respiratory system. You can modify the experiment to demonstrate the effects of smoking too.
Learn more: Lungs Model at Surviving a Teacher’s Salary
Dissect an owl pellet
Gift of Curiosity
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
Dig into an owl’s regurgitated meals (it’s not as gross as it sounds!) to discover what their diet consists of. Owl pellets are readily available online, and kids will be intrigued by what they find.
All you need is steel wool and a 9-volt battery to perform this science demo that’s bound to make their eyes light up! Kids learn about chain reactions, chemical changes, and more.
There are lots of cell model projects out there, but this might be one of the cutest ones we’ve seen! And it’s easier to assemble than you might think.
It’s surprisingly easy to pull a strand of DNA from this sweet fruit. Teach your kids about genetics and DNA with this 6th grade science project that uses only basic household supplies.
Design a biodome
Teach Engineering
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
There’s so much to learn in this 6th grade science project. Kids build a scale-model biodome to learn more about different environments and ecosystems, decomposition, the food web, and more.
This is another classic science demo that never fails to delight. Use the power of air pressure to suck a hard-boiled egg into a jar—no hands required.
Who knew such a simple material could be used to determine a substance’s acidity or alkalinity? Your students can explore acids and bases with this simple experiment.
The fated day has come: If you are still using Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 you might need to upgrade to Windows 10 or 11 soon, as Valve’s massively popular digital storefront, Steam, no longer officially supports those older operating systems.
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Valve first revealed that it would drop support for older Windows versions in a support page posting last March. The message explained that as of January 1, 2024, Steam users on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 will no longer receive new client updates of “any kind,” including security fixes. As a result, Valve is warning users of these operating system to upgrade “sooner than later” to avoid malware and other malicious attacks.
In the post, Valve also explained that Steam Support will no longer offer technical support for issues related to these older versions of Windows. Valve also can’t guarantee that Steam will remain useable on these older OSs moving forward.
However, to be clear, Valve isn’t flipping a switch and killing Steam on Windows 7. It’s just saying that things might start to break soon, and if they do, they won’t get fixed.
“We expect the Steam client and games on these older operating systems to continue running for some time without updates after January 1st, 2024,” Valve wrote. “But we are unable to guarantee continued functionality after that date.”
Why Steam is ending support for Windows 7
Valve says one main reason for it cutting off support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 is due to Google Chrome no longer supporting these older operating systems. That’s a problem for Valve, as Steam relies on an embedded version of the browser. The company behind Half-Life and Portal also mentioned that future versions of the Steam client will “require” Windows features and security updates only found in Windows 10 and 11.
Valve ended its post encouraging players to upgrade to Windows 10 or 11 soon.
“Computers running these [older] operating systems, when connected to the internet, are susceptible to new malware and other exploits which will not be patched,” Valve warned. “That malware can cause your PC, Steam, and games to perform poorly or crash. That malware can also be used to steal the credentials for your Steam account or other services.”
While some folks might now be forced to upgrade or even buy a new PC to keep playing on Steam, it seems reasonable for Valve to move forward and leave behind Windows 7, which was released all the way back in 2009. That’s a hell of a long time when it comes to technology, and Valve supporting that OS for nearly 15 years is impressive.
Pokémon’s profit margins probably don’t reflect it, but the franchise had a rough year in 2023. Without a new mainline role-playing game to dominate the series’ headlines, Pikachu and friends were, instead, shrouded in controversies throughout the past 12 months. Between Pokémon Go angering swaths of its community, scalpers making a public embarrassment of the franchise to people who don’t even pay attention to it, and Scarlet and Violet’s DLC underlining the problems ingrained within the Pokémon pipeline, the screws are coming loose on the hype train. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
Photo: Valve / Kotaku / Roman Samborskyi (Shutterstock)
A Steam user on Christmas Eve had a question: How do you earn just one measly little Steam Point? They were at 68,999 points and wanted to hit 69,000 because, you know, it’s a nice number and all that. However, because of how Steam Points are earned, there seemed no simple way to get that one measly point. But then a Christmas miracle happened. – Zack Zwiezen Read More
I’m a fairly recent convert to PC gaming. In 2016, I spontaneously picked up a Steam Machine, Valve’s early attempt to fuse Steam with a more console-like experience. It was my first real introduction to the breadth of the Steam library and performance that outpaced my PS4. I was hooked, so I got my hands on a Dell PC, then soon after built my own computer. I sold off my Xbox One and a majority of my PS4 collection, holding on to my PS4 itself for the eventual release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, but otherwise shifted all of my gaming over to PC. Games ran better on PC, and there were more of them. Why would I spend time gaming on anything less? Why should I sacrifice any amount of performance when I should be striving for the absolute best that tech can offer?
Evil West Looks Like Good, Old-Fashioned, Vampire-Punching Fun
As I head into 2024, however, I’m thinking that it’s time to game less on my Windows machines and more on my PS5, Switch, gaming-first devices like Steam Deck, and other consoles.
The inspiration for this change has little to do with exclusive titles on various platforms or the added comfort of gaming on a couch (I actually don’t have a couch and use the same monitor for my PS5 as I do my PC). The spark for this decision can be attributed to the Moog Grandmother synthesizer.
Console-gaming more in 2024
As a musician, I embraced computers and digital audio workstations for their near infinitude of musical outcomes. The ability to use software like Reason or VCV Rack meant that I could have tons of virtual instruments, many of which sound nearly indistinguishable to their physical counterparts. But what I lost in that process was the experience of spending focused time with a musical instrument. I instead adopted the role of a producer and tweaker, and was perpetually distracted by the ease of firing up a web browser and disappearing into the hole of the internet.
Maybe there’s a reason I can’t afford a car…or even a couch…Photo: Claire Jackson / Kotaku
But since pivoting to musical instruments instead of using a computer, I’ve come to develop a more direct and intimate, distraction-free experience with music. It’s led me to wonder where else I can achieve that closeness. The first thing that came to mind was gaming. In some ways switching from a PC to a console to game is merely trading one screen for another, but the more time I’ve spent with my PS5 the more I’m reminded of the benefits of a more isolated, focused gaming experience, like the kind I enjoyed for most of my life—even if I’m playing a game that could technically run better on my PC.
In gaming we’re so often bombarded with the need for “bigger, better, faster now.” Our framerates must now be 120hz, resolutions at least 1440p, and marketing materials tell us that we ought to be streaming, sharing, and creating content constantly. Overlays want us to constantly be chatting on Discord and other services. Consoles have been infected by this mandate too, but the PC is the king of making you feel like shit for not having a reliably stable framerate on the most graphically demanding games at absolutely all times. How can you even have fun if ray-tracing isn’t involved and set to the max?
My PS5, until now, has been like owning a car: I need one for work (or so I imagine. Like a couch, I don’t have one of those either). But after spontaneously buying Alan Wake II on PS5 after beating it on PC , I realized the benefits of closing myself off from the distraction of a web browser. I can’t Alt+Tab away to have the internet tell me whether or not I should be using performance or quality mode or to randomly chat in Discord. As I’m once again following the dark tale of Mr. Wake, I’m doing so in an environment exclusively made for gaming. And yes, I’m playing it at 30-frames-per-second, but the focused experience of shutting off the work machine and turning to the game machine I believe is resulting in a closer experience with this game, and I’m hoping it will in other areas.
In trading the keyboard for the controller, I’m finding a more focused gaming experience.Photo: Claire Jackson / Kotaku
Does this mean I’m done with PC gaming? No, absolutely not. I don’t personally own an Xbox, so I’lli use my Windows 11 machine to enjoy Microsoft’s offerings, and I’ve developed a love for emulation in the last couple of years. And given my job, I do need to stay connected to the world of PC gaming.
But in 2024, I’m going to try and go to my PlayStation first for gaming experiences, letting myself be immersed not because I’m chasing endless horsepower on the “ultimate” “FTW” platform of gaming, but because I’m making the choice to use a separate, unrelated machine from the one I use for all the clinical and boring parts of my life. Like my synthesizers, I want to recenter gaming as a focused, direct experience, and I think dedicated hardware is the key.
Valve offered a peek behind the curtain of Steam’s biggest games of 2023 on Wednesday, revealing which titles dominated the sales charts on PC gaming’s biggest digital platform. Valve also divulged which games Steam users — and Steam Deck owners — played the most this year, with Baldur’s Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, Starfield, and Sons of the Forest appearing in multiple top-12 lists.
Valve doesn’t provide specific sales figures or numbered rankings, but rather reveals the top-100 Steam games across multiple categories, breaking each 100-game list into multiple tiers based on sales or play performance:
Platinum: 1st – 12th
Gold: 13th – 24th
Silver: 25th – 50th
Bronze: 51st – 100th
The company’s data spans Jan. 1 to Dec. 15 of this year, so high-performing 2023 latecomers like The Finals mostly missed out on higher rankings on Valve’s lists. Here’s a breakdown of the biggest, most-played, and best-selling games on Steam this year.
Bestselling games on Steam in 2023
The top 12 (platinum-tier) games on Steam, based on total gross revenue earned in 2023, includes plenty of free-to-play titles like Apex Legends and Lost Ark, alongside paid premium games like Hogwarts Legacy and Starfield. (Publisher Activision also lists Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, and Warzone as simply Call of Duty on Steam, to explain that naming convention.)
Apex Legends
Baldur’s Gate 3
Call of Duty
Counter-Strike 2
Cyberpunk 2077
Destiny 2
Dota 2
Hogwarts Legacy
Lost Ark
PUBG: Battlegrounds
Sons Of The Forest
Starfield
Appearing just outside of the top 12, in the “gold” sales tier, are stalwart games like Dead by Daylight and Grand Theft Auto 5, alongside newer releases like the Resident Evil 4 remake and EA Sports FC 24.
Bestselling new games on Steam in 2023
Only a third of the top-12 bestselling games on Steam this year were actually released in 2023, so Valve highlights the new-release bestsellers separately. It also bases the following list on the first two weeks of revenue after launching.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Baldur’s Gate 3
Cities: Skylines 2
EA Sports FC 24
Hogwarts Legacy
Payday 3
Remnant 2
Resident Evil 4
Sons Of The Forest
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Starfield
Street Fighter 6
Notable 2023 new releases like Dead Space, Mortal Kombat 1, and Party Animals ranked in the gold tier, while Diablo 4, Lies of P, and Six Days in Fallujah ranked in the silver tier. (Valve did not reveal bronze-tier data.)
Most played Steam games of 2023
The most-played Steam games of 2023 is a mostly familiar list, with venerable favorites Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Destiny 2 ranking in the top 12. Newcomers on the most-played list include big hits like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Hogwarts Legacy, alongside challengers like Goose Goose Duck.
Here are the top-12 most-played Steam games of the year, all of which peaked at more than 300,000 concurrent players. (Valve said it excluded games with “brief spikes in player counts due to things like giveaways and free weekends.”)
Apex Legends
Baldur’s Gate 3
Counter-Strike 2
Destiny 2
Dota 2
Goose Goose Duck
Hogwarts Legacy
Lost Ark
PUBG: Battlegrounds
Sons Of The Forest
Starfield
Most played games on Steam Deck in 2023
Steam users played a lot of familiar favorites on the go this year, including blockbusters Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield, alongside smaller fare like Dave the Diver and Vampire Survivors. The original Half-Life also made it to the top 12 most-played Steam Deck games, almost assuredly because Valve made it free for its 25th anniversary.
Valve says the list of most-played Steam Deck games was measured by “daily active player counts throughout the year.”
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Baldur’s Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077
Dave the Diver
Elden Ring
Grand Theft Auto 5
Half-Life
Hogwarts Legacy
Resident Evil 4
Starfield
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Vampire Survivors
Just outside of the top-12 Steam Deck games are notable 2023 releases like Diablo 4, Dredge, and Risk of Rain Returns.
Nothing gets kids more excited for science than hands-on experiments! Watch your 4th grade science students’ eyes light up when they try some of these activities. You’ll find physics, biology, engineering, chemistry, and more. These projects are easy to set up and really help drive the learning home. Get ready for some science fun!
To help you find the right 4th grade science projects and activities, we’ve rated them all based on difficulty and materials:
Difficulty:
Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much any time
Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time or effort
Materials:
Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete
Jump to:
4th Grade Science Fair Projects
These 4th grade experiments also work well as science fair projects. Try changing up the variables to turn it into a real experiment, then form a hypothesis and find out what happens.
Blow unpoppable bubbles
Learning Resources
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
A soap bubble you can hold in your hand? It’s true! A little glycerin makes the soap bubble layers stronger, so you can even toss them gently from person to person.
No list of 4th grade science projects would be complete without crystals! Kids of all ages love growing crystals, making this an ideal way to learn about supersaturated solutions. The classic experiment gets a new twist when you have kids shape pipe cleaners into their own names first.
Your students will truly feel like scientists when they perform this classic experiment. They’ll prep the dishes with agar, swab different surfaces, and see what bacteria they grow. It’s gross science, but it’s also easy and impressive.
Early chemistry experiments with acids and bases are always a lot of fun. This one uses the natural acids of lemon juice and adds a little food coloring to up the wow factor.
Adding items like salt or sugar to water changes its density, as does the temperature itself. Turn this into a 4th grade science fair project by experimenting with different solutions and forming hypotheses about the results.
Colorful, simple, and impressive: It’s the trifecta of 4th grade science experiments! Wow your students by layering colored sugar water as you learn about density, adhesion, and cohesion.
Transform milk into plastic
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Plastic seems incredibly modern, but people have been making casein plastic from milk for centuries. In this 4th grade science project, students experiment to create the formula for the best milk plastic. They’ll be amazed at the results!
Simulate an earthquake
Teaching Science
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
The ground under our feet may feel solid, but an earthquake changes that pretty quickly. Use Jell-O to simulate the Earth’s crust, then see if you can build an earthquake-proof structure for a practical and fascinating 4th grade science fair project.
Kids will really get into this project, indulging their creativity as they invent a plant or animal that’s never been seen before. They’ll need to be able to explain the biology behind it all, though, making this an in-depth project you can tailor to any class.
Yup, it’s gross … so kids will love it! Seal food items in a plastic bag and experiment to see what factors affect their decomposition, helped along by a heaping dose of mold.
With just a few supplies including balloons and a plastic bottle, you can make an impressive working model of human lungs. This makes a very cool 4th grade science fair project.
Explore the causes of tooth decay
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
They hear it from their parents all the time, but this experiment will prove to your students once and for all what can happen to their teeth when exposed to different drinks such as soda and milk. This is one of those classic 4th grade science fair projects every kid should try.
4th Grade STEM Challenge Science Projects
For students who love to tinker, STEM challenges can spark incredible 4th grade science fair projects. Here are some of our favorites for this age group.
Who knew electricity could be so adorable? Explore the science behind batteries and motors by creating a simple “wigglebot.” Experiment with weights to throw the motor off balance and create fun designs.
You’ll only need a few supplies to guide your students in building their own LED flashlights. They’ll learn how electricity travels and the way circuits work. The slideshow available through the link makes this lesson a breeze for teachers too.
It’s not exactly the same model the military uses, but this simple hovercraft is a lot easier to build. An old CD and a balloon help demonstrate air pressure and friction in this fun 4th grade science experiment.
No projector in your classroom yet? No problem! Have your students help you construct one for your smartphone using a cardboard box and large magnifying glass. They’ll learn about convex lenses and how the brain processes images too.
Engineering activities make for amazing hands-on learning. Challenge your 4th grade students to build an elevator that can safely lift a certain amount of weight.
Make a model seismometer
Science Sparks
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Explore the science of seismology and learn how scientists study earthquakes and their effects. This model seismometer is easy to build and fun to experiment with.
Here’s one more classic to add to our list of 4th grade science experiments: the egg drop! The great thing about this project is that kids can do it at any age, with different materials and heights to mix it up. Hit the link below to get an egg drop project designed just for 4th graders.
Demonstrate Newton’s laws of motion with balloon rockets
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium
Who doesn’t love balloon rockets?! Your students will have a blast(off) displaying Newton’s third law of motion while learning about physics.
4th Grade Motion and Energy Science Activities
Many 4th grade science standards include units on energy and motion. These energy science activities offer cool hands-on ways to spice up your classroom lessons.
Flick marbles to learn transfer of energy
Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
This experiment is a bit of a thinker: What will happen when one moving marble hits several stationary marbles sitting in a row? Flick the first marble and find out!
Place a tennis ball on top of a basketball and bounce them together to see how energy transfers from one object to another. This one is very easy, and kids will love seeing how high they can get the balls to bounce!
Go an on energy scavenger hunt
The Science Penguin
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Emphasize the fact that energy is all around us in one form or another with this easy, free printable energy science activity. For a more advanced version, help students identify each kind of energy (kinetic, stored, heat, etc.) they find.
See a heat-powered windmill demonstrate convection
Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic
Heat rises, and its interaction with cooler air creates convection currents. Find out how we can put convection to work for us with this 4th grade science craft project.
Capture waves in a bottle
What I Have Learned Teaching
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Here’s a quick and easy way to show wave action in a no-mess way. You don’t need to add a little ship to the bottle, but it does make it more fun!
Turn this one into a class cooperative activity, or try it as a science fair project idea. Either way, it’s an incredibly fascinating way to demonstrate the energy science of waves.
Use a Slinky to demonstrate types of waves
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
A Slinky is more than just a toy—it’s also a terrific science manipulative! Use it to see waves in motion, both longitudinal and transverse.
Watch gravity beads prove Newton’s laws
Teach Beside Me
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
You’ll need a loooooooong string of beads for this experiment. Make your own by taping dollar-store strings together, or buy a long bead garland. Pile them in a cup and get the beads going; it’s fascinating to watch inertia and gravity at work.
Glue together marbles in a variety of pyramidal patterns to form tops, then form hypotheses about which will spin best. Afterwards, kids will have fun new toys to play with!
Newton’s second law, concerning acceleration, force, and mass, can be a little hard to understand. This easy 4th grade science demo makes it a little easier to visualize.
More 4th Grade Science Projects and Activities
Use these cool science experiments to encourage a love of science, at home or in the classroom!
Measure a magnet’s attraction force
Ashleigh’s Education Journey
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Fourth grade science students already know that magnets attract metal objects. In this experiment, they’ll measure to see how close a magnet needs to be to an object for the attraction to work. Mix things up with different sizes of magnets and objects of various weights.
This is another one of those mind-blowing science demos that kids will want to try over and over again. Draw on a shallow bowl or plate with dry-erase markers, then slowly add water. The marker (which is insoluble in water) will float to the top!
Paint with sunscreen
Team Cartwright
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Prove that sunscreen really does provide protection from harmful UV rays. Turn this into a full-blown experiment by trying different SPFs or comparing it to other creams or lotions without SPF.
Choose a sunny day and grab some sidewalk chalk—your students are about to become sundials! They’ll practice measuring skills and learn about the movement of the sun across the sky.
If you’re learning about mineral resources, this quick hands-on activity is an interesting way to explore the effects of mining. Kids have two minutes to find as many chocolate chips as they can in a cookie. Will they smash it up and destroy it entirely? Pick them out one by one? This experiment can lead to intriguing discussions.
Use licorice sticks, four different-colored candies or fruits, and toothpicks to build an edible strand of DNA. Learn about chemical bonds and the helix shape, then eat your creation!
Digging in the dirt is fun, but it’s even more fun when you can eat the dirt when you’re finished! Create edible soil-layer models, complete with gummy worms, for a simple earth science project. (Find more edible science projects here.)
Experiment with simple chemical reactions as you turn pennies green using vinegar. (Don’t forget to tell students that the Statue of Liberty is green for this very same reason!)
Seeing Boyle’s law (which relates pressure and volume of gasses) in action makes it a little easier to understand and remember. This simple 4th grade science experiment uses marshmallows to make a great visual.
Learn more: Boyle’s Law at Hojo’s Teaching Adventures
Form ocean currents
Life Over C’s
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic
Learning about oceanography? Demonstrate how ocean currents form using warm and cold water (and a few plastic sea creatures for extra fun!).
This is a neat Earth Day activity. Discuss the differences between renewable and non-renewable resources, then have your class form “companies” to “mine” non-renewable resources. As they compete, they’ll see how quickly the resources are used. It’s a great tie-in to energy conservation discussions.
Use simple kitchen supplies to create a jar full of “blood” that includes plasma, platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. (You can even snack on the blood cells along the way!)
Learn about diffusion in the sweetest way! Grab a bag of Skittles for this quick and easy 4th grade science project.
Wow them with glowing water
Cool Science Experiments Headquarters
Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium
Your students will ooh and aah at the result of this exploratory way to show phosphors in action with a black light, different types of water, and a highlighter. The results of this experiment might surprise both you and your students!
A Steam user on Christmas Eve had a question: How do you earn just one measly little Steam Point? They were at 68,999 points and wanted to hit 69,000 because, you know, it’s a nice number and all that. However, because of how Steam Points are earned, there seemed no simple way to get that one measly point. But then a Christmas miracle happened.
The Top Ten Most Played Games On Steam Deck: March 2023 Edition
Steam Points are a part of Valve’s digital store that I often forget exists until I see one of my friends rocking some wild and ugly new animated profile wallpaper and think, “Oh right, I can make my already awful-looking user page worse using points!” You probably have a few thousand of these points sitting in your Steam account doing nothing. Maybe one day Valve will let you exchange them for coupons or something, but for now, they are only used to buy new cosmetic decorations for your Steam profile or to provide awards to user-generated content and comments. So they are effectively worthless, but that didn’t stop someone from wanting to have some fun with their heap of points.
On Christmas Eve, Reddit user CoffeeAndPistachios posted a screenshot of their then-current Steam Points balance, showing 68,999. They wondered if there was any way to reach the “nice” number of 69,000. What followed were all sorts of comments and theories arguing that it was impossible, or laying out schemes that involved buying a specifically priced game and then spending the exact amount of excess points to reach 69,000.
Then, on December 25, a miracle happened! That same user returned and posted that their Steam Points balance had increased by one single point and they didn’t know why. A bit of sleuthing revealed that a “Steam Support Adjustment” had occurred and added the single point, letting CoffeeAndPistachios reach 69,000. Nice.
Was it a lone Valve employee who, right before they left the building to celebrate the holidays, decided to grant one user a small gift? Or was it Santa hacking into Valve’s servers and messing with their databases?
Kotaku has contacted Valve for more information.
For now, though, we can all take comfort in knowing that someone who needed one point got that one point. And people say the world is a bad place devoid of kindness and love.
You may not have a disembodied, talking head you can consult like Kratos does, but you do have us. This week, we’ll help you make the most out of your Stadia controllers, experience the features Starfield intends to implement in the future, and look back at all the PC gaming you enjoyed in 2023.
I’m a multiplayer gamer at heart. I just can’t fathom sitting in front of my computer and playing a single-player game for hours on end without anyone to hang out with on the other line. It’s why, by the grace of God, I somehow poured hundreds of hours into Valorant over the past 14 months of my life.
But my favorite game of the year actually isn’t my most played game of the year. No, that honor goes to a game that just came out a few months ago: Lethal Company.
I wrote about indie developer Zeekerss’ hit horror game back in November, where I called it “the hottest game of Thanksgiving.” Which is true, according to the data. The game has since remained one of the most popular titles on Steam, having essentially solidified its status as one of the best co-op multiplayer games available to play on PC.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with Lethal Company yet, the game casts up to four players as space-traveling scavengers searching abandoned planets’ bunkers and mansions for scrap. Unfortunately, each planet is infested with horrific, deadly monsters. Also, you have a company quota to reach in order to feed a giant tentacle monster living in the company’s tower, and if you don’t meet the quota, you get ejected into space. To quote Rick & Morty, it’s a metaphor for capitalism.
“What’s this jack-in-the-box doing here?”
I already went into detail last month about Lethal Company’s gameplay, why it immediately left me hooked, and how its game design loop is so simple yet so utterly sophisticated. It’s the perfect horror game, the kind that relies on truly terrifying experiences instead of shocking players with cheap jumpscares.
It’s also the kind of multiplayer game that leads to incredible stories, like sacrificing your screaming friend to a Bunker Spider so you can quietly crawl back to the ship with an axle in hand.
That isn’t the only reason why Lethal Company is my Game of the Year, however. It’s also my GOTY choice because of what it represents. Zeekerss is a young indie developer who took a core concept—explore an abandoned place as a team, collect material, and get out with your life—and fleshed it out to its most sophisticated conclusion. The game is so simple in theory, to the point where non-survival horror players are picking up Lethal Company in droves.
And yet, underneath the surface, the game’s developer has clearly created an incredibly fine-tuned infrastructure to support the atmosphere and intensity this game offers. This dawned on me when I was watching a difficulty guide where YouTuber Aquath broke down the (guestimated) individual monster spawn rates across the game’s various moons. Before I even heard of the terms “Jester” or “Coil-Head,” Zeekerss was hard at work at home, making sure I would shit myself when I saw one in Rend’s mansion.
Right now, the AAA gaming industry is defined by eye-catching features with no real substance. Venture into an endless sea of incredibly forgettable planets and meet lifeless NPCs! Buy a brand new skin that makes you look like Skeletor! Explore Hogwarts as a young rapscallion and use the awful, evil curses you’re never supposed to use! In the face of all that, Lethal Company represents a different philosophy: It’s better to put a lot of quality and care into your core product, instead of attracting players with bells and whistles. And I’ll always love Lethal Company for that, and not just because I accidentally put on the mask in the new update that turned me into a zombie, and I never could have guessed that would happen.
