Any ideas for a 3rd grade science fair project?

Question

My 8 year old was volunteered to do a science fair project by his teacher. (He has Asperger's Syndrome & excels in science) It counts as a grade. She gave him a list of ideas all of which he found "absurd, easy & stupid".

(What color absorbs heat the fastest/slowest? Which peanutbutter is the stickiest? etc.)

So I suggested why does popcorn pop? Which was interesting to him for about 2 minutes until he figured out the answer. I've looked on the net and found nothing of interest.

Any ideas? Something not too complicated but interesting enough to be better than soap & peanutbutter analysis.

He suggested a study of effects of sensory (sounds) on Aspies & neurotypicals. BUT...I think that's a little advanced for him.

Answer 1

- denisty or an object and how that affects if it will sink or float.

- probability  (flip coins.)

- one of taste, where you can blind fold someone have them eat and skittles and guess which color they ate. And then, have them pinch/ hold their nose while being blindfolded and eat and try to guess what color they ate. Basically studying the relation between tasting and smelling a food, and how if y our nose is unable to smell how food tastes or seems different.

Answer 2

Demonstrate which materials are the best conductors of electricity.  Gold, silver, copper, lead, aluminum, etc. Which ones are the poorest.

Answer 3

He could find the highest audible pitch for a large group of people varying in age (10-70). From this he would see a decrease in audible frequency as age increased. If he took this approach he could explain how the hair cells vibrate, how they are lost, neurotransmitters that are produced, structure of the ear, ect.. He shouldn't be bored with this; if he does find it boring ask him questions: how does the brain interpret the vibration and turn it into sound? How do speakers work and is the ear similar? What part of the brain processes sound and what is perfect pitch?

I had to judge one for 1st graders last year. All the "head" judges were college professors and they looked for a deep understanding of the project. By far, the best thing to do is keep the project simple and give a very detailed explanation to the judges of the results, ways to improve, reasoning, and anything else that applies.