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How to Make a Game for a Science Fair Project Using Marbles

Marble games can be a big hit at science fairs. Some games explore different liquids' viscosity, which refers to how much they resist flow. Some liquids, like water, can be moved in relatively little time, while others, like honey, take much longer. A marble game also can function as an experiment if you create a hypothesis, or educated guess, before you perform the experiment as to which liquids will most resist the marble.

Things You'll Need

5 glasses, 1 pint each
1 quart honey
1 quart canola oil
1 quart water
1 quart salt water
1 quart milk
5 marbles

Instructions

- 1
  Fill each glass with a different liquid until the liquid is 2 inches from the top of the glass. Do not mix liquids.
- 2
  Hold a marble over one glass. It should be even with the opening of the glass. Set up the stopwatch. Release the marble and begin timing with the stopwatch at the same time. Continue to let the stopwatch run until the marble reaches the bottom of the glass.
- 3
  Turn the stopwatch off once the marble reaches the bottom and record the time. Do this with each glass. Whichever marble reaches the bottom first is in the least viscous. The marble that reaches the bottom last is the most viscous.
- 4
  Set up the project at the science fair and allow other students to guess which liquid is most viscous before allowing them to perform the experiment.

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