What's a 5th or 6th grade science fair project that can be done in six days?

Amount of sugar/light ratio to grow rock candy. Bonus- pass out rock candy at the science fair.

Alot of cornstarch and water does amazing things….You could fill up a kiddy pool with it and slowly put your foot in it and it is a liquid, then walk across it with firm steps and it will turn into a solid.

example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2XQ97XHjVw

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=qGqhYUVwPS0&feature=related

this is what you call a non-Newtonian fluid

Grow 2 sets of bean plants, one is light deprived (store inside a cabinet or something) and the other out in the open. Track the growth stats on a daily basis. This will show the beneficial effect of sunlight to plant growth, with all other things equal.

Or…make you own comet if you really want to win :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stdSm6qIJso

Use fertilizer and water to make ice at room temperature.

@earthduzt Neat-o.

Volcano. take strips of newspaper, soaked in flour and water and make a volcano. use a paper towel insert(the tube) for the inside of volcano. let dry thoroughly. make volcano on a pience of plywood or suitable portable piece of whatever. on day of show, pour baking powder and vinegar down paper towel insert and watch the lava flow.

@earthduzt O, non-newtonian fluids, your behavior is strange to my senses… you rock my world.

How chemicals can produce electricity

Which metal corrodes fastest (needs 10 days, but you may see corrosion product after 6)

Here’s a better corrosion experiment for next time when you have a few weeks at least.

I’d scrap anything requiring plants to grow.

Any science project done in 6 days is not going to be very meaningful to the student, based on my own experiences. It takes time for interesting things to happen, and even more time to understand why they happened. After initial observations, the kid would probably have further investigative questions that could warrant additional experimentation – that is where science really begins. A 6 day project is like cramming the night before for a test.

Buy six kinds of dish soap and find out which one makes the most suds and which one keeps it suds the longest using various types of “dirt” – food, grease, nothing. Take pictures and attach to bottles of liquid soaps (antibacterial, non-grease, etc) and list what happened when using for cleaning.

here are a bunch of food chemistry experiments: http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/category39.html. i just browsed them and several seemed like something you could do in just 1 night. plus kids love experimenting with food :)

You could make a fruit battery.
Or test which fruit makes the best battery, oranges, lemons, apples?
It doesn’t take much, just the fruit and some zinc coated nails some copper wire and one of those volt meter thingys.

Oh and don’t try to make a lemon pie with those lemons. ick!

You have plenty of time to make a Tesla Coil.

You could call it an experiment in socio-biological science called “No Plant Left Behind”. You’ve started the experiment and run out of money. Call it a temporary success and apply for a government grant for additional funding (and promotion—lots and lots of promotion).