All my middle school teachers know that look – the middle school kid who is making a face and saying “THAT’S SO GROSSSSSSSS”… with a huge smile on their face! As much as they protest that something is “gross,” you know middle schoolers LOVE to be grossed out by stuff. Gross science activities are always a kid-favorite – and the perfect boost of engagement when you need one!
I’ve put together some of my favorite, wonderfully disgusting activities that’ll have your students secretly begging for more science.
I love to pass around a coprolite (fossilized poop!) as I ask the class what type of fossil they think it is. I only tell them AFTER they’ve all touched it that it is fossilized dinosaur dung! (You can get coprolites on Amazon for under $20. Search Amazon or check HERE or HERE.) I love to start my fossils unit like this! (NGSS MS-ESS1-4 and MS-LS4-1)
An oldy but goody – dissect owl pellets. Need a way to connect this gross activity to standards? For NGSS MS-LS2-1, discuss predator-prey relationships and how owls depend on certain prey for survival. You can tie in MS-LS2-2 because owl pellets reveal feeding relationships and energy transfer in food webs. For MS-LS2-3, discuss how energy flows from prey to predator and how matter is broken down and reused.
Have students press sterile swabs onto surfaces like phones or unwashed hands. Streak the swab onto nutrient agar plates (1 per sample). Tape the plates closed, label them, and leave them at room temperature for a few days. Observe and compare bacterial colony growth. This is great for NGSS MS-LS1-5 because students can compare growth on different surfaces or under different conditions (e.g., handwashed vs. unwashed hands) and examine how environmental conditions affect bacterial growth.
Clean, new toilet paper isn’t actually gross – but somehow kids still think it is. Test the strength of different toilet papers when they are wet – great for a scientific method review. Check out my student sheet for this HERE!
Cut open a clean diaper and shake out the sodium polyacrylate inside. Have students slowly add water to it and observe the gooey gel that forms. This weird polymer is a fun and gross way to model a physical change (versus a chemical change) for NGSS MS-PS1-2.
Examine pond water under microscopes. The wiggling creatures get them every time! Check out my blog with STEP-BY-STEP teacher directions on how to do this HERE.
Demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Mass by putting one apple in a sealed spaghetti sauce jar and the other apple in an open jar. Track the mass of each jar over many weeks – the apple in the sealed jar clearly rots, but yet the mass of the system doesn’t change! Check out my student sheet for this HERE!
Let’s be real – sometimes you need something engaging (or GROSS!) but you just don’t have the time, energy, or classroom space for a full hands-on mess. That’s where these wonderfully gross readings come in clutch!
These no-prep options still hit that sweet spot of “ewww!” that middle schoolers crave, but without any of the preparation, materials, or cleanup headache.
Students LOVE to learn about gross stuff so much that I often find I can get my “I hate to read” students happily reading. Make the topic disgusting and add it in a Top 10 List format, and you have kids reading BECAUSE THEY WANT TO! Check out a selection of my “gross” readings below. 👇
👆 And while those readings do have some disgusting facts… if you really want to gross kids out – have them read this! 👇
The facts in this reading are really disgustingly fun! Kids love it! I mean, what middle school doesn’t want to read about:
But the best part (for me) about this reading is that every gross fact is explained with SCIENCE, including important vocabulary. Engagement for them… science content for me! Win-win.
Whether you’re passing around fossilized poop, growing classroom bacteria, or diving into bizarre body facts, these gross science activities are your secret weapon for instant engagement.
The best part? While your students are squealing “ewww!” and secretly loving every minute, they’re also diving deep into real science standards and developing genuine curiosity about the natural world.
So the next time you need to hook those reluctant learners or breathe some life into a tough topic, remember: sometimes the grosser, the better! Your middle schoolers will thank you (even if they’re making disgusted faces while they do it).
Happy grossing!
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