75+ Real-World
Projects for Schools
Curriculum-aligned, mentor-supported projects across STEM, Arts, Business & Entrepreneurship and Humanities. Every brief is designed for students to produce work that matters.
Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
For centuries, we viewed gravity as a mysterious force pulling objects together. Einstein changed everything by suggesting that gravity isn't simply a “pull,” but a curve in the fabric of the universe itself. This project invites you to step into the shoes of history’s greatest physicists. By conducting both classic and modern experiments, you will explore how our understanding of gravity has changed over time. You will bridge the gap between Galileo’s observations on Earth and Einstein’s revolutionary General Theory of Relativity, investigating how gravity influences the universe around us. Along the way, you will explore how stars form and evolve, how massive objects affect their surroundings, and how mass can bend the path of light across the cosmic stage.
Mentored by Puragra
UC Santa Cruz
Zero waste packaging
Think about the last packet of chips you opened, shampoo bottle you finished, or parcel that arrived at your home. Plastic packaging is useful because it protects products, keeps them fresh, and prevents spills — but it often becomes waste almost immediately after use. That is a problem because plastic is extremely durable. Around 46% of plastic waste is sent to landfill globally, and some plastics can take hundreds of years, or even up to 1,000 years, to break down. Even then, they may not disappear completely; they can break into tiny particles called microplastics, which can spread through soil and water. In this project, you will become a young packaging designer. You will observe plastic packaging around you, choose one product to investigate, and design a better alternative. You will then build and test a simple prototype and explain how your new packaging improves on the original.
Mentored by Sahar Mansoor
University of Cambridge
Vanished: Who took your post?
Meet Meher, Age 16 Meher films a twenty-second video about the broken footpath outside her school. Three hundred people share it. The next morning, it is gone. The notice says her post was removed following a legal request. It does not say which law. It does not say who asked. It does not say what she can do next. Meher decides the app hated her editing. She posts it again. It vanishes again. Here is what she never finds out: her cousin in another country could see the post the whole time. That one detail would have told her almost everything. A post that disappears in one country but stays up everywhere else was probably not removed for breaking a company rule. It was blocked because somebody in her country asked for it. Meher is not unusual. Posts, videos, comments, and whole accounts disappear every day, and the people who lose them are rarely told who made the decision. It could be software that misread a joke. It could be a person applying a company rule. It could be a government office that asked quietly and got a yes. Each one is a different problem with a different next step, and telling them apart is a skill almost nobody is taught. In this project, you will learn to tell them apart. Then, you will build the tech support Meher needed at seven in the morning.
Mentored by Kabir Darshan Singh Choudhary
Freeze. Frame. Theatre
Middle school is a period marked by rapid emotional, social, and academic transitions. Students face rapid changes around them: their bodies, friendships, emotional lives, and even their sense of who they are quickly evolve. This project invites students to become researchers and storytellers of the emotional lives happening all around them. Students start by observing and listening: What pressures do their peers actually carry? What's the real story behind the mask someone wears at school? They then shape those real observations into narrative art, using drama as both a mirror (to see and name emotions) and a lab (to practice managing them). This then transforms something once difficult to name into a story they can create, perform, and make sense of together. The project culminates in one of two creative deliverables: a recorded performance or a 6-freeze-frame visual story.
Mentored by Ricardo Magno
University of Melbourne
The Afterlife of Stuff
Close your eyes and picture a plastic shampoo bottle in your bathroom. You buy it for a few dollars, use it for a month, and toss it in the bin—viewing yourself as the end of its story. In reality, you are just one short stop in a much longer process. The Afterlife of Stuff is a systems-thinking project where you will explore the hidden life cycle of daily products. Instead of viewing an object only by its store price, students trace the hidden energy, resources, and human effort needed to make it, as well as where it goes after it is discarded. Ultimately, students create an 8 to 12-panel comic book illustrating their chosen object's current journey versus a reimagined zero-waste version in the year 2070.
Mentored by Saloni Goel
Mentored by Anshuman Sisodia
Disagreeing Without Disconnecting
You've probably had one of those moments. Your parents say, "Because I said so," and you're thinking, "But that makes absolutely no sense!" A friend has an opinion you strongly disagree with. Or a group project turns into an argument because everyone thinks their idea is the right one. When disagreements happen, it's easy to get defensive, stop listening, or walk away. But what if disagreeing with someone didn't have to mean fighting with them or disconnecting from them? In this project, you'll start with two disagreements you've personally experienced. You'll choose one to explore more deeply—looking at what happened, how you felt, how the other person may have felt, and how the way you communicated affected the situation. You'll then explore Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and brainstorm how the same disagreement could be approached differently, while still expressing your own needs and respecting the other person's perspective. Because the goal isn't always to win an argument. Sometimes, it's to understand each other better while still being able to disagree. By the end, you'll turn your learning into a 6-slide social media carousel, beginning with a meme and sharing how we can disagree without disconnecting.
Mentored by Jui Shankar
Symbiosis International University
Humans of Asia
Ready for an adventure? Humans are the ultimate storytellers! From the beginning of time, we've used stories to share who we are, connect with our friends, and understand the world around us. But how well do you really know the people right outside your front door? This isn't just another school project; it's your chance to become a Community Reporter and uncover the hidden tales in your own neighbourhood.
Mentored by Prof Asha Chand
Energy Management
Calling all future problem-solvers and environmental heroes!Energy is essential, but a massive amount is wasted—up to two-thirds of the power for our buildings can be lost through inefficiency! This project turns you into Energy Detectives to solve the Case of the Missing Megawatts in your school or home.
Mentored by Dr. Gautam Natarajan
Professor, Syracuse University
History of Geography
You've explored the famous landmarks, taken the perfect photographs, and checked every attraction off the travel guide. But have you really experienced the city? The heart of the city isn't always found in the heart of the monuments. It can also be discovered in bustling street food stalls, neighbourhood cafes, community spaces, local traditions, and the everyday lives of the people who call it home. The project invites you to become a Teen Travel Curator and uncover the side of the city that guidebooks often overlook. Design a travel experience that helps teenagers explore your community through the eyes of a local, celebrating the history, geography, culture, and diversity that make it unique.
Mentored by Prithvi Datta
Krea University
Creativity, Empathy and Inclusive Learning
Imagine waking up tomorrow in a place where every classroom conversation, every textbook, and every exam is in a language you have never spoken before. How would you ask for help? Make friends? Keep up with your classmates? This is the reality of thousands of children who move to a new state in India. Your mission is to become a Language Detective and unlock the mystery behind learning a new language while helping every child feel welcome in their new school.
Mentored by Dr. Srivi Ramasubramanian, Syracuse University
Creativity in Engineering - Foldable House
Foldable houses arrive as compact shipping-container-sized units but can be completely unfolded and set up into fully functional living spaces in under an hour.In this project, you will step into the role of a Design Engineer and take on the Foldable House Challenge. Your mission is to design a foldable, functional home that can be transported easily and meets the needs of its occupants.You will demonstrate how engineering, creativity, accessibility, and sustainability can solve real-world housing challenges.
Mentored by Design Engineering Expert
Engineering Design Institute
Bits and Pixels: Preserving Culture through Digital Storytelling
Project Overview Maya is cleaning her grandmother's cupboard when she finds an old brass spice box. Curious, she asks why it has been carefully preserved for decades. Her grandmother smiles and begins telling stories of family traditions, migration, festivals, and recipes that travelled across generations. Maya realizes something important: these stories exist only because someone chose to remember them. But what happens when no one asks? Across the world, languages, traditions, crafts, recipes, and local stories disappear every day. While museums preserve objects, people preserve memories. In today's digital world, anyone with a smartphone can become a storyteller and help protect cultural heritage for future generations. In this project, you will become a Digital Heritage Storyteller. You will investigate one aspect of your cultural identity such as food, clothing, architecture, festivals, language, or traditions and transform your research into an engaging digital story. Using interviews, photographs, historical research, maps, audio, or videos, you will create a narrative that connects personal experiences with broader cultural history. Your goal is not simply to document culture, but to ask an important question: How can digital media preserve stories that might otherwise be forgotten? By blending research, creativity, and reflection, you will create a meaningful digital archive that celebrates identity while encouraging others to appreciate the diversity of cultures around them.
Mentored by Prof Asha Chand
The Economic World
Ever felt confused about where all your money goes? Or wondered why some people seem to have a plan for their future while others are constantly stressed? Welcome to the complex, fascinating, and totally necessary world of money, choices, and smart thinking! The truth is, all those big decisions—what job to take, which phone to buy, how to pay for a big dream like college—revolve around one essential life skill: financial literacy. It’s the superpower that lets you take control of your future, rather than letting your wallet control you. Experts worldwide agree: learning to manage money is one of the most critical skills you’ll ever develop. Yet, here's the kicker: most teens aren't taught this stuff, and that knowledge gap can lead to major problems later on.
Mentored by Raghu Sundaram
New York University
Creativity and Community Leadership
Meet Aarav. Every afternoon, he walks past the same fruit vendor outside his apartment. The fruit is fresh, the prices are fair, yet most people rush past to buy from large supermarkets. One day Aarav stops and asks a simple question: "What is the hardest part of running your business?" The answer surprises him. "It isn't the competition," the vendor says. "It's that people don't even know I'm here." That conversation changes everything. Communities are filled with people quietly solving everyday problems—local bakers, repair shops, home chefs, florists, tailors, and countless others. Many have incredible products or services but struggle with visibility, customer engagement, or simple operational challenges. In this project, you will become a Community Leadership Consultant. Rather than designing a business for yourself, you will work alongside a real hyperlocal business or community initiative, understand its challenges through observation and interviews, and design a practical solution that creates meaningful impact. Your solution could be a marketing campaign, a service improvement, a digital tool, a community event, or an awareness initiative. Throughout the project, you will reflect on how empathy, ethical decision-making, and collaboration influence sustainable community development. By combining creativity with service, you will discover that meaningful leadership often begins with listening before leading.
Mentored by Prof. Jayanth Narayanan
Creativity and Internet of Things
In an increasingly globalized world, the traditional joint family structure has shifted toward nuclear families. Young generations frequently relocate across borders for work, leaving elderly parents behind in their hometowns. This geographic separation introduces immense anxiety regarding medical emergencies, sudden falls, or acute distress when an elderly individual is alone. This project bridges that gap using the Internet of Things (IoT). Inspired by smart automated systems—such as wearable devices that detect falls and automatically alert emergency services—you will move beyond building a physical prototype to creating a highly structured Written Blueprint Project. You will research, ideate, and design a complete technical blueprint for an IoT Rapid Response Device that supports independent elderly citizens. Your design should explain how the device detects emergencies, communicates with caregivers or emergency responders, and improves safety through connected technologies. This blueprint will serve as a strong academic foundation for an IB Extended Essay (EE), combining technical system design with critical analysis of ethical, social, and technological considerations.
Mentored by Shri. Vittal Devarajan
Funded : The Venture Capital Challenge
Hello Students, Welcome to your Project Overview Space!What is your Project About?Meet Aanya — Founder, Age 17Aanya has always been annoyed by one thing: her school canteen runs out of healthy food by 11 AM.So she builds a pitch deck. Beautiful slides. Catchy name: FreshBox.She walks into her school's mock investment panel — and gets asked one simple, critical question:"Aanya, how much does it cost you to get a single customer, how much profit will that customer make you over time, and when exactly will your business start making more money than it spends?"She goes blank. The investors pass.Not because the idea was bad, but because she couldn't prove the math.Aanya's story is not unusual. Most first-time founders stumble not on the idea, but on the numbers.Venture capitalists have seen thousands of pitches. What separates a funded startup from a forgotten slide deck is the ability to prove, with data, that the business can actually survive and scale.In this project, you will learn from Aanya's mistake so you can come to the table completely prepared.You won't be building FreshBox. Instead, you will design your own entirely unique product or service, build its financial model from scratch, and ensure your numbers are completely airtight.You will be creating a pitch deck and a video to share with your investors.
Mentored by Prof. Gerry Hays
Indiana University, USA
Future - Proof : AI Business Upgrade
Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn't just for sci-fi movies anymore—it is becoming an everyday tool that businesses use to work faster, help customers, and grow.In this project, you will step into the shoes of a business consultant.Your mission is to find a real, local business in your community and show them how they can use AI to solve a real-world problem without losing the \"human touch\" that makes them special.The Big Question: How can a local business use AI to fix an everyday problem while still being ethical and keeping their human-centric values?
Mentored by Burak ÇIVITCIOĞLU
Investigative impact : The Power of Local Reporting
Imagine that your school has a newspaper and you have been appointed as the school’s new investigative reporter. One morning, three tips land on your desk. A student claims that academic stress has become one of the biggest challenges facing the school community. A teacher argues that students are actually underestimating the support systems available to them. Another student believes that some extracurricular clubs receive significantly more attention and resources than others. All three perspectives sound convincing. But who is right? As a journalist, your job is not to choose a side. Your job is to investigate. The best reporters understand that every issue has multiple perspectives. Rather than relying on assumptions or personal opinions, they gather evidence, conduct interviews, analyze information, and present a balanced account of what they discover. Their reporting helps communities better understand challenges that affect them every day. In this project, you will take on the role of an investigative reporter and explore a real issue within your school community. Through interviews with students, teachers, and staff, as well as direct observation and evidence gathering, you will uncover the deeper story behind an issue that matters. Your final product will be a professional investigative feature article that informs, questions, and encourages thoughtful discussion.
Mentored by Asha Chand
University of Western Sydney, Australia
The Community Pulse: The Public Health
Every neighbourhood has a hidden health story. A pharmacy on the corner. A clinic that is always crowded. A family that has to travel far for treatment. A child who misses school because they are unwell. A grandparent who needs regular medicine. Most of us pass by these things without thinking much about them. But together, they reveal something important about a community: who is getting the care they need, who is struggling to access it, and what support may be missing. In this project, you will step into the role of a community health auditor and explore an important question: what are the most pressing health needs in your local community, and do the current healthcare facilities (public and private) adequately meet those demands? To answer it, you will look closely at both sides of the picture: the health concerns people face, and the clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, and services available to help them. As your audit unfolds, you will begin to see your neighbourhood differently; not just as a place where people live, but as a system of needs, services, and gaps. By comparing what people need with what is actually available, you will discover how public health researchers identify challenges that often go unnoticed.
Mentored by Arjun Rangarajan
Noora Health
The Rocket Challenge: Build, Test, Fly
The year is 1687. Sir Isaac Newton has just published his Principia Mathematica—three laws that he claims can predict exactly how any object moves, anywhere, under any conditions. The scientific world is stunned. But not everyone is convinced. Robert Hooke, one of Europe's sharpest scientific minds and Newton's most formidable rival, is sceptical. He does not dispute that Newton's laws are elegant. He disputes that they hold up in the real world—where materials are imperfect, air pushes back, and no mechanism fires with mathematical precision. The two men have made a public wager. Newton claims his laws can predict exactly how far any projectile will fly—at any angle, with any force. Hooke says real-world engineering will always deviate from theoretical predictions. He believes that when you actually build something and test it, the gap between theory and experiment will tell you more than any formula ever could. To settle the wager, they need an experiment. They need data. They need you. As a newly recruited junior engineer at the Hooke Research Institute, your mission is this: design and build a prototype launcher. Test it rigorously across multiple trials. Record what happens. Then compare your real-world results to what Newton's laws predicted should happen. You will think like an engineer and investigate like a scientist. Every launch will tell you something. Every failure will reveal a clue. Every redesign will bring you closer to the truth. The wager is on. The Institute is counting on your data.
Mentored by Garima Soharu Bhandari
California State University, Sacramento, USA
The Energy Chessboard: A Policy Simulation
The world's shift to clean energy is often described as if it were a simple switch to flip. It is not. It is a high-stakes game played on a crowded board — a chessboard where every move on energy interacts with the economy, jobs, international relations and the climate. A country cannot simply 'turn off' coal or oil overnight: millions of livelihoods, the price of electricity, and even national security can depend on it. How can a developing nation transition toward a sustainable energy infrastructure while simultaneously meeting the immediate economic demands and geopolitical realities of its current fossil-fuel dependency? In The Energy Chessboard, each student becomes a policy advisor to the government of a developing nation of their choosing. Over three weeks, they will research that country's real energy situation, study how recent shocks — such as the West Asian Crisis and the resulting swings in oil and gas prices — expose its dependencies, and then design a realistic 5-year plan to move it toward a more sustainable energy future. The catch: the plan must keep the lights on, keep energy affordable for ordinary families, honour the country's climate commitments, and survive a world that does not always cooperate. This is a project about evidence, trade-offs and judgement — the everyday work of real policymaking.
Mentored by Prof. Lurion De Mello,
Macquarie University, Sydney (Australia)
From Data to Decision
In the digital age, a blocked bank account isn't just an inconvenience, it's a threat to a small business owner's livelihood. This project places students at the intersection of grassroots research and high-level business strategy. Students will act as consultants, moving from the streets of their own neighborhoods to the boardroom, using real-world data to fix a critical failure in the banking \"process flow\".This workshop is designed to provide students with hands-on exposure to how businesses operate in the digital economy, how transaction data can be analysed, and how fraud awareness plays a critical role in today's financial ecosystem.
Mentored by Samad Chadha
Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
For centuries, we viewed gravity as a mysterious force pulling objects together. Einstein changed everything by suggesting that gravity isn't a "pull," but a curve in the fabric of the universe itself. This project invites students to step into the shoes of history’s greatest physicists. By conducting both classic and modern experiments, students will bridge the gap between Galileo’s observations on Earth and Einstein’s revolutionary General Theory of Relativity, exploring how stars form, live, and how mass bends light across the cosmic stage
Mentored by Puragraha GuhaThakurta
UC Santa Cruz
The Poet’s Palette: Haiku, Haiga, and Haibun
How much can you say in just seventeen syllables? This project explores the power of brevity through the Japanese tradition of Haiku and its expanded forms. Students will move beyond simple "rhyming" to understand poetry as a medium for capturing precise emotions and snapshots of life. By blending text with visual art and prose, students will learn that creative expression is as much about what you leave out as what you put in.
Mentored by Anannya Dasgupta
The 15 Minute City
Can we imagine life: our school, friendships, food, recreation, leisure with less dependence on fossil fuels? Will it be a life of fun or hardships and limited choices? Or Can it be full of vibrant and sustainable relationships between humans and non-humans? We invite you to experience this idea through a month-long project called 'Exploring a 15 minute city life'. Worldwide, 15 Minute city is an urban planning concept in which most daily necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure can be easily reached by a 15-minute walk, cycle ride, or public transit ride from any point in the city.
Mentored by Pallavi Varma-Patil
ATREE
Your Story, Your Voice
Your Story, Your Voice invites students in grades 6–8 to discover something powerful; that stories are everywhere, and they already have what it takes to tell them. A conversation overheard at a bus stop, the way light falls on a familiar street, or a quiet moment between two people, stories are not always invented; often, they are simply found in the world around us. In this project, students step into their everyday lives with a new lens to find a story they want to tell to the world. They will observe closely, ask questions, make decisions, change their minds, and make decisions again. They will discover that the creative process is rarely a straight line and that the chaos along the way is not an obstacle, but an essential part of creating something meaningful. The project culminates in a written story that reflects each student’s unique perspective and voice. For those who wish to go further, there is also an opportunity to bring their story to life through images, illustrations, or simple graphics. This project is not about writing perfectly. It is about finding your voice and learning to trust it.
Mentored by Akhila Ramnarayan
Krea University
My Grandma Can't Get Automated : Story Telling Using AI
My Grandma Can't Get Automated : Story Telling Using AI invites students in grades 9–12 to explore one of the most urgent creative questions of current times: can artificial intelligence (AI) truly tell a human story? Inspired by the participatory storytelling model, students will interview a grandparent, elder, neighbour, or loved one and capture their experiences, memories, and views in a world increasingly shaped by AI. Using AI as a creative collaborator, they will shape that conversation into a 2–3 minute documentary film under the theme "My Grandma Can't Get Automated." The most compelling films will be considered for community screenings and may be featured in an upcoming documentary by filmmaker and digital storytelling pioneer Siok Siok Tan.
Mentored by Siok Siok Tan
Filmmaker and Entrepreneur, DeepHumanityAI Creator, AI for Humanity Co-Author
The GOAT LAB! Cracking Sports with Data
In the GOAT Lab, students step into the role of a sports analyst to answer one big question: Who is the Greatest Of All Time in a sport of their choosing? Drawing on real data, mathematical reasoning, and persuasive storytelling, students build their own analytical model and use it to defend a bold claim. This project is open to every student - not just sports fans. It uses the world of sport as a compelling context for exploring how data is collected, interpreted, weighted, and used to construct arguments. Students may choose any sport they are interested in - cricket, football (soccer), basketball, tennis, chess, esports, athletics, or any other - and select two to four top performers to compare. The project culminates in the GOAT Lab, an interactive showcase where students present their investigation, model, and verdict to an audience who can challenge their reasoning.
Mentored by Kartik Kannan
Cricket.com
Going Global: Building an International Business
Every business decision starts with a real problem. Consider the situation below, a scenario that mirrors the challenges students will explore throughout this project. As you read, think about what you would do in Mr. Sharma’s position, and what knowledge you would need to make the right call.
Mentored by Vaidyanathan
Great Lakes Institute of Management
BrandSpark: The Youth Marketing Challenge
BrandSpark challenges students in grades 6–8 to conceptualize, design, and pitch a marketing plan for a product or service of their choice. The product or service would be a small-medium size business in their local region, they have access to and doesn’t have a significant branding presence.. Students step into the shoes of a real-world advertising team, brainstorming ideas, identifying their audience, crafting messages, and presenting their campaign with confidence. This project connects creativity with critical thinking, giving students a hands-on introduction to how the media and marketing world works around them every day.
Mentored by Joseph Richards
California State University, Sacramento