Rather than assigning traditional library research projects, I think it is important to have students do unique activities which relate classroom work to the real world. The projects below fit in with the Regents Curriculum and are very interesting. 

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ASTRONOMY PROJECTS

ET PHONE HOME
Students have to design their own message that they would have attached to the side of the Pioneer spacecraft

HOW BIG IS THE MOON
Using a simple proportion, students measure the diameter of the moon

TIME CAPSULE
Students write a letter to themselves in the future

THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC
An introduction to constellations

ASTROLOGY/ASTRONOMY
Students investigate the difference between the two

THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON EARTH
Students use the coordinates for the Viking Mars landers, to see if they would have found life on earth

GEOLOGY PROJECTS

EXPLOITING WEATHERING & EROSION
Students search through magazines for weathering and erosion photos

 MINERAL PROJECT
Students visit a jewelry store as an introduction to minerals

THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH
Students investigate the negative effects of dams

EXTINCT OR NOT ?
Should we bring back extinct plants and animals ?

NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE
Students relate the skyline of New York City to the depth of bedrock

MINERAL SCAVENGER HUNT
Students search their house for minerals

 FIND THAT ROCK
Students must find and collect a sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock

 FIND THAT QUARTZ
Students need to find and collect several varieties of quartz

 THE WORLDS GREATEST QUAKES
Students research the greatest quakes of all time
 

OCEANOGRAPHY PROJECTS

THERE'S SEAWEED IN MY WHAT??
Students investigate the foods that contain seaweed

COLLECTING OCEANOGRAPHY
Students have a choice of collecting real ocean samples, or printed ones

METEOROLOGY PROJECTS

 WEATHER PROVERBS
Try to figure out how weather proverbs can be used to predict weather

 MID-WEST WEATHER
Students write to people in Kansas to share their weather experiences