1.
independent study project; free research assignment
A school assignment, classically over summer vacation, in which a student chooses a topic and investigates it freely — through experiments, observation, crafts, or fieldwork.
夏休みの自由研究に困っている。
I'm stuck on my summer independent study project.
自由研究で朝顔の観察日記を付けた。
For my independent study project, I kept an observation journal of morning glories.
息子の自由研究のテーマが決まらず、家族で頭を悩ませた。
My son couldn't settle on a topic for his independent study project, and the whole family puzzled over it.
Composed of 自由 (free) + 研究 (research). A long-standing summer-vacation tradition in Japanese elementary and junior-high schools; choosing the topic is famously a source of headaches for students and parents.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 夏休みの自由研究: summer-vacation independent study
- 自由研究のテーマ: the topic of an independent study project
- 自由研究をまとめる: to write up an independent study project