In 1985, a high school senior named Michael Harlan, whose only interest is muscle cars, reluctantly searches for something to turn in for his science class project final.

While on what his bookworm friend Ellie Sawyer thinks is a date, Michael breaks into a government aircraft boneyard and stumbles upon a hidden fallout shelter.

The next day, Michael cleans up the device in auto shop class and unwittingly activates it, causing it to leech power from a nearby boombox.

While bathing in the cosmic energy of the gizmo and contemplating the wonders of the universe, Roberts suddenly disappears, leaving behind his peace symbol medallion.

Returning to the school, they find the whole building consumed in a vortex of space/time as objects and people from the past and future manifest around them and a crazed Sherman, who fears the world is ending and tells them that Ellie is in danger.

Dragging Sherman along, Mike and Vince grab weapons from a platoon of fallen Vietnam War soldiers and make their way to the science lab, battling a T-rex in the gymnasium and a mob of post-apocalyptic mutants along the way.

Moments later, Dr. Roberts reappears (dressed in Hopper's Easy Rider costume with fringe leather jacket, bush hat, moustache), rejoicing in an unexpected trip to Woodstock, and proudly gives Michael an "A" grade on his science project under the condition that he gets rid of the machine, saying "The world is not ready for space and time."

[2] New York Times critic Stephen Holden wrote on August 10, 1985; "My Science Project is a cheerful teen-age adventure film that in its snappier moments resembles a far less clever and less expensive Back to the Future.