Science Fair Benefits
Science Fair time can be an exciting period of days, weeks, or even months in which students make new discoveries about the world around them, and about themselves.
Any science teacher making an assignment for students to participate in Science Fair has a schedule for the project, and ideas about what kinds of projects students should do. For example an elementary school student might do a demonstration or a model, a middle school students might do a research project or a simple experiment. High school students are expected to do a more complex experiment in an area of scientific inquiry which is of special interest to them.
At every level the student proposes a topic, develops an understanding about the topic, explores it a bit further, and reports his or her findings to an audience. Students attempt to investigate a problem, perhaps even solving it in an innovative way, and teach themselves science through their discoveries. Projects may be in any area of science, might involve dis
Science fair investigations require time management skills. Students must budget their time, space out the work in manageable chunks, keep to a schedule, and complete their experiment early enough to have ample time for making conclusions and retesting results if necessary for confirmation and confidence.
Science fair projects present students with opportunities to use reading, writing,
Long term benefits of science fair projects have been identified as well. Students find projects which relate to their everyday lives.
Ask these questions:
Is my topic realistic?
Is it something I can do?
Is my topic interesting to me?
Can I investigate my topic by experimenting and collecting data?
Can I afford what I will need to investigate my topic?
Do I have enough time to complete the experiment?
Attention Getting Characteristics:
The science fair projects which attract the most attention share certain characteristics. Think about these questions:
Is this project truly original, or has it been done before?
Is the answer to my question already known?
Will my investigation add significantly to what is known about the topic?
Are there outside resources available to me? Have I narrowed my results from all possible angles?
Four Characteristics of Scoring:
The projects which receive superior ratings achieve very high scores in all four of these categories. Effective presentation of the student's work is also critical.
1. Knowledge achieved
2. Effective use of the scientific method
3. Clarity of expression
4. Originality and creativity
Elementary Selection Tips
Middle School Selection Tips
High School Selection Tips
Science Project Agreement & Initial Idea
Log Book - Contents
6 basic Science Process Skills
Variables
Environemental Variables
Project Component Check List
Science Fair Nitty-gritty
Permission is granted to use this material for educational use as long as the document remains intact and credit is given to the author.
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