Organizing Science Fairs

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Organizing Science Fairs

• Dr. Henry Brouwer
• Redeemer University College

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Objectives of a Science Fair

• For the Students
• Teach students how to do an independent research
  project
• Provide students with an opportunity to study a
  topic they are interested in
• Generate a greater appreciation for the wonders
  of Gods creation
• Teach the students communication skills and
  critical thinking skills

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Objectives of a Science Fair

• For the School
• Give the school a method to highlight the science
  program in the community
• Encourage students who are gifted in science to
  compete on a province-wide level
• Improve the school science program

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Guidelines for Teachers

• 5-6 Months Before Science Fair
• Appoint a Science Fair Committee
• A Science Fair is a school event, not just an
  individual teachers project
• Delegate the work associated with the Science
  Fair
• Committee may consist of teachers and interested
  parents
• One person should be the overall coordinator
• Areas of responsibility
• Setting up and taking down
• Judges
• Promotion

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Guidelines for Teachers

• 5-6 Months Before Science Fair
• Establish a date for the local fair
• Should be at least three weeks prior to the
  regional science fair
• Gives students time to make changes
• Regional science fair organizers need time to
  plan and coordinate their event
• Reserve the necessary facilities

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Guidelines for Teachers

• Introduce the Science Fair to the students early
  in the fall if the science fair is in the
  spring
• Students need time to get ideas, plan their
  project, design experiments
• Note to parents re purpose of Science Fair,
  their role. Timeframe, etc.
• Notebook dedicated to Science Fair project
• Establish deadlines for students
• E.g. selection of topic
• Design of experiments
• Doing actual experimental work (data collection)
• Completed project

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Guidelines for Teachers

• 3-4 Months Before Science Fair
• Provide students with pictures/slides/video or
  previous science fair projects
• Ask librarian or resource person to talk to
  students about doing a project
• Present rules and regulations to students re
  projects
• Determine whether students are to work
  individually or in pairs

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Guidelines for Teachers

• 2 Months before
• Ask parents, community members, other teachers,
  etc. to serve as judges
• Do not have to be science specialists
• Ensure that there are enough judges
• Provide judges with judging criteria
• Show students a sample write-up of project

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Guidelines for Teachers

• 1 Month Before
• Advertise Science Fair in local papers, school
  newsletter, churches
• Confirm that the necessary facilities are booked
• Determine what is needed (e.g. tables, electrical
  outlets)
• Arrange for other classes to view the science
  fair displays

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Guidelines for Teachers

• Week before
• Make sure students have projects completed
• Arrange for refreshments for judges
• Confirm list of judges
• Remind staff of schedule for the science fair
• Assign students their project numbers
• Have sufficient judging forms
• Prepare judging forms with project number,
  project title, student name(s)

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Guidelines for Teachers

• Day before
• Set up tables, chairs for project displays
• Provide electricity for those projects that need
  it
• Arrange for supervision of the display area
• Review all projects to ensure that the safety
  guidelines have been met

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Guidelines for Teachers

• The BIG Day!
• Judges should first judge projects without the
  students present
• Students should be at their projects for the
  second half of the judging process to be
  interviewed by the judge
• Judges should meet to discuss the best projects

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Guidelines for Teachers

• The BIG Day!
• Open displays to rest of the classes best to
  have one class at a time view the projects
• Students can be asked to write a report on
  specific topics
• Open House for parents and community in the
  evening
• Recognition of top projects

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Guidelines for Teachers

• Within a few Days After
• Students take down their projects, clean up
  (either day of or next day)
• Prepare an article on Science Fair for local
  paper, school newsletter
• Evaluate process with committee note changes
  that should be made
• Thank judges for their participation

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For the Student

• Choosing a topic is often the most difficult
  aspect of a science fair for students, teachers
  and parents
• Topic should be one that the student is
  interested in
• Parents and teachers should approve the topic
  before the student puts too much work into it
• KEEP A RECORD OF WORK DONE IN A NOTEBOOK
  DEDICATED TO THE PROJECT!

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Choosing a Topic

• The best science fair projects are those that
  involve doing an experiment demonstrations and
  reports generally do not reach the top
• A simple, well-designed experiment should answer
  a question or lead to further knowledge
• A good project will also elicit further questions

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Source of Ideas

• Own interests
• Discussion with parents, friends, family
• Books and magazines
• General discussion in classroom to get students
  thinking
• Hints of possible topics while teaching

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Examples of Projects

• Many different web sites to get ideas
• www.scifair.org
• Hints on organizing the science fair project,
  list of topics
• http//www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Science
  Internet/TopicChoices.html
• Provides a list of broad categories and then
  gives examples of specific questions relating to
  the topic

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Examples of Projects

• Energy efficiency of automobile
• Topic itself is far too general needs to be more
  specific
• How does the shape of a car affect its
  efficiency?
• Build models of different shaped cars and find
  some way to test the drag on the shape
• Study to examine relationship between the mass of
  a vehicle and published fuel efficiency data

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Examples of Projects

• What determines the rate at which plants grow?
• Again a rather general topic very common type of
  project
• More specific what effect will elevated CO2
  levels have on plant growth?
• Requires careful design of experiment (control
  and variables) method of monitoring CO2
• Relevant in our current situation with increasing
  levels of CO2 in the atmosphere

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Examples of Projects

• Does an electromagnetic field have an impact on
  living organisms?
• Somewhat general
• Be more specific by asking How does exposure of
  seeds to a high voltage affect the germination
  rate? or Does a strong magnetic field affect
  the growth of bacteria?
• Students need to carefully design their
  experiments with controls and variables
• Must figure out a way of generating a safe, high
  voltage or to produce a strong magnetic field

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Projects

• Experiments must be carefully designed to take
  into consideration variables and controls
• Students need to recognize that the effect
  measured is due to what they say it is
• Must keep careful records of all their work,
  including what did not work!

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Types of Projects

• Experiment Students would design and perform
  actual tests or experiments to verify or disprove
  a hypothesis. An experiment involves using both
  controls and variables in order to attribute
  changes to specific causes. Students would also
  be expected to clearly describe their
  observations and state their conclusions, based
  on the evidence obtained in the experiment.

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Types of Projects

• Study Projects are assigned to this category if
  they report on information or data from published
  sources or collected by the students themselves.
  A study may also involve taking existing data and
  evaluating them in a new and fresh way. An
  excellent study is more than just reporting
  information from textbooks or encyclopedias! It
  involves an analysis of information or data
  collected by the student or by others

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Types of Projects

• Innovation This category involves taking some
  existing technology and adapting it in a unique
  way to a new situation. It might, for instance,
  involve writing a computer program to do
  something currently not available. Or it might
  involve designing a robot to perform a specific
  function. This category could also include
  construction of a model to illustrate a complex
  scientific concept however, the model should be
  more than a replicate of what is already
  available.

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Student Workbook/Journal

• Students must keep a separate notebook for their
  project
• Includes ideas considered and how they arrived at
  their final topic
• Date each entry
• Include references to all sources in their daily
  journal
• Include their own analysis of what they learned
  e.g. was it helpful? How could they use it?

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Student Workbook/Journal

• Include sketches of experimental set-up ideas
  for improving experiment
• Record results of experiments, discuss the
  significance and possibly include ideas to try
  out next time
• Basically, a notebook is a record of all the work
  done for the project
• A good notebook will also help the student in
  writing the final report

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The Abstract

• An abstract is a short summary of the project,
  highlighting the most important aspects
• Provides a summary of what was done and what was
  observed along with the conclusion reached
• An abstract enables the reader to decide whether
  or not the project is of interest

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An Example of an AbstractPaper entitled
Screening Technique for Lead and Cadmium in Toys
and other Materials using Atomic Absorption
Spectroscopy published by H.
Brouwer in Journal of Chemical Education

• This paper describes a simple method to determine
  the presence of metals such as lead and cadmium
  in plastic toys, paints, and other solids using
  an atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) without
  going through the time-consuming sample
  preparation steps. Basically, the method involves
  transferring solid sample to a nichrome wire by
  placing a small sample on a wire loop or touching
  the heated wire to the sample and then heating
  the wire in the AAS flame. By choosing the
  appropriate radiation source and wavelength, the
  presence of different metals may be determined
  qualitatively.

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Another AbstractEffect of Acidic Precipitation
on Plant Growth

• For this project, three different varieties of
  plants (radishes, lettuce and beans) were
  sprinkled with tap water acidified to pH 4.0 each
  day over a period of 6 weeks. At the end of the
  exposure time, the above-ground plant matter was
  removed, dried and weighed. All three varieties
  showed a decrease in mass compared with controls
  lettuce showed the greatest decrease, suggesting
  that lettuce is most sensitive to acid rain.

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Christian Perspective

• Unique feature of the Christian Schools Science
  Fair hosted by Redeemer University College
• Acknowledgment that God created the universe in
  its many dimensions
• It is included to encourage students to reflect
  on the significance of their Christian beliefs as
  these relate to their project
• Students should avoid use of clichés

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Display

• Ensure that all the necessary information is
  included in the display
• May include experimental set-up (if space
  permits)
• Otherwise include pictures, model
• Avoid clutter and really fancy lettering!
• Judges are interested in substance that is
  clearly and logically displayed
• Ensure that display guidelines are met

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Ontario Christian Schools Science Fair Website
We have resources available for you online!

• Regulations for the projects
• Judging Forms used by the judges
• List of schools participating
• Winning projects/schools
• Winners from past Science Fairs
• On-line registration of school
• On-line registration of projects

Website http//cs.redeemer.ca/scifair/