Q: Tell us a little about who you are…
A: Let's see... I'm definitely not a scientist, I'm not in a band, I'm not an ultra-creative graphic designer, I'm not on Ellen, I haven't been featured on YouTube,
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Last October, YouTube announced the next big thing to come to entertainment and television... a YouTube Network of original channels. Beginning in 2012, they began adding 100 new channels to their lineup. They are bringing a wide range of talented producers, creators and personalities to the web and offering a new viewing experience for those who want to make
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By Blog Editor Susan Wells
It's January and it's Science Fair season. The keywords, "science fair projects," "easy science fair ideas," and "science fair help" are some of the top searched terms on Google in the month of January as students and their parents get online to look for help on their science fair projects.
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We are excited to announce our new partnership with YouTube EDU and the YouTube for Schools project. Students and educators now have access to our entire library of science experiment videos in the classroom. No more work arounds or third-party sites to try to show videos in the classroom. YouTube listened
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Most of the time, when you don’t win, a science fair there isn’t any feedback on why your project was not selected as one of the best. Here is a list of the 5 most common reasons a project, that might otherwise seem like a “winner” does not even place in the top tier.
1. Violation: Gadgeteering
Explanation: Projects that do not follow the scientific method to solve a problem will usually be dismissed as a demonstration or a gadget. This is particularly common with a new technology. For example, a project that demonstrates how a solar cell (or DNA extraction kit or hover-craft etc.) works is not sufficient for a competitive science fair project because there is no experimentation. The project might win at school level for the “wow” factor, but will not be considered for awards at higher levels. HOWEVER, the exception to this violation is for science fairs with a specific category for Engineering and/or Technology. In this case, learn and follow the engineering design principles, which are similar to scientific method.
2. Violation: Failure to follow scientific method
Explanation: The most common errors that fall under this violation are:
For this experiment, we traded fire extinguishers, exploding toothpaste and liquid nitrogen for balloons and cooking skewers…not an explosive experiment at all. Then why was Becky Ditchfield so nervous?
It’s so simple. Blow up a balloon and tie off the bottom. Then take a cooking skewer and stick it through the balloon. Impossible? Not if you have a little patience and know a little science. Becky definitely got the hang of it until she was asked to try sticking the skewer through a large balloon.
Q: Tell us a little about who you are… A: Let’s see… I’m definitely not a scientist, I’m not in a band, I’m not an ultra-creative graphic designer, I’m not on Ellen, I haven’t been featured on YouTube, I rarely blow things up. My life is pretty boring compared to some of the people I work with.
I’m a mom, wife, dog walker, former high school English teacher, volunteer, taxi driver, sports fan (especially my kids’ sports), non-profit fund raiser, Duke grad, music lover, golfer, and avid reader. I have lived in Colorado most of my life and am passionate about education and the outdoors. I serve as a Trustee on a non-profit Board (the John Austin Cheley Foundation) that raises money to provide summer camp experiences for kids around the country.
You’ve picked the perfect project, pulled together your materials and variables, conducted your experiment. You can see the finish line. But there is one last piece of the science fair project that remains…the project display board.
I’ve been surprised in my working with students and their parents that the display board can make even the most confident scientists to break out in a sweat.
Don’t sweat the display board – this is where your hard work and creativity really get to shine. It is a display that tells the story of all of your efforts and gives the first impression of your project.
Here are a few tips:
Keep it simple, neat and organized.
Start with a powerful title. You want to grab the judges’ and visitors’ attention. A title like “Mentos and Diet Coke Geysers” is nice, but it doesn’t jump out. Try something like “Icky Sticky Soda Geysers – Which One Makes the Biggest Mess?”
Use your imagination and make it attractive. Use pictures, 3-D objects, colors, graphs, charts or illustrations to draw in your audience.
Some judges will be judging their first science fair, while others will have judged several fairs at varying levels. Nevertheless there are many common questions and, the more you have thought about them, the better your interview experience will be.
20 Questions you should expect include:
Where did you get this idea?
How did you come up with this title?
What research did you do?
What was your hypothesis?
Why did you think that would happen?
What were your independent and dependent variables?
What was your control?
What did you measure and how?
How did you calculate that result?
Why did you choose that amount, (or measurement, or piece of equipment, etc.)?
How did you replicate the experiment?
What does that graph tell you?
How variable were your results and what might explain the variability?
What did you base that conclusion on?
Why/How are your findings important?
Who might want to know this information?
What would be the next experiment you would do?
What was the hardest part (or most fun, or most exciting, or most surprising, etc.)?
Who helped you?
If you had to do it all over again, is there anything you would do differently?
