Topic - Science Fair Secrets

A Behind the Scenes Look at Science Fair Judging

By Blog Editor Susan Wells

A few weeks ago, I was asked to be a judge at a local middle school’s 8th grade science fair. I was so excited to volunteer to take on title of Science Fair Judge for the first time.

I had no idea what to really expect or how to perform my judging duties as I drove to the school that morning.

This science fair consisted of honor science students’ projects. The two science teachers picked the top 20 projects out of their classes for the judges to interview, but the gym was full of project boards.

Before we began, I really enjoyed wandering around and looking at all of the projects. There were so many creative and unique ideas and all of the kids did a great job. I was glad we didn’t have to narrow the field based on the boards. That was a tough decision.

Judges were given sample questions, a few instructions and were then broken into groups of three to interview students

Science Fair 911 – What If My Results Are Wrong?

By Blog Editor Susan Wells

We take a lot of calls during science fair season and throughout the year from students and their parents for help on projects. One question we receive more than most is a concern when the results of the project didn’t support the hypothesis or have the intended outcome.

Let’s start with the hypothesis. What is a hypothesis?

After you do research on your topic and choose your independent variables, you make an educated guess as to what you think the outcome of the experiment will be. A hypothesis is usually an “I think” statement.

For example, if your project involves testing surfaces in your home for the source of the most bacteria, you will come up with a hypothesis that one will contain the most bacteria.

A sample hypothesis for this experiment could be – “I am testing the bacteria levels on the home phone, the TV remote, bathroom sink faucet and door handle. I think the door handle will have the most bacteria. ”

Conduct your experiment and test the bacteria levels

Science Fair 911 – Tips for Teachers

By Guest Blogger Debbie Leibold 

So, you’re about to assign science fair projects to your students… now what? No need to worry, the Spangler Science team has some tips to make the science fair fun, interesting, and educational for your students (and easier for you)!

• First and foremost, if you are excited about the science fair, your students are sure to share your enthusiasm. Making science an integral part of your classroom throughout the year will help ignite students’ interest during science fair season.

• Consider modeling a science fair experiment for the class.  By doing so, your students will see firsthand how to come up with a hypothesis, create some tests to see the effect of a variable, and learn the difference between a demonstration and an experiment.  If your class science fair project was going on around the same time that your students were working on their own projects at home, the gathering of data, making charts and graphs, and developing conclusions that you do as a class would be great practice for your students as they work on their individual projects.  As we all know,

Science Fair 911 – Tips for Students

By Blog Editor Susan Wells 

Whether you are required to participate in your school’s science fair or if you are trying to decide whether or not to volunteer to participate, the hardest part of getting started is finding a project.

I have organized my school’s science fair for several years now, and I have found that once the project is picked, the kids are excited and off to the races.

If you are having a hard time finding a project, please read our post about How to Choose a Topic and Project Ideas.

Once you have your topic, it is time to get working on the nitty gritty of the project. The best place to start is with enthusiasm and lots of energy. Find your motivation and dig in. Hopefully you have chosen a topic that you are interested in and excited about. If not, go back and brainstorm.

Our science fair is strictly voluntary and I am always excited and proud of those students who choose to take time out of their busy activity schedules and homework assignments to put together a science project. I love seeing a light in their eyes when

Science Fair 911 – Tips for Parents

By Guest Blogger Debbie Leibold 

“It’s science fair time!”  Those words cause many parents to panic and ask questions like, “How are we going to have time for this?”  ”What experiment should my child do?”  ”I have no science background–how am I going to help?”  ”Where do we begin?”

Don’t panic… help is on the way.  Completing a science fair project is not as difficult as you might think and, believe it or not, it can even be really fun!  Here at Steve Spangler Science we’ve created an entire science fair section on our website to help students, parents, and teachers through the science fair process.  We take you through the process step-by-step, starting with the challenge of choosing a topic and ending with suggestions for the display board and presentation tips.  We discuss the scientific method in detail and guide you through the requirements of any good science fair project.  We also have a science fair experiment library for you to browse and some excellent sample science fair projects.

Our hope is that you will find the resources