Science Fair

Science fairs are becoming more popular each and every year. Students are finally getting the opportunity to work hands on, on a topic that may interest them. Science fairs are allowing students to be creative and share their ideas with hundreds of people who come to look at each of their individual projects. Science fairs are giving students the opportunity to be creative and to also walk around and see the creativity of their fellow classmates throughout the fair. Students are able to speak about their project and show an example of how their project may work, while also getting the opportunity to walk around and ask questions and obtain information on the other projects that are being displayed throughout the fair. Science fairs are giving students the opportunity to learn and have fun at the same time. Students may find it a lot more interesting to learn information at science fair rather then being given the information in the classroom on a regular day.

While exploring through a Science fair students are able to ask questions and engage in conversation with other students as well as teachers that are walking around looking at projects as well. There are many reasons why schools host an annual science. Elementary schools participate in science fairs for a variety of reasons: to stimulate student interest in science, to provide students with opportunities for research and active inquiry, to publicly recognize students completed projects, and to provide students with opportunities to share their work (Perry,1995). Students are given many different opportunities while participating in the science fair. There are many different parts to a science fair project. It is not just the project itself the project must include things such as an investigation, a written research report, a visual display, an oral presentation, and some sort of assessment they can give the individuals who are viewing their project. Science fairs allow students to be organized with information on a certain topic. They allow creativity along with evidence- based knowledge. The more a student knows about a topic, the easier it is to learn and remember new information (Recht & Leslie, 1988).

Professor Gould, a professor at the University of Southern California believes that science fairs encourage student accomplishment. I agree with this statement. Students will feel accomplished by having their project being shown at the school science fair, some students may even place in the science fair and win for having an excellent project.  Gould believes that science fair projects need to begin in the classroom and that teachers need to be involved with their student’s projects. Teachers should guide their students when it comes to their visual display and help them prepare an oral presentation for the science fair. Gould feels that teachers need to do whatever it takes to make the science fair experience one that children will enjoy and want to repeat in the following years.

If students enjoy science fairs and what they are doing they will want to continue year after year to come up with topics to present about. Many of these articles believe that science fair projects are a great example of the inquiry process. According to the article The Value of a Science Fair Project, it is a very effective instructional method; indeed, it is recommended as a corner stone of successful teaching. If teachers do not use this process it will begin to lower the students interest in the science fair because they will not be able practice and participate on hands on activities that interest them. Students in the elementary school level often become very excited about experiments and working on hands on activities, which is why science fairs are becoming more and more popular among the children of young ages. Students are able to pick any topic that interests them and they are able to work on it and make it into something of their very own without direction from anyone. Students are finally be given the opportunity to use their imagination and create. While working on their science fair projects an important aspect to know is the scientific method, what it is and what it does. It is also important to have these students follow the following steps while conducting their experiment and trying to figure out answers.

         First we are introduced to step one, step one consists of coming up with a good question, next step two comes along where the individuals are asked to do research to form a hypothesis, after forming a hypothesis step three comes along where the student needs to test their hypothesis by doing the experiment and seeing what happens. This allows students to work hands on to find out answers they have been looking for. Finally step four comes where there is a presentation with information on why what may have happened, happened. These steps are allowing kids to come up with a solution and a final answer to their hypothesis to state whether or not it was true. Having an annual science fair really gets children involved and engaged in a number of different scientific activities which will benefit them in the future and provide them with knowledge on certain topics that they may not have already known. Students will feel like they are Scientists and be very excited about that as well.

         What I gather from science fairs is that they are very engaging. From all of this information provided I feel that science fairs are a great way for students to learn and become engaged with one another and certain activities. Having a science fair allows students to take the time to teach something they have become familiar with to other people and feel as if they are being the teacher and everyone else is learning in a fun way rather than just getting a book full of information. Throughout my lifetime I have been to a science fair before in my middle school and my little cousin had created a science fair project this past year and I think it is a great way for students to have fun and learn at the same time! I  guarantee you that students have more fun learning with hands on activities.

Balas, A. K. Science fairs in elementary school. Retrieved November 21, 2016, from ERIC Digest, http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-1/fairs.html

   

       The Value of a Science Fair Project 

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/scifair_value.shtml

Holt, L. (2006). Elementary Science Fair Planning Guide. Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://www.utelementary.org/ourpages/auto/2013/1/9/54511288/ScienceFairGuide 2013.pdf