Science Fare

by Gail Junion-Metz -- School Library Journal, 2/1/1999

Do you have a bunch of mad scientists running around your library? This is science fair season, the time when students and teachers alike are possessed by the competitive spirit. This year, you can impress the kids with sites that will help them impress the judges. (The following sites are for grades three to eight unless otherwise noted.)

Choose a Topic
Start by visiting The Internet Public Library's Science Fair Project Resource Guide, where kids will find out how to select and research a science project. Next, go to Cyber-Fair: A Resource for and by Elementary Science Students, sponsored by the Mankato (MN) Area Public Schools. The site offers step-by-step guides for doing science projects. Don't miss the "Science Fair Paper" page, which offers guidance in how to document experiments correctly.

Librarian Becky Smith created Science Fair Resources for teens at Rusk (TX) High School. Smith offers sample projects from the Newton's Apple Web site (based on the popular PBS program) to demonstrate what a winning project looks like. She also offers links to lesser-known but helpful science fair sites that are often hard to find.

Learn the Ropes
Students can turn good projects into great ones by learning from the experiences of others. Science Project Guidelines, created by Elizabeth Stryjewski of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, offers project advice from a science fair judge's perspective. The site helps kids avoid common pitfalls, such as failing to formulate a valid scientific hypothesis or trying to prove too much.

Mary Lightbody, a curriculum administrator for the Columbus (OH) Public Schools, created Science Fair Tips to help students present their projects in original ways and effectively demonstrate their expertise to judges.

Find Good Models
Need more project ideas? Of course you do. The Science Fair Idea Exchange, sponsored by the Science Club, a nonprofit organization in Fall City, WA, provides hundreds of great ideas arranged by topic. Postings from students and teachers include their e-mail and Web site addresses.

The best site by far is the National Student Research Center's E-Data-bases of Student Research. The site offers full descriptions of science projects such as "Does the Pythagorean theorem work?" and "The effects of sugar and caffeine on typing speed and accuracy."

If you are looking for project topics for grades one to seven, check out Eduzone -- Science Fair Topic Sheets, created by the Nybor Corporation, an Internet product development company. Favorite topics include "How Old Is Mold?" "Lemon Electricity," and "Does All Chocolate Ice Cream Melt at the Same Time?"

Tips for Fair Organizers, Too
If you are looking for ways to help teachers organize your local fair, visit Eduzone's So, You're Going to Have a Science Fair! You'll find sample letters to send to parents and judges, checklists, timetables, and student application and evaluation forms. For more guidance for judges, check out two excellent judging documents at the Cyber-Fair site.

Need ways to honor participants? Go to Showboard's Science Fair Materials page. Showboard sells science fair certificates, ribbons, medals, display kits, and logbooks. I usually don't recommend commercial sites, but this stuff is hard to find, reasonably priced, and can make your science fair a more rewarding experience for kids.

Web Addresses

For previous "Surf For" links, visit SLJ Online at www.slj.com/links.html.

Science Fair Project Resource Guide
www.ipl.org/youth/projectguide/

Cyber-Fair
www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/welcome.html

Science Fair Resources
www.tyler.net/ruskhslib/sci_fair.htm

Science Project Guidelines
atlas.ksc.nasa.gov/education/general/scifair.html

Science Fair Tips
www.cyberbee.com/science/scitips.html

Science Fair Idea Exchange
www.halcyon.com/sciclub/cgi-pvt/scifair/guestbook.html

E-Databases of Student Research
youth.net/nsrc/nsrc-info.html

Eduzone -- Science Fair Topic Sheets
www.eduzone.com/tips/science.asp

So, You're Going to Have a Science Fair!
www.eduzone.com/tips/science/showtip2.htm

Science Fair Materials
www.showboard.com/science/science.html