New Science-Fair Site Launches

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By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 02/01/2004

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Gone are the days of science fair projects slapped together with Play-Doh and construction paper; today's science fairs are serious business. But for frazzled parents (and teachers) there's help—a new Web site, www.super-science-fair-projects.com. It offers middle and high school students step-by-step help with their science projects, along with a teachers' resource page, as well as a parents' guide that explains the how and why of science fairs.

Site creator Madeline Binder, a former diagnostic reading teacher, says that today's typical science project occupies students for several months, a long spell for most teens to stay motivated. "I wanted to create a site that is not only informative, but also interactive and fun," she says. A cartoon character, Detective Think-More, takes users on an adventure to dream up, design, and execute projects. There are links to sample projects, potential topics and experiments, complete with a time line to keep students on track.

The 22–page site also features tips on what fair judges look for and how to rehearse presentations in topics from weather stations to microbiology, plus the six steps of the scientific method. "If you can use only one site, this is it," says Jody Strand of the South Central South Dakota Science and Engineering Fair. During an educator workshop, Strand displayed the Web site via an overhead projector.

Strand says she has her middle and high school students use "the wonderfully interactive" site to prepare for the upcoming fair, affiliated with Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD. What have some of them been working on? Projects on skin cancer and tanning beds, hovercraft, and worms.