Planning a Science Fair
I think I’ve lost my mind. Or maybe just experienced a moment of weakness. Either way, I have volunteered to plan and run a Science Fair at my daughter’s school.
Maybe it was the lure of science and the science fair. Maybe it was the sinking feeling I had in my gut when the school told me due to budget cuts, the teachers would no longer be paid to run one. Maybe it was the thought that without me, the science fair wouldn’t exist this year.
Maybe I’m a sucker.
Yep. That’s it.
I’m now trying to plan a science fair that is set for March. I have no idea what I’m doing. I may be a planner. I may be organized. I may have a science background. But I don’t think I’m qualified.
My saving grace is that the science fair at the school does not judge the entries but instead encourages and supports the participation. I just need to get the students excited and motivated, help some with ideas of where to get started and set up tables. Hey, I can do this.
I found an amazing site Science Buddies. They have a ton of information on science fair, how to hold one, how to do a science fair project, project ideas and so much more. It also helps that I work for Steve Spangler Science. Lots of ideas and materials reside within the walls of where I find employment.
I have the time. Oh wait, I have less than two months to get the students moving and get to planning. Yikes.
I may be finding the learning in my own experiences. I plan to chronicle my experiences about the science fair on my blog. Check back and check on my sanity.
This year, learn how to do it and hope it doesn’t go to crap. Next year, bigger and better. Starting earlier. Doing the job right.
Next year. Bigger sucker. I think I just did it to myself.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
If anyone can pull off a great Science Fair YOU CAN! Good luck!
January 14th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Thank you so much! I hope I can do it.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:22 am
You can do this! Be sure each student understands what a hypothesis is, the exact date and time of the fair, and, to the letter, what a “project” MUST entail. Send out, several times, a letter to parents explaining the basics of the fair, and exactly what their part in it must be if their child is participating. With any kind of “family” function, and especially for a science fair, it’s important that parents know what’s expected of them and of their child. Be sure parents understand that no dangerous chemicals or animals are allowed. ABOVE ALL, stress that the project must be the child’s work and not the parent’s work. At the judging, ask the child exactly what he/she did; if the kid can’t answer, eliminate the project. Harsh but effective.
Get your judges early and and remind them several times during the next few weeks as to the exact date and time, and what will be expected of them.
It’s been a few years since I “did” a science fair, but I remember those few things as especially important. Good luck! I know yours will be awesome.
P.S. Don’t think of yourself as a sucker. You’re not. What you are is a knowledgeable parent who cares enough about children’s curiosity about the wonders of the universe to help them showcase it, that others might become curious, too.
Oh, and line up some publicity. It’s amazing what a little newspaper article or radio blurb will do for a child’s enthusiasm level.