As an elementary level student, there was never a mention of a science fair or another outlet for those students who excelled in science at my school. In fact, I never thought much of it until I saw this clip on YouTube (and after some investigation, I also found out how cool some of Steve Spangler’s Videos were too – look up videos by stevespanglerscience if you’re curious).
Simple things like using dish soap to repel food coloring in milk can inspire kids to investigate and learn why things happen. If kids need help coming up with ideas to investigate there is a great PBS website http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/scifair/index.html that is interactive and lets kids play around while looking for science fair ideas. Not only does the site come up with some pretty interesting ideas, (Is my dog smarter than your dog? What smells good to animals? How does the shape of a kite affect its ability to perform stunts?) but it gives a link to find more information your topic. There doesn’t have to be an official science fair: if your school doesn’t offer one make it a classroom event and invite your student’s families to come in one night and let your students show off what they’ve explored during their own science experiment.
Sara,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting topic because when I was in elementary school we didn't have science fairs either. Doing a science fair with young kids can help them explore science and become motivated in the classroom. When they get to explore and do these things on their own then they like science more and are interested.
Sara,
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to be involved in a science fair in elementary school and I remember how much I learned from it, so I feel these type of ideas are really important. The ideas you gave for schools that do not have an official science fair were great ideas! The interaction between the families, students and teachers that you would usually get at a science fair can be brought right into the room.