The Benefits of a Science Fair

When I arrived a few years ago, the one benefit that was proudly shared with me was that, by knowing the scientific process, which was an outgrowth of the science fair, the St. Louis graduate was able to get into AP Science in high school.  However, what if your child isn’t that interested in science?

y asking the students what they felt they did particularly well, I found that it is easy to tell what the benefits of the project were.  Eight grade examples include:

v      Enjoying learning:   1) “ Conducting the experiment;” 2) “I really got into it;” 3) “I had fun;”

                                            4) “Having fun with the experiment;” 5) “Choosing a fun topic.”

v      Organizing time:      1) “I didn’t procrastinate;” 2) Turning papers in on time.”

v      Organization:           1) “I was organized;” 2) “Staying organized;” 3) “Planning;”

            4) Being organized;” 5) Making my journal;” 6) “Binder.”

v      Hands-on learning: 1) “I built cars.”

v      Mathematics:           1) “Collecting data;” 2) “Graphs;” 3) “My graph.”

v      Reading:                    1) “Reading about insulation.”

v      English:                      1) “Writing the Review of Literature;” 2) “Well written papers;”

                                                    3) “Paper;” 4) “Review of Literature;” 5) “Papers.”

v      Science:                     1) “Learning more about pH;” 2) “Control;” 3) “Whole experiment.”

v      Art                              1) “Board;” 2) “Creative;” 3) “Making an interesting display;”

            4) “Making my board;” 5) “Display;” 6) “My board.”

v      Seeking help:            1) “Asking for help when needed.”

v      Independence:         1) “Independent (not as much help from parents).”

v      Neatness:                  1) “Neatness on display board.”

onversely, by asking the students what they felt they could improve upon, again it is also easy to tell what the benefits of the project were.  Their examples include:

v      Organizing time:      1) “Time management;” 2) “Meet deadlines;” 3) “Not to wait to start the project.”

v      Organization:           1) “Organization.”

v      English:                      1) “Bibliography;” 2) “Review of Literature;” 3) “Research more information.”

v      Science:                     1) “Procedure;” 2) “Take better notes;” 3) “Do the project longer.”

inally, they shared that they learned the following:

v      Organizing time:      1) “Time management;” 2) Start early; 3) “Doing my project ahead of time.”

v      Organization:           1) “To keep my binder organized;” 2) “Neatness.”

v      Mathematics:           1) “New math skills;” 2)“I learned how to best organize data.”

v      English:                      1) “How to write papers correctly.”

v      Science:                     1) “Conducting an experiment is harder than it looks;” 2) “Better understanding of scientific process;” 3) Scientific way of measuring.”

v      Independence:         1) “Not as much parent help.”

v      Technology:             1) “A few more things about Excel.”

y guess is that there are still more benefits, but I thought I would share these with you!

Thank you for your support,

Mr. Friedrich