I decided to start running science fairs at my school when I started my job. There had not been science fairs at my school for a long time before I started running them. Since then, I have run a science fair each year for the past 3 years, and have learned lots along the way. If you are interested in running a science fair at your school, here are some guidelines that will help you be successful.
1. Teach a Unit on the Scientific Method Alongside the Project
Teaching a unit alongside a project gives a bit more structure to the situation, and helps students better understand important concepts. For example, in my scientific method notes we go through how to write a good hypothesis. This reminds students what a hypothesis is and how it should be written, and also gives them examples to refer back to. We also cover variables and reliable vs unreliable sources of information. This helps students better understand what is expected for the various sections of a science fair project. I alternated between 1 block of project work and 1 block of scientific method work until I made it through the content portion. This also encourages students to use their time effectively. I have found that having multiple work blocks in a row can lead to more time wasting.2. Encourage Originality
In my experience, students tend to gravitate towards things they have seen other people do on the internet, but the whole point of doing a science fair project is to learn something new via the scientific method. I like to challenge my students to come up with a new spin on old ideas. For example, many students want to try the coke and mentos experiment, but just throwing some mentos into a bottle of diet coke doesn't teach us anything new. What if they tried different types of coke? Or the same type at different temperatures? Now we are getting somewhere. This can be a challenge for students, so make sure to devote some one on one time with each student to discuss their idea at the start of the project.
3. Use Checklists and Graphic Organizers
Hand out a checklist or a rubric at the start of a project for students to reference throughout the project. I like to periodically remind my students of this sheets existence because it is often quickly forgotten in the excitement of the project. In addition to this, using a graphic organizer such as Get Ready-Do-Done can help students better understand what needs to be completed. I recommend checking in with students regularly in regards to their progress on top of this.4. Plan Schedules
There are a few different schedules to worry about for a science fair. The first is the date you set for the fair where the students will show off their project. You want to schedule this for a time that doesn't conflict with another teacher's plans (because you want the rest of the school to be able to attend the fair). I usually plan a date and then send it out to staff to check for conflicts before confirming it with students/parts.You also want to pay attention if there is a larger science fair going on in your area. I live in the Kootenays (BC, Canada) and we always have a regional science fair in this area that takes place sometime in April. Due to this, I always plan my science fair before this date. That way if a student wants to participate in the regional science fair, their project will be all done and ready to go beforehand.
You should also come up with a schedule for the students. What date should they have settled on a hypothesis? By what date should they have completed experiments? etc. Share this schedule with your students and their parents. This will prevent students from leaving things until the last possible second.
The last type of schedule you need to consider is the schedule for the actual science fair. If you are inviting multiple groups of people (which you should), you should invite them for different times. I schedule each different class, parents, and community members in 15 minute intervals. This prevents the science fair from being too crowded at any given time, and also ensures there aren't any quiet periods during the fair.
5. Reserve a Space
You will need a large open space to run a science fair. This could be a classroom if you are only doing it with one class. If it's multiple classes I recommend either the library or the gym. You will need to make sure that nobody will be using that space the day/time of your science fair. Notify your admin and anyone who does scheduling at your school ahead of time so that they can keep track of it. I also email all staff letting them know.6. Communicate with Parents
Parent communication is key. Many students do not share what is going on at school with their parents, so the science fair may be a complete surprise to them without proper communication. I use an email list for all classes participating in the science fair and I send out emails throughout the duration of the project. I usually send one at the start letting parents know that we are going to start working on the project, giving them important dates, and sharing criteria. I then send out a few emails throughout the project letting parents know what their student should be working on or finishing in a given week. For any students who I see falling behind on deadlines, I call the parents directly and we discuss how to better support the student through the project. Communication with parents ensures that all students have their projects done and at the school on the day of the fair.
7. Invite the Community
Inviting people from outside of the school is a fun way to share your students' learning with the community, and up the stakes for students. In my town, we have a separate elementary school, so I always send out an email to that school asking teachers interested in bringing their class to the fair to schedule a time with me. In the past I have also invited classes from schools in neighboring towns. I also email parents inviting them for a specific time (remember, these times need to be staggered - don't invite everybody for 9am!). Lastly, I invite community members by posting to our community social media pages. Don't forget to get the OK from your admin before you begin inviting groups. My admin loves community events and has even extended the invite to school trustees.8. Gather Prizes
The best way to get prizes for the science fair is to ask for donations. You can do this by posting on your community social media, or stopping by businesses and talking to managers. You will need to decide on how many prizes you will be giving away. If you are conducting this science fair with multiple grades, I recommend making 2 categories, each with a 1st/2nd/3rd/etc prize, to keep things fair (obviously a grade 10 students project is going to be more thorough than a grade 7s project). I normally collect donations and then round out the prizes with candy/toys I get from Dollarama. Lastly, because I'm extra, I also give away place ribbons with the prizes, which I got off Amazon.
9. Decide on a Voting System
To make a science fair more interactive, create a voting system that the attendees can participate in. I have tried this a few different ways, and the best I have come up with is handing out slips where guests can identify which project they think should get 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place. Keep track of who is voting; I do not let students who are participating in the fair to vote, nor students in lower grades. I usually invite parents, community members, teachers, and senior (grade 11/12) students to vote. I keep a voting box at a table at the entrance of the science fair for people to put their completed slips into. Once the fair is finished, I open the box and use a points system to tally the scores. 3 points for each time a project is put for first place, 2 points for second place, 1 point for third place. The project with the highest score is the winner. I combine this data with my marking data to decide on winners, but you could also assign students 1st/2nd/3rd based on their mark and then award the winner of the voting system the "popular vote winner" (or do 1st/2nd/3rd for audience favorites). However you decide to run it, your attendees will be more engaged and interact more with the projects they are viewing if they feel like they are helping choose the winners.
10. Use a Megaphone
Trust me on this one. I had a megaphone last time I ran the science fair and it was a game changer. It is especially helpful for initial set up and take down of the science fair areas. They are also useful for finding students or people in the crowd. If you are in a large group of people, nobody is going to be able to hear you without a megaphone. Also, they are pretty fun to use.
11. Announce Your Winners
Usually once the science fair wraps up, students are pretty eager to hear who won. However, marking a huge amount of science fair projects isn't exactly something you can do in a day. There's a couple ways you can get around this. For starters, if you have separated the voting category from the marking category, you can simply count up your slips and announce those winners right away, with the marking category to be determined. I have done it this way in the past, and announced the winners over the intercom in the school. This was fun because you can hear people cheering from different classrooms as you go.I also always run the science fair immediately before spring break, and recommend it. This way it is over and done with before your break, and you have some time to mark the projects. I usually devote a day or two of my break to marking the projects, and then announce the winners upon returning to school.
I would love to answer any questions about running a science fair in the comments below.
Happy science fairing!
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