Essay on Science Fairs
John L. Hubisz, Ph.D., Hubisz@unity.ncsu.edu

For over ten years, I ran a “Physics Faire” for grades K-6 in Galveston County, Texas. How I got into the project was interesting in itself, but, in brief, a principal who reported an average deficiency of 2-3 grade levels in science and mathematics and an average achievement of almost 3 grade levels in everything else was directed to do something about the poor showing in science and mathematics. She called me. I wandered about the school for a couple of days, held some question and answer sessions in the different grades, visited the library, and talked informally with teachers.

I decided to start a “Physics Faire” for all grades. I used and described “Physics” in the sense of natural philosophy with four sub-categories: biology, chemistry, geology, and physics. Every grade level could have four winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable Mention) in each category. The student picked the category that his or her project was to be entered. The prizes were ribbons only. All students received a Certificate of Participation. I gave talks on what the scientific approach was all about to anyone and everyone interested. I peppered each talk with dozens of ideas for projects, but refused to assign projects. I trained my college students and many others on how to judge a project. Laboratory notebooks were required of each participant and became part of the final score. Every student was asked to describe the help that they received from others. They were asked to describe their project and required to answer questions. No parents or others were allowed in the room when the judges were making their evaluations. Videotapes and games were available for parents and children who were not taking part to keep them occupied and away from the participants.

Almost immediately, the librarian told me that the library had never seen so much activity. The same testing that had produced the previous results showed the school to be 2-3 grade levels above average in all subject areas two years later.

The second year of the “Physics Faire,” another local school asked to be included. The prizewinners from each school competed against each other. Within three years, 23 schools were taking part with several hundred students (winners from the individual schools) competing in a countywide “Physics Faire.” Local newspapers published many stories about the Faire and about the winners. The judging had to be broken up into a K-3 and a 4-6 session to accommodate all the people and find space. Requests from home-schoolers were accommodated by special competitions to obtain winners to enter the countywide Faire.

During the school year, I visited many schools and teacher groups to describe the Faire. I leant out videotapes including many by Paul Hewitt. The ones he did for Hawaii TV that had to be fitted in a 55 second time slot often ended with him doing something silly to fill in the remaining seconds. I would often meet children in the malls or grocery store and they would repeat Paul’s actions for me. “Physics” was not a word or subject to be feared for these children.
Interestingly, shortly after I started this Faire, the local high schools restarted their science fairs and some grade 7-9 fairs also started, usually, however, only within their own school.

The following list of books represent a start at a collection. I am not recommending these as excellent books, though some are, but only as good sources for getting projects started. An excellent result would be the pleasure brought to a Middle School student who, after carrying out a well-executed experiment, showed that the author was wrong.

There are many books by Janice VanCleave from John Wiley & Sons in the Science for Every Kid Series, which are usually quite good.

Mr. Wizard’s Experiments for Young Scientists by Don Herbert from Doubleday.

Science in Your Backyard by Robert Gardner and David Webster from Julian Messner, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

How to Make Your Science Project Scientific by Thomas Moorman from Atheneum. Excellent!

Entertaining Science Experiments with Everyday Objects by Martin Gardner from Dover. Anything by Martin Gardner will be great.

Fascinating Fibonaccis by Trudi Hammel Garland from Dale Seymour Publications.

Science Fare: An Illustrated Guide & Catalog of Toys, Books & Activities for Kids by Wendy Saul & Alan R. Newman with an excellent introduction by Isaac Asimov from Harper & Row.

Projects and Investigations: The Practice of Physics by Robert E. Vermillion from Macmillan.

Nuts & Bolts: A Matter of Fact Guide to Science Fair Projects by Barry A. Van Deman and Ed McDonald from The Science Man Press

Math for Smarty Pants by Marilyn Burns from Little, Brown and Company.

I’ve Got the Bean Seeds … Now What Do I Do? published by the Houston Post.

Science Fairs and Projects: Grades 7-12 from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). This organization has many more helpful resources.

Science Fair: Developing a Successful and Fun Project by Maxine Haren Iritz and published by Tab Books, Inc.

The Complete Science Fair Handbook: Grades 4-8 by Anthony D. Fredericks and Isaac Asimov and published by Good Year Books.

Science Circus 2 volumes by Bob Brown and published by Fleet Publishing. The author published these experiments in a syndicated newspaper column, “Science for You.” Also, see 333 Science Tricks & Experiments and 333 More Science Tricks & Experiments by Robert J. Brown and published by Tab Books.

The Complete Handbook of Science Fair Projects by Julianne Blair Bochinski published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

More Award-Winning Science Fair Projects by Julianne Blair Bochinski published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

These are just a few of the books on my shelf; obviously, there are many more out there, but the important ideas to get across to the student are those having to do with encouraging them to emulate scientists now, so that they can use the tools that they learn later in life.