Charlie’s school science fair was this past fall. Science Fair is not a big deal nowadays like it was back when I was in elementary school. It is not for a grade. Actually it is optional and only offered to 4th and 5th grades which surprised me. There was little to no promotion of the event and only the best projects were even shown. Charlie’s friend Myles had his project chosen to be showcased in the FBISD district Science Fair which was kind of neat. Again, no information sent home or promotion about the event except to those students whose projects were chosen.
Charlie chose his project from a teacher provided list. He also picked the item to be tested to see if it sank or floated in various liquids. It was all very scientific! Charlie chose marbles and weighed each one to make sure they were all the same before dropping into the liquid. Charlie even timed the drop to see if the marbles sank at different rates. I was impressed with his thought process. The write up of his experiment was not so well done. Charlie refused my “suggestions” on the writing up part when I dutifully typed out what he wrote in each section.
So it begs the question, what is the purpose of the Science Fair? Why have it at all if it is not promoted to the parents and not graded?
Our science fairs were always totally optional and not graded. We did not receive bonus grades. They were judged and if we did well we moved to regionals/provincials.
They were about exploration. Scientific curiosity. They taught us how to do experiments on our own. How to present/argue a thesis. For some kids they were a path to scholarships.
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Our were part of our regular grade. Science Fair projects were considered hands on application of the Scientific Process we learned during that grading period. The judging was secondary and outside of the grading process. At least in elementary school that was how it worked. In junior high and high school it was different.