Ideas please for our school's science fair?

Question

We're having a science fair at my school next month, i am a physics teacher and this is my frist year in this field, can anyone help me with creative ideas?

Answer 1

www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring

This site will help both student and teacher with tips for success, topics, etc. Also, permission forms and items you may not think about the first time around.

Answer 2

A lot of it depends on what grade level you're teaching. I take it from your question that you are in charge of hosting the science fair, right?

I work at an elementary school and we hold a pretty big Science Fair every year. Since you're a physics teacher, I suspect you're working with older kids. :)

Anyway, here's a sampling of what our school does:

1. Each student gets a certificate of participation. The top 3 in each class get a ribbon.

2. We have a friends and family night where everyone gets to come in and see the projects.

3. Give students lots of examples and pictures from past years' Science Fairs. Give them examples of how to research topics using the Scientific Method. Advertise your Science Fair regularly so kids are really motivated to participate.

4. Don't be the judge. Find an impartial group of people to be the judges. We use retired teachers and/or high school seniors. You might also invite people from the community. If you judge the science fair yourself, you'll open yourself up for debate and questions about how the awards were given.

5. Take pictures and sumbit them to your local newspaper or district newsletter. You might even send a press release to your local tv news. The positive press will be a good thing for you and your school.

Good luck.

Answer 3

With physics, you're going to want to do something with movement. I'd check the science book first for ideas--something that relates to what the students are learning. I remember my physics teacher doing one experiment with the entire class where we tested to see if mass did or did not matter when dropping items off of the school's roof. Half the class went up to the roof with the teacher and the other half of the class was on the ground. We dropped a variety of things off of the roof and timed how fast each thing dropped. We then went back to the classroom and analyzed our results and put it into a graph. We found that friction, not necessarily mass, was the main determining factor in what dropped fastest. Another idea would be to do something with sound waves using water and a tape recorder to illustrate which makes faster waves--high or low pitched noises?
If you have a large school district, then you probably have someone in charge of all of the science kits and such and that person would be an excellent source of information.

Answer 4

Well I did how clean is our school and got into the county fair. All you do is swab certain areas of the school. You put it on the agar that you can buy like on e-bay. Then you swab a toilet bowl in your school. Then you just compare. Remember to use distilled water and not tap water because tap water had chlorine in it. The chlorine kills that bacteria so there really is no point in trying to grow any. Do a lot of research. Remember, the most important thing is to have fun!!! :)