Are science fair winners original?

Question

Here is a website:
http://synopsys.championship.googlepages.com/isef2007results

so you think alll these award winning projects are original? What about the award-winning projects in Intel ISEF? Aren't many topics from science magazines?

Answer 1

It's not necessary that they be original. That would make doing a science project nearly impossible. You are expected to do your own work. It's also expected that you won't just copy someone else's experiment. There's hardly a topic you could pick without a related or relevant article in a science magazine. In fact, science magazines are a good way to get ideas and see what kinds of things in science are currently being worked on. If I'm judging a science fair, I'm reasonable about what kinds of things I expect a candidate to do, and what I don't expect them to do.