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General Science and Teaching

Science Fair, How to judge the Science Fair Projects?

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Amy Casey Amy Casey 2360 Points

At Ahuimanu, we are getting ready to plan out the pacing guide to prep for the Science Fair. With a new principal on board, she is really excited about everything. She asked me to check and see how the other schools have carried out the judging of the Science Projects. What worked for your school?

Tasha Kaai Tasha Kaai 270 Points

Hi Amy! What are you teaching at Ahuimanu? I would contact Derek or Dayna to find out how the district and state levels are judged, they both were judges this past year. You could also get the STEM Resource teachers involved, they will come out and work with the students or could possibly even be your judges. Hope this helps...

Lynn Yamada Lynn Yamada 3020 Points

At the high school level we have a science night where students display their projects. We have parents and students informally judge and it has been a hit. Our STEM club has helped elementary schools so might want to ask the high school you feed into for help.

Angelina Cruz Angelina Cruz 820 Points

Hi there, In our school at Kalakaua Middle, Science Fair is a school wide effort. This year marks the 7th Annual Fair and we have tried different ways to involve community and school in this event. During the previous years, Science teachers invited judges whose jobs are inclined to Science and Technology like doctors, nurses, Science and Math teachers, engineers, college professors and many others. They were given in service days before the actual fair using the rubric we presented to our students. On the day of the fair, prior to actual judging, they were given brief orientation to refresh their memories and get used to the process. Just last year, we had changed the way the fair usually runs. We have had the involvement of all the teachers in our school since Science fair was decidedly became an interdisciplinary unit. Teachers were trained to judge Science Fair projects so that when the Science Fair week comes, they will be ready to judge appropriately. We have an excellent Science coordinator who helps us in many things about Science Fair. I guess, there is no perfect recipe for this, however, you can try many other possible ways that will best suit the needs of your school or department. Hope this helps, Angie =))

Victoria Chanda Victoria Chanda 2300 Points

At my hometown elementary school they have two ways to judge: First, the teacher of the class has to give a certificate to all of the participants to reward their hard work and encourage future participation. One year the teachers gave 2 types of ribbons: Either a gold ribbon that said "outstanding" on it, or a silver ribbon that said "great work" on it. Second, during the science fair night, parents and students would get 5 slips of paper when they walked through the front door. The families then go around the room and look at the projects. The projects are grouped by grade and class. You need to dedicate one slip per grade (1,2,3,4,5) so that there is a winner for each grade. If you see a project you really like, you write the name of the student on the paper, and then slip the paper into the teachers class box. The teacher has a tally sheet and at the end is given 10 minutes to mark off students who got papers. They then talk to the other teachers in their grade to find out which student had the greatest amount of papers. The teachers then deliver the news to the principal, who announces the winners at the end. It seems to work out smooth every year, however if the teacher's don't go to the science fair night, you need to find a classroom parent to do the tallying. Hope it works out. Good luck!

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