SCIENCE FAIR AND

EXHIBITIONS

Submitted by,

Arun.R.S

Roll.No.18114368002

Natural Science

Kaviyattu College

INTRODUCTION A science fair experiment and exhibitions are generally a competition where contestants present their science project results in the form of a report, display boards and models that they have created. Science fairs allow students in the elementary, middle and high school to compete in science and or technological activities.

Science fairs are started by William Emerson Ritter and Edward W. Scripps in 1942 as “The science Talent Search” for high school students. The first ever American National Science fair was won by Alan. J. Fletcher when he has 18, who demonstrated the laws of motion in 1950 Pennsylvania.

` SCIENCE FAIRScience fair was first become popular in the

early 1950’s, with the ISEF, then known as National Science fair. Interest in the sciences was at a new high after the world witnessed the use of the first atomic weapons and the dawn of television. As the cascade progressed, science stories in the news, such as Jonas Salks Vaccine for the polio and the launch of sputnik, brought science friction to reality and attracted increasing numbers of students to science fair.

Science fair projects are normally intented to demonstrate scientific concepts on a small scale and often relate to green energy or student health. For example frequent science fair projects are how much water it takes to leave the water on while brushing your teeth, or what happens when you leave soda in a cup of soda. Science fair projects normally have to have a purpose, hypothesis, independent variable, dependent variable, experiment results and a conclusion and are normally intended to teach students about the scientific method.

Gracia points to the process of elimination as a factor which may discourage students from taking the interest in the sciences. He claims that traditional science fairs, as well as programs like the Westinghouse Science Honours Institute, place too much focus on the competition, a charge which the science fair supports on such by pointing to the real life competitive nature of awarding scientific grands and events the Nobel.

A related source of criticism is the tendency for an inordinate amount of parental contribution to the projects, especially of winning projects. In the desire to see their children win the competition. Many parents direct to see their children to choose

projects far above a secondary school student’s capacity for understanding. Therefore, the parent or a connection of the parent with the scientific or technical expertise will direct the development and the execution of the project for the students, but also provides an unfair advantage to the students whose parents have the technical connections and the financial resources to invest in these projects.

Often prizes in science fair do not go to the best science, but to technology that is currently fashionable [green technology or health related currently projects]. Judges often over compensable for the possibility of parental involvement and downgrade advanced students who do work beyond what most of their peers and capable. Additionally, most students find science fair to be excessively stressful.

Science fair and exhibitions are conducted mostly in science related educations. Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered on the part of scientific community. The learners may be children, college students or adults within the general public. The field of the science education includes work in science content, science process, [The scientific method]. Some social science and some teaching pedagogy. The standards for the science education provide expectations for the development of understanding for students through the entire course of their k-12 education and beyond. The traditional subjects included in the standards are the physical, life, earth, space and in human science.

Scientific experiment is a procedure that carried out to verify, refute, or establish and the validity of a hypothesis. Experiment provide insight into the effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Experiments

vary greatly in the goal and scale, but always rely on the repeatable procedure and the logical analysis of the results. There also exist natural experimental studies.

Scientific method is a body of techniques for integrating the phenomena, acquiring new knowledge or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific method of inquiry is commonly based on empirical or measurable evidence subject to the specific principle of reasoning. It is a method or procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting a systematic observation, measurement and experiment and the formulation, testing and the modification of hypothesis.

COORDINATION AND CONDUCTION

In a school science fair, individual students or small groups of students work together on a science project. While the topic of choice can be mandated by the teacher or grade level, the most successful science fair projects will be due to the student’s interest in a particular topic by the students. Usually science fairs are grouped into three broad, main grade level, elementary, middle /junior high and high school level. Depending upon your school/grade involvement, the science fair can be solely for one grade level with the competition between the entire school with appropriate age/grade level categories. If you trend to work with upper grades, you can divide the science fair by topic .

KEY TO SUCCESSFor a school science fair, we need a committee of solid

volunteers including other science teachers, parents and even scientists and engineers and in the community. By including this range of people, you are sure to cover all of science standards required by the state as well as having the people to do clerical/data entry work and technical people to do the judging.

Another important point is that you want to make the science fair, no matter how small, as realistic as possible. A note through you should you choose to let your school is to be a jumping point to send kids to a city/country science fair or to the International Science and engineering fair, you will need to follow the rules provided by ISEF.

To find the judge, you will need to make a few phone calls, but usually industrial scientists and engineers are more than willing to help the sponsor and judge science fair projects check the first among some of the parents in your school to see if there any technical people among that pool. Check with local colleges and the universities for undergraduate and graduate students in these categories usually need to service hours for their organizations in our city to judge.

If someone within the parent volunteers, schools or science or engineering industry offers to a set up for the database with the student projects and information do it. This will make your life much easier in the end when you are tallying scores for prizes. Publicity is always important, whether the science fair is one grade level or the entire school with your city newspaper and convenience them to include an article and pictures.

STEPS FOR COORDINATION AND CONDUCTION

Choose a chair person that he will oversee the entire science fair.

Solicit volunteers for the committee.

At the first planning, meeting, set the dates and deadlines for the science fair, including the date of the science fair, set up and take down of the projects, deadlines for the student topic/projects submission. Decide if you will need to provide the project board or if the students will need to use their own. Also, work with the school principal and teachers to determine if grades will be involved with the projects, if the projects should follow and the rules. Be sure to consider the venue for the content paying careful attention to the amount of display space and the number of tables available. Allow a table for each project as well as tables for clerical or administrative needs. Draw a layout plan and determine the number of volunteers needed to manage each area.

Once the layout and rules have been established, create an information sheet to distribute students and parents about the science fair stating general information and the projects guidelines. Be sure that stipulate any safety related restrictions.

Begin to recruit judges at least 3 months prior to the science fair. Be sure to keep them updated with reminder at the beginning of each month, the week before and the week of judging. It is the better to accept what you feel will be lost almost too many

judges. Schedules do change at the backup judge. It is also considerable to give the judge projects in his or her area of specialty. Ask the judge for any preferences in advance and then have a list to prepared to email beforehand to him or her for review.

Establish the guidelines for how the students are to submit, set up and represent their projects. Distribute the guidelines as well as a floor to the students and their teachers in advance.

Order any prizes and establish a method for printing certificates. It may take a couple of weeks for the prizes or certificate paper to arrive. Be sure to generate certificates or letters of appreciation to present your volunteers.

BENEFITS FROM THE INVOLVEMENTBy coordinating a school science fair, you will be helping students to think outside the box. Science fair projects provide students opportunity to think critically and address their interest through inquiry-based learning. Family and community involvement, students success and the school recognition are all benefits from a school science fair.

Science fair projects can be really exciting, especially now with all the opportunities that the internet gives us. Most kids know how to use the computer for fun and spend a lot of hours in a week for surfing the internet. As parents we should like to encourage them to use some of their computer time for school work and for educational projects, researching the scientific studies and scientific methods is certainly a good use of their time.

But in addition there are many other great reasons for encouraging your children to do science fair projects. A science fair project is an activity that integrate almost every skill children have been taught. Students must learn how to apply their exiting abilities to new areas as well as learn many new skills. A science fair projects can involve reading, logical thinking, writing, grammar and spelling, mathematics, statistics and the data analysis, IT and graphic arts as well as scientific methodology. If a student participate in a formal competition, then they will also practice public speaking and learn how to explain and defend their work in front of a panel of judges.

Participating in science fair projects helps to develop a feeling of confidence and competence among students and fosters a spirit of scientific inquiry. Projects usually involve the scientific questions that the student is interested in and a specific topic that have chosen for themselves. Participants must research their questions, learn and and apply the scientific method to create a valid experiment and think about the meaning of their results. Kids get so immersed in their project that they forget about other factors like prizes or the fact that they forget about other factors like the prizes or the fact that they are actually learning new skills. Science fairs are also a way for students to demonstrate motivation, self learning, ethics and other important skills and traits.

A science fair is a n experience that can be challenging and self validating. Many students do the important research and discover previously unknown facts. Many science fairs offer cash prizes which can be significant incentive for some people. They also help to open the doors of academic opportunity for students. Winners at regional fairs receive recognition for their work and gain the right to participate at the state level and at a higher level competitions.

Some of those kids qualify for the international competitions at the annual Intel International Science and engineering fair. Here the level of cash prize is significant. In addition those whose projects qualify for the international competitions are judged by the best in the world. Top scientists and the people from the industry. These kinds of things do immersible good for the confidence of the student and certainly encourage them further in all of their activities.

CONCLUSION

Science fair projects can be really exiting, especially now with all the opportunities that the internet gives us. Most kids know how to use the computer for fun and spend many time. Science fair programmes is an activity that integrates all the skill of children can be taught and developed. It also develops to develop a feeling of confidence and competence among the students and fosters a spirit of scientific inquiry. It also helps to develop a challenge and self validating mentality of students. It helps in the entire development of the student through their leadership quality, communication skill, observation skill, observation skill and so on.