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T. J. Austin Science Fair. What is a science fair? How can I help my child at home?. What is a science fair?.
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T. J. Austin Science Fair What is a science fair? How can I help my child at home?
What is a science fair? Science fair is an opportunity for students to apply the scientific method to conduct independent research. The results of each student's research is presented in our school wide science fair- where the student's efforts are displayed. Students are judged to see how well they used the scientific method properly and who have demonstrated thoroughness in their studies. Student efforts are awarded prizes and some projects are advanced to compete at the East Texas State Fair Academic Rodeo the following year.
How can I help my child at home? • Preparation for a science fair should begin early in the fall semester with the selection of a topic which will lead to a problem that the student will wish to research. Help your child to explore various sources of information in order to gain a thorough understanding of the topic that he or she should choose. Besides traditional sources such as library books, the student should research current magazines, journals, go on the internet and talk to their teachers. Your child should learn at school or even at home “what research has already been done and what has been concluded regarding [the student's] question and also something about the procedures and rules of evidence in [the student's] particular field” (Manning-Schwartz, 1997). In other words, a complete study of the topic so that the student can design an intelligent and meaningful experiment. The research--or literature review--should account for at least half of the student's effort on the project; incomplete research on the selected topic is the most common reason for science fair judges to rate a project low.
Ideas for Science Fair Projects *Visit websites on the computer: Type in keywords like “science fair projects”, “simple science experiments”, “science fair ideas”, “science experiments” or “elementary science experiments” http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/parents.html *Check out books from the public library *Ask your child’s teacher or other school support personnel