10 Science Fair Projects Tips

Evanston, IL, October, 2005 – If your child plans to compete in her school’s science fair, Fall is the time to start on the project. Most science fairs happen between January and March, and a good science experiment can take up to five months to complete.

“A parent's role is to offer guidance but not do the project for the student,” says Madeline Binder of Super Science Fair Projects. She offers these 10 science fair projects tips for parents to help children get through the process and enjoy doing it.

1. Find a topic. Ask your child to make a list of things that interest him. Finding a topic that will keep his interest for the next few months is the key to success. Your library and the Web are good resources for ideas. Binder’s e-book Super Science Fair Projects, available through her web site, lists 170 questions designed to stimulate a student’s imagination to come up with a topic that will hold their interest until the project is complete.
2. Turn the idea into a project. Help your child pose a scientific question and come up with a theory about the answer. If, for example, she is interested in how things grow, she might plan a project that tests the effect of more or less light or water on a plant. Get the teacher’s approval before moving on.
3. Gather materials. Have your child list all supplies the project will require. Will you need to photograph the experiment in progress? Make graphs? Keep a notebook?
4. Formulate a timeline. Discuss the amount of time the project will require and chart activities by the day and week so he can stay on track.
5. Designate a space for the project in your home so that any variables that will affect the outcome of the experiment can be controlled.
6. Keep a log. Your child must record her findings in a science log. The judge will be looking for good note taking with thought-provoking observations. Encourage your child to check out other scientific resources and compare her findings with similarly recorded experiments.
7. Create an eye-catching display. Bright colors draw people to your booth, but limit them to three, including the background. Display project results prominently in the center of the board. Computer graphics with bar and pie graphs always impress.
8. Build confidence with practice. Help your child feel comfortable talking about his project with the judges. Have him make his presentation to family members and friends and answer their questions.
9. Relax and have fun at the science fair. This is where your child’s hard work really shines. She lived this experiment. She should be basking in the glory of it.

10. Deal with the aftermath. Like life, science fairs have winners and losers. And losing can be tough for kids who worked really hard on a project. Remind them that the judges were evaluating the project, not the child. Celebrate their efforts with a special treat.

Super Science Fair Projects ebook can be ordered www.super-science-fair-projects.net for $14.95 and downloaded instantly from a link in the order confirmation form. The book is available in either Adobe pdf or MS Word file format. Both are IBM and Macintosh compatible. The book is not available through the Post Office.

More science fair projects tips