Science Fair Projects Across The Waters

President Barack Obama, in his inaugural address, pledged to “restore science to its rightful place.” He envisioned a future in which we harness alternative energies to fuel our cars and run our factories, and work alongside the people of poor nations to improve farm production and provide clean water.

The President’s imperative to welcome a new era of responsibility “among nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty” sparked an insight for me. I believe that young scientists all over the globe will be key to realizing President Obama’s vision.

"The problem is that schools in developing countries usually don’t have the resources to put on science fairs. Therefore, we are asking schools in more affluent countries to contribute their students’ science fair projects and / or abstracts to Young Scientists Hands Across the Waters. This program will create a virtual science fair online, giving students from poorer countries an opportunity to read about these projects and re-create them in their own classrooms.”

Students and teachers interested in contributing can send a project or an abstract to as an email attachment. They will then be posted on the web site. Download the directions to see how to email your science fair project report and / or abstract.

Look at what other students have done:

The assignment for this project was to initiate a program for the community in which you live.
In India, a five-year-old girl designed a science project aimed at recycling the pits from fruits her family would normally throw away and using them to grow new trees. Mentored by a commercial pilot who wanted to nourish young minds in his country, the child’s idea caught on in his village. A photographer captured images of people walking up the mountainside to plant the budding plants, and over two dozen newspapers in that country reported the story.

Recycling to reduce waste and pollution is on the minds of many young scientists. In Indonesia, a group of teenage girls designed a project that tested various combinations of waste products from the manufacture of yogurt as possible new biofuels.