Seahawk,
You are correct about the amount of time. Science fair is a multi-week project.
The course I teach lasts almost two semesters. It starts after
about two weeks of school and after we have an idea of who
will succeed. The candidates for this course come from the 18
high end 9th grade “Physical Science H” classes with about 370
students (the school has 3600 students and is among the top
in the nation). We typically have about 9-12 freshman for
the “Science Research H” course. I did 32 one year but that
taxed my time. I’m a volunteer and 60-hour weeks exceeded
my comfort level.
I consult, read and correct papers, find resources and solve
problems. Our 14-year olds are fantastic but occasionally they
get stuck. A little help and they are off and running. The most
difficult part is convincing them to do an elementary level
project. They all want to do world class nuclear research or find
the cure for AIDS. The goal is to do a 3rd grade experiment but
apply undergraduate level process. As sophomores they can
then tackle any subject. Some we connect with university research.
This is an independent study course and we only meet in the
normal classroom or at lunch. It is an “Honors” course with five
points on a 4-point scale. Most of these kids end up taking a
handful of AP cources.
Virtually all of these students go to the regional and state science
fairs. Each year someone or few go to the
Intel ISEF. I have paid
for several travel and lodging expenses and been a chaperone.
The course basically ends in April with the presentations to the
Colorado-Wyoming Junior Academy of Science. Heady stuf
f for 14-year olds to stand in an auditorium of peers, college
professors and grad students.
About the only things after the presentation are writing the
abstract, turning in the final paper and a future experiment
proposal. Of course, many repeat the course as sophomores
and some all four years. Some of these kids graduate to
Harvard, MIT and Stanford after only three years of HS.
Paul, what material did you (parents) get and what was given
to students? What was the start-to-finish time span?
Clearly your daughter (and you) enjoyed the project. While she
is still enthusiastic, plan for next year.
Science fair is touted to teach the “Scientific Method.” It is much
more than that. It is about organization, reading, writing,
studying, research (even in 3rd grade), mathematics, real
science and more. It fosters clear thinking and realizing that
you can
do anything. When it is
fun, you can
introduce all sorts of advancement.
Paul, many high schools and universities have an
ultrasonic position detection system.
This is very portable and easy to use and calibrate. Ask your high
school (the one your daughter will attend) if they have one.
Start with the head of the science department.
Here is my youngest kid’s first grade rubber band experiment from 15 years ago.
The display has suffered some and is faded. The only thing
missing is the paper scale that continued from the bottom of
the results scale to zero (about 3 feet). If anyone wants I can
email better detail.
See how the Post-It histogram worked. I think we started with
40 data points and ended up with 60. I think we repeated the
experiment about six times. It probably should be more for
someone's MS or HS project.
Shooting rubber bands, launching water baloons and
dropping vollyballs is
fun. Use it.
Best,
Grady