Tips to Encourage Fair Participation
If you have talented students
who are interested in science, engineering, technology, and more,
here are a ways to encourage them to participate in your local and
regional fair.
In the Classroom
• Introduce the fair at the beginning of each semester
and even at the end of the school year to get
students interested in
working on projects over the summer.
• Determine a plan for working within your school's semester or block
scheduling of science classes
so that everyone can be encouraged to
participate.
• Stress hands-on labs with data collection in your science and math
classes. This reinforces
concepts and helps students learn the scientific
method in a concrete fashion.
• Urge research experiments, rather than models or collections.
• Require students to write up their lab experiments using the scientific
method. Make sure they
have all
the parts of an experimental summary: question, hypothesis, materials,
procedures,
results in chart or graph
form, analysis, and conclusion.
Outside of the
Classroom
• Encourage students to pursue their individual interests within the scientific
topic being learned
and to go beyond their classroom learning.
• Start an after school club to help students that are not currently
enrolled in a science class and to
provide extra-curricular opportunities
in science exploration and discovery.
• Work with the community to connect students to mentors - at local universities,
hospitals,
veterinary offices, etc.
• Be familiar with the intel ISEF rules and regulations so that you may
advise your students. Hold a
seminar to explain them, or if appropriate,
draft a fair handbook with reference to these rules and
safety precautions.
Include:
• Deadlines for
entry and project review.
• Display
and safety guidelines (size of board and what items can and cannot be displayed)
Information
courtesy of Science Service
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