Friday, December 14, 2012

Science Fair Judging


I helped judge a local Science Fair this week. It was really nice working with others interested in science and interacting with the students. Many of the projects were REALLY good--we have budding scientists on our hands! Some projects could use a mentoring partnership. Do you know of any programs to help with science projects in the area? Maybe that would be a good project next November. A little interaction and talking a student through the process could be just what is needed to spark that interest in science. I especially liked the projects that had an application to real life. Some helped question advertising claims. It was great to see well thought out projects that used a scientific process to test a hypothesis. I know now which gum will last the longest, which batteries I should buy, and which paper towels are going to work well. Also, I know there are many cleaner pennies out there! Hot sauce and ketchup worked well for cleaning pennies!

Have you ever thought of helping judge science fairs? Most schools could use the help and it's an interesting process! Consider volunteering a bit of your time.

Judges deliberating . . . decisions were hard. I stayed out of that process for a couple of the grades.