Science Fairs: Yay or Nay?
Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Comments
--Michael
I think that the key is voluntary participation, not mandatory.
jams.www.seattleschools.org
Is it working for others? I'm looking for the proposed daily schedule.
-ty
http://www.jamsptsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Master-Schedule-Update.pdf
LCP
I love science. I hate preparing for and attending the science fair.
introvert
Our son and his geeky parents had fun with his science fair projects.
It's not for everyone, though, so I would agree that voluntary participation is a good thing.
- North-end Mom
-- Ivan Weiss
There was one student happily standing by his project with his multi-generational family. I asked the student about the project, but he didn't have any idea about his project. Clearly, the parents did the bulk of the work.
I consider this a success because it was a time of family unity, and it was clear this child was loved.
Both kids said they think it is a good thing. The son said it was his favorite thing for the year, the daughter doesn't like preparing the presentation board, but does like the overall experiment. But they are at a school that teaches how to pace a project, and get started early (final data for the MS kids was due 3 weeks before the actual science fair).
There is never enough time provided to do many of the experiments. Especially if experiments fail the first time or require tinkering.
The planning work is done poorly. They get a worksheet to plan with. The teacher "oks" their project but there are too many kids in the class for any kind of meaningful mentoring to take place.
We end up spending too much money on the project. This is a really equity issue -- does not seem fair to some.
We end up spending way too much time on all of it. The presentation board becomes a gigantic fixation, taking hours to prepare.
Many parents end up being extremely involved. From experiment oversight to shopping, to Excel spreadsheet work, to presentation board letter cutting, etc., etc.
It could be so good, but it has been disappointing. Wish it were lots better.
-FedMomof2
A fantastic option is what I observed at Lincoln this year with friends. The parents, many of whom are actually scientists, prepared their displays and taught mini-lessons to students. Not every school, of course, has such a wealth of scientists, doctors and engineers, but it is a great idea to invite adults to share knowledge. (There were also voluntary student projects.)
"Not every school, of course, has such a wealth of scientists, doctors and engineers, but it is a great idea to invite adults to share knowledge."
Of course. I really don't know what to say.
--A Plebe
Then in middle school it was every child for themselves, working at home with whatever support their family could give. The child of the UW chemistry prof had a great project, so did my child, the child who was living in a car didn't. Families who couldn't put food on the table, couldn't buy science fair supplies. ELL families didn't know what a tri-fold poster board was. It was a stark illustration of inequity. I hated it. If it can't be done in class, then don't have a science fair.
-sad
In hindsight, I wish I would have phrased my comment differently. The point I was trying to make was that, as an outsider who has been frustrated by our elementary school fair, I was impressed with another school's model.
I liked the idea of parents and/or community members presenting real science to students.
The science fair at Lincoln is impressive. The school is larger so they do have a larger pool of parents for which to ask for scientific expertise, but most of the outside exhibitors are not parents. The teachers and science fair committee spend a lot of time working with scientific outreach organizations in the community to get exhibitions to come. It is probably the biggest event of the year, and gets a lot of faculty support, and also has the most parent volunteers of any event. But it's not that we just have a lot of science parents. :) I think there are more families with scientific expertise at our last school, but Lincoln does this outside thing.
-science parent
SPS either needs to embrace Science Fair and integrate into the daily science curriculum or just require it 6th grade year with lots of classroom support and after that, offer it as an optional voluntary activity.
Also, I just don't think they have enough scientific background to come up with good experiments. Most of them aren't evaluating any actual scientific propeties - they might do something & see what happens,but then there isn't any part of the assignment that involves looking at WHY it happened. I guess the point it to make them record data & write it up nicely, but it seems that with more guidance, there could be some actual science being taught along with the report writing.
Mom of 4