The Best Tips to Organize a School Science Fair

Do you want to make Science invade your school? Let your students become real scientists and run the most surprising Science fair with these nice tips and tricks:

• Facilitate participation. To encourage the involvement of students, it is best to leave the organization, management, and selection of activities in their hands, always with the guidance of several teachers in charge. Younger students can also be apprentices of the “organizers,” students in higher grades, thus promoting social relations in the school.

• Prepare and decorate the space. It is fundamental that the environment of the fair looks different and it is evident, at first sight, that this is a special event. Put banners on the walls, hang science themed garlands, include posters with portraits of great scientists, etc.

• Getting the maximum number of participants is key. Involving families and friends will garner greater participation, and will mean that students feel more motivated.

• Advertize the fair. Weeks before it starts, distribute flyers within the school so that students of all years are informed and send notices to their homes. Sending out emails to parents and to all the teachers and staff of the school would also be a good idea, to ensure that everyone is aware of the dates and activities of the fair. Getting the information to a local newspaper can be another great way to get publicity for the fair. Finally, using the school’s social networks will be fundamental. Through them, information and images can be posted to further encourage people to attend.

• Make an Activities Calendar. Schedule a list of creative and experiential workshops that will be the focus of the fair and the main tool for student learning. 

Here are some examples of activities you can do at your Science fair:

Making gas | Great experiment!

A simple but dramatic experiment that is very useful in understanding chemical reactions and testing their results in a practical way. A useful aid in understanding the law of conservation of matter, it also encourages students to reason, question, and explain their conclusions and collaborate in teamwork.

Analyzing Nutrients | An experiment to spot nutrients

Activity in which students take on the role of scientists. They will follow a set of steps to test their hypothesis on the presence of different nutrients in various food products. Students can use the knowledge they’ve acquired about food and nutrition with a fun and contextualized activity.

Salt Crystals | Experimenting with crystals

An activity involving experimentation and research about the mineral crystallization process. The goal of this activity is the creation of artificial salt crystals by evaporating water in a saturated solution. Students will complete a study and will monitor the process of crystal formation and later prepare a report including all research data. This activity promotes collaborative work, the skill of learning how to learn, observation, and analysis.