As you setup your classroom this coming school year, how do you build a foundation for Science Fair participation? Beyond traditional research methods, we'd like to help you find resources on-line and in your community that you can share with students and say "There's a Science Fair Project in that!"
Help students find questions and problems that interest them and need to be addressed with launch activities like these:
- Keep individual or collaborative journals and record trends like weather, traffic, or price fluctuations at nearby stores.
- Contact local town or city offices, like the DPW or Public Safety, and ask what projects they are working on.
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Provide assignments that involve listening to science podcasts on topics students are interested in or that you'll be covering in class -- check out Science Friday, the Hidden Brain, or Dope Labs.
- Encourage students to read scientific papers of interest and contact the authors to get more information and make a connection.
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Check out the UN Sustainable Development Goals to explore resources and ideas that are locally and globally relevant.
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Explore citizen science project options on SciStarter.org or ScienceNearMe.org.
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NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has a ton of resources that can be fascinating to explore, such as Weather, Climate Resilience, and Data Visualization.
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Explore the Mass Environmental Public Health Tracking portal and learn more about what's going on in your community. Watch this orientation video to learn how.
As students explore, have them jot down questions and observations they have and identify how they would learn more.
How do you create a culture of Science Fair participation in your classroom?
Sign up for the Science Fair Ready Network
and request a 'Classroom Kit' of posters and prompts
to set the stage for strong project ideas.
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