Inside Judging

One goal of our science fair is to take our experience during the presentations and use them to help each student to improve their grasp of the scientific process and the ISEF model of competition. Parents said it was helpful to know that our judges break up the "field" into 3 types of projects over the course of competition in each division. The projects in the third "bucket" are the real contenders. Their scoring sheets are examined and ordered. From these the top few are discussed among the judges and they will assign the final order and that may be contrary to the scores. The scores are a helpful guide, but not the final word.

Non-Experiments

Many textbooks at the 3 - 4th grade level call demonstrations experiments (even some purporting to show the scientific method - they greatly over simplify). They are not experiments because they do not follow the scientific method or any other method of investigation that would be acceptable for say an engineering or math experiment. 3 - 4th grade books often don't present topics at this level of detail. A 3 - 4th grader applying the scientific method is operating above his/her grade level almost by definition! Some parents may have entered their child in a topical science fair where demonstrations and infomercials are the norm. Some then present again at our science fair. Presenting a demonstration project at our science fair is good presentation practice. We've had some good non-experiment speakers! But these projects end up in this first category and not considered further for awards - unless there are fewer than 3 actual experiments in the division.

For parents of students in this group, explain the difference between a demo and the scientific method. In higher grade divisions, discussion of the "scientific process" includes the scientific method at its core, but introduces other acceptable methods of scientific investigation as well that pertain to engineering, math, computers, modeling (the predictive type), etc.. Once the scientific method is explained, show them some simple examples from books for higher grades.

Little Research

The second category notes real experiments that were not researched well, had no controls (if necessary - a math experiment may not need one) or some other major problem. Sometimes, a student may have done these things in his project, but did not show it on the project board, in a written report or mention them in his presentation or answers to questions. Research informs the whole project. Research can show you what variables are best to change for greatest change in the result; the best way to measure a result; the best procedures (or more likely parts of procedures) to use; the best ways to show the results, the best ways to analyze them. Most importantly, it can show you how your project fits into the big picture. How it might impact people or the advance of science. 3 - 4th graders are not expected to do the same amount of research as 7 to 12th graders, but some must be done to talk about your project in an informed way - showing the judges that you know the basics. Controls are usually a duplication of your experiment with no changed variable. This depends on your topic - a historical or other kind of record may suffice for comparing results.

Students with projects in this category should not feel bad. For some it may be their first year and didn't really know what to expect. We try to provide some information in our "registration packet" to encourage better projects, but some parents don't register until after their projects are well under way or completed. We've done that too! Take it to heart for next year and if you need research pointers or have other questions, let us know.

Solid-Experiments

The third group have basically sound projects. It is obvious that they did their research. Their experiments follow the scientific method. They clearly understand the relationships between their variables and results (probably because of research). Some thought went into designing procedures (maybe the parents' - but the child understands why) and they are aware of some things they could not control (weather, time of day, how long it took to perform each part of the procedure, etc..) that could affect their results. They summarize their results in a simple chart, etc.. They have a good understanding of why their results came out as they did and have some idea of what would happen if things were changed up a bit. They can tell what lesson they learned from it and have some idea about how the project can be improved, because they know something about it's weaknesses. Usually, about half the projects adequately fit this category.

Our dream is that all the projects would be in this category! To determine winners among such projects, We look to the 3 C's that our scoring sheets atemp to measure:

Creativity - using the information you had, what did you do that showed insight into the project or enabled you to answer your question in a more simple, efficient or direct way? One key is looking for ways to use simple models, clever ways to measure things and using materials that weren't available to others who might have done similar things in the past. At the 3 - 6th grade level almost all projects are from books. The students don't yet have enough math skills to be clever with deriving new measurements or analysis either. So, true creativity is difficult at this level.
Competence - this generally equates to understanding at the 3-4 grade level and knowledge and execution for higher grades. There is some competence required to carry out the procedure, but it mostly shows in the presentation as how well the student understands the problem, the variables, the process, the results, and how it all relates to the hypothesis and problem. Competence also shows up in judgement - what type of chart or graph to use and what is on it. Also in the choice of what goes on the display board. Many times parents help with these, so it's hard to tell how much the student contributed. That's OK for the younger ones, they still learn why things should be done certain ways.
Communication - ideally, the presentation conveys a working knowledge of the subject, the scientific method and the project. The more the student demonstrates this knowledge the more they make the judges and audience understand. Sometimes they have to be able to explain in different ways because the judges are busy considering how to score the student, listening, and formulating questions to ask ;-). Science and engineering fairs are attempting to identify those students who will do well in laboratory and institutional settings. They must be able to be conversant with peers about their projects. At no grade level does this mean a perfect, memorized speech. Just being able to tell about the project in enough detail that the judge can categorize the project and determine the level of effort in terms of the scientific method and demonstrate the 3 C's. Many times this means a judge must ask questions to draw it out of the students. This does not count against them. They may use index cards, a notebook, etc. to jog their memories, but no reading - unless it's a quote or sequence of results.

Operating above Their Grade Level

A 3rd or 4th grader who completes a scientific method project with the help of a parent IS operating above his/her grade level. Likewise, older students surpass the average student in many ways by completing an ISEF-style science fair project. In "operating above their grade level" we don't want to discourage anyone from participating. If you are like most homeschool parents, this is likely one of your goals for your students already. These competitions are spring boards to launch our students into a higher orbit - a larger view of what is out there and what they are or can be capable of. It stretches parents to teach and students to learn. It doesn't work for all students. There are attitudes (which we believe require spiritual roots) to cultivate before minimal cooperation on a project like this is possible. Our larger goal here is self-motivation - it is not easy to achieve, but obvious when it is.

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