By Lesley Hurley Cathy Stanley

Present your ideas to the principal. It will be much easier to get everyone else on board if the leadership is behind it. Gain the support of other teachers. Determine the details and build up student interest before you get started.

Other teachers Parents PTA Area businesses When a former administration was not supportive, the parent organization really stepped up and provided everything I needed!

… because you don’t want to do all of the planning! Get the parents involved Explore cross-curricular projects to involve more teachers Set the expectation that the students will be in charge

Where to have the science fair (gym, library, etc) Establish committees to set up, break down, invite judges Invite parents to a science night at the school Come up with any posters

…don’t be discouraged! As long as the kids are interested and getting something out of it, it’s worth! I still have kids talking about the first science fair we did several years ago. They are still excited about what the learned!

Don’t get discouraged Don’t be afraid to ask for help! I have had many teachers from other subjects get excited about helping out! Don’t get overwhelmed! Take your time, and it will work out. And remember, even if it is not perfect – the kids will have a good time. They’ll never know!

Who they will work with Let them have a lot of leeway with what the project is (…as long as there are no lava lamps or volcanoes) If they will work in teams or alone Subject matter Artistic design

Attend all club and committee meetings Champion innovative ideas (even if they don’t work!) Approve and check timelines for projects Check written communication and posters Secure buildings and dates Perform a control loop

Ask local science professors, scientists, or teachers from other schools Employees of your school should not be judging Judges should first go by while the students are not present, followed by a Q&A time period with the students standing by their projects We developed a scoring rubric for the judges

The students need to be fluent in the procedures and outcomes of their project They need to be ready to answer questions Be sure they are using correct terminology and thorough They need to be prepared to answer questions like ‘what have you learned from this’ and ‘what would you do differently’

Encourage creativity and diversity!!! Embrace difficult projects if the students are interested We made a point to involve interested parents – which made for some neat projects We do not allow overly simple projects. As I said earlier, no lava lamps or volcanoes.

This project on makeup turned out to be very creative – and informative on what types of foundations are most oily!

Be creative – and always willing to help a kid find out what interests them!

Make sure all of the regional rules are followed! Project submissions must be approved before work begins Group size (no more than 3) Approved projects only We did not allow projects with humans, animals, or biological agents without significant parental support.

From music to worms, the students can be more creative than you think!!!

Checklist for Adult Sponsor (1) Student Checklist (1A) Research Plan Approval Form (1B) These forms are due for the East Texas Regional Science Fair in Kilgore by February 28, 2012

… so far, every year, I have taken my kids to NASA as a reward for their hard work!

Please do not hesitate to call with any questions or comments on today’s presentation. We are more than happy to help out – and are always looking for ways to make our science fairs better! Lesley Hurley Cathy Stanley