The District Science Fair - Finding a Topic

Perhaps one of the biggest problems most students are faced with when looking a doing a science fair project (or a project for any of the number of science related competitions available to students today) is HOW DO I FIND A TOPIC! The answer is easy, do something that interests you. OK, Maybe it isnít that easy but if you have an interest in a sport, you had a casual question about how THAT works, or something just piques your interest. There is the start of the ideas for a science project.

Basically, a good science project is experimental in nature. You are trying to answer some question about the how or why (or why not) of a topic. Most of the time we try to think of big problems with equally big answers. And we get overwhelmed by the very nature of the question. Remember, there are literally thousands and thousands of engineers and scientists throughout the world trying to answer the "BIG" questions. Try to narrow your thought process to just a few aspects of the "BIG" question. Do a little bit of reading about the topic. Find out what has been done before. Re-inventing the same wheel wonít do it but maybe a new design of the wheel might be just the trick. Find out what the problems some of the people faced while working on these questions.

But where can you get these ideas and research. With the advent of the internet there are many sources easily available. Trot down to your public library (the Bartlesville Library has a number of computers dedicated to looking up "stuff" on the internet. Not only that, guess what, the library has books. There are even books on "How to Find a Science Fair Project". There is also a collection of titles and abstracts from 20 or more past International Science and Engineering Fair.

Some of the resources on the internet are listed on a Web page produced by the Daily Oklahoman (http://schoolnet.connectok.com/science/ideas.html). On their page they list the URLs for magazines like Science News Online, television shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy, Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA Public Television), Newton's Apple, Nova, Scientific American Frontiers, and National Public Radioís-Science Friday. You could also check out sources in government agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Oklahoma State Government Agencies, Indian Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration and more.

Another good starting resource is located at the Science Service Web Site (http://www.sciserv.org/isef/teacher/resourc.htm). The Science Service organizes and runs the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF). The Intel ISEF is the Olympics, the World Cup and the World Series of science competitions. Held annually in May, the Intel ISEF brings together over 1,200 students from 48 states and 40 nations to compete for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prize: a trip to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden. At their web site, they have links to topics like the Flint Science; (http://gamstcweb.gisd.k12.mi.us/fasf/1997/projectideas.html) with their Engineering Fair with Project ideas and questions, Experimental Science Projects: An Introductory Level Guide; http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/SciProjIntro.html) - A resource provided by David Morano at his Cyber Fair site for 3rd-6th graders complete with example experiments; On-Line Mentors @ Center for Children and Technology Telementoring Young Women (http://www.edc.org/cct/telementoring/) - a Program of CCT to match young women interested in science, engineering and computing with on-line mentors and The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Science Fairs Access (http://physics.usc.edu/~gould/ScienceFairs/) the original library of the Web and browse a page with links to science fairs.

There are many places to find topics for science fair pojects. They do not have to be earth-shaking, state-of-the-art, or on the threshold of science, projects. They should be something that you have an interest in knowing more about it.

Questions? Contact the Director, Lee Carvell, at 918-661-3450.  

 

 

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