It’s a big day for Hannah Wyman, currently a fifth grader at Saint Anna Catholic School in Leominster, MA. Hannah won the grand prize in her age group for the video game she created, called Toxic, for Microsoft’s Kodu Cup. Today, Hannah is at the White House and Toxic is on display for none other than the President of the United States at the second White House Science Fair. (Via www.stannaschool.org)
Via www.stevespangler.com
We recently received the following note from a middle school science teacher, and thought that the resource she mentions might be of interest:
“I am a teacher currently preparing for the 6th grade science fair. I just happened to come across your resources page while I was looking for some experiments and other science project ideas to create a project sheet to hand out to my students with some ideas of what they can do for the science fair.
I just wanted to take a second and say thank you for helping me out, your page is very helpful in creating my assignment sheet. I am very grateful for all the information and resources you took the time to post.
I thought I could share a resource I came across. Rubber, Plastic, and More — Top Science Project Ideas (from Polymer-Search) has some good resources for science fair projects and I thought you might want to add it as an another resource.
Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it!”
Via gettingsmart.com
While science fair preparations may seem intimidating or even downright overwhelming for students, good planning and some strategic parental guidance can help mitigate the stress. Furthermore, parents can be extremely useful when it comes to choosing a project. “Parents are usually in the best situation to know what fascinates and inspires their kids,” says parent Kathleen Bethel. For some simple yet valuable things parents can do to help during science fair season, read on.
Via www.sciencenewsforkids.org
The 2012 Massachusetts State High School Science & Engineering Fair will take place Thursday, May 3 – Saturday, May 5 at MIT. Students in grades 9-12 from all Massachusetts public, private and parochial schools — as well as home-schooled students — are eligible to enter through their schools.
The Massachusetts Middle School Science and Engineering Fair will be held Saturday, June 2, 2012 at Worcester Technical High School.
How the High School Fair Works
Each school may send two outstanding student projects directly to the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair (MSSEF) State Fair: One individual and/or one team project (2 or 3 student members to each team). In addition, the top winners from each school Science Fair can qualify for your Regional Fair, and top Regional winners may also enter the State Fair. See the MSSEF website for Regional Fair information.
How to Apply
Students register online. Registration forms for Massachusetts high schools will be available on the MSSEF website starting on March 1, 2012 (on or after March 1) to log in and register. Please contact the MSSEF office (617-491-1500) if your school does not have access to the Internet.
Deadline
Online registrations must be completed within five (5) days of your School Fair or Regional Fair (whichever is later), and no registration materials will be accepted after March 26, 2012.
Important! Approvals Needed Before Research Begins
Many student research projects require approval from the Regional Scientific Review Committee (SRC) BEFORE experimentation can begin. These projects include research that involves human subjects, toxic substances, vertebrate animals, work in a non-school setting, etc.
Have Questions?
See a list of Regional SRC Directors
See the Science Fair Manual, forms and detailed instructions for the forms
Or email MSSEF
Important Dates
March 1, 2012: MSSEF online registration opens; forms available at www.scifair.com
March 26, 2012: Deadline for online MSSEF Registration is March 26, 2012 at midnight
May 3 – 5, 2012: Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair at MIT, Cambridge
Also: Please check with your Regional Fair SRC director regarding final dates to submit Forms and Research Plan for approval prior to experimentation.
Need Help?
The MSSEF website contains many useful hints and resources, including the High School Manual. We encourage you to read the Manual as it contains important information for teachers and students.
You can also email questions to:
info@scifair.com (general questions)
registration.problems@scifair.com (online registration questions)
src@scifair.com (scientific review questions)
As part of a community outreach project, recent high school graduate Kevin Temmer produced an original animated video to teach students how to prepare for science fairs. Enjoy!
Long Island middle school student Aidan Dwyer had a thought while walking through the woods one day: Might the efficiency of solar panels improve if they were arranged like leaves at the ends of tree branches? He took the idea to the next level, creating a prototype of a tree-like solar panel array for a science fair. “My design is like a tree,” he said, “but instead of having leaves it has solar panels at the ends (of the branches).” Aidan’s work won him the Young Naturalist award from the American Museum of Natural History, and got him a speaking gig at the recent PopTech conference. (CLICK IMAGE FOR VIDEO)
Via whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com
A multi-country survey conducted by personal technology company Lenovo concludes that students in emerging countries like India, Mexico, and Russia, are significantly more likely than students in developed countries to pursue STEM careers.
The 2011 Global Student Science and Technology Outlook “[calls] attention to the differences in how students around the world view science as a career aspiration,” said Michael Schmedlen, the worldwide director of education at Lenovo. “While the study shows some interesting disparities, the outcomes suggest possible solutions for how to engage students and foster their passion for science.”
The survey reveals that students in India ranked highest (82 percent) among those who believe it’s very important for their country to lead the world in science. Mexico ranked second (81 percent) and Russia third (78 percent). In response to the same question, students in the U.S., Japan, the U.K. and Canada came in at 73, 61, 60 and 55 percent, respectively.
Students in the emerging countries also ranked highest in their intentions to pursue careers in STEM fields. Mexico came out on top, with 69 percent of students stating their wish to go into a STEM career. India and Russia weighed in at 62 and 55 percent, respectively. Compared with 54 percent of U.S. students, and 42 and 35 percent of the students surveyed from the U.K. and Japan, the developing countries would appear to be positioning themselves for earning an edge in the sciences down the road.
A glimmer of hope: the vast majority of the students surveyed indicated the opinion that science is “cool.” The disparity between this majority and the relative dearth of students with STEM career aspirations in the U.S. is where the rubber meets the road. Whether due to lack of confidence, to the perceived strenuous demands of higher education in the sciences, or to another unidentified factor, students in the U.S. are overwhelmingly hesitant to act upon the enjoyment they got from STEM subjects during their K-12 education.
According to Lenovo’s Schmedlen, “…programs like our partnership with YouTube Space Lab will do this by providing world-class judges as mentors along with phenomenally cool incentives like astronaut training and technology prizes.”
Programs like science fairs inspire and reward students, too!
Via www.virginia.edu
The Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair (MSSEF) is committed to increasing awareness of, exposure to, and participation in inquiry-based learning through the development of science and engineering projects by middle school and high school students, and to showcase and celebrate that learning.
