Let's Be Fair

I remember when I did my first science fair in elementary school. This was to showcase all your brilliant science ideas for the entire school. To me science fair's were not something I enjoyed because it required a lot of outside work and my parents helped me a lot. I felt like it wasn't my own work and there was no clear point of doing it. This semester we were asked by Dr. Smirnova to conduct our own project for a Science Fair at Bishop Dunn. My first thought was when do I have time to do this? As soon as I asked that question I started to have flashbacks based on my past experiences. I tried not to think of all my horrible Science Fair experiences and decided to start all over. With this being said I started to brainstorm ideas on what to do to conduct this science fair. Immediately I thought of what type of drinks stain your teeth. After I decided my topic I had to gather all the materials together. The materials that I needed to conduct this project was: hollowed eggs, drinks, cups, etc. First step was to setup the materials and start recording data based on the first day. I conducted this experiment for three day and made sure to record all the progress. During the experiment portion, I was impatient and wanted the experiment to be done. After three days I looked through my past research and saw the distinct correlation between the different drinks. Not only did I use a chart, but I also took pictures of the hollowed egg from each day. I can see how visuals and charts helps you see the different correlations from day to day. According to Lane Wilkinson, "This process of inquiry extends beyond the academic world to include instances such as evidence and data collected by groups and individuals in communities and the public at large, and the process of inquiry may also focus upon personal, professional, or societal needs" (Is Research Inquiry, p. 1). The inquiry process was being implemented while conducted my experiment. When students are doing an experiment they are going through the inquiry process and discovering new attributes. While I was doing my experiment I was finding new discoveries by visuals. I used the eggs as the visuals within my experiment. The first step in the inquiry process is to make a hypothesis based on your experiment. I thought about the different drinks would effect the egg shells and based off my prior knowledge I wrote down what I thought was going to happen. The next step in the inquiry process was to implement the experiment. During this section, I was testing my hypothesis to see if it was right. This process took a longer time then I imagined, but I managed to collect all the data that was needed to conduct this experiment. I made a chart and took pictures to collect my data to post on my poster board. Finally it was time to see if my hypothesis was right which led to the next step in the inquiry process, which is writing a conclusion. I calculated all my data and came to the conclusion that the Coke was more acidic then the other beverages that I provided. Throughout this experience my thoughts have changed on Science Fair's. Personally I think science fairs are productive if the students have time to work on them in the classroom and know the steps of inquiry. When I was in elementary school I was unaware of these steps. I knew that you had to include them on the poster board, but was confused on the reasoning. I'm glad that this class made me understand this importance of the inquiry process.
Student Work
The day of the science fair it was our turn to grade the students on how well they designed their experiment. We were all given a rubric and we were asked to judge fairly based off of their presentation skills and the design of their poster boards. I was ecstatic to see all the projects that the students implemented. The first project that caught my attention was the density of different liquids. Her poster board was neatly organized and she had a lot of visuals. In the front of her poster board there were the materials that she used to conduct the experiment. I proceeded to ask her to explain and elaborate on her chosen experiment. The main aspects I looked for while her presenting the material was eye contact and how confident she was explaining the material. This student in

particular did an amazing job presenting and explaining the different processes of the inquiry process. To me it seemed that she understood exactly what to do and reached mastery level for her science fair project. I only had time to look at a few more presentations, but most of the students that presented were confident with their material and you can clearly see they worked on their own to complete their experiment. Immediately I could tell that some students asked for help from their parents because their projects were in depth and those students were having a hard time explaining their material. I think this science fair helped the students see the different ways to execute an experiment. Overall my thoughts have changed on science fairs because I can understand the importance of learning the steps. Also the students seemed to very engaged throughout this experience. I'm glad to have experienced this for a second time and have a different outlook. I will definitely execute a science fair within my classroom if there is any time when I student teach. Until next time bloggers :)


Works Cited
Wilkinson, L. (2014). Is research inquiry? Retrieved April 21, 2016, from https://senseandreference.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/is-research-inquiry/