Science Projects in Elementary School Fuel Student Curiosity

Elementary school teacher uses Topic Selection Wizard with fourth-grade students to encourage personalized project selection.

Adriane Greene teaches 4th-grade math and science at Inspire Elementary in Denver, Colorado.

The science fair is a hallmark of the Spring semester at Inspire Elementary. All students in grades 3-5 participate and exhibit projects in their classrooms. Classroom winners move on to the school fair, and school fair winners move on to the district competition.

When asked about the benefits of science fairs and independent science projects in elementary school, Adriane emphasizes the importance of personalizing science and using science projects to encourage curiosity. "At this age, science projects are a way to get students engaged. [Science projects] help students connect things they see in their daily lives to science. They can use those observations to spark interests and wonderings."

To prepare for the science fair, Adriane has her students use the Topic Selection Wizard. She says the tool has been especially helpful with her fourth-grade students because it helps them discover science projects that relate to their unique interests.

"A lot of students have interests that they don’t immediately connect to science,” says Adriane. “The Topic Selection Wizard helps them understand how everything in the world around us relates back to science."

Highlighting the potential for science projects to make a meaningful difference in how students think about science and engineering, Adriane shares two stories.

Inspired by an in-class project about airplanes, one student got curious about kite design. "He ended up choosing a project about the aerodynamics of kites. He went from our class fair to the school fair to the district fair," says Adriane.

Another student used the Topic Selection Wizard and selected a project about the relationship between physical activity, concentration, and learning. Adriane says the student was very engaged in the project and went on to exhibit at the district science fair.

Above: Students in front of science project display boards at the science fair.

Adriane uses Science Buddies with students in the classroom and also shares Science Buddies with parents. "Students work on their projects outside of school," she explains. "They do the data collection and analysis at home. I send out information to the parents explaining that Science Buddies is a great resource" if they have questions or get stuck.

When asked about the value of Science Buddies for her and her students, Adriane says the free resources at Science Buddies have made a difference in how she approaches and manages the science project process.

"Science Buddies helped me organize my thinking around how to teach to the whole class what was expected of them," she says. "The project (and science fair) doesn't have to be something students don't want to do," she adds. "Having Science Buddies give so many different project idea options to kids who may not otherwise be into science helps get them more engaged."

Thank you to Adriane for sharing this story with Science Buddies. If you have a story about how Science Buddies makes a difference in your classroom or program, reach out to us at [email protected].