Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

We are making a big change at our school to how we do the science fair. This year we're making it mandatory for all students K-5 to participate. The projects will be done in school, so that we can see the whole process start to finish. I'm struggling with coming up with ideas for the science fair project the whole kindergarten class can do in school. I want it to be basic, so that it can be done during class time. The fair is the 3rd week in January. I'm open to all suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Mr. M.

Hi Mr. M,

Whole class science fair projects can be a lot of fun. I've seen several elementary schools have success, particularly with grades K-3. One option is to take a look at the "Beginner Easy" or, perhaps even "Beginner Medium" classroom activities that are available here:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... activities

Many of these would be adapted fairly easily into a whole class science project.

On a more general note, projects with plants often work well in a class setting, particularly over a ~2 month timescale. It's easy for the students to see the plants change with time. For example, you could have each student grow two small plants in two separate paper cups. Then you could do a variety of experiments with the plants (e.g., keep one plant in a dark room and another in the regular classroom to see how light affects plant growth; water one plant more frequently than the other, etc.) and measure some characteristic of the plant (e.g., height, number of leaves, etc.) to see how light, water, etc. affect plants. It's also an easy way to teach the need for repeated trials because you will have as many trials (plants) as you have students. It can be a challenge, though, to find a place in your classroom where the plants can grow undisturbed.

I've also seen kindergarten classes grow silkworms into moths. A Google search for "silkworm activities kindergarten" brings up a many hits. You could separate the silkworms into two different containers and feed each container a different kind of leaf, for example, and see whether that affects the size of the silkworms, or when they make their cocoons. This project is also a nice way to tie into the life cycles of caterpillars, moths, and butterflies.

Terik,
Thanks for you thoughtful response, I really appreciate it!