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27 February 2004

Spring is Student Science Season

Forrest M. Mims III

Amateur and citizen scientists are generally thought to be adults who dabble in science on the side. Yet we adult citizen scientists are vastly outnumbered, and often outclassed, by many hundreds of thousands of student scientists.

Many students do science projects because they enjoy doing science, but most do not. The latter group does science projects only because they are required to do so as part of a science class.

Yet no matter why they do science projects, students who do so learn much from the experience. Few extracurricular activities are as diverse as science projects. The student must study the background of the science behind the project (history), organize and follow a research plan (science), analyze the results (mathematics and statistics), write a report describing the results (English), prepare a nice poster board (art) and present the results to professionals (public speaking). The results can sometimes meet or even exceed those of professional scientists.

Science fairs closely resemble poster sessions at professional science conferences. Actually, science fairs are more fun than science conferences, since students also display the gadgets, photographs, notebooks and all the other science stuff that goes into their projects. They also haven’t learned to be locked into paradigms or to be afraid to have a little fun with their graphics and titles.

Judging at regional and national science competitions usually takes half a day or more. While students wait by their projects, judges come by to inspect their posters and browse their reports. Then comes the interview, in which judges discuss the project with the student. It's then that the judges learn how well the student understands the science behind the project. It's also when the judge learns if the student actually did the project or if a parent or other adult did most of the research.

Students learn from this process by having the opportunity to talk with scientists, engineers and college professors. They receive tips about how to improve their research for next year. And they find out that professionals often have very different approaches to reviewing a project.

All three of my children learned much from participating in science fairs. They learned how to interact with professional educators, engineers and scientists who judged their projects. They learned to develop a deeper appreciation for the science behind their projects.

My children also won numerous awards, prizes and scholarships through the science fair system. They also traveled to a wide variety of science presentations and competitions. Sarah, our youngest is busily involved in this process as I write.

Recently she competed in the regional finals of the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Austin, Texas. She earned the opportunity to exhibit her research at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle two weeks ago. In April she will compete at the national Juniors Science and Humanities Symposium in Baltimore.

The science fair system isn’t perfect. There are huge differences in the rules that govern various science competitions. Some rules are so restrictive that they stifle innovation and research. Judging is sometimes very inconsistent. Students who do their projects in professional laboratories are judged alongside those who do their projects on the kitchen table. Shawn Carlson and I hope to propose solutions to some of these shortcomings.

Meanwhile, regional science fairs are now taking place around the United States. If you want to find out what the majority of amateur scientists are doing these days, then plan on visiting a regional science fair in your area.

Be sure to bring your notebook and camera. You just might come away with ideas for some projects of your own. And be sure to meet the officials in charge. Most science fair officials are on the lookout for good judges, and what better organization is there for finding judges for student amateur scientists than the Society for Amateur Scientists?

For information about conducting student science projects, be sure to visit www.scifair.org. The Society for Amateur Scientists sponsors this "ultimate science fair resource."