Science Fair

Before leaving for break, my kiddos turned in their science fair projects {yes it's that time already!}. I must admit, there are SO many things I will do differently next year. This was the first year I've dealt with science fair projects on my own. We used to have a full time science lab teacher {I KNOW!!} who would take care of all of our science fair needs.

So, this year as the 5th grade team leader and Science Committee Chair, I was given the duty of handling the science fair. Luckily, I have an AMAZING co-worker who volunteered to head the Science Fair, and I just had to help her out with planning.

The kiddos did a great job on their projects! We took some time in class to research, write questions & hypotheses, analyze data, and write conclusions. We also took a day in class to make the boards.

On the day their projects were due, the kiddos did what I called a Gallery Crawl. They went to each board individually and read each of the projects. They provided feedback for each experiment, including something they learned from their board as well as something the experimenter could work on (like remembering to repeat the experiment 3 times). They were so enthralled with reading each other's projects and gave really meaningful feedback!

After the Gallery Crawl, the kiddos presented their projects. Audience members took notes in their Inquiry Journals in a t-chart {Learned...Wonder} and asked questions they had about the experiments.

Now, to finish grading all of those projects and choose 3 to go to the Fair! YIKES!