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[ Science Fair Project | Phases: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight ]

Scope & Sequence

Phase 1 : Topic Selection

Selecting a science fair topic is an important first step for students. If at all possible, avoid assigning topics. By allowing students to choose their own topic to investigate, you give them ownership of the project. Making that kind of decision however, is difficult for some students. You can help them by giving them a specific subject area to concentrate on such as the environment, space or the ocean. This may help students narrow their choices. You can also let students evaluate past students' science fair display boards to get an idea of what topics they may want to investigate.

Display Evaluation (PDF)

Topic Focus Areas (PDF)

Topic Approval Sheet (PDF)

Sticking to the timeline that you set is extremely important since this project does take a lot of class time. Give students a distinct deadline to choose their topics. Meet with any students who have not chosen a topic by the deadline to find out where the problem lies. If they are at a deadlock and cannot decide on a topic or they have not put any effort into choosing a topic, you can either extend the deadline for those students, have them pull topics (that you have chosen) out of a bag or as a last resort assign them topics. Although this may seem a bit harsh, it is important that students do not fall behind in this project. Once students fall behind, it is very difficult for them to catch up.