Science fair · for teachers
Running a school science fair
Checked
Put in your fair date and get a six-week timeline, a letter home with blanks for your school's details, a 6-row judging rubric out of 24, a judge's question card and a class set of blank sheets. It all runs in your browser and nothing is sent.
Kept in this browser only. Nothing is sent.
Pick the fair date above, and the timeline and the letter home fill in with real dates.
The judge's rubric
| Row | 4: what it looks like | 1: what it looks like | Score (1–4) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Question | Testable: one thing changed, one thing measured | A topic or a demonstration, nothing tested | |
| Method | Controls named and kept; three or more tries a level | Changed several things at once, or one try | |
| Data | A clear table with units, means where expected, a graph | No numbers, or numbers with no table | |
| Conclusion | Uses the numbers; honest when the hypothesis was wrong | Restates the hypothesis, no numbers | |
| Board | In order, readable from a step back, the child's own words | Hard to follow, or a grown-up's words | |
| Interview | Explains the test and the results in their own words | Can't say what was changed or measured | |
| Total | / 24 | ||
The judge's question card
Ask any three. Listen for their own numbers.
- What made you want to ask this question?
- What did you think would happen, and why?
- What did you change, and what did you measure?
- What did you keep the same, and why does that matter?
- How many times did you test it?
- What did you find out? Show me in your numbers.
- Was your hypothesis right? How do you know?
- Did anything go wrong, or surprise you?
- If you did it again, what would you change or test next?
The class set
One packet per child: the hypothesis sheet, the results table and the conclusion, blank. Print one and copy it, or print as many as you need.
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: _______________________________________________
If I change ______________________, then ______________________ will ________________, because _____________________________________________
| I CHANGE | I MEASURE | I KEEP THE SAME |
|---|---|---|
What I think will happen, in my own words:
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: _______________________________________________
I changed: ____________________ I measured: ____________________
| What I changed | Try 1 | Try 2 | Try 3 | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|
MY GRAPH
What I noticed: ______________________________________________
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: _______________________________________________
My hypothesis was ☐ right ☐ partly right ☐ not right.
I know because my numbers show:
What surprised me, or what might have gone wrong (7th and up):
Next time I would test:
The print shop
A flyer for the school's walls, a certificate for every child and every award, and thank-you cards for the judges. Each has blanks for your school's details and no Peabody mark on it.
The six weeks, in words
- 42 days before: The letter goes home with the fair date and the rules.
- 35 days before: Each child's question is due, for the teacher to check.
- 28 days before: Testing starts: hypothesis written, sheets printed, logbook open.
- 14 days before: Results table and graph due for a check.
- 3 days before: The board is due.
- Fair day: Fair day and judging.
Six weeks is enough for a child to pick a question, test it three times, and still have a weekend for the board. The two checks in the middle (the question at five weeks, the results at two) are where most projects are rescued: a question that can't be measured, or a test done once, is easy to fix with a fortnight left and hard to fix the night before.
Forty projects, no two alike (instead of forty volcanoes)
Hand a class "pick a project" and a third of them come back with the same volcano. This list is forty Peabody projects chosen so that no two test the same kind of change against the same kind of measurement, and no two grow from the same build: a fair where the judges see forty different questions. Every one keeps the safety rules below and has its sheets ready to print. Hand out the list for a grade band, and ask each child to pick one nobody else in the class has.
Kindergarten to 2nd grade (12)
- Which ball bounces the most times? kindergarten · 1 day of testing
- Does a toy's shadow get bigger when the flashlight comes closer? kindergarten · 1 day of testing
- Sink or float: does a bigger foil boat carry more blocks? kindergarten · 1 day of testing
- Which ice cube melts first: in the sun, in the shade or inside? kindergarten · 1 day of testing
- Which paper bridge holds the most blocks: flat, folded once or folded like a fan? kindergarten · 1 day of testing
- Which soaks up the most: a sponge, a paper towel or a cloth? kindergarten · 1 day of testing
- Does a higher ramp make a toy car roll farther? kindergarten · 1 day of testing
- Where does grass come up first: a sunny window, a shady room or a dark cupboard? kindergarten · 10 days of testing
- Do raisins dance longer in fizzy water? 1st–4th grade · 1 day of testing
- How does a shadow change through the day? 1st–4th grade · 1 day of testing
- Which warms up most in the sun: soil, sand or water? 1st–4th grade · 1 day of testing
- Which floor makes a ball bounce highest? 1st–5th grade · 1 day of testing
3rd to 5th grade (14)
- What keeps a cut apple from going brown? 2nd–6th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does more vinegar blow a balloon up bigger? 3rd–7th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does more air make a balloon rocket go farther? 2nd–8th grade · 1 day of testing
- Which liquid dissolves a hard candy fastest? 2nd–6th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does a colder cup get more drops on its outside? 3rd–7th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does ice melt faster in water or in air? 2nd–6th grade · 1 day of testing
- How many paper layers block a flashlight? 2nd–6th grade · 1 day of testing
- How much cornstarch makes oobleck hold a penny? 3rd–7th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does a bigger disc make a top spin longer? 3rd–7th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does a pointed nose make a straw rocket fly farther? 3rd–7th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does stirring make sugar dissolve faster? 1st–5th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does a wider paper strip walk water faster? 2nd–6th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does food colouring spread faster in hot water? 2nd–8th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does a pinecone close when it gets wet? 1st–5th grade · 2 days of testing
6th to 8th grade (14)
- Does a steeper hill wash away more soil? 4th–8th grade · 1 day of testing
- Where must pennies sit to balance a ruler? 4th–8th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does slanted light spread wider? 5th–8th grade · 1 day of testing
- Which material makes the slowest parachute? 4th–8th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does warm water hold more salt than cold? 5th–8th grade · 1 day of testing
- Where is it windiest around your home? 4th–8th grade · 3 days of testing
- Does salty or sugary water change a bean plant? 4th–8th grade · 14 days of testing
- Does grass grow best under red, blue or green light? 4th–8th grade · 14 days of testing
- Does hotter water make a bigger cloud in a jar? 3rd–8th grade · 1 day of testing
- Does planting a seed deeper make it slower to come up? 3rd–8th grade · 14 days of testing
- Where does the most rain land: the open yard, under a tree or by the house? 2nd–8th grade · 7 days of testing
- Do roots grow down even if you turn the seed? 3rd–7th grade · 7 days of testing
- Do soaked beans sprout faster? 2nd–6th grade · 7 days of testing
- Which paper colour fades fastest in the sun? 2nd–6th grade · 14 days of testing
A volcano can still be a real project: change the amount of baking soda and measure how high the foam climbs, three times at each amount. Peabody has that one too; it just shouldn't come in forty times.
Judging
One district that publishes its judging procedures (Alpine School District, Utah) gives each project two judges and four to five minutes. The rubric here has six rows (question, method, data, conclusion, board and interview) scored 1 to 4, and the judge's card has nine questions in a child's words; three are plenty for one visit. Children can practise them on every project page under "What a judge will ask". On the night, fair night scores it with entry codes: a judge card on each judge's phone and a tally that averages the judges, with no names.
Flyer, certificates and thank-yous
The print shop at the end of the organizer makes a flyer for the school's walls (the fair day and the boards' due day from your date, blanks for the time and place), a certificate for every child who takes part and one for each award you pick (first, second and third place, best question, clearest data, best board, most curious scientist), and thank-you cards for the judges, four to a page. Like the letter home, none of them carries a Peabody mark. The judges' printables add a sign-up sheet, a schedule and a table tent for every entry code.
Rules and safety
The rules in plain words page lists what elementary rule sets share, each with its source, ready to adapt for your letter. Every project children find on Peabody's science fair pages already keeps them.
Teachers who want a rubric in three grade bands (K–2, 3–5, 6–8) will find one on Peabody Teach: the science fair project rubric. Families can practise the judge's questions with Peabody the judge.