Science fair guides

All 16 guides, in the order a project runs

• 🧭 How to pick a science fair project your child can finishFour questions pick a science fair project your child can finish: their grade, the days left, what's in the house and what they like. Free, with every sheet.
• ❓ What makes a good science fair questionA good science fair question changes one thing and measures one thing. Ten real questions that work, ten that don't, and how to turn a weak one into a test.
• 💭 If… then… because: a hypothesis at 2nd, 4th and 7th gradeOne science fair project's hypothesis written three ways, for 2nd, 4th and 7th grade, so you can see how the If… then… because… frame grows with a child.
• 🛠️ Engineering projects: design, build, test, improveEngineering science fair projects: a design goal instead of a hypothesis, then build, test three times and improve. 11 free build projects.
• ⚖️ Change, measure, keep the same: the variables cardWhat you change, what you measure and what you keep the same, explained with a toy car on a ramp: the three kinds of variable every science fair test needs.
• 🔁 Why every test needs three triesOne try can't tell a real result from a fluke. With a bouncing ball and some made-up numbers, see why every science fair test is done at least three times.
• 📊 How to make a results tableLevels down the side, tries across, the unit in the header and the mean at the end: how to make a science fair results table, with a filled-in example to copy.
• 🖍️ How to draw a bar graph by handDraw a science fair bar graph by hand on squared paper: the two axes, a scale that fits, one bar for each thing you tried, and when a line graph is better.
• 🙃 When your hypothesis is wrongA wrong hypothesis is a result, and a test that went wrong can still be written up: what to do and what to write when the numbers surprise you or nothing works.
• 🪧 The display board, section by sectionWhere each part goes on a 36 × 48 inch tri-fold science fair board, how big to make it and the order a judge reads it in, with three layouts to print.
• 🎤 What judges ask, and how a 9-year-old answersThe nine questions science fair judges ask most, in a child's words, with an example answer from a 9-year-old for each one and how to practise them at home.
• 🗓️ Two weeks, one week or one weekend: three plansThree day-by-day science fair plans, for two weeks, one week and one weekend, each with the five jobs in order and the projects that fit the time you have.
• 🦺 Science fair safety: what every school bans and whyNo flames, no live animals, no mold, kitchen chemicals only, no testing people without a review: the science fair safety rules schools share, and why.
• 🤝 How much should a parent help?For grown-upsKeep your hands on the safety and the schedule, and theirs on the science: what a parent should and shouldn't do on a science fair project, grade by grade.
• 🏫 Running a school science fairFor grown-upsA six-week timeline, rooms and tables, how many judges you need, a rubric out of 24 and the letter home: how to organize an elementary school science fair.
• 🏅 What science fair judges rewardFor grown-upsWhat do science fair judges look for? Studies of middle and high school fairs point to presenting the work, a child's own topic and practice for the interview.

👨‍👩‍👧 For grown-ups and teachers: how much to help, the safety rules, and running a school fair. Science fair v0.16.1 · Checked 30 October 2026.