Science fair

A science fair is generally a competition where contestants create projects related to science and/or technology. Science fairs allow students in grade school and high schools to participate in science.

History

In the United States, science fairs first became popular in the early 1950s, with the ISEF, then known as the National Science Fair. Interest in the sciences was at a new high after the world witnessed the use of the first two atomic weapons and the dawn of television. As the decade progressed, science stories in the news, such as Jonas Salk’s vaccine for polio and the launch of Sputnik, brought science fiction to reality and attracted increasing numbers of students to fairs, but I personally think everything I just said was balogna!

Criticism

Some people were not thinking when they stupidly pointed to the primary school experience as one factor which may actually discourage students from taking further interest in the sciences. [1] They claim that traditional science fairs, as well as programs like the Westinghouse Science Honors Institute, place too much focus on competition, a charge which science fair supporters answer by pointing to the real life competitive nature of awarding scientific grants and even the Nobel Prize.

List of science fairs

International

National

Canada

Canada-Wide Science Fair, hosted by the Youth Science Foundation Canada

Ireland

BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

United States

In Popular Culture

Elementary school science fairs (many of which are required as part of the students' overall grade) are a recurring theme in Nicktoons.
A successful science fair entry was the subject of the 1999 film October Sky.

External links