Stimulate High School Science Fair Participation by Connecting with a Nearby College

• Mary Ellen DeClue ^[1] ; Kevin Johnson ^[2] ; Howard Hendrickson ^[2] ; Pamela Keck ^[2]
  1. [1] East Alton-Wood River High Schoo
  2. [2] Department of Chemistry, Southern Illinois University
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 77, Nº 5 (May), 2000, págs. 608-608
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • High school science fair competition is an underutilized yet highly beneficial experience for students. It requires creativity, practicing the scientific method, conducting and determining appropriate math manipulations, and organizational and writing skills. Because of the time commitment and resources needed for science fair participation, it is often not selected as an activity for high school students. However, the potential exists to increase the number of high school students who participate in science fairs by developing a collegial relationship between university faculty and high school teachers. For the past several years, a local high school chemistry teacher has brought an honors chemistry class to our campus to discuss science fair projects with faculty. This allowed a valuable dialogue where ideas for projects were discussed and meeting times set to use equipment not available at the high school. Past projects have been continued in subsequent years by new students to improve the quality of initial projects and decrease the number of new ideas needed each year. An established collaboration with a local resource, whether it is a university or trained professionals from local industry, can enhance the enthusiasm, resources, and experimental design of science fair projects and thus the scientific thought process of high school students.