Success Story: Science Fair Projects with Real-World Impact

Science Buddies has been a wonderful resource for Science Fair in my classroom! I am excited to share this article they wrote about me!

A science teacher at Brawerman Elementary School in Los Angeles views Science Buddies as an indispensable classroom partner, especially when it comes to helping students locate quality science Project Ideas—in all areas of interest.

Above: Teacher Lisa Niver Rajna with a student at last year's school science fair. Science Buddies is an important part of Lisa's approach to science education in the classroom. Lisa's students used the Topic Selection Wizard to help them locate exciting projects, many of which have real-world connections and applications that she encouraged them to explore. Some of the Project Ideas Lisa's students selected last year include:

• Ask a Cricket, 'What is The Temperature?'


• Bombs Away! A Ping Pong Catapult


• Build Your Own Crystal Radio


• Building Structures: It's a Slippery Slope


• Crazy Crystal Creations: How to Grow the Best and the Largest Crystals


• Dirty Snowballs: How a Comet's Size Affects How Fast It Melts


• Distracted Driver: Do Distractions Affect Driving Video Game Scores?


• Do-It-Yourself DNA


• Feeding Earthworms: Do Different Diets Affect Them and the Soil They Enrich?


• From Brine to Beverage: Solar-Powered Salt Removal


• From Sauce to Solid: The Science of Cranberry Condiments


• Great Globs of Gluten! Which Wheat Flour Has the Most?


• How Does Packaging Affect the Ripening of Fruit?


• How Sweet It Is—How Much Sugar Is Really in That Soda?


• Is the Soup Ready? Measure How Much Water is Absorbed by Dried Beans


• Make the Wind Work for You!


• Make Your Own Markers


• Mixing Your Own Marshmallows: Finding the Right Ratio of Sugar to Corn Syrup


• Movie Music


• Nothing But Net: The Science of Shooting Hoops


• Now You're Cooking!


• Potions and Lotions: Lessons in Cosmetic Chemistry


• Radiant Radish Seeds


• Rubber Bands for Energy


• Scintillating Scents: The Science of Making Perfume


• Shimmy, Shimmy Soda Pop: Develop Your Own Soda Pop Recipe


• Spread the Soap, Not the Germs


• Think Fast: Do Video Game Players Have Faster Reaction Times Than Non-Players?


• Which Fruits Can Ruin Your Gelatin Dessert?


• Creating a Video Game for the Blind

Students in grades three through six at Wilshire Boulevard Temple's Brawerman Elementary School in Los Angeles all participate in the school's annual science fair. While doing a Science Buddies Project Idea is not a requirement in Lisa Niver Rajna's science classes, all of her fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students begin their search for a science fair project by using the Topic Selection Wizard, a Science Buddies tool that suggests science projects to students based on their interests, assignment, timeline, and grade level.
Finding the Right Project
From Lisa's perspective, the project selection phase of the science fair assignment is a "crucial" step in the process. "I want each student to care and be passionate about her topic," says Lisa, who has been using Science Buddies and the Topic Selection Wizard with students at Brawerman for several years. When she talks with her fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes about the science fair project assignment, Lisa says she "highly recommends" that they choose a Science Buddies project, and she allots valuable classroom time for her students to use the Wizard. Despite the crunch many teachers feel in fitting all the pieces of core curriculum into the hours of a school year, using class time to have students use the Wizard is a process that helps both Lisa and her students.

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