Academic Fair: Interests and Inquiries: Links

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Links to Helpful Websites

This page includes links to websites that may help you guide your child through the development of an Academic Fair project. Please let us know if you find anything we should add to the list!

Advice for parents
Egg-drop contest ideas
Online resources about inquiry and asking questions
Collections as projects
Experimental science projects
Research in libraries and on the Web
- Evaluating information found on the Web
- Using original documents in your research
Lists of potential topics
- Agriculture
- Math
- Science

Hints for participants
Putting together the final presentation

Advice for Parents

"Fear of Science Fairs?" is a Chicago Parent article written to help parents survive their children's participation in science fairs.
< http://othello.mech.northwestern.edu/~peshkin/scifair/chiparent.html >

Science Fair Central from DiscoverySchool.com has a help-for-parents page called "Helping Your Young Scientists":
< http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/parents.html >

Egg-Drop Contest Ideas

This design is based on the Mars Pathfinder vehicle.
< http://www.amnh.org/rose/mars/eggdrop.html >

These designs were inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's work
< http://www.niemworks.com/else/eggdrop.html >

Online Resources about Inquiry and Asking Questions

"Using the Internet to Promote Inquiry-Based Learning" was written for teachers, but it may be useful for parents. The first few sections on essential questions and foundation questions may get you thinking about more sophisticated ways of developing your child's research question.
< http://www.biopoint.com/inquiry/ibr.html >

"Grazing the Net: Raising a Generation of Free Range Students" by Jamie McKenzie is a classic article about the implications of setting our kids free in the Internet's sea of information:
< http://www.fno.org/grazing1.html >

Collections as Projects

Museums are the place to go if you want to learn more about how to do research with collections. Here are a few child-appropriate resources from museums:

The Smithsonian Institution has a website that looks at kids' collections with a museum perspective. (The site works best if you view it with a fast Internet connection.)
< http://kids.si.edu/collecting/ >

If you visit the Field Museum's website about Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex, you can see some examples of how museum scientists do research on their collections:
< http://www.fmnh.org/sue/ >

The Illinois State Museum has some web pages about the collections and research that goes on behind the scenes at their museum.
< http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/behind/htmls/cr.html >

There are lots of websites for kids about how to make particular types of collections. Here are some examples:

This Salt the Sandbox page has links to websites about collecting insects, shells, rocks and fossils:
< http://saltthesandbox.org/cicada_hunt/StoringCollections.htm#MoreInformation >

The San Diego Museum of Natural History Mineral Matters site tells you how to make a scientific collection of rocks and minerals:
< http://www.sdnhm.org/kids/minerals/index.html >

This article for parents discusses children's collections:

"Aaron's Treasures"
< http://saltthesandbox.org/ChicagoParentArticle1.htm >

Experimental Science Projects

Many websites provide step-by-step instructions for completing experimental science projects.

Science Fair Primer
< http://users.rcn.com/tedrowan/primer.html >

"Fear of Science Fairs?" has a nice description of what a hypothesis is about three-quarters of the way down the page.
< http://othello.mech.northwestern.edu/~peshkin/scifair/chiparent.html >

Research in Libraries and on the Web

In case you haven't yet discovered the many online resources of the Oak Park Public Library, here is their Web address. Have your library card handy if you want to put books on hold or search online resources from home:
< http://www.oppl.org/ >

You can search the Oak Park Public Library catalog starting from this page:
< http://www.oppl.org/services/index.htm >

They also have lots of online research resources starting from this page:
< http://www.oppl.org/research/tools.htm >

Using Research Sources, from the American Memory Project, includes good advice about conducting library and Web research:
< http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/98/grand/sources.html >

Step Zero: What to Do Before Searching, from San Diego State University, helps you refine your plans for searching the Web:
< http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/stepzero.html >

Four NETS for Better Searching can help parents and older children improve their skills at searching the Web:
< http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/fournets.htm >

Evaluating Information Found on the Web

"The ABCs of Website Evaluation" was written for teachers, but it may also be useful for parents. (It's a PDF file, and it may take awhile to download.)
< http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/pdf/weval_02.pdf >

This page has some online forms that help students evaluate the authenticity, quality, and usefulness of websites. There are versions for grades K-3 and 4-6, as well as for older students.
< http://www.netknowhow.ca/nkhSRevaluate.html >

Go here to find dozens more links about evaluating websites (mostly written for teachers):
< http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html >

Using Original Documents in Your Research

The American Memory collection, by the Library of Congress, puts lots of original manuscripts and photos online. Collection Connections is an index designed for teachers, but it may be useful to parents and older children working on historical projects.
< http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/collections/index.html >

Children who like history may enjoy this Library of Congress site:
< http://www.americasstory.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi >

Here's the main gateway to American Memory collection:
< http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html >

The Student's Online Guide to History describes how to do a research project that includes primary sources:
< http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/history/research/student/intro.htm >

The Resource Guide to Chicago Area History Collections and Institutions lists many local resources for original documents.
< http://www.chicagohistoryfair.org/2_resourceguide.html >

Lists of Potential Project Topics

Agriculture Projects

Agricultural Ideas for Science Projects by the United States Department of Agriculture.
< http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/fair/ideasframe.htm >

Math Projects

Math Projects for Science Fairs was developed by the Canadian Mathematical Society.
< http://camel.math.ca/Education/mpsf/ >

Science Projects

These pages have long lists of topic ideas arranged by subject.

Here's a list of questions that can inspire science projects. It's from the brochure "Science Fairs Made Easy!" by the Chicago Academy Science.
< http://othello.mech.northwestern.edu/~peshkin/scifair/chias_ideas.html >

The rest of these sources list topics without questions:

The Ultimate Science Fair Source: Idea Bank
< http://www.scifair.org/dr.shawnsideabank.html >

Science Fair Projects 12.21: Topic Ideas
< http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/scifun/projects.htm#N42 >

The River Edge Schools website (in New Jersey) lists many Online Resources for Science Projects
< http://www.riveredgeschools.org/Practicum/sciencefairideas.html >

Hints for Participants

The Ultimate Science Fair Source: Project Hints is addressed to students.
< http://www.scifair.org/articles/reports/hints.shtml >

Putting Together the Final Presentation

Science Fair Studio: The Display has lots of detailed advice. Be sure to click on the links for Helpful Hints, Do's and Don'ts and Safety
< http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/handbook/display.html >

The Ultimate Science Fair Source: Display Boards is addressed towards students.
< http://www.scifair.org/articles/reports/display.shtml >