|
Irving
School's Academic Fair |
| Home
Links Return to Home Page
|
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!
"Fear of Science Fairs?" is a Chicago
Parent article written to help parents survive their children's
participation in science fairs. Science Fair Central from
DiscoverySchool.com has a help-for-parents page called "Helping
Your Young Scientists": This web page includes links the photos
of many different designs: This design is based on the Mars
Pathfinder vehicle. These designs were inspired by Leonardo
da Vinci's work Online Resources about Inquiry and Asking Questions The Inquiry Page: Learning Begins with
Questions from the University of Illinois shows how developing
questions fits within a spiral path of inquiry. "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. "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:
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.) 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: The Illinois State Museum has some web
pages about the collections and research that goes on behind the
scenes at their museum. There are lots of websites for kids about how to make particular types of collections. Here are some examples:
These articles for parents discuss children's collections:
Many websites provide step-by-step instructions for completing experimental science projects. Experimental Science Projects: An Introductory Level
Guide Science Fair Primer "Fear of Science Fairs?" has a
nice description of what a hypothesis is about three-quarters of the
way down the page.
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:
Using Research Sources, from the American
Memory Project, includes good advice about conducting library and Web
research: Step Zero: What to Do Before Searching, from San Diego State University, helps you refine
your plans for searching the Web: Four NETS for Better Searching can
help parents and older children improve their skills at searching the
Web:
Evaluating Information Found on the Web "Fishing
the Net" is an article written for adults to help them guide
children's research 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.) 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. Go here to find dozens more links about
evaluating websites (mostly written for teachers):
Including Interviews with Your Research The Oral History Project. Although
this CNN website discusses interviews about the Cold War, its
information about preparing for and conducting interviews will be
useful for many other types of project. Science Fair Studio: Primary Research
includes ideas for conducting interviews as part of science projects.
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.
The Student's Online Guide to History describes
how to do a research project that includes primary sources: The Resource Guide to Chicago Area History Collections
and Institutions lists many local resources for original documents.
Lists of Potential Project Topics Agricultural Ideas for Science Projects
by the United States Department of Agriculture. Math Projects for Science Fairs was
developed by the Canadian Mathematical Society. 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. The rest of these sources list topics without questions: The Ultimate Science Fair Source: Idea Bank Science Fair Projects 12.21: Topic Ideas The River Edge Schools website (in
New Jersey) lists many Online Resources for Science Projects
The Ultimate Science Fair Source: Project
Hints is addressed to students.
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 The Ultimate Science Fair Source: Display
Boards is addressed towards students.
|
Questions, comments -- or want to register? E-mail Eric at AcademicFair@aol.com
This page was last updated on February 12, 2008.