Students can share projects through a variety of structured experiences from presentations within their classroom, to school-level showcases, to regional or state competitions.
- Projects can be shared through display boards, posters, digitally-enhanced presentations, models, computer-based tools such as websites, portfolios, interactive conversations, and science and engineering notebooks.
- Projects can be done individually or in groups up to 3.
| Type of Structure | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Science Fair -Traditional |
Conduct an investigation using specific science practices and methods | Effect of different colored lights on the growth of bean plants |
| Engineering Fair - Traditional | Follow engineering design practices, such as defining the problem and optimizing the solution | Design a way to efficiently fold shirts using robotic components |
| Science Project Demonstrations | Learn about, show, and explain a demonstration at a fair or showcase | Demonstrate and explain Newton's 3 Laws of Motion with everyday life experiences |
| Science Service Learning | Learn about a local STEM-related issue in your community and develop and execute an action plan to help solve the problem. | In conjunction with World Water Monitoring Day, use a test kit to sample a local body of water and share the results locally and through national systems. |
| Citizen Science Project | Connect to a local or national science organization that is collecting or analyzing data, or working to solve specific problems. | As part of the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program, survey frog and toad populations in your area by identifying their calls. |
| STEM Career Investigation | Job shadow (or research) someone in a STEM career. Learn authentic STEM onsite. | Shadow a local veterinarian, mechanic, engineer, etc. |
| Tools of Technology | Research and demonstrate how a particular technology works. | Some ideas could be 3D printers, autonomous vehicles, drones, or lines at Disney Land. |
| Science Fair Interactive | Create an experiment that you guide younger students to DO and understand at the fair. | Teach density - have students predict and experiment to see which items float and which do not, helping them build up to reasons why. |
| Family Science/STEM Night | Students showcase projects, provide demonstrations, and/or conduct interactive science. Local science experts and organizations may also share activities and resources. Such an event could be combined with many of the above ideas. | Depening on goals, these events can take many forms. Some ideas can be found in this book from NSTA and this article from Vivify STEM |