Expanding STEM Membership: Using Science Process Skills in a Social Justice Curriculum to Combat Stereotype Threats and Build Self-Efficacy in African American Students

10.5590/JERAP.2021.11.1.18Science process skills were scaffolded throughout instruction over the ten-week program. The culminating project included the development, design, and testing of their own independent science fair project. The results reflect an increase in students’ self-efficacy which was evidenced by the students’ preparation and presentation of their projects in the science fair.

A high school student's introduction to geophysics through acquisition, processing, and interpretation of GPR data from marked and unmarked grave sites

During the 2019–2020 school year, a high school student engaged in a science fair project that involved acquiring, processing, and interpreting geophysical data. The project used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to identify response signatures of marked and unmarked grave sites in Fairlawn Cemetery in Stillwater, Oklahoma. During the investigation, the student was introduced to GPR acquisition equipment, seismic processing algorithms, and interpretation techniques. With the help of local university outreach and community mentors, the student was able to complete the science fair project with a positive outcome.

Backtalk: Engineering fairer science fairs

Students who come from wealthy families and schools often have an advantage when it comes to science fairs. Parents with the time and resources to do so often get involved in every stage of the science fair project, enabling their students to create projects that are far beyond what they could achieve on their own. Todd L. Pittinsky suggests adding constraints by requiring students to develop projects based on a small list of items. Such constraints would not only spark student creativity, they would help level the playing field.

Science Fair Was One of the Highlights of My Middle School Life: Using Science Fair to Develop NGSS Practices

This article illustrates how a seventh-grade life science unit connects to the Science and Engineering Practices and Nature of Science in the Next Generation Science Standards and used science fair projects as a context for students to solve problems and understand how authentic science is done. We outline how student interests drive the development and presentation of science fair projects and discuss each component of a science fair project to reflect the practices and nature of science and how we support students along the way. The article includes images of students and of their work for science fair projects.

Time-Lapse Photography of Munitions at Ordnance Reef

Ordnance Reef, located just off the west coast of the island of O’ahu, Hawaii, is a shallow-water site (∼6-10 m water depth) where conventional munitions were disposed following World War II. Over the past decade, the site has been extensively mapped and sampled by the U.S. Army and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) using a wide variety of techniques. In the summer of 2011 at Ordnance Reef, we deployed an underwater time-lapse camera that was developed as part of a student science fair project to capture images of the interaction between the ocean environment and two munitions over an approximately 24-h period. During the deployment, the system photographed 10 species in the vicinity of munitions, three of which came into direct contact with munitions casings. Our project demonstrates that time-lapse photography could potentially be an inexpensive and effective approach for documenting the effects of munitions on the ocean environment and its residents.

Saturday Night Live Goes to High School: Conducting and Advising a Political Science Fair Project

This article uses a case study to illustrate how science fair projects—which traditionally focus on “hard science” topics—can contribute to political science education. One of the authors, a high school student, conducted an experimental study of politics for her science fair project. The other author, a faculty member, was asked to advise the student on the project to allay initial skepticism about its focus on a “soft science” topic. The results of the experiment indicated that exposure to a televised comedy sketch about the 2008 presidential campaign yielded learning effects and fostered political interest among high school students. The authors recommend political science fair projects as tools for introducing precollegiate students to the political science research process and offering political scientists opportunities to educate students beyond the university setting.