Big congratulations to all participants and to the grade 5-8 winners in this year's Heath Science Fair, which took place on Saturday March 4. For the 4th year in a row, the Science Fair was an exciting community highlight of the winter. With 91 participating scientists and 52 projects across all grades from K through 8th, Saturday's event was the largest Heath science fair to date.

Thank you to everyone for your support! We're already looking forward to next year's – 5th ANNUAL – event, and even more participants. We hope you will join us again – or for the first time!

Need some inspiration for next year?

Check out this recap of the 2020 Heath Science Fair.

What is a science fair?

A science fair is a place for students to present their science projects to professional scientists and to the community. Its main purpose is to get you excited about science by doing it rather than simply learning about it. A scientist first asks a question about some aspect of the world and then tries to find its answer. At the science fair, each student presents a project, both visually and orally, with the question and answer displayed in an interesting way. Students should be able to explain their projects and answer questions. The science fair will also include a science activity expo, where students will have an opportunity to see and interact with cool technologies, devices, and scientists.

What are the goals of the science fair?

• Students will understand and be able to apply the scientific method;

• Students will develop intellectual curiosity about how things work;

• Students will become aware of how science is relevant to the real world;

• Bring public awareness to the field of science.

What makes a good project?

• Ask a question in a subject you are interested in – it’s something you like to think about and will be happy to spend time working on. For example, you may have a pet bird at home who is a very picky eater. What is its favorite food? Does it ever get tired of eating the same food all the time? Once you’ve chosen a question, you must figure out a way to find the answer to your question. There are many ways to answer questions. You can design an experiment or a survey, build a model, or write a computer program that can help you find the answer.

• A good project is one you can do mostly by yourself, with only a little help from grown-ups: parents, Science Fair Organizers (our names and contact information are at the end of the packet), teachers, and friends. The reason to do a project is that it is fun and will help you learn something you didn’t know before. Having someone else help you too much takes away some of your fun at discovering something new, and you don’t learn as much. Your project doesn’t have to be perfect – if it follows the scientific method and is neat enough to read, then it is good.

• A good project is something you design and build by yourself from regular or every-day materials. Doing it by yourself is more satisfying than simply buying a kit someone else made in the store. Creative projects using basic materials make for the most impressive science fair projects!

• A good project is one that, when you’re done with it, makes you wonder about other things. Did seeing what happened in your project make you think of other questions you’d like to know the answer to? That’s a great project!