STEAM FAIR RESOURCES

Resources

General

• AUSL STEAM Fair Videos & Resources on the EngageAUSL website
• CPS Science Fair: 2015 Finalists’ Abstracts (MS & HS)
• Science and Engineering Project Ideas: Science Buddies
• Arduino Projects https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/projects/tags/kids

https://www.teachengineering.org/editorspicks

• More Project Ideas: Cool Science Projects
• ipl2 Science Fair Project Resource Guide: https://www.ipl.org/div/projectguide/choosingatopic.html
• PBS KIds ZoomSci: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/zoom/
• Energy Kids: https://www.eia.gov/kids/for-teachers/science-fair-experiments/
• Education.com:https://www.education.com/science-fair/  
• NGSS: 
• Science and Engineering Practices (Inquiry Defined)
• Disciplinary Core Ideas (Content)
• Crosscutting Concepts (Big Ideas That Span Across All Sciences)

Inspiration to Help Students Get Started

• Google Science Fair Video (2015): What will you try?
• Google Science Fair Video (2014): It’s your turn to change the world
• A Shot at Preventing Colon Cancer: Keven Stonewall from Chicago’s South Side (video)
• Article: Distracted Driving Project
• Article: Is Organic Really Better: Ask a Fruit Fly 
• Article: Pathways to research: Problem-solving--Young researchers can become local heroes for taking on projects that help their friends and neighbors
• Article: Science champs--Young scientists focus their research on real-world problem

Science

• Types of Science Research (experiments are NOT the only approach)
• Experimental vs. Observational Studies: Video 
• Publically available data can be used for science fair projects:
• City of Chicago Data
• A video example using this data
• Conducting Fair Tests
• How Science Works Flowcharts (more accurate than the “scientific method;” nonetheless, the “scientific method” headings can be helpful for organizing data on students’ posters and in research articles in scientific journals. 
• For more info about why a single scientific method is a myth, check out this reading

Design

• Engineering:
• Curriculum (grades 6-8): Engineering Everywhere 
• Curriculum (grades 3-5): Engineering Adventures 
• Additional websites with real world problems
• Design Packets (to help guide students through their projects):
• Teach Engineering Packet
• App development: 
• Curriculum: Technovation App Design
• App creation platform:
• Xamarin (good for high school)
• Scratch (good for elementary) 
• 3D Modeling/Printing:
• Sketch Up
• Tinker Cad

Technology & Mathematics

• Ways to enhance the “T” and “M” in STEAM:
• Partner with you tech specialist and your math teachers...and your ELA and specials teachers for that matter (this is a S.T.E.A.M. fair after all!)
• Data collection: Google Forms (e.g., send a questionnaire to potential users to inform/receive feedback on your design)
• Data organization and calculations: Google Sheets/Excel 
• Partner collaboration and teacher feedback: Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
• Presentation: think beyond (or in addition to) the tri-fold board…
• PowerPoint/Google Slides
• Haiku Deck
• Print a conference-style poster