1
Narrow the question
Take what your child is curious about and cut it down until it can actually be tested on a table.
Investigation · Grades 3 to 5
Science
Fair
Not a poster about volcanoes. A real question, a test designed to be capable of proving your child wrong, data they collected themselves, and a judging interview they handle on their own.
Junior SSTFI
Judged interview
Real data
What it actually is
Most school science fair projects are demonstrations. This is an investigation.
The difference is whether the result was known in advance. A baking soda volcano always erupts. That is a demonstration. It teaches presentation and very little else.
An investigation starts with a question the child does not know the answer to, and a test that could genuinely come out either way. That single shift changes everything downstream. Suddenly the number of trials matters. The control matters. Writing down the result you did not want matters.
We spend the early sessions narrowing. Children arrive with enormous questions, and an enormous question cannot be answered by one student in a few weeks with equipment that fits on a table. Learning to cut a big curiosity down to something testable is, in itself, most of what scientific training consists of.
Then they run it. Properly, with enough repeats that a fluke does not masquerade as a finding. They record what happened, including the trials that went wrong, and they learn that a result which contradicts the hypothesis is a perfectly good result and often a more interesting one.
The interview is the real event
At the Junior fair, students are interviewed at their board by judges in an assigned pod, for roughly an hour of the day. The board is a prop. What is being assessed is whether the child understands their own work well enough to answer an unexpected question about it, and that is exactly what we rehearse.
- Junior fair
- Grades 3 to 5, run as regional events around Iowa.
- Senior fair
- Grades 6 to 12, two days at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.
- Affiliation
- SSTFI is an affiliate of the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
- Nearest regional
- Coralville, at the Iowa Children's Museum, in recent seasons.
- Judging
- Interviews at the display board, in a judging pod, around an hour.
- Paperwork
- Registration and permission forms for all projects, with extra approvals for some.
Dates and fees are set by the fair, not by us, and they change. Confirm the current season at sstfi.org.
How we work a project
From a huge question to a defensible answer.
2
Design a fair test
One variable at a time, a control, and enough trials that the answer is not an accident.
3
Collect the data
Measure carefully, record everything, and resist the urge to quietly drop the trials that misbehaved.
4
Work out what it means
Chart it, look at it honestly, and say what the evidence supports rather than what was hoped for.
5
Rehearse the interview
Practise being asked awkward questions by somebody who is not their parent, until it stops being frightening.
Where families go wrong
Four mistakes we head off every single season.
- A question that is far too big. Anything phrased as how does X affect the world is not going to survive contact with a judging pod.
- One trial. A single run proves nothing, and judges will ask about repeats before they ask about anything else.
- A parent-built board. It shows instantly, and it undermines the student in the interview when they cannot explain a choice they did not make.
- Paperwork left late. Projects using human participants, animals, tissue or microbial cultures need approval in advance and cannot be fixed on the day.
None of these are hard to avoid. They just need somebody to say them out loud in week one, which is a large part of what coaching is for.
Questions
What parents ask about science fair.
Which fair do elementary students enter?
The Junior State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa, which is the elementary division for grades 3 to 5. It runs as a set of separate regional events around the state rather than one central fair. The senior fair, for grades 6 to 12, is a two day event held at Hilton Coliseum in Ames and is an affiliate of the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
Where is the nearest regional event to Cedar Rapids?
Recent seasons have run a regional at the Iowa Children's Museum in Coralville, which is the closest to us, with others in Dubuque, Des Moines, Mason City, Atlantic and Orange City. Dates move each year, so check sstfi.org for the current schedule before you plan around it.
How much does entering cost?
The Junior fair has been ten dollars per person per project in recent seasons. That is the fair's fee rather than ours, and it is separate from studio coaching.
What actually happens on the day?
Students are interviewed at their display board by judges, in an assigned judging pod, over roughly an hour. When they are not being judged they take part in the rest of the event. The interview is the part worth preparing for, and it is what we rehearse hardest.
Is there paperwork?
Yes, and it catches families out. Registration forms and a permission form are required for every project. Projects involving human participants, vertebrate animals, human or animal tissue, or microbial cultures need additional approval paperwork submitted in advance. We flag this early because it can rule out an idea after a child has fallen in love with it.
What makes a strong elementary project?
A question narrow enough to answer in the time available, a test that could genuinely prove the child wrong, enough repeat trials that the result is not luck, and a student who can explain their own method without reading it off the board. Presentation matters far less than most families assume.
Fair season
Regional fairs come round faster than families expect.
Between narrowing a question, running enough trials and getting the paperwork approved, a good project needs a decent run-up. Tell us your child's grade and what they are curious about, and we will tell you whether there is still time this season.