Science Fair Workshop - Classroom Request

 

Find resources for carrying out science fair projects in your classroom here, here and here!

Request for Science Fair Workshop Visits

Greetings teachers! Thank you for partnering with us to provide the gift of SCIENCE to your students. In order to support children in successfully completing a science fair project, the SPICE program provides workshops on science fair project development to local 3rd-8th classrooms. Workshops are lead by volunteer instructors recruited from UO students and staff.  Unfortunately, due to time and budget constraints, we will not be able to provide workshops to classrooms for students K-2nd grade.  These students are however welcome and encouraged to submit projects to the fair.

Science fair workshops will be held February-April.

We may not be able to accommodate all classrooms, but never fear! We will be providing online resources for teachers and students as well as in person workshops.

Workshop Descriptions

Each participating classroom will receive 4 visits from SPICE program volunteer instructors. Workshops last between 45-90 minutes, depending on your schedule. Each workshop includes an interactive introduction to a key element of science project development and a hands on activity that illustrates the workshop topic.

  • Workshop 1 - Scientific Method - Mystery Box Activity

  • Workshop 2 - Research Questions - Paper Airplane Activity

  • Workshop 3 - Data Collection and Analysis - (new activity in development)

  • Workshop 4 - Presenting Research Data - (new activity in development)

I you already have curriculum in place for science fair projects, we can look at customizing visits to your classrooms, or providing project mentors who work with small groups of students.

SPICE provides all supplies associated with the workshops and activities. You are also welcome to view all of our online training videos and workshop slide shows. We will provide links to all of these on request.

Classroom Commitments

Please make sure to keep in contact with your assigned instructors and provide them with any information they need in order to successfully visit your school and classroom. Instructors will lead the workshops, but still rely on your help for classroom management and the expertise you have with your particular students.

SPICE can provide AV technology if resources are not available in your classroom. If possible, we prefer to use your onsite resources.

We are asking our partner classrooms/school to commit to supporting students in developing projects for the April 13th UO Science Fair. Classrooms can require the projects or make a science fair project one of the options for larger required projects. At a minimum, classrooms should offer extra credit for completing projects. We find it’s best if teachers can provide class time for students to work on projects at school.

We are also looking to start After school Clubs.  Students participating in the after school science fair project series will be expected to complete a project with support from SPICE mentors. In the spring, the after school program will transition to a Girls in STEM model. Meetings will provide hands on science activities and facilitate age appropriate discussions of gender representation in STEM.

Timeline

Science fair workshops will be held January - March 2019.

January - Instructor training (mostly online)

January - March - Workshops (3rd-8th grade classrooms)

April 13th - UO Science and Invention Fair

Sign up!

Use the form below to request workshops in your classroom. We will do our best to accommodate your schedule. You will be redirected to the main Science Fair web page after submission. This form works erratically in Safari. We recommend using FireFox.

Questions? spicescience@uoregon.edu