It's No Secret -

             Challenger Is Crazy About Science

Judging Criteria

The Science Fair at Challenger Elementary is a non-competitive event.  We want every child to walk away feeling successful.  Each participant will receive a pin to wear proudly during the day to show they participated.  They will also receive an award ribbon for their project.

Participants will present their project to a judge for approximately two minutes.  The judges will acknowledge an area of strength in each project.  The judging criteria have been listed for students to keep in mind while they are creating and presenting their projects.  Judges will be asked to identify one area of strength they believe the student has exhibited.  They will acknowledge that area of strength by placing 3 color-coded stars on the student’s evaluation sheet.  While many students will share the same areas of strength, this allows the student to be acknowledged on an individual basis.

The judges will have evaluation sheets that review the following aspects of all projects:

1.  Creative Ability – Originality, Creative Thinking, Interesting and Creative Presentation. 

2.  Scientific Thought – Is the topic narrow enough?  Are variables controlled?  The judges will ask themselves if the project was well thought out and if the student followed through on their research, experimentation, interpreting results, etc.

3.  Thoroughness – This acknowledges any research done, whether the student worked carefully, and whether they included all the required steps.

4.  Skill  - Judges will assess if it appears the student did most of the work themselves.  It is ok to have parental help, however it must be clear that the student performed most of the work.  Neatness will also be assessed in this category.

5.  Clarity – This involves the ability to clearly present ones project.  The judges will acknowledge if the students are able to answer questions clearly and completely.

6.  Overall Presentation – This is a general statement of the students overall project. 

 All students will be judged with respect to their individual grade level (ie. Kindergartners who write out a display board will not be held to the same level of neatness as a 3^rd Grader).  

Our goal is to make this a positive experience for all participants.  We want to ensure each participant walks away with a feeling of pride and accomplishment.