Science Fair Superstars

School:: Golden Terrace Elementary
Subject:: Science
Teacher:: Mattea Marks
Students Impacted:: 200
Grade:: 5
Date:: August 5, 2018

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

Dr. Richard, Lisa, David & Madeline Mair - $563.03

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 150

Thanks to this grant, all of our 5th graders were able to take their science learning to the next level by taking their own question through the whole scientific process. They started at the beginning of the year by choosing their own questions that they were interested in. They learned every step of the process. Then we preformed the experiments and collected data. They were able to analyze the results. We were able to purchase each student their own poster board and colored paper to showcase their work. Then they got to show off their work at our GTE science fair where staff members, parents, and 3rd and 4th graders came to look at their projects and watch them present. We were also able to purchase awards for students who got 2nd place, 1st place and medals for those who went above and beyond. They now have the knowledge and confidence to do their own project in middle school next year and try to make it to the regional and state science fairs.

We were extremely lucky that this grant also came with a resident science fair expert! Mrs. Mair was so helpful in this process by volunteering her time and knowledge to talk to our students about the science fair process in middle school, help them with their experiments and putting together their poster boards and being there to support them at the science fair! It was such a pleasure to work with her all year and our kids benefitted so much from her support and knowledge. Thank you so much for your generosity and for your time!

Click here to view the video of the GTE Science Fair Experience!

Original Grant Overview

Goal

My goal is to expand 4th and 5th grade students' interest in STEAM while gaining an understanding of the scientific process and preparing them to compete in the district and state science fairs in Middle School.

What will be done with my students

5th grade students will develop their own science fair projects and 4th grade students will work in groups to develop science fair projects. They will be taking a scientific question of their choice all the way through the scientific method. They will develop a question on a topic they are interested in, make their own hypothesis, develop an experiment, conduct that experiment and then analyze the results. They will then work on their communication skills by creating a poster board for their project and presenting it at the school science fair.
Students will begin working on their project the first week of school and continue until March when they will participate in the science fair. We had a very successful science fair the last 3 years for fifth grade and 4th grade for the last year.
4th and 5th Grade students have many nature of science benchmarks in their science curriculum which they will explore first hand during the length of this project.
Student work will be evaluated according to a rubric and they can earn a 1st or 2nd place ribbon depending on how many points they earn on the rubric. There will also be 15 medals awarded to students who did a particularly good job on an individual part of their project.

Benefits to my students

Students will be able to be guided, step by step through the process of creating a science fair project. By doing this in 4th and 5th grade, students will feel comfortable getting involved in the middle school science fair in the future where they can go all the way to the state science fair because they have already been through the experience in a guided way. Students will be motivated to explore STEAM interests and eventually STEAM careers.
Student learning will be evaluated on a 22 point rubric evaluating each section of their project. They will also develop communication skills by presenting their project at our school wide science fair to peers, teachers, staff and community members.

Budget Narrative

Each 5th grade student will receive a poster board to present all their hard work. Each group of 4-5 4th grade students will get a poster board for their group's work. I will order enough 1st and 2nd place ribbons so that all the students who earn enough points on the rubric will get a ribbon. 15 medals for students who do particularly well on one part of their project and colored copy paper for students to make their white poster boards look more colorful.

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	170 Tri-fold poster boards	$365.50
2	50 1st place ribbons	$17.00
3	50 2nd place ribbons	$17.00
4	50 1st place buttons	$20.50
5	15 medals	$48.60
6	7 reams of colored copy paper	$94.43
	Total:	$563.03

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