Science Fair season is quickly approaching and helping your students prepare for it can be a huge undertaking. Since so much of the project is done outside of the classroom, it is important to give students and parents resources that will help them succeed. We have compiled a list of some great science fair project websites that help you do just that. Feel free to print out this article and send it home with your students to get them on the road to science fair project success.
Science Fair Ideas
Science Fair Projects World
This website features a wide range of science fair projects and background. Whether you are looking for elementary, middle school, or high school projects, there is something for everyone on this site. It is important to note that some of the experiment details link to external sites.
All Science Fair Projects
www.all-science-fair-projects.com
The neat thing about this website is that they walk you through the experiments step-by-step. The ability to print the experiment out is also a bonus for this site. One drawback is that it is extremely advertisement heavy.
Science Buddies
Have you ever found a science fair project idea that was too difficult? Well, at Science Buddies, there is a convenient button at the top of each experiment that allows you to view easier or harder ideas. It also gives you a grade range where the experiment would be appropriate. There are ideas for every grade and they offer the ability to print the experiment or email it.
Discovery Education’s Science Fair Central
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral
Great ideas for low-budget projects for all grade levels. Discovery Education’s Science Fair Central helps make sure your students are on the right track when it comes to science fair projects. There are even resources for parents and science fair coordinators.
While there are many sites that offer project ideas, many of them charge to view the plans. The sites above offer free resources which makes them ideal for any budget. Check them out and let us know which ones were the most helpful for your students.
I love the ideas of science fairs as a grade level but not require for individual students until they get older like fourth grade. It ends up being the parents project.
These websites are great! I especially love the Discovery Education site. I really love that they break the steps down for you. Something I have been wanting to incorporate into the classroom more is science projects. This is a great way to get some ideas. While a lot of these are probably harder and more complicated than a quick project in the classroom, it’s a starting point at least!
Some families do not have computers at home, so I recommend checking out the local library. There are many great science fair books with zillions of ideas. Another hint: Don’t try to begin a project that is way over your child’s head or it will become YOUR project!
These are really great resources. Thanks so much!
I have used some of these websites in the past and they were great! Thanks for the reminder of what resources are out there and adding new ones to the list!
Our school hasn’t had a science fair for a few years and I am considering asking for its revival. Some great memories are of me working with my daughter on her elementary science fair projects. Thanks for the great links for parents and teachers!
I wish I could have seen this article about 4 months ago 🙂
Great resources! I teach younger grades, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start introducing a science fair project yet! We’ve done class projects in years past.
Thanks for the helpful websites…these will definitely come in handy to pass along!
I like the website reccomendations- very helpful!
I wish I had seen this resource sooner. I just baught a book with the same information. I am going to share these sites with the others teachers at my school. Thank you.
I love ‘All Science Fair Projects’, that is my favorite website when teaching science. The best part is def the videos because everyone needs an example sometimes!!! 😀
Science Fair Projects HAVE become parent projects. I guess that’s to be expected when there are scholarships at stake. PS, our science fair season is over.
I will definitely use these websites next year for science fair! I did a whole class project with my first graders on apples this year but these ideas are perfect for next year.
Oh my goodness, how in the world did you know that I need this in my classroom? This would be perfect for my first graders. Thanks for being so kind to teachers!
All the focus on Math and ELA for state standardized testing has led to science and social social studies being squeezed out of our elementary curriculum. We haven’t had a science fair in our school in years.
I wish our school would have a science fair. Our students are missing out on so much fun and learning! These are some excellent resources. Maybe I can help prod our teachers to stand up for our students and have these again!
Great links! I’m adding them to my list for next year’s science fair. I especially like the science buddies’ “easier” button.
I will definately share these ideas with my teacher friends. It would really like to see some different projects at our fairs.
Science buddies is a great idea!
I like that on Science Buddies there is a button at the top of each experiment that allows you to view easier or harder ideas. Sounds great for some differentiated teaching.
i wanna win!!!!!!!
I like the idea of a Science Fair, but I think it should be designed as project based learning and not a home project. Each student receives a different amount of help at home and we shouldn’t be grading the students on what help their parent provides. If the project is done in class, then you know what the student knows and is capable of doing on their own!
WOW! Thanks for the great resources. I love when my students are able to showcase all of their hard work. It’s too bad we don’t have more time to spend on science & social studies at my school.
I agree with one of the previous posters about the focus being on math and communications arts, and unfortunately in some places science and social studies instruction suffers. We do not have science fairs, but we do have an annual family science night our our district’s star lab. It is a HUGE hit.
I love the science buddies website! It reminds me of book wizard, yet for science experiments instead.
I am always looking for great science ideas and would love to do more science projects in my classroom. My kindergarten kids LOVE science. I would love to get a science fair going at our school. I love all the ideas and am looking forward to using a lot of the websites. Thanks!
Great ideas! Thanks for the tips 😉
Thank you for the resources! I love science night at school and seeing all of the student projects!
Great Resources! I will definitely direct our students to these websites before our next Science Fair.
My experience with science fairs has been only as a student participant and as a parent of participants, since our school doesn’t have one. I can remember that the science fair was the only time that I ever actually got EXCITED about science, since it was a self-directed project that I had a lot of investment and pride in. As a teacher, I know when I work with my children how much to assist them (understanding/clarifying directions, working through their brainstorming with them, providing the shopping trip vehicle, etc.) and when to back off and let the process happen, but I wonder how many parents don’t actually know HOW to provide quality support to their child without doing the project for them. It might be nice to have a helpful guide for parents teaching THEM how to be the best coach for their child and when they might be harming their child’s intellectual growth and curiosity by doing too much. I wonder if there is something online already for that need?
We used to do a science fair at our school, but it was more like a parent fair. Most of the projects were completed by parents. I have been thinking about a classroom science fair. This would mean that each classroom would complete a project. Has anyone done something similar?
What an awesome list!! I run a Science Club and these would be awesome for class ideas!! Thank you!!
My son is a budding scientist. It was hard to find ideas for his first science fair project. Thank you for this website. It will be very helpful because he will be attending many more science fairs. I like your products as well and have purchased many “really good” products from your web site.
Keep up the good work for parents and educators.
Aylin Direskeneli
Wow! Lots of good websites to find info for science fair projects.
Thank you for the great ideas! I would love this for my first graders. Thank you for all that you do for teachers.
Haven’t done a science fair but always think about it when we get to that story in our reading book called Science Fair… After reading things on it want to make it happen… We will see worried that it would be a parent project
I like that one of the sites shows the difficulty level of the project. There’s nothing like starting something, only to realize it’s waaaay out of your league.
Thank you for all the links to help my little scientist!
Starting in fourth grade, students at my school are required to complete a science project. I wish all grade levels were allowed to. I think creating science projects is an excellent way to get families involved in their child’s education.
What wonderful resources! Discovery Education has been one of my favorites for quite some time…and, I can’t wait to share the other sites with the teachers at my school! Thank you so much for this article!!!
We have the science fair only for 6th graders. It’s actually a part of their science grade. When I was in grade school, I entered every single year. I think it’s a great idea to allow students to explore their curiosities. The thing that I do get to do with my third graders is a “scavenger hunt”; they walk through the science fair, looking for a project that interests them, and then explores the project to answer a set of questions. It helps them understand the scientific method and process as an outsider.
Thanks for the great resources! Our school only does science fairs for grades 3 – 5. I teach first and would love to start doing some whole class projects.
ps. I’ve had my eye on the tattling turtle for some time now… 🙂
I think this is an awesome site. My children will be happy to know that I can help them get the resources they need with less effort. Thanks for a good post.
Science Buddies is a wonderful resource for students, teachers, AND parents! With over 1000+ projects, there’s something for everyone, plus excellent resources in their Project Guide. Glad to see it included here!
This is great. I need resources like this!
These are great ideas! Thanks for the information!
Discovery Education Science Fair Central is a great site!! I’ve used it before and they have a lot of wonderful ideas!! 😀
I would love to be able to do more SCIENCE with my first grade students!
With the possibility of becoming the 4th Grade Science teacher at our school, I have printed this out for future use. I did my student teaching at a school that had a Science Fair for 8th graders, and I thought it was a wonderful idea. I would love to figure out how to incorporate this into our 4th Grade curriculum. Thank you for sharing these sites!