8th Annual Science Fair
sponsored by Farmington Valley Home Educators Group
Date: Friday, February 3, 2012
Time: 6:00-7:30.
(Set up beginning at 5:45)
Location: The Apple Barn
60 Old Farms Rd., West Simsbury
Cost: --$5 per participant
(registration fee covers rental of space, pizza and beverage)
--$3 per visitor if you’d like to have pizza and beverage
--free to any visitor looking but not eating
Who: Open to all home-schooled kids
To Register: email Kris McCue at fvhegroupis@hotmail.com
Please provide the following information:
Children’s names and ages or grades
How many projects your family will bring, as sometimes kids will work together on 1 project. You don’t need to tell me the nature of your project unless you need to make a special request (such as electricity needed, more space needed, etc...)
How many of you will be attending. I need to keep a head count on guests as well, as the building has an occupancy limit.
Your willingness to bring a dish to share on our buffet-counter. Finger-foods and desserts are welcome additions to the festivities.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:
1 person needed to make certificates of participation for each child. These can be store-bought or made up on the computer at home. I will give you a list of names close to the date of the fair. These are presented to each of the children at the close of the fair.
A couple people are needed to arrive early (5:30) and help set up 18 tables.
One person is needed to pick up pizzas at 5:45 at Antonio's Restaurant (located on Rt. 10 in the north end of Simsbury, about 7 minutes from the Apple Barn)
Come join the science fair for an evening of fun and learning!
Choose any science topic and research it, then make a display to show what you’ve learned.
Science fair projects should be either experimental or illustrative. They should show/use the 6 steps of scientific method where possible.
The 6 steps of scientific method are:
question - what did you want to know?
hypothesis - your guess at the answer to your question
list materials - what did you use to conduct your experiment?
procedure - how did you conduct your experiment?
observations - what did you see happen?
conclusion - what answer did your experiment give to your original question?
Kids should be prepared to explain or demonstrate their project as guests and family go around and look at the different displays. Kids will also have time to go around and learn from each other. (If your child does an experiment, they should plan to spend more time manning their display so as to show it properly, whereas if your child does an illustrative project they just need to make sure there is enough detail in order to be self-explanatory. Either way, it is nice for the kids to spend some time showing off their hard work.) Kids will each have 1/2 of a 6 foot table unless otherwise requested. This is about the space a tri-fold cardboard stand takes up. There are electrical outlets available on a first-ask, first-receive basis. We are not allowed to hang anything on the walls. Each participant should have a small booklet as part of their display, for the family and guests to write comments in. This makes a fun keepsake, and is great feedback!
I am not worried about multiples of the same project, so kids don’t need to worry that someone else will claim a topic before them. I don’t want any child to be discouraged from following what interests them.
Please keep in mind the purpose of this evening. It’s hard to believe anyone could get tired of looking at all the wonderful displays our kids dream up, but sometimes they do. At the Apple Barn there is a smaller 2nd room with couches/chairs and table/benches in case younger kids want to visit or play cards/do coloring and such.
I will respond to your emails with details of where/when to send payment for registration, as well as additional details of our using the facility, and the pizza ordering.
If you have any questions feel free to email me.
Happy inventing!
