In an era of test-taking, state standards and committee-approved
textbooks, the old-fashioned science fair stands out as an
important learning experience.
In an era of test-taking, state standards and committee-approved textbooks, the old-fashioned science fair stands out as an important learning experience.
Here we see students engaged in hands-on learning for the sake of learning, not just memorizing enough information to pass the next standardized test.
The science fair offers students an opportunity to be creative, get interested and develop not only knowledge about the scientific method, but also about how to present their work and show others about what they have learned. That’s not something one learns from a 300-page textbook that has been carefully reviewed and approved by a dozen committees and the state legislature.
For many parents and students alike, the science fair is fun. It is a chance to be creative, learn about something you want to learn about, to be original and to show off to your peers and teachers what you have learned. The very nature of the science fair – asking a question, developing a hypothesis and experimenting – helps students develop skills that will help them for the rest of their lives.
Just ask 10-year-old Kyle Markfield. This Sacred Heart student came up with the idea for his experiment after eating oranges during halftime at his soccer game. His science fair experiment tested which part of the orange has the most vitamin C. That’s a question many wouldn’t think to ask. It is also a question that probably won’t appear on any standardized tests this year. After all was said and done, Markfield was surprised to find that an orange’s juice actually contained less vitamin C than other edible parts of the fruit.
“I found I learned a lot more about oranges. You should eat all of the orange – except for the skin, because that doesn’t taste good,” Markfield told a Free Lance reporter.
Markfield is just one of hundreds of students who went through the process of asking a question and seeing it through the scientific process.
We’re glad to see this type of learning happening in San Benito County’s schools, public and private alike. The science fair is an important learning tool that we must make sure stays strong in our community.
One of the best parts of the science fair is that there is no test afterward. The science fair is an example of the kind of hands-on learning that can’t be measured by a test.
