Winning Science Fair Project Ideas

Where to Start

Why on earth would I tell you to see a movie if you’re working on a science project? Procrastination? Skipping off? Nope - it’s simple - “October Sky” is about a winning science fair project. Not a make-believe project, but a true story. A winning science project needs heart, motivation and determination. These four young boys in this movie help us all see - young and old - what’s really involved with a winning project.

Watch it. After that, start looking at the world around you differently, and start looking for your own project idea. The movie may help you get the right focus before you begin.

The young boys made a lot of mistakes. But from each mistake they learned what didn’t work. The next step was to understand what went wrong, and what might work better the next time.

Never be discouraged when you think your experiment failed. Experiments never fail. Yes, I know, that sounds crazy, since we’ve all been conditioned from school to not want an “F” for failure. But you know what? Everything you learn that didn’t work, is knowledge - knowledge that will lead you to the answer that will work. I’m sure that every scientist and inventor that discovered something great wanted to throw in the towel time and time again. The difference is they didn’t.

The young boys in the movie also researched to learn from the wisdom of those that learned before them. Your project will need to build on the knowledge past on from others, and add to it with the observations and experiments you make and document.

You will need to redo the experiment to make sure it works again. You should try to understand what outside factors could influence your findings. Was it windier, colder, hotter, more humid, more light the first time you did the experiment? Does it make a difference?

What project do you pick? I can and will give you some links to science project ideas, but I’m a little afraid to do so. Why? It may limit your thinking to questions already asked and answers already gotten. You have your own perspective on the world and your own questions. They’re a better place to start then you think. So don’t hold back - Brainstorm. Brainstorm with your family and friends. Make a list of things you’d like to know.

You could do an experiment relating to earth worms. But the question is “Do you care about your answer?” If you don’t really care, then move on down your list. But, if your answer is yes, if you think the answer might change the way you do things, change the way you garden, use pesticides, compost, and the way your neighbour does those things, give the idea a star. Look through your list for all the stars, and see which one you care the most about, and are the most excited about. You’ll need that starting excitement to finish your project.

Here’s a small point of wisdom that has made science controversial. Perhaps you remember it from the movie “Jurassic Park”. In the movie, scientists got DNA from the blood of dinosaurs found in biting insects fossilized in amber. From that they brought back the dinosaur, even the big, mean, meat-eating kind. One scientist made the point, that they got so excited about doing it because “they could,” they never thought about whether “they should.” The point - keep ethics in your study and research.

The airplane is a great invention. It’s brings people and supplies far away together quickly. It has also dropped bombs and destroyed thousands of lives.

The television has brought knowledge around the world in quick order; however, not all the knowledge and moral lessons have been truthful, nor a valuable aid to the quality of human life.

Amazing ships have been able to cross the seas, and stay away for extended periods of time, but the nets they’ve dragged the bottom of the oceans with have scrapped and damaged the home and reproduction zones of numerous living creatures. Creatures that keep our planet clean and alive.

The point - we don’t have the wisdom or foresight of the designer and creator of this amazing planet. We have shown poor discretion and understanding of how our actions can affect other living creatures, and circle back to affect our own quality of life. It excites me to see the wondrous things humans have discovered and been able to accomplish. At the same time, it saddens me greatly to see how badly we have taken care of our great inheritance. We share a community responsibility for the shame of how we have handled our assignment to care for our great home.

That being said, you will never be able to perfectly predict what new knowledge will mean for the earth and all the living things on it. Our earth is a marvellous, awe-inspiring gift. Not one of the greatest of all human scientists have ever learned a fraction of the secrets of wisdom hidden in the jewel of our earth, solar system or universe. But what a wonderful gift that we have the privilege to explore all its hidden secrets and treasures. An enjoyable treasure. Let’s not take it forgranted.

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