A science fair or engineering fair is an event hosted by a school that offers students the opportunity to experience the practices of science and engineering for themselves. In the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards makes experiencing the practices of science and engineering one of the three pillars of science education. Students perform some sort of research and then present their experiment in a poster session or other display format.
Science fairs began in the United States in New York City in the 1930s under the auspices of a civic organization called the American Institute of the City of New York [1] with the effort led in New York City by Morris Meister who later founded the Bronx High School of Science. Meister believed in the educational ideas of John Dewey that focused on doing rather than just learning what already had been done. The goals of the after-school science club federation were twofold: "to aid in the development of the scientific leaders of the next generation and at the same time foster a better understanding of science among its laymen". [2]
Initially, science fairs were mostly exhibits and demonstration projects or mere displays of projects. This changed after the 1939 New York World's Fair. Increasingly, science and engineering fairs became viewed by many as a way to encourage and help students find their way into science and engineering career paths. [3] Popularity of science fairs in the United States increased in the 1950s along with interest in the sciences after the world witnessed the use of the first two atomic weapons and the dawn of television. As the decade progressed, science stories in the news, such as Jonas Salk's vaccine for polio and the launch of Sputnik, brought science fiction to reality and attracted increasing numbers of students at every level to fairs. [4]
Science and engineering fairs attract students at every level—elementary, middle and high school—to compete in science and technology activities. Science fairs also can allow for students with intense interest in the sciences to be paired with mentors from nearby colleges and universities, so that the students have access to instruction and equipment that the local schools do not provide. This mentoring, along with coaching students for their science fair interviews, has been shown to be very important for student success. [5]
Most countries have regional science fairs in which interested students can freely participate. Winners of these regional fairs send students to national fairs such as the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) [6] and Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF). National science fairs typically send winners to international fairs such as ISEF (which is a national and an international science fair) and EUCYS. Currently, the biotechnology company-sponsored Regeneron Science Talent Search offers a grand prize of a $250,000 scholarship. The 2018 documentary Science Fair chronicles the competition.
Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process, some social science, and some teaching pedagogy. The standards for science education provide expectations for the development of understanding for students through the entire course of their K-12 education and beyond. The traditional subjects included in the standards are physical, life, earth, space, and human sciences.
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and professional growth of a mentee. Most traditional mentorships involve having senior employees mentor more junior employees, but mentors do not necessarily have to be more senior than the people they mentor. What matters is that mentors have experience that others can learn from.
The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test.
Cooperative education is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience.
Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning can be a form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students reflecting on their product. Experiential learning is distinct from rote or didactic learning, in which the learner plays a comparatively passive role. It is related to, but not synonymous with, other forms of active learning such as action learning, adventure learning, free-choice learning, cooperative learning, service-learning, and situated learning.
The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is an annual science fair in the United States. It is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Each May, more than 1800 students from roughly 75 countries and territories compete in the fair for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prizes, including one $75,000 and two $50,000 college scholarships. All prizes together amount to over $8,000,000. Two major awards ceremonies are the Special Awards Organization Presentation and the Grand Awards Ceremony. The International Science and Engineering Fair was founded in 1950 by Science Service and was sponsored by Intel from 1997 to 2019. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals became the title sponsor for ISEF in 2020, but the event was cancelled that year and replaced with an online version due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 ISEF was a fully virtual event while 2022 was held online and in-person in Atlanta, GA, and 2023 was in person in Dallas, TX. The 2024 ISEF will be held in person in Los Angeles, CA.
The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) is a non-profit member association, founded in 1893, dedicated to promoting and improving engineering and engineering technology education. The purpose of ASEE is the advancement of education in all of its functions which pertain to engineering and allied branches of science and technology, including the processes of teaching and learning, counseling, research, extension services and public relations. ASEE administers the engineering technology honor society Tau Alpha Pi.
Queens High School for the Sciences at York College is a New York City public specialized high school operated by the New York City Department of Education specializing in mathematics and science. It admits students based only on their scores on the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test. The school was founded in 2002 along with the High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College and the High School of American Studies at Lehman College. QHSSYC is a member of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST).
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of education policy or curriculum choices in schools. It has implications for workforce development, national security concerns, and immigration policy, with regard to admitting foreign students and tech workers.
The Intel Foundation Achievement Awards are US$5,000 scholarships presented to high school students in recognition of their achievements in the scientific disciplines. Up to 15 are awarded, on selection by a panel of judges, each year at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
Christopher Jon Olsen is the creator of the Universal wheelchair, the first all-terrain, omnidirectional, stair-climbing wheelchair. He is also the co-founder of NuEra Mobility Inc.
The Planetarium Science Centre is a department in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt. It promotes science centres as an educational tool.
The Next Generation Science Standards is a multi-state effort in the United States to create new education standards that are "rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education." The standards were developed by a consortium of 26 states and by the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Research Council, and Achieve, a nonprofit organization that was also involved in developing math and English standards. The public was also invited to review the standards, and organizations such as the California Science Teachers Association encouraged this feedback. The final draft of the standards was released in April 2013.
AL-Bairaq is a non-profit educational outreach program for high school students, allowing them to learn at the research environment in the Center for Advanced Materials (CAM) at Qatar University, in Doha, Qatar. Students engage in scientific activities which aim to enhance their skills and motivation, and guide them in their future career. Students attend modules in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF) is an annual science fair contested by around 700 high school students from Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island, making it the largest high school research competition in New York City. About 150 participants advance to the finals round. Awards include scholarships to study at CUNY's City College of New York and Hunter College, while the finalists win a trip to represent New York City at the International Science and Engineering Fair. Winners represent Team NYC at ISEF and compete for $4,000,000 in awards. The event is sponsored by the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and the City University of New York (CUNY) Office of Academic Affairs. Other science fairs include the Google Science Fair, Siemens Science Fair, Intel STS and Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.
Arsh Shah Dilbagi is an Indian scientist, Inventor and Roboticist. He completed his undergraduate at Princeton University studying Operations Research and Financial Engineering. He is the founder of Arido about which very little has been made public.
The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), formerly the Institute of Industrial Engineers, is a professional society dedicated solely to the support of the industrial engineering profession and individuals involved with improving quality and productivity.
Sentinus is a educational charity based in Lisburn, Northern Ireland that provides educational programs for young people interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Anjali Chadha is an American bioengineer. She is an ambassador for AAAS If/Then. She was named a 2020 Voices Of the Year, by Seventeen magazine.
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