Science Fair
The Ponderosa Science Fair is held each March. Students in grades 3 through 5 are required to complete a project, while students in the lower grades are encouraged to do so. The purpose of the Science Fair is to help students understand and practice doing the different parts of the scientific method:
- Ask a research question (must be able to be answered by measuring something),
- Guess what will happen (the hypothesis),
- Do an experiment to test their hypothesis,
- Write up their results, and
- Conclude if their hypothesis was correct or not.
Each part of the scientific method is presented on a cardboard display board. These boards are presented at school during the Science Fair. The level of complexity in questions students ask and how they answer them varies by grade and interest level. Students in the 4th and 5th grades who do well at meeting certain criteria (rubrics) by which projects are graded can be selected to represent Ponderosa at the District STEAM Expo which is held each year in May.
Information regarding how to do a Science Fair project is sent home in January. To help inspire students, there is a science-based assembly and an Activity Night, where students and their families can do several fun experiments and look at books to get ideas. There is also usually an Information Night for upper grade students wanting more information on how to do a project that meets the District STEAM Expo standards.
