How to Organize your First Science Fair?

Posted by FGSI Event on January 27th, 2020

Planning to organize a science fair and are not sure about where to start? A science exhibition/fair is one of the ways to celebrate our advancement in the fields of science and technology. In this, we share with you a few expert tips that will help you organize your very first science fair without any hiccups.

Organizing a science fair is not an easy task. But, schools and organizations can make the event a success by following a few basic steps. A science fair provides an excellent opportunity for students to share their science projects, investigations, and research with teachers, peers and parents. A successful science fair event can contribute to knowledge building as well as social development in students.

In simple terms, preparations for the science fair have to be started at least two or three months in advance to avoid any last-minute hassles. Let us know have a look at the basic steps you need to follow for the same.

Before the start of the science fair

Before you start the science fair, make sure you have a team that can help with the concept and its implementation. The team can comprise of teachers, parents, researchers and students.

Set the Goals

Every science fair has a theme or in simple terms, a reason why it is being celebrated. This is one of the many reasons why you need to have clear goals regarding the same. Once you set the goals, go ahead and share the objectives with your team and the participants. Whatever the goal is, it needs to impart a sense of accomplishment in the participating students. You should also focus on giving ample opportunities to participating students to showcase their projects.

Decide on the venue and the date

Now that you have set the goals and have decided on a theme for your science fair, it is time you decide on a date and then lookout for a venue. You need to host the event in a location which can easily accommodate all the participants, the visitors and also has all the materials that are needed for the science fair, like display boards, chairs, etc.

Most of the schools organize a science fair in their school library, auditorium, or the classrooms. When deciding on a date, make sure it is not on a day that is filled with activities. Weekends are ideal for science fairs as parents too can visit and make it a grand success.

Plan interactive activities

One of the main activities of the science fair is to showcase the research and the investigatory projects of the students. But, other than that, the organizers can always include interactive activities inspired by science and technology. If this is the first science fair, you are organizing, you can even invite a prominent person as a speaker to talk about science and technology.

Plan and stick to the schedule

Once you have decided on the date, the venue, and the activities, it is time you create a draft for the schedule. This is important when you send out the invitations for the science fair. You need to dedicate a certain time for every activity planning, including the demonstration, judging, and even installation of the booths. Planning and drafting your schedule helps you avoid delays and last-minute emergencies.

Invite volunteers

Well, you cannot organize a science fair all by yourself. You certainly need as much help as possible. So, do not shy away to invite volunteers for help. If you are planning a large event, you might need many volunteers who can help with the setup of the booths, registrations, event monitoring, and more.

Decide the awards

Students who are participating in the science fair can be acknowledged with awards, and this too, needs to be decided well in advance. You can either reward the best project with a trophy or a certificate, which can be distributed on the day of the event. Sketch out criteria for the judgment before you determine the awards.

Promote the event

The promotion of the event is quite important. The science fair can be promoted by using different strategies. You can use bulletin boards or social media to spread the word about the science fair. If you wish to be formal, you can send out invitation cards and also share the invites via your Facebook or Twitter page. Make sure the invitation has the required details like the date, venue, program schedule, etc.

Once you are done with the above preparations, you need to make a few more preps during the science fair. Let’s see what they are!

Setting up the room

You can ask the volunteers to set up the room for the science fair. As you have a layout map, you can easily assign the roles and get the job done in no time. Be it the chairs, the display boards, or the booths; make sure they are organized as planned.

Registrations

Once you have it all ready, you need participants to take part in the science fair. You can open registrations, making it easy for interested students to take part. You can even assign their project with a code, to avoid any biased judgment.

The final touch

Once the room is set up and the participants are ready with the project, it is time to start your very first science fair. Once the fair has started, you also need to monitor it from time to time to avoid any unwanted circumstances. After the judgment of the projects has been done, make sure to calculate all the scores very carefully to create the winner's list.

You can conduct an awarding ceremony at the end of the event, where the certificates or the rewards can be distributed to the winners. This will encourage more students to take part in the near future. And, once the science event ends, do not forget to share the moments via social media.

Those mentioned above are the steps you need to keep in mind while organizing your first science fair. Just take the plunge with confidence and organize a successful science fair today!

(FGSI) Author Bio

Organizing a science fair is not an easy task, and we all know that by now. It involves a lot of effort and planning. FGSI as an organization helps plan and promote science fairs and provides an opportunity for students to be a part of prestigious science events that are held nationally and internationally. Visit https://www.fgsi.co.in/ to know more!