More Scientific American Winning Science Fair Projects

Children's Literature - Michael Chabin

Anyone who has judged science fairs knows the feeling of talking to a bright child in front of a sophisticated display and arriving at an awful moment when the child stumbles over the most fundamental part of the demonstration. That is when it becomes clear that what one is judging is not the child's work. This is usually an innocent fraud. Parents mean no harm. They do not realize they are cheating. The children do, though. Worse, the lesson they take away is that they are not capable of doing an interesting science project on their own. This book is like an over-helpful parent: any child who can read directions can recreate one of these demonstrations without understanding it. The text even provides the words they should use as an explanation. Clearly the author does not mean to cheat any more than parents do, but in what sense is following a recipe the same thing as doing a science project? Real scientists do not use recipes. They are often sloppy and make mistakes, and then they feel their way toward solutions. If there is no room in science fairs for children to do the same, if the rewards go to kids who follow recipes like those in this book rather than kids who muddle through in their own original way, then maybe it is time to abandon science fairs.