Judging Criteria
The judges will have evaluation sheets that review the following aspects of all projects:
1. Creative Ability –Originality, Creative Thinking, Interesting and Creative Presentation.
2. Scientific Thought –Is the topic narrow enough? Are variables controlled? The judges will ask themselves if the project was well thought out and if the student followed through on their research, experimentation, interpreting results, etc.
3. Thoroughness – This acknowledges any research done, whether the student worked carefully, and whether they included all the required steps.
4. Skill - Judges will assess if it appears the student did most of the work themselves. It is OK to have parental help, however it must be clear that the student performed most of the work. Neatness will also be assessed in this category.
5. Clarity – This involves the ability to clearly present ones project. The judges will acknowledge if the students (if present) are able to answer questions clearly and completely.
6. Overall Presentation –This is a general statement of the students overall project.
All students will be judged with respect to their individual grade level (ie. Kindergartners who write out a display board will not be held to the same level of neatness as a 3rd Grader).
Our goal is to make this a positive experience for all participants. We want to ensure each participant walks away with a feeling of pride and accomplishment.
The following rubric will be used to score the 3 -5 Science Fair projects.
|
1 |
3 |
5 |
List Score Here |
Question
Hypothesis and Variables |
§ Question/Problem is not clear
§ Hypothesis/Prediction is not present or doesn’t address the question at all
§ Variable(s) are not included
|
§ Question/Problem is somewhat clear
§ Hypothesis/Prediction somewhat addresses the question
§ Some variable(s) are included but are not complete or are not clearly identified
|
§ Question/Problem is specific and very clear and can be answered by doing an experiment
§ Hypothesis/Prediction addresses the question very clearly
§ Independent (manipulated), Dependent (responding) and Controlled variable(s) are included and are clearly identified |
|
Experimental Procedure |
§ Materials list is not detailed and complete and clear
§ Experimental procedure is not clear
§ Includes no repetitions
|
§ Materials list is somewhat detailed and complete and clear
§ Experimental procedure is very clear
§ Includes only 2 repetitions
|
§ Materials list is very detailed and complete and clear
§ Experimental procedure is very clear
§ Includes at least 3 repetitions
§ |
|
Data |
§ Data is not clear
§ Poor or No use of photos/charts/graphs to display data. |
§ Data is somewhat clear
§ Good use of photos/charts/graphs to display data |
§ Data is very clear
§ Excellent use of photos/charts/graphs to display data |
|
Conclusions |
§ Conclusions are
not supported
by the data. |
§ Conclusions are
not clearly supported
by the data. |
§ Conclusions are
clearly supported
by the data. |
|
Display
|
§ Display is neither neat, creative, nor organized
§ No attention to detail |
§ Display is somewhat neat, creative and organized
§ Minor attention to detail |
§ Display is very neat, creative and organized
§ Significant attention to detail |
|
Level of Student Involvement |
§ Display shows a
low amount or no involvement by the students in the procedure. |
§ Display shows a medium amount of involvement by the students in the procedure. |
§ Display shows a
high amount of involvement by the students in the procedure. |
|
Creativity |
§ Project shows a
low amount
of creativity. |
§ Project shows a
medium amount of creativity. |
§ Project shows a
high amount of creativity. |
|