Science fair help, anyone?

[Cricket]

At the end of April our homeschool group is having a science fair. My 9 yo wants to do something along the lines of The Real World of Spongebob, talking about the ocean life in the South Pacific. If it is Spongebob, I guess it would have to be specifically the ocean life under Bikini Atoll. (Maybe we'll incorporate all those sunken WWII ships. :))Is that too broad a topic? I've never done a science fair. I suppose we could use an aquarium to recreate it. Ds was thinking he could draw the main Spongebob characters (he loves to draw) and then talk about how they differ from the real animals. Like how a sponge and a starfish could never be friends because starfish eat sponges. Does this even sound like a science fair idea?

And then what to do with my 6 yo....maybe the typical life cycle of a plant? lol We just finished reading a book about the Great Lakes but he doesn't want to do anything with that. He always wants to copy his big brother.

[Adrianne]

With most science fairs, you need to start with a hypothesis (idea or theory) and prove or disprove it.

Then you display your results, usually in a specific manor. I would talk to the person in charge of the fair and ask what rules they have (if any). If the kids can go on to larger fairs, the projects need to be done a certain way.

Good luck!

[Cricket]

Okay, thanks. I think this was going to be very informal but I better check to make sure.

[RoughCollie]

I think your 9 year old's idea is great and creative. If typical science fair rules aren't in place and there is some wiggle room, I'd go for it.

Here are a few place to go for ideas:

http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/

http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/sciencefairs/

http://scienceclub.org/proj/kidproja.html

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_topic.shtml

[Adrianne]

In both cases, you could use a hypothesis like, "Is Sponge Bob really based on the life of a real life South Pacific sponge?" Using this hypothesis, you could compare Sponge Bob's life to the life a real sponge listing food, habitat, natural predators et cetera. He could come to a conclusion about whether they are really alike (or not). He could use pictures, maybe even video. It sounds very interesting!

The 6yo could do a Sponge Bob study of his own. I would use the same thing, only simpler.

Our co-op does a science day that features what kind of project the families are working on. It is very relaxed also. We do have a great time though!