Greetings!  It's that time again; time to get to work on a Science Fair project!    Start by reading through the packet (Click Here For Packet) to get an idea of what will be expected.  The first step in the process is for students to come up with a good, testable question and fill out the Project Proposal form. It is a good idea to get approval for the question, before spending too much time working on the project.  (It's never fun for a student to spend a lot of time working on a project only to find out it doesn't fit into the guidelines.) Near the end there is page full of resources.  Many of them have ideas to help students get started; I especially like www.sciencebuddies.org for help in selecting a topic and/or question.  The deadline for students to turn in their project proposal form with their question/problem for approval is January 7th, but if students can get questions approved before we leave for the break that will give them even more time to complete their experiments. The experiment phase of the project can take anywhere from several hours to several weeks, so best to get started soon! Projects are due February 21st.  Like last year, the top three projects from each classroom will go on to the judging phase.  Top projects will be judged the next week, 5th grade on the 25th, 4th grade on the 26th, and 3rd grade on the 27th.  During this time K-2nd will display class projects in their hallways. I plan to offer an "open lab" after school a few days each week for students who need additional help with their projects, details about how this will work will follow when I have a better idea what the need is.  Please feel free to stop by or email me or the classroom teacher with any questions you might have.   I am excited to see all the wonderful and creative projects that students produce this year!! Happy Holidays, Becky Reese Science Lab Teacher Mark Twain Elementary rreese@houstonisd.org