Science Project Guidelines for Educators - 
How to Enhance the Science Learning Experience For Your Students

...also see Science Project Guidelines for Parents and Students

Ergonica Home
Log in / Register

If you're inexperienced in organizing science projects for your students, there are a lot of resources on this web site to help you get started. Some of this you already know and, even so, you may target some of these resources for your students.  If your students do not have a computer at home or at school that they can access with ample time, you may wish to print out many of the pages and create a resource notebook for your students.

		Begin by reading the section with links on 'How to Start Your Project -Students'.  There are several pages linked here that are important, such as the steps to a science project.  This will provide the background information to plan and prepare a successful project.  Discuss the steps to prepare the project with your students to make sure your students understand each step.
		Planning each step and estimating the time each step may take may be difficult for your budding scientists without your help.  Your experience as an adult will help you to understand that many things take longer than it may seem in the eyes of a child.  If your students  are thinking about growing plants, for example, it may take several weeks or months for the plants to grow or demonstrate the affect of your experiment.  Several books on propagating plants could help plan the time for growing plants from seeds or cuttings.
		If your students have access to a computer at home, or one at school where they can create their own documents, help them to prepare a planning chart on a spreadsheet where you list each step of the project and chart the dates for starting and completing each step.  You may accomplish the same planning chart on a piece of graphing paper or budget sheets without a computer.  You can also download a free Science Project Planning Guide from Ergonica on the Download page.
		Help your students plan a reasonable budget for the costs of materials needed for the project. Perhaps you can find a sponsor to provide a small fund to help students with limited resources.  Many excellent projects can be accomplished with very little expenditures.  Perhaps a local hardware store or nursery will donate some products for this purpose?  For example, seeds for growing plants and related materials usually cost only a few dollars.
		Try to help your students find projects that are truly interesting to them.  If your student is self-motivated by the project, he or she will probably learn much more than by working on a project that someone else selected for the child.
		Take your students to the library and ask the librarian to direct you to materials to help with science projects.  You may also visit some book stores and ask the clerk for books on science projects.  We have also compiled a list of science project books from Amazon.com that are listed on our main science projects page.
		Read and print out the page on Science Project Guidelines for Parents.  Give your students printed copies of these guidelines to take home to their parents.

Do's and Don'ts for Teachers

		DO help your students with locating background research materials.
		DON'T do the research yourself.  Make sure your students read and understands the important lessons to learn for the project.
		DO help your students with the planning process and setting up a planning timeline chart.
		DON'T make the planning decisions yourself.  If the dates your students select to complete each step are too early, help them understand why the time should be extended and let them make the adjustments.
		DO help with general supervision over doing the steps of each project
		DON'T do the steps yourself.  Keep in mind that learning is gained by doing, not by watching someone else doing.
		DO include lesson plans about science projects every week to discuss the progress of the projects.  Give your students deadlines to prepare an initial plan which must be submitted to you as part of the grade, and review the progress according to their plans.
		DON'T choke the fun out of the project by supervising too closely or showing negative emotions.  If you have a positive attitude, your students will behave accordingly.  (Winners seldom complain, instead they explain and motivate.)
		DO take your students to the library to identify available resources.
		DON'T restrict your students from independent research at libraries or online.  If your students have access to a computer with online access at school, let your students surf the net with occasional supervision and guidance.

Great Back-to-School Deals on Tablet PC's, iPads and Notebook Computers

Educational Teaching Resources:

Teacher's Guide To Science Fair Projects

ACT Test Preparation Guide

Lessons Plans Teachers' Resources

Online Colleges Library: Chemistry for Kids

University of Kansas Medical Center: Genetic Lesson Plan Ideas

Human Anatomy and Physiology Study Course

Sloan Career Cornerstone Center: STEMM Lesson Plans and Online Activities

Khake.com Vocational Information Center:  Career Activities and Vocational Lesson Plans

English Lessons for Spanish Speaking Students on MP3

Invader of the Forest

Invaders of the Forest is an educators' guide to invasive plants of Wisconsin forests. The guide provides classroom and field activities for formal and non-formal educators working with kindergarten through adult audiences. Lessons are correlated to Wisconsin's academic standards.

Reading Inspiration

A special poem, A Story, by Ray Cruz, may inspire students to read many types of literature, poetry, etc. This poem A Gentleman I Am may inspire some young lads to acquire gentlemanly values.

Ethics of Fishing and Hunting

Do you include a lesson about the ethics of fishing and hunting in your class?  If so you may wish to include the following animated story to invoke a discussion.  We warn you that this story and graphics may be offensive to some students, young or old.  This Flash animation includes scenes of violence to animals, smoking and drinking.   It was produced by Mark Clarkson and Chaotic Edge Productions.  With these precautions, feel free to view Fishin Ain't so Bad.

Prepared and presented by Ray Cruz, Ergonica (C).

WEED & INSECT PEST EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES Provided as a service by the Wyoming Pest Detection / Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) Program.  An excellent Online Teaching Resource for Science Fairs is provided by teAchnology.

Does your school or college campus apply sustainable landscaping, native plants, xeriscaping?

Science Projects Planning for Teachers:

Help your students get started on the right track. Provide help in planning, organizing and researching in an efficient manner.

Cool Science Projects Books and Stuff!

  Need a New SmartPhone? Prepaid?
Smartphone? iPhone? iPhone 4S 16GB iPhone 4S 32GB iPhone 4S 64GB iPhone 5 16GB iPhone 5 32GB iPhone 5 64GB Android AT&T Blackberry Carpad Dapeng Google Nexus Haipai Hero Hexing HTC JXD LG Maxwest Motorola Nokia Pantech Sagem Samsung Star Tianxing Verizon Wemo -Prepaid-
 

Does your friend like classical music or poetry?

Translation ---

Use the Steps to Prepare Your Science Project  from Cyber-Fair to plan your project.  

Get help from the Internet Public Library about the Scientific Method, Choosing a Topic, Sample Projects and Resources.  

Download a Free Science Project Planning Guide from Ergonica

Get your Back-To-School supplies from Amazon.com: 

Lecterns and more from 2givenow.org Classroom Supplies

The Scholarship Scam Alert contains useful warnings about fraudulent scholarship scams.

Scholarship and Grant Guide
Provides a Large Scholarship Database for a Reasonable Fee for Teachers and Students

Google Search

Amazon.com Search

Art, Civics, Geography Teachers - Get your class to make help signs and songs for needy people!