I am pleased to announce that work has begun for this year’s 5th Grade NESA Virtual Science Fair, which will take place on Tuesday, March 27! Over the next 2 months, our students will work to design and conduct their own scientific experiments, from start to finish. This will be an exciting opportunity for students to learn by doing same the process of inquiry that real scientists use to discover new knowledge. What makes the NESA Virtual Science Fair different from the science fairs you may remember doing as a student? For one, students will be working on a team of about 3 students throughout the project. Just as real scientists collaborate to do their research, our students will learn valuable team skills from this experience and need to work together to complete their experiments. However, all graded work, such as the interim reports, will be done individually so each student can demonstrate their own understanding. Another things that makes the NESA Virtual Science Fair unique is that in addition to ASD, a dozen other international schools from around the globe will also be participating. As well as the traditional tri-fold posters, each student team will be posting their experimental results on their own NESA website, which will allow them to share their work with other students and also receive feedback from an “e-mentor”. E-mentors are exemplary high school students from one of the participating schools who are paired up with a 5th grade team to guide them through the science fair process by communicating with them on a weekly basis through their NESA website. This week students will begin deciding on their science fair experiment by brainstorming 3 possible experimental questions that they would be interested in investigating for the science fair. Next week I will meet with each team to discuss these ideas and suggest the one that I think would make the best experiment. We will work on this project step by step, reviewing each part of the scientific method and applying it to our science fair experiments. The majority of the preparation will be done at school, but students will conduct their experiments at home. As a parent, you can be supportive by helping students gather necessary supplies, and reminding students of due dates and project requirements. However, it is important that the students complete their experiments, reports, and presentations on their own. I look forward to working with the students on their experiments! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me by email at nmitchell@asd.edu.qa Scientifically yours, Nick Mitchell Elementary Science Coordinator
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