Science fairs have come a long way from the days of exploding volcanoes! Today's high school science fair projects are not only sophisticated, but often, the very best are sought out by university and industry researchers.

As a judge of several science fairs, and the mom of a son whose award-winning project took him to the Regionals and won him a fair amount of cash, I can tell you that winning projects are ones that gain points in the small parts of the marking scheme such as the lab notebook, write-up, and signage. Judges also love to see projects built on failure. For example, the first three times my son and his partner tried their idea, all of their plants died. They documented all their failures, and as sophomores beat out projects from much older students, including one that used genetic research to study breast cancer. The judges loved the fact that these boys had started their work six months in advance.

Look away from the traditional life science ideas. Most science fairs now stick to ethical guidelines that restrict research on live subjects. The most innovative projects now are ones that address issues within society. For example, this year I saw a project on repetitive stress injuries of grocery store workers. Another studied the use of coffee grounds to purify water. Another student invented a machine that did simple swing analysis on golfers, using physics.

So, pick a project with a twist that hasn't been done before, document carefully, pay attention to your write-up, and create a clean, appealing display. You can't lose!

Learn more about this author, Viv Evans.
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