STEM Fairs

From modest beginnings in 2007-2008 - with  8 participating schools and ~614 student projects -  STEM Fairs in the Santa Fe Public Schools have grown to 20-25 schools and approximately 2000 student projects. The program is now a mainstay of science education for elementary and middle schools – students and teachers alike are learning the processes of inquiry-based scientific discovery. We are seeing true excitement on the faces of many students, and some first-class work in addition.

Due to Covid-19, the Santa Fe Public Schools STEM Fair is going virtual for the 2020-2021 school year. Instead of individual school STEM fairs, there will be one big district fair. The fair will include projects by students in grades 3–8.  Because of the virtual format, judging will be scheduled by grade level and will take place between mid-February through the first week in March.
​New STEM Fair Project Videos
This series of videos can be used by students, teachers, parents or anyone who would like to know more about how to design and run a science or STEM experiment project.
  • Session 1 - Getting Started on a Science Experiment Project.
  • Session 2 - Researching your topic.
  • Session 3 - Getting ready for the experiment.
  • Session 4 - Making a Prediction and Testing It.
  • Session 5 - Making a Data chart to Record Measurements.
  • Session 6 - How to Graph Results.
  • Session 7 - Results/Conclusions.
  • Session 8 - Organizing Your Project.
Each of the following videos can be played directly on this page. Each can then be expanded to full page size by hovering at the bottom bar of the playing video, and clicking on its expand icon. In addition each playing video can be downloaded by clicking on its download icon. 

Tips for Good STEM Fair Projects

Steps for doing a STEM Fair project >

Choosing a project - potential project areas >

Advice to students
for STEM Fair projects >

Examples of STEM Fair projects >

Characteristics of a good STEM Fair project (for grades 7 and above)​ >

Questions judges may ask
at a STEM Fair >

Measuring tools to use
in your STEM Fair project >

What is an engineering project? >

How to graph your results >

Getting averages
from your results >

Growing plants
for your STEM Fair project >

STEM Fair 2021 Resources​

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR JUDGES FOR STUDENTS
Electromagnetism Experiment Display Board (2017)

STEM Fair Judges Classroom Visits

Since 2013 our volunteer STEM Fair judges have visited classrooms to help students as they get ready for STEM Fair projects. Each year, we engage students in hands-on classroom experiments that model the steps of a successful STEM Fair project. In 2014 we talked about how to turn a lemon battery demonstration into a real experiment. A short version of that presentation is shown in the video at the top of this page.  In 2015 students compared speeds of falling light and heavy objects. In 2016 students compared reaction times between dominant and non-dominant hands. Each experiment was completed by the students in less than an hour and included a discussion of the important elements of a science experiment and how to interpret the data.
 
The program began with a request from a single teacher that some judges come for one morning to talk to her school's nine 4th-6th grade classes about what's important in a STEM Fair project. It has grown from those short talks to approximately 200 students in 2013 to involving  2,500-3,500 students in  a hands-on experiment in more than 100 classrooms each school year. The program is driven entirely by teachers' requests to the SFAFS. 

Most of our classroom visits take place between the start of the school year and the beginning of the science fair season, roughly from mid-September to the end of November.