More than 200 students representing 36 Wyoming schools competed at the Wyoming State Science Fair (WSSF) held at the University of Wyoming campus March 4-5 2019.
Sixth through 12th grade students displayed their projects that featured their science, technology, engineering and math research. Within STEM student research covered areas as diverse as behavioral and social science, computational biology, chemistry environmental management and robotics.
“The best part of Science Fair is seeing students light up when they talk about their work and the excitement they show when they do well,” said Zach Beam, director for the Northeastern Regional Senior Division Fair. “The exposure to other students and judges when questioned about their project allows for deeper levels of inquiry into their work and hopefully deepens their interest in STEM.”
Students created varied types of projects, with some running controlled experiments, others proposing new theories based on experimental or library research and others yet developing new concepts, designs, programs or inventions.
“A good science fair project requires a student to ask a questions that can be investigated, do research about what is being questioned, design a way to collect reliable data about the question, evaluate the data, draw valid conclusions from the data and then communicate what they learned,” said Michele Wistisen, director for the Central Regional Junior and Senior Division Fair.
The WSSF gives Wyoming student scientists a platform to organize, research and share their original research to other students, teachers and professionals. Science fairs also allow students to learn outside of the classroom and delve deep into a project they are interested in and not assigned to.
“No classroom experience offers the same opportunities, particularly here in Wyoming where our resources are fewer,” Joel Kuper, Northern Regional Senior Division Fair director, said. “Science Fair participation can be the spark that ignites the rest of a student’s life with respect to their career and passions.”
Despite having fewer resources, the students that participated in state science fair made waves internationally. Study International, a news site for international students, listed the WSSF as one of the top “5 university science fairs to watch out for in 2019,” along with fairs in Switzerland, England, Australia and the United Arab Emirates, writing the fair is “a worthwhile event for all to witness.”
WSSF students competed for cash prizes, scholarships and internship opportunities. The top students will be selected to represent Wyoming at the largest pre-college celebration of science for high school students, the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) this spring in Phoenix, Arizona, and at the Broadcom Masters competition, a national competition for sixth- through eighth-graders held in Washington D.C.
At these national competitions students have the chance to win $75,000 scholarships, trips to explore their scientific interests while experiencing a cultural exchange, the chance to present their work to internationally recognized scientists and can receive invitations to publish their research, said Wyoming State Science Fair Director Erin Stoesz.
“The ‘winning’ to me is secondary,” Wistisen said. “There are many skills that are cultivated through the process of doing a good science fair project that are used throughout their education and future employment. Language arts, math, computer science, graphic art and public speaking are the main ones.”
