On Tuesday, February 26, Irvine Unified School District students competed in the 32nd District Science Fair.
Students began their projects in October and competed at the school level before qualifying for the district fair. Conducting research to answer their self-formulated investigative questions was a new experience for many of the students.
The judging took place throughout the day at Woodbridge High School. Students were interviewed by expert judges who scored the students based upon their experiment design, accuracy and ability to communicate their findings to an audience.
After the judging and interviewing in the morning and afternoon, the district held an award ceremony to reward the hard work and effort students invested to complete their projects. The highest distinctions were marked with blue ribbons, followed by red and white.
Blue ribbon winners in grades 6 to 8 and all high school students were invited to go one step further with the Orange County Science & Engineering Fair on March 19, 2013.
“What I enjoy most about the science fair experience is being able to work hard on researching a specific topic then discussing the research. It was great to delve into an area of science not in the school curriculum and become passionate about it,” said participant Daniel Yang, a sophomore at Woodbridge.
The program allows students to be scientists. Competitions like this one provide opportunities for students to go beyond what is taught in school and experiment with their curiosity and interests.
