This year's Science Fair will be held on Friday, January 20, 2006.

Final report on the Science Fair at Thousand Oaks Elementary School on
January 21, 2005 at 6:00–8:30 p.m.

By Gabriele Weitzel

Photos of projects Jan 21, 2005

Science Project Help (Web sites and suggestions)

Our Science Fair was a huge success. Prior to the Fair parent volunteers and teachers spent innumerable hours over a 3-month period to help students with individual and classroom projects. In total, 73 children participated in individual science projects presented in poster format at the night of the Fair, and in the following week in our Multi-purpose room. In addition, 180 children participated in classroom projects which were also presented as posters. A total of over 250 children (56% of the school population) received a certificate for their participation in the Fair. Children who participated in an individual project received a small prize in the form of an experimental science kit. The participating classrooms received science kits as classroom prizes. Some of the prizes were donated by companies whom we solicited by letter.

In addition to the poster presentations we had demonstrations and hands-on experiments from Chabot, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, the Oakland Museum, our science teacher, our cooking teacher and many parent volunteers. It is very hard to judge how many people attended the Fair but it was packed, and we think it was at least two to three hundred if not more. Everybody had a wonderful time. We are already planning the Fair for next year, hoping for a similar if not greater success. The Fair sparked an enthusiasm for science in these kids, something we hope will last for a long time, and will prepare them for a world in which some science knowledge is necessary.