This document provides criteria for evaluating student science fair projects in 5 areas: scientific processes, student explanation, written communication, project creativity, and project presentation. Each area contains several criteria that are rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being outstanding and 1 needing a lot of work. The criteria assess elements such as the clarity of aims and hypotheses, evidence of background research, experimental design, data collection, identification and control of variables, discussion of problems and future work, references, and the student's ability to explain and present their project.

1. Criteria
1. Scientific Processes
5-
Outstandi
ng
4- Very
Good
3- Good
2- Needs
more
work
1- needs
a lot
more
work
Is there a clear aim and hypothesis?
Is there evidence of background research?
Does the experiment test what it is supposed to?
Have there been repetitions of the experiment?
Is there sufficient data to support the conclusion?
Have variables been identified?
Was it a fair test? i.e is there only one independent variable?
Are all other variables controlled?
Have problems associated with the experiment been discussed
and solutions suggested?
Are ideas for future research given?
Are references given?
2. Student Explanation
Is the student able to discuss and explain their project?
Can they explain things without reading from the board?
Are the students able to answer your questions?
3. Written Communication
Has the student expressed their ideas well in the written form?
Is the layout easy to read and to follow?
Are there spelling and grammatical errors?
4. Project Creativity
How creative is the student's project idea?
Has the student developed their project in an original and
creative way?
5. Project Presentation
Has the project been presented in an appealing way?
Does the presentation make you want to know more about the
project?
Total:
Rating
Stage 2 Mini Science Fair Judging Sheet