San Francisco (March 2, 2023) - Middle and K-8 schools in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) will be hosting science fairs, with some participating in the 2023 San Francisco Middle School Science Fair at the Randall Museum. SFUSD schools are among more than a dozen schools in San Francisco participating in the fair. Schools have submitted winning entries from their science fairs and other projects to the San Francisco Middle School Science Fair.

“Congratulations to all our middle school student scientists who have worked hard on science experiments at school, including those whose experiments have been selected for display at the citywide Middle School Science Fair,” said SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne. “Science experiments demonstrate the joyful learning we want every student to experience at SFUSD.”

SFUSD schools participating in the San Francisco Middle School Science Fair include Francisco Middle School and Roosevelt Middle School.

Roosevelt Middle School’s Science Fair took place in February. Winning projects were selected at each grade level and special “RMS Trojan Spirit” awards were distributed to students whose projects were part of “efforts in Science above and beyond expectations.” Winning projects to be displayed at the San Francisco Middle School Science Fair include Testing Grow Lights for Baby Gem Romaine Lettuce, Science of a Nail Rusting, and Will Using Various Salts Create Different Crystal Formations?

Other SFUSD middle and K-8 schools will also host their own science fairs. Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 will be hosting their Science Fair on March 16. Alice Fong Yu Alternative School is also set to host a school Science Fair on March 21. A portion of the fair will be livestreamed, with some students making presentations in front of a panel of judges.

The San Francisco Middle School Science Fair is in its 39th year and is returning for the first time in person in three years. Top placing students will be eligible to move on to the SF Bay Area Golden Gate STEM Fair and then possibly the California Science and Engineering Fair. Members of the public can view projects from now to March 4, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at Randall Museum at 199 Museum Way, San Francisco.

About SFUSD Science for Middle School

SFUSD's core Science curriculum for Middle School was designed to reflect Next Generation Science Standards' (NGSS) preferred integration progression. This means performance expectations for Life, Earth, Space, and Physical sciences, along with Engineering Design, are connected throughout grades 6-8.

In addition to being project based, the curriculum utilizes a 5E Instructional Model in which teaching and learning proceeds through five stages: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. Using this model encourages students to connect past learning experiences to the present. Students can ask questions and define problems about the natural and designed world, design investigations in which they collect and analyze trends and patterns in data, develop models of physical phenomena, and ultimately communicate these findings. The course emphasizes evidence-based reasoning for scientific explanations and engineering solutions in order to communicate recommendations to address real-world problems.

Curriculum development and research was sponsored by the George Lucas Educational Foundation and conducted by a team from Stanford University, SFUSD, and Digital Promise. 

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