Northview Elementary STEM Fair
Choosing a Question
Choosing a good STEM fair question:
A STEM fair project starts with a question. For most students, this is the most difficult part of their project! It's important to pick a question that interests you. In addition, your question should:
- lead to an investigation or experiment, NOT a report, demonstration, or model
- be one from which you can collect data rather than opinions
- be very specific, rather than broad
Examples of good questions:
- How does temperature affect the bounce of a ball?
- What shape of a container allows water to evaporate the quickest?
- Does the drop height of an object affect the size of crater it will make?
Examples of poor questions:
- How do volcanoes erupt? This question will result in a model, not an experiment, and does not involve data collection.
- Why are there craters on the moon? This question is not an experiment, and requires only research to answer.
- How do bean plants grow? This question is too broad and would require more research than experimenting