By Tami O’Connor
Many years ago while attending a summer ChemEd conference, I had occasion to sit in on an amazing presentation. I have to admit that as a seventh grade teacher, much of the information presented at this conference would have been a bit over my students’ heads, but I still enjoyed the chance to learn new teaching ideas. One presenter, Jeff Hepburn, came out with a prop called the Think Tube. I’m not honestly sure whether that was his name for it or if that’s how I eventually christened it, but suffice to say, I knew immediately that I had to build one for my students.
Back to School with the Think Tube
The first week of school was always my favorite because that was the time I worked especially hard to truly “hook” my kids on science. I tended to bring in the most awesome and thought-provoking activities to share in class. My students typically left my room busting with excitement and looking forward to what the rest of the year would hold.
On day two, I brought in my homemade Think Tube. Over the summer, my husband built it out of PVC pipe, string, and wooden cubes. Initially, the students were unimpressed… that is, until the unexpected happened.
Posted by Donna Giachetti 
Why are science fairs important? What makes the science fair process valuable? It’s an excellent question and a good way to start a class discussion about this time-honored tradition. First and foremost, why DO we ask our students to work on a science fair project year after year? The answer, in a nutshell, is to help them learn how to think like scientists. Scientists find answers to questions that interest them. In other words, your students simply need to ask themselves, What do I want to know more about?
A science fair project is made of researching, planning, experimenting, analyzing… and of course, choosing the right materials! That’s where