What is a Science Conference at High School?
The simple answer is that a Science Conference at High School is just a science conference. The only difference is that our students do not have letters after their names (Ph.D., M.D., M.S., P.E., etc.) and the equipment used is simple, accessible, and never costs more than a house. In fact, students should never spend money completing their project.
A Science Conference at High School is not a science-fair, where the answers are already known. Science conferences are based in original research. Therefore, all of the participants will be working on not-yet-known-answer questions. Participants will be making claims and backing those claims using data and evidence to make a compelling case for their results.
This type of research necessarily entails designing experimental apparatus, determining protocols, and making explicit the methodologies utilized. Presentations will explicate student’s work in a manner that is understandable to those without expertise in that area of study, which will require significant effort to make a clear and compelling case.
Because conducting real scientific work rarely, if ever, follows “The Scientific Method” as taught in textbooks, each presentation will be unique, utilizing the best methods for that particular kind of experiment. This usually yields a variety of projects that entertain a broad range of interests for our scientific audience.
Science Alumni are an integral part of the science conference. They not only offer support to our students by working with them, but also present their own research or projects. Current students are flabbergasted thinking that these professionals used to occupy the same seats that they are now sitting in. This has a profound effect on the students who begin to envision themselves coming back and mentoring the next cadre of young STEM students.
The day of the conference is run like any other professional scientific conference, which includes research presentations, punctuated by speakers and activities. A welcoming ceremony kicks the day off and ends with a keynote speaker. Interspersed throughout the conference is time for the students to speak with the alumni in a casual manner, often creating contacts and beginning their professional networking.
