This year, Bowie has made the decision to make science fair activities optional for all students. Before this change, doing a science fair project was mandatory; there was no getting around it. It also carried a heavy grade that could determine whether one passed the six weeks or not.

Even though I don’t take a class that involves completing a science fair activity anymore, I still feel grateful that this change was implemented. I remember in my freshman and sophomore years that the science fair was always the hardest part about the class, and many students took academic science classes rather than advanced science classes for the sole reason of not having to do any science fair projects.

This change is a great addition to Bowie, and I’m sure many students can agree with me. The exclusion of science fair projects would reduce stress onto students, it would advocate for the enrollment of advanced science classes, and the extra time gained from an optional science fair could be well repurposed.

First, the stress. Anyone who has had to do a science fair project in the past knows the stress that accompanies a large task such as the science fair, especially high school science fair projects. Even just coming up with a suitable, sophisticated topic to make a project about can be very stressful, and at that point, you haven’t even started making a product yet. Personally, I think the exponential stress a science fair brings is unfair to force upon a student’s agenda.

Another reason this change is a great addition is because it encourages students to enroll in an advanced science class. Last year, I saw many people, some of which were friends of mine, who had planned to take an advanced science class but ended up taking an academic science class once they learned they had to do a project for science fair. I’m hoping that, with the new option to skip science fair activities, more students will be encouraged to take an advanced science course.

Lastly, science fair is a huge part of the curriculum teachers follow. I remember spending weeks in class discussing nothing but the science fair, from finding suitable topics, to building an agenda, to finally presenting the project itself. I believe that, with the change to make the science fair optional, students and teachers both could repurpose all that lost time into a new lesson, some extra time on other lessons, or perhaps time to review for the upcoming final exam. I think these options could help struggling students stay afloat.

Unfortunately, this change does negatively affect students who are interested in doing a science fair project. They are given less class time to work on the project, and there wouldn’t be as much teacher guidance to aid those students. One way to combat this problem could be to set up after school science fair information sessions to help those students who are interested in completing a science fair project.

Personally, I’m a bit envious that I didn’t have this opportunity myself, however I’m still grateful that this change was implemented for the students who have an opportunity to use it.