Hello all,
I am interested in completing a science fair project on aerospace engineering. I am not completely sure about specifics yet, since this is a 2-year-long project. What kind of background in math/science would you say I need in order to effectively research and conduct the experiment? Since I am only a high school freshman, I have not taken physics or calculus yet. Would you recommend that I self-study any courses in order to understand the material?
Thank you!
Read up on your science fair rules as far as legal use of a two year long project. There are rules about that in most fairs. Generally you can submit a year’s worth of work. For a two year project, you submit the first year’s worth at one fair, then a “continuation project” the second year where you redocument year one and specify what you did in year two and only the work done during the current competition year counts.
Note that building general background knowledge like studying more math is not the same as working on your project though. Just the work on your specific topic.
If old fair programs are available, read the titles of projects in your field to see what level of project is expected.
Go to this spring’s fair and talk to the students. Ask lots of silly questions. Everything from how they found their topic or mentor to how they constructed the board. Really understand how they did it.
Many kids write up work they did at summer science programs, so investigate any programs that may be available to you.
Have realistic expectations and goals. “In it to win it” and in “it to become a better scientist or engineer” need to be balanced. “Good science” and “good science fair” are related, but not quite the same thing.
@AroundHere Thank you for your response. Sorry that I wasn’t more clear about this - my school organizes science fair such that the first year mainly involves choosing an area of interest, research, interviews, etc. The second year involves the actual experimentation and construction of the project. Making it to ISEF would be a dream come true, however, for now, I am good with just making it to the state science fair.
I was wondering if I should work to get my knowledge of math/physics up to a higher level this year in order for next year, when I do the actual experimentation, to be smoother.
Thank you!
Honestly, my daughter narrows the topic first, then digs into what she needs to know with a goal in mind.
I think interviews are a great place to start - you can discuss different aspects of your field with people and get pointers towards interesting problems and tools worth learning. Math and physics never hurt, though.