The questions that a judge asks after a student’s presentation serve several purposes. First and foremost, they are used to determine the extent of the student’s knowledge. This allows judges to examine the student on subject matter related to the project but not covered in the presentation. Second, they are used to build self-esteem. By asking easy questions first, students are able build confidence initially, before the questions get harder. Third, questions are used to asses higher level thought processes (such as application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation on Bloom’s taxonomy).

1. Start with easy questions that the student should be able to answer.
   • these include clarification questions, explanations, recall of background information, and procedural questions
2. Once the student has demonstrated base-level knowledge, increase the difficulty of the questions.
   • these questions might include analysis of variables, controls, functions of technologies, meaning of data, meaning of statistics, etc.
3. Finish with higher-level questions.
   • these questions include, meaning and importance of results, impact of work on society or human life, evaluation of the veracity of data, consideration of ethics, etc.

   The most important thing to remember is that if a student cannot answer a question in a series which is increasing in difficulty, the theoretical limit of the student’s knowledge has been reached. Stop. At this point an attempt can be made to reword the question, but if the student is becoming visibly frustrated, the judge should end the line of questioning and begin a new one, starting again with an easy question. This allows the student to regain his or her footing and minimizes the chances that his or her frustration will affect his or her ability to answer further questions.

   It is valid for a student to answer, I don’t know. In fact, this is the only valid answer when the student in fact does not know the answer. This response can often be qualified with statements such as …but that would be a good thing for me to try in the future. Because science fair evaluation is essentially an oral exam, judges have the ability to build upon answers which students have obviously fabricated or merely guessed at. Admitting a lack of knowledge is therefore a more acceptable than proceeding with unfounded speculation.

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