The Value of Science Projects Science projects are an especially effective way of teaching students about the world around them. Whether conducted in the classroom or for a science fair, science projects can help develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. In a classroom setting, science projects offer a way for teachers to put “action” into the lessons. The students have fun while they’re learning important knowledge and skills. And the teacher often learns with the students, experiencing excitement with each new discovery. Science projects are generally of two types: non-experimental and experimental. Non-experimental projects usually reflect what the student has read or heard about in an area of science. By creating displays or collections of scientific information or demonstrating certain natural phenomena, the student goes through a process similar to a library research report or a meta-analysis in any other subject. Projects of this type may be appropriate for some students at a very early level, but they usually do not provide the experiences that develop problem-solving skills related to the scientific process. On the other hand, experimental projects pose a question, or hypothesis, which is then answered by doing an experiment or by modeling a phenomenon. The question doesn’t have to be something never before answered by scientist—that is not necessary to conduct original research. The process of picking a topic, designing an experiment, and recording and analyzing data is what’s important.