Science Field Day

Elementary Science Field Day (ESFD or SFD for short) is sponsored by the San Diego County Office of Education and is hosted at Lakeside Middle School. It is always held on the 2nd or 3rd Saturday in May – yes, Saturday – from approximately 8:45am-3:00pm. Schools from all around the county sign up and pay an entry fee to participate. At this time, over 50 teams come to compete!

SFD is a competitive event centered around science. There are (currently) 15 events offered, but students typically only compete in 2 events. Occasionally, a student might only participate in one, or might even participate in three events – all depends on the kid, the parental support, and the makeup of the team that year.

We are fortunate enough that we sponsor two teams. This is possible because Mrs. Allard is an event captain (Starry Starry Night) – the coordinators allow event captains to have two teams. One team consists of only 14-16 students and cannot go above 16 + 2 alternates.  Alternates are expected to know about each event OR are outgoing and willing to assist any member in case someone’s partner does not show up or something else happens. But I don’t like to call a student an “alternate” because it makes it sound like they are not as much a part of the team. I also don’t like the idea of a student not having an event of their own, so I don’t really use “alternates” on the team – instead, we alternate for each other if necessary. More on that later.

Each event has its own expectations and guidelines that are prepared and administered by the Event Captains. Event Captains are certificated teachers from various schools around the county, not just San Diego Unified. My co-captain is Mrs. Lunn (kindergarten teacher). She sponsors the team at her daughter's school.

In addition, on the day of the event, there are many non-competitive science-related activities for students to participate in, Mad Science presentations, and a snack bar (nachos, popcorn, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, etc.).

Science Field Day is only for 4th and 5th grade students. There might be a couple teams with no more than four 6th graders, if the school includes that grade. Each team can have as many as 16 students with 2 alternates.

SDCOE offers schools that host one of the competitive events TWO teams. Since I host the Starry Starry Night event, we are one of those schools. 

For students who want to participate, they will need to fill out an application. Most students apply in the fall of their 4th grade year and then do not have to re-apply for 5th grade. Occasionally a student will apply in 5th grade.

Students fill out an application, and then are selected and approved by their classroom teachers and Mrs. Allard.

Students are selected based on attitude, behavior, and enthusiasm toward science shown while in Mrs. Allard's classroom and/or their regular teacher's classroom. 

Students will meet as a group and are presented with a list of events for each team. There are 15 competitive events total. As a team, we can only send one group to compete in each event. Since Vista Grande hosts two teams, that means that we can send two groups to each event to compete. 

Fifth grade students who were on the team the previous year are given first choice of events. I meet with them to figure those out before assigning other events to 4th graders or new 5th graders. To assign new students, I first have them fill out an index card to tell me what their top three choice events are and partners they want to work with. I then try to make the assignments so they have at least one of their top three event choices. Occasionally, I have to draw names between a few events.

They can only sign up for two events total. Occasionally a student will be allowed to take on a third event, and sometimes a student only does one event. 

Students should be preparing on their own - practicing their event, or studying information. They can also arrange to get together with their partner with permission from parents. 

Open practice sessions are also available periodically on Thursdays after school. These practice sessions are optional, but are offered so students have a chance to get together with their partners.

Actually, parents can do quite a bit to help! They can practice and work with their child as much as they wish. The ONLY thing that I would caution about is to not build the catapult or tin can racer (if they are in those events) for the student instead of assisting. It is okay if you are instructing and helping plan, but the child needs to know how it was put together and what it was made out of. They may be asked questions about the construction process at the event. 

Parents can also help by making arrangements for getting together with partners after school. 

Other ways to help:

• Be willing to communicate with other parents to exchange information.
• Coordinate the set up of our meeting spot at the day of the event. 
• Allow students to stay after school for practices on Thursdays. 
• Provide/donate materials in order to practice at school.
• Keep track of the calendar and encourage your participant to practice both at home and during after school sessions. 
• Read email from Mrs. Allard and respond if requested.
• Assist all Vista Grande students on the day of the event to find their competitive events and to supervise.
• Parents are also welcome to take on one of the events as their "work group" - to help prepare for that event. This means working with both team groups on one event to help study or practice.

There are links on the right that might be helpful. If you find additional links, please let me know so I can add them. 

I do have a small amount of loaner items that I can give out. We need some new sets of Brain Quest cards, for grades 5 and 6.