2nd Portuguese science fair “Hands-on Science”

Sciences fairs are activities with great pedagogical potential, in particular when in some way connect to the school in-classroom teaching/learning activities. Two year ago the Science Fair “Hands-on Science” was established focus on upper basic and secondary school levels. In May 2011 the second edition of the hands-on science network science fair was organized, in Braga, Portugal. In this communication we intend to show the evolution experienced in organizing this event over the last two years, school’ teachers’ and students’ response and the impact it had. We will discuss the goals and the strategies employed, the challenges faced and the solution found. The replies to questionnaires prepared for both students and teachers allowed us to assess our initiative and draw conclusion that will be presented herein. An increase on students and teachers satisfaction was observed and we were able to study the influence of recent curricular changes on the development of the science projects. We will review how the work was carried out in different schools and suggest methods to include these activities in a school daily context