History Main / ScienceFair

* In one ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'' strip, Izzy is forced to judge a middle school science fair. She eventually awards the prize to [[HomeschooledKids Basil and Rosemary]]'s solar system model on the grounds that it's the only entry that isn't horrible; for comparison, the other entries are a failed volcano model (Bee got Skittles and Dr. Pepper instead of Diet Coke and Mentos for it), an attempt to trick the resident CreepyGymCoach into fucking a box of bees, and meth.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/ScienceFairDay https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sciencefair_7.png]]]]

* ''ComicBook/SupermanGrounded'': When Lex Luthor was a kid, he tried to enter a fission-powered toaster into a science fair, but was rejected. He got his revenge by [[Literature/TheSuperdictionary stealing forty cakes]] [[AscendedMeme from a nearby bake sale]].

* ''FanFic/TheSimpsonsTeamLASH'' has the episode "Science Fair and Impartial", which revolves around Springfield Elementary School having a science fair, judged by [[TheProfessor Professor Frink]]. Simon Skinner-Chalmers, [[TheSmartGuy the smartest kid in the class]], works extremely hard to create a project that will impress him; meanwhile, [[SpoiledBrat Anastasia Burns]] forgets about the science fair until the day before it happens, and [[TheParentProducedProject convinces her rich parents to do the whole thing for her]] [[LastMinuteProject at the last minute]].

* The ''Series/StrangersWithCandy'' movie is centered on a science fair. SeriousBusiness for everyone involved.
-->''She's a Fig Neutron! Got her sexy science T-shirt on!''

* In ''Film/TheManhattanProject'', Paul says he's going to submit a project about raising a generation of hamsters in the dark to see if it improves their hearing. It's just a cover story for the real project—his atomic bomb. It's at the "45th National Science Fair" where Dr. Mathewson and TheGovernment catch up to him.
* In ''Film/OsmosisJones'', Frank once made himself ill by eating shellfish that a kid's science fair project had allegedly, but not really, rendered safe for human consumption.
* ''Film/OctoberSky'' is about boys in a West Virginia coal town building rockets to enter into the county (and later national) science fair.
* In ''Film/FantasticFour2015'', young Reed Richards and Ben Grimm tried to enter their teleportation device into a science fair. Despite demonstrating that it actually works, they were rejected because the adults just couldn't believe that it was real and thought the two faked it somehow to get attention.
* In ''Film/InspectorGadget1999'', Gadget does a stakeout at Riverton's annual science convention. It... goes about as well as one would expect.
* In ''My Science Project'', the plot revolves around the protagonist Michael trying to pass off an exotic looking found item Mcguffin as a science project. The item turns out to be of alien origin and manages to threaten the space/time continuum. Michael and his friends then have to stop the end of the world as we know it, though he does eventually get an A on his project.

* In the Literature/BabysittersClub book ''Jessi's Babysitter'', the babysitters get involved in assisting with the elementary school science fair. Represented among the entries are the classic solar system model and volcano. Other clients do such projects as "Barbie on the moon" and the effect of music on plant growth.
* The events of ''{{Literature/Dinoverse}}'' are set off by one of these, when Bertram builds what he doesn't know is a time machine for a demonstration.

* In one of the ''weirder'' episode of ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', Josh and his girlfriend compete by building functional death rays. For a high school science fair. It was a ''really'' weird episode, specially since nobody seemed to find this weird or unlikely or frightening, so RuleOfFunny doesn't even apply …
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' has an episode were a science fair volcano is a clue in a case. Nick, Greg and Catherine all reminisce about making a similar project in their youth, and how it should have won. Grissom however, did win his school science fair for a maze with beetles.
* Tesla High in ''{{Series/Eureka}}'' has quite possibly the coolest (and [[SeriousBusiness most competitive]]) science fair in television. It helps that the kids' parents are all hotshot scientists at an uber-secret government facility; past experience with it has taught Deputy Jo Lupo to attend in full SWAT gear.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Leverage}},'' Sophie hijacks one of these in order to turn it into a ''musical'' as part of a con.

* ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' had one of the Huxtable girls have a model of the solar system for her display and was totally upstaged by her friend's sound controlled machines. The Huxtable girl jealously accuses of her friend of cheating since her father is a engineer, but Cliff coaxes her into admitting that her own exhibit was really lame and her friend deserved to win.
* Flashback in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' when Turk gets a 3rd prize award for science fair as a kid and delivers this humorous dialogue:
-->'''Turk:''' But I didn't even enter the contest!
--> '''Award Giver:''' Shhh, And smile for the camera.
* One episode of ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'' has Red insisting on "helping" with Harold's entry in the local fair. The show being what it is, (what's left of) Red and Harold stagger back into the Possum Lodge and report it all ended with multiple explosions and the first-prize trophy embedded in [[TheGhost Stinky Peterson's]] body. The girl who actually won had a fire extinguisher exhibit.

* ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'' had a science fair that wasn't sponsored by a school, but by the Paradise Valley Chemical Plant. Alex's older sister Annie entered a very impressive project resembling a laser, however Alex witnessed another competitor attempting to sabotage it by dropping it on the ground. Alex used her telekinetic powers to save it, but got in trouble when the plant's GC-161 alarms went off, potentially incriminating her.
* ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture'' used a variant where the kids had to create their own invention. Phil and Keely enter a voice-activated pudding dispenser. The conflict arises when Phil sees all the kids using things like batteries or gas to power their inventions and uses a [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum milk engine]] on his for flavor. Phil's father Lloyd panics, explaining that milk engines weren't invented until 2075 after oil ran out, so while they'll common back home in 2121 they're an impossibility in 2004, and this puts them at risk at being found out as [[TimeTravel time-travelers]] because Phil didn't invent the Milk Engine and has no proof he designed it. Phil ends up sabotaging his own project, so his rival wins with a simple portable changing room.
* ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' episode "Power Erupts" starts with Robbie making a volcano for his science fair project, the twist is that the concept is about using the volcano's heat to power houses. The real plot kicks in when it stands that this concept might actually work in real life, bringing down the wrath of [[MegaCorp WESAYSO]] power division who don't want their monopoly challenged.
* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'' episode "...and the Rule of Three" is set at a high-pressure science fair where someone is using magic to sabotage the other competitors. [[spoiler: And for "someone" read "almost everyone".]]
* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'' had an episode focusing on Ned trying to get a good grade in the science fair by entering Cookie's exo-skeleton, Moze trying to find something to eat since she was a model for Ned's project, and Cookie trying to win back Vanessa after the events of the "Excuses" episode. The winner of the science fair ends up being the paper towel experiment (since it was the only project not destroyed by Ned's exo-skeleton).
* ''Series/OneHundredThingsToDoBeforeHighSchool'': In "Be a Mad Scientist Thing!", stress and competition take their toll on each friend's quest to take home the winning prize at the Pootatuck science fair.

* The music video for Motion City Soundtrack's ''Her Words Destroyed My Planet'' features the members of the band entering an elementary school science fair with a robot, virtual reality simulation, a cloning machine, the "theory of everything", and a giant volcano model. They all get first-place ribbons and trophies, after which some of the kids incinerate them with laser blasters.

* ''Fair'' is set at the Hillview Elementary School science fair. A. B. Astherton, a science fiction author, is a guest judge at the event.
* In ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', you can compete against Tangent [[spoiler:and Tammy if you save her]] in a science fair during the Vertumnalia Festival if you have enough Reasoning. One year, you can beat Tang with a twist on the baking soda volcano experiment.
* ''VideoGame/Portal2'' has the remains of an old science fair in the old abandoned Aperture Science labs. In its saner days, Aperture Labs apparently sponsored science competitions for its employees' children as part of Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. The experiments on display are actually {{Foreshadowing}} for stuff you encounter later in the game. All but one of the experiments is a potato battery. The remaining one is, naturally, a baking soda volcano. Wheatley, somewhat creepily, suggests that this was probably the child of working-class parents. One of the projects is also signed as made by "Chell", which incidentally is the name of [[HeroicMime the main character]].

* An episode of ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', in which Dr. Cossack's daughter builds a self-aware robot and actually ends up losing to a papier-mâché volcano! She lived in the Soviet Union, and since they couldn't use the usual method of consulting the preserved head of UsefulNotes/JosefStalin (Dr. Wily stole it), they gave it to the other guy because they thought a boy winning would be better for the country.
* One ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'' strip saw Izzy get forced to judge a middle school science fair. She eventually awards the prize to [[HomeschooledKids Basil and Rosemary's]] solar system model on the grounds that it's the only entry that isn't horrible; for comparison, the other entries were a failed volcano model (Bee got Skittles and Dr. Pepper instead of Diet Coke and Mentos for it), an attempt to trick the resident CreepyGymCoach into fucking a box of bees, and meth.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': the chapter "Two Strange Girls" focuses on a school science fair and a string of sabotages against the various projects. Kat gets annoyed that people are ignoring her studies of protein crystals and are more interested in the [[GadgeteerGenius anti-gravity device she built to make them.]] No volcanoes this time, though.

* The school science fair in ''UrgentTransformationCrisis'' involved students meddling with one another's DNA but somehow managed to avoid the obligatory volcano.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The ''Literature/HitherbyDragons'' entry [[http://imago.hitherby.com/2004/08/the-rent-in-the-fullness-of-the-world-iii/ The Rent In The Fullness Of The World]] is based on a science fair for what appear to be gods. Martin's entry after failing to remake the world to his specifications is a study into the nature of the world. Oden's? A volcano.
* In the StrongBadEmail "caffeine", Strong Bad is advised to slip Strong Sad some caffeine in the hopes it will make him less whiny. He decides to not only try this but submit his observations to the All-Wide Science Fair that happens to be coming up. (Turns out it makes Strong Sad [[FreakOut go all kinds of berserk]].) In the end, we get to see the classic cardboard trifold stand he did up, as well as the one for his alternate project, "The Effects of Gasoline on Fire", and what's left of whatever Homestar tried to do ("Aww man. It melted.")

* The short, "Buster's Guide to Goofing Off" from the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode, "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E58YouAskedForItAgain You Asked For It Again]]" was focused entirely on Buster [[LastMinuteProject waiting until the last minute]] to build a model volcano for the school science fair. [[RidiculousProcrastinator Typical in every way possible, and on purpose]].
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' in which Connie's cousin from Los Angeles persuaded Bobby to build a crystal meth lab for their science project. She told him it was a "candy machine". Bobby evidently doesn't watch Creator/{{MTV}} '''or''' ''Series/LawAndOrder''.
* Science fairs have been featured many times on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', although they've only based a whole episode around it once. In that one, Lisa does a project on humiliating Bart after he destroyed her original project, a giant steroid-grown tomato intended to cure world hunger. Science fairs were also mentioned at least in passing in Lisa's segment of the RashomonStyle episode, where she had a grammar-correcting robot, and the "Treehouse of Horror" episode where she created a miniature civilization.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice The Adventures of Sam and Max, Freelance Police]]'', the titular characters meet The Geek at a science fair. Her project is a black hole. That's right — a black hole.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' does something similar, where it's established that only Gretchen ever bothers to do anything but volcano models. This time, they hook up all their volcanoes to go off at once in a ring of fire, and end up winning. Gretchen loses because another girl steals her project, resulting in automatic disqualification.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' had a science fair involved in Mandark's attempt to get revenge on Dexter for getting Deedee to destroy Mandark's lab in an earlier episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' has an episode where the titular character builds a volcano for a science fair project. A rumor then spreads that his volcano caused the science room to explode, forcing Doug to hide from the police under an alias, Jack Bandit.
* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' has a science fair where Hip and Hop build a volcano while Oogtar and Yoshi cross a rutabaga with an eggplant. Hip and Hop sneak a Piranha Plant in the "eggabega" which [[MakeMyMonsterGrow becomes a giant]] when a jealous Oogtar inadvertently feeds it fertilizer. Things take a [[FromBadToWorse turn for the worse]] when Koopa accidentally causes Hop to release huge amounts of lava through the volcano, forcing everyone to rush out of the school before it gets destroyed.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' features a science fair with assigned partners. Kim and InsufferableGenius Justine build an elaborate portal to another dimension that conveniently catches a monster created by Kim's ArchEnemy (and inconveiently returns it during the fair.) Ron and Monique put a volcano together at the last minute.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' features a science fair, where our heroes help Baljeet build a portal to Mars. While Dr. Doofenshmirtz recollects building elaborate ray guns, but always being beaten by the baking soda volcano, even [[ChewToy when he switched to a]] [[RuleOfFunny poetry contest.]] So he enters the fair with a huge baking soda volcano, which [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption naturally doesn't work out for him]]. The winner is a girl who constructed a set of Mechanical Arms ... to build a baking soda volcano.

* In a subversion, Velma on ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' was shown bringing a project with which she'd ''already'' won a big science contest to NASA, so its experiment can be carried out in orbit. No, it ''wasn't'' a volcano; it's to study how earthworms move about in zero-g.
* The volcano part was [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated]] in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Chaotic}}'', where ''every project but [[TheSmartGuy Kaz]]'s'' was a volcano.
* The 1980s version of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleRascals'' had an episode titled "Science Fair and Foul", in which Buckwheat built a voice-activated TVHeadRobot to compete with Waldo's solar-powered ice cream machine.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', Lobo reveals that [[NoodleIncident his High School Science Project]] [[EarthShatteringKaboom 'fragged' the rest of his planet]]. Since there was nobody left to contest it, he gave himself an 'A' for it.
* The kids on ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' had to get ready for one of these. Ratchet "helped" them to the extent that their projects were unrecognizable and failures- the model of the planet had several moons, the volcano was made of metal and dangerous, and the homemade bike tried to transform and exploded.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', Cindy sues Jimmy and gets him banned from the science fair because his genius makes him win every time. He shows up anyway and gets a Nobel Prize from an invention he didn't get to send in, which almost kills his dad, the principal and the Nobel Prize guy. And Sheen had a very hungry lizard.
--> '''Principal:''' Okay! First prize goes to all the inventions that helped stop Jimmy's death machine!
* On one episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens2013 Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', Sqweep makes the obligatory volcano for his Earth study class. However, he built it ''full scale'', which resulted in the entire base being covered in foam.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Cold Warriors", a young Fry entered a science contest to send experiments to the space station. His was to infect a hamster with the common cold and see whether being in space cures it. When there's a cold epidemic in the future, the crew goes to find the station to find a specimen of the cold virus to cure it. The specimen came from [[spoiler:another expermient, with Fry realizing that his experiment wouldn't have worked anyway]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'' episode "The Cuervo Project", Manny and Frida are assigned science-fair partners to Zoe Aves, AKA Black Cuervo. They decide to build a model of the Miracle City volcano, which Zoe ends up doing all the work on because Manny and Frida are trying to figure out whether or not she's Black Cuervo. Then it transpires that ''every student in school'' had the same idea. Zoe's volcano wins first prize by being bigger than the others, Manny gets an award for participation, and Frida gets a notice of suspension.
* At the beginning of the ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' episode, "[[Recap/SonicBoomS2E21Mombot Mombot]]", Dr. Eggman enters one intended for children to show off his latest invention. Beth the Shrew wins for her diorama of the solar system, and Lady Walrus' Son ([[LastMinuteProject whose science project is a rock he chose at the last minute]]), the Monkey Boy, and the Reindeer Girl all get participation trophies. Dr. Eggman doesn't even get one, due to being disqualified for exceeding the maximum height at a children's competition.
* The ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' episode "Topsy" is centered around a science fair, which is run by a Thomas Edison-obsessed substitute teacher who refuses to allow volcanoes to be submitted, seeing them as a cheap cop-out so kids don't have to do any actual work. Louise, who was going to enter a volcano that was destroyed in class by the teacher, opts to get revenge on him by reenacting the infamous execution of Topsy the circus elephant, which Edison is commonly (and mistakenly) blamed for because she was electrocuted to death, and Edison owned the patent for the camera the footage was filmed on. She uses Tesla coils, a rubber yoga mat, and makes Tina play the part of Topsy.[[note]]Edison did electrocute numerous animals and one human (the first ever execution by electric chair), all so he could prove that Tesla's alternating current was more dangerous than his own direct current. All it ended up proving was that first, Edison was kind of a dick, and two, Tesla's current was more powerful than Edison's, and therefore the smarter investment. But he wasn't directly responsible for killing Topsy.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In "A Tale Of Two Stans", one of these in their high school resulted in Stan and [[spoiler: Ford]]’s relationship falling apart. [[spoiler: Ford’s creation of a PerpetualMotionMachine caught the attention of West Coast Tech and offered Ford a spot. But a distraught Stan accidentally broke the machine, which resulted in Ford losing his scholarship and Stan being disowned and kicked out of the house by their father.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Fair}}'' is set at the Hillview Elementary School science fair. The main character, a science fiction author, is a guest judge at the event.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34131673/chapters/85537321#workskin Something Wasn't Right So We Left]]'' Harry, Hermione and Neville's elementary school has a science fair. Harry and Hermione receive second-place trophies in their divisions, while Neville receives an offer from the fair's sponsor to help develop his project commercially.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13860164/33/Child-of-Iron-Goblet-of-Fire Child of Iron, Goblet of Fire]]'' Harry and Tony attend one as training in how to spot the geniuses of tomorrow for when Harry eventually takes over Stark Industries.

* ''FanFic/TheSimpsonsTeamLASH'' has the episode "Science Fair and Impartial", which revolves around Springfield Elementary School having a science fair, judged by [[MadScientist Professor Frink]]. Simon Skinner-Chalmers, [[TheSmartGuy the smartest kid in the class]], works extremely hard to create a project that will impress him; meanwhile, [[SpoiledBrat Anastasia Burns]] forgets about the science fair until the day before it happens, and convinces her rich parents to [[LastMinuteProject do the whole thing for her]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron'', Cindy sues Jimmy and gets him banned from the science fair because his genius makes him win every time. He shows up anyway and gets a Nobel Prize from an invention he didn't get to send in, which almost kills his dad, the principal and the Nobel Prize guy. And Sheen had a very hungry lizard.

The fair can be anywhere from the entire focus of an episode to a minor side plot to simply being mentioned in passing. Mainly a US and Canadian trope as it's schools in those countries that hold this characteristic event, although there's always EaglelandOsmosis to consider. For weirder examples, see MadScienceFair.

* When ComicBook/LexLuthor was a kid, he tried to enter a fission-powered toaster into a science fair, but was rejected. He got his revenge by [[AndThatsTerrible stealing forty cakes]] [[AscendedMeme from a nearby bake sale]].

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* Film/InspectorGadget does a stakeout at Riverton's annual science convention. It...goes about as well as one would expect.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' in which Connie's cousin from Los Angeles, amazingly enough, managed to persuade Bobby to build a crystal meth lab for their science project. She told him it was a "candy machine". Seriously. Bobby evidently doesn't watch Creator/{{MTV}} '''or''' ''Series/LawAndOrder''.

* A science fair is held during the events of the second ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' Book.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fair}}'' is set at the Hillview Elementary School science fair. The main character, a science fiction author, is a guest judge at the event.

* In ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', you can compete against Tangent in a science fair during the Vertumnalia Festival if you have enough Reasoning, and if you win, you beat her with a twist on the baking soda volcano experiment.

* In ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', you can compete against Tangent in a science fair during the Vertumna Festival if you have enough Reasoning, and if you win, you beat her with a twist on the baking soda volcano experiment.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' has the remains of an old science fair in the old abandoned Aperture Science labs. In its saner days, Aperture Labs apparently sponsored science competitions for its employees' children as part of Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. The experiments on display are actually {{Foreshadowing}} for stuff you encounter later in the game. All but one of the experiments is a potato battery. The remaining one is, naturally, a baking soda volcano. Wheatley, somewhat creepily, suggests that this was probably the child of working-class parents. One of the projects is also signed as made by "Chell", which incidentally is the name of [[HeroicMime the main character]].
* ''Fair'' is set at the Hillview Elementary School science fair. The main character, a science fiction author, is a guest judge at the event.