If you were to survey students about their favorite classes you would get responses that cover all the subject areas. A few students would humorously say that lunch is their favorite class, and all the others would name language, history, science, math, music, art, or business classes. All these different classes hold interest for different students in the school. For those who enjoy the sciences, they group of respondents would likely prefer either the physical sciences, such as chemistry, or the life sciences such as biology. For the students who enjoy biology, part of their excitement for this field revolves around participation in biology science fair projects. Many schools offer the opportunity to participate in biology science fair projects to some or all of the students enrolled in these classes.

The biology science fair projects are generally available once or twice per school year. This depends on the setup of classes for a particular school. The high schools that are structured around two major terms will likely offer the option of creating biology science fair projects once in the late fall or early winter and once in late spring. These schools afford the greatest opportunity for students to express themselves creatively. Some students on these type schedules will choose to begin the first major section of their biology science fair projects during the first term. These will be presented at the first major event at the mid-year mark. They will then further develop their biology science fair projects into a larger project that will be presented at the year-end competition. This schedule allows the students the opportunity to complete a very in depth study of a topic.

The biology science fair projects in other schools may be a continual yearlong event. These students will be enrolled in the same science class for the entire school year. This offers them a continuity that also allows for an in depth study of the topic of their choice. For these students this sustained effort requires the discipline to remain on task for a very long period of time. This is good experience for the self-discipline they will need at the college or university level where most classes require the completion of an extended project or paper over the course of the term.