Two recurring hurdles seem to reduce the effectiveness of science fairs--finding time in the regular curriculum and excessive parental involvement. The time issue too often manifests itself with the obviously last-minute, overnight project of dubious learning value. The pollution of parental handiwork ruins the student's opportunity to actually acquire new knowledge. And, of course, students lucky enough to have science savvy parents are often penalized for actually doing the displayed work themselves. These problems, however, can be lessened with a few modifications to the science fair system.