Cookie and master_of_none, all I can say is no wonder you hate it! Those sound like horrible ways to run a science fair!
Maybe we were just spoiled. After 1st, DD went to a math and science magnet that required a project from each student each year in each grade starting in, I think 1st. So from grade 1 through 8, everyone did a project. And there was this whole course section on it. One week asking a compelling question. One week on the hypothesis. Etc.
They'd recruit parent volunteers with a STEM background. We went through training and judged the grades our kids weren't in. And the best projects in grades 6-8 were entered in the regional fair.
I used that structure and material to help create the fair at her current school. Right down to the 10 steps to creating a science fair project (though I rewrote the handouts).
I guess it never occurred to me that schools could mess that up, based as it is on the science fair system.
