Science fairs offer students the opportunity to develop skills in inquiry, writing research proposals, working with peers, verifying results, and sharing experimental findings. However, the science fair itself does not necessarily translate into a student's attainment of such skills. Project quality and a student's successful achievement of good inquiry skills vary greatly from fair to fair. Participation in a science fair should not be viewed as the "one shot" opportunity for teachers to involve their students in inquiry, but rather it should provide both extensions and reinforcements to skills that were developed over time through a variety of classroom activities. Furthermore, science fairs should offer students the opportunity to transfer both scientific knowledge and acquired inquiry skills to new situations that allow them to solve problems and answer questions. (Contains 2 figures.)