Science Fair Projects

Science fair projects have the potential to teach someone a lot.  After four years of doing complicated projects I've realized that the only way you will learn anything is if you're really interested in the project.  During the project you will discover A LOT about the subject and will also learn about the scientific process.  The more interested you are in your project the more you will want to learn about it and figure out why things worked out the way they did.  So I don't have a definite answer to the question, Do science fair projects actually help teach science?  They can help, but it all depends on the person and their project.