Real science depends on room to fail, but starting in middle school science fairs, it's clear that negative results and "failed" experiments aren't what the tea

Real science depends on room to fail, but starting in middle school science fairs, it's clear that negative results and "failed" experiments aren't what the teachers/judges are looking for. I made it through to the state science fair in 8th grade. It was based around magnetism, and after months of work, it turned out my tests just weren't sensitive enough to measure any difference in any of the electromagnets I built. When I mentioned this to my teachers, they encouraged me to fix the results with a wink and a nod. Sure I could have turned in a "failed" project and maybe got a B, but I was an A student and there was no room for failure. I'd love to see some data on how many high level science fair projects are faked each year.