Science Fair Information Night Presented by: Mary Helen Cholka Mary Helen Mendoza Courtesy of Science Buddies: Providing free science fair project ideas, answers, and tools for serious students. Visit us online at April 7, 2008 Copyright ©2008 Kenneth Lafferty Hess Family Charitable Foundation. All rights reserved.

Introduction Slider Middle School Science Fair is for students in all Pre AP Science classes and GT Science students and any other student interested Science, Math and Engineering

What is a science fair? A journey of scientific inquiry – Students answer a scientific question by conducting an experiment. – The process ends with a showcase event that shows students that their work matters to the school community.

Others have said it best… “Happy is he [or she] who gets to know the reasons for things.” –Virgil, Roman poet “[Science is] a great game. It is inspiring and refreshing. The playing field is the universe itself.” –Isador Isaac Rabbi, U.S. physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1944

Student Benefits Inquiry and Experiential – This is their own learning adventure. – They might explore topics such as: Timing ocean tides How gears work Chemistry of baking ingredients

Student Benefits, continued Integrates skills they’ve learned in other classes: – Math skills – Computer skills – Research skills – Writing and presentation skills

Student Benefits, continued Furthers students’ interest in science – Serves as a basis for future science fairs, which present opportunities for scholarships, awards, and prestige – Promotes interest in a science career

Support and Partnership

Project Planning Our planning involves breaking the science project into small, manageable assignments that are spread out over time. We will provide students with detailed guides to explain exactly what needs to be done at each step of the project.

Partnership Students Work Responsibility Parents Encourage Answer questions Supervise safety Come to the fair! Teachers Step-by-step assignments Checkpoints graded along the way Science Fair Success

Partnership, continued Students Work Responsibility Parents Encourage Answer questions Supervise safety Come to the fair! Teachers Step-by-step assignments Checkpoints graded along the way Science Fair Success

Partnership, continued Students Work Responsibility Parents Encourage Answer questions Supervise safety Come to the fair! Teachers Step-by-step assignments Checkpoints graded along the way Science Fair Success

What do the students need to do? Scienteer is designed to guide students, teachers and fair directors through the required steps to comply with the Intel ISEF competitions.

Scienteer New Students (first time using Scienteer) Creating your account 1. Your teacher must provide you with a special link to register Follow the link your teacher gave you to access the registration page for your school and click “Student”.

If you have This will take you to a page to fill out your basic information. At the end you have two choices for getting your parent’s permission. Your account will not work until your parent gives you permission. a. Fill out the information and enter your parent’s e- mail. Your parent will receive an from scienteer and your parent can follow the link in the to give their permission electronically.

If you do not have b. If your parent does not have or is not receiving the , click “My parent or guardian does not have access”. You will be given the option to print out the documents and take them home to get them signed. After they are signed bring them back to your teacher, your teacher will then create your account manually

Timeline Each teacher will provide their students with a detailed timeline and work with students to input information in to the Scienteer program. Campus Science Fair November 16, 2016

Overview 6 Science Fair Project Steps 1. Ask a question. 2. Do background research. 3. Construct a hypothesis. 4. Test the hypothesis by doing an experiment. 5. Analyze the data and draw a conclusion. 6. Communicate the results.

Ask a question. This is the foundation. If your child identifies a question that is safe and can be answered through experimentation, the rest of the project will follow.

Ask a question, continued Safety – This will be reviewed by the teacher when your child fills out a project proposal form. – The philosophy of safety: It is not a list of prohibited projects. Instead, it is a careful review by the teacher.

Ask a question, continued How to Pick a Good Question The question should be interesting enough for your child to read about and then work on for the next couple months. There should be at least three sources of written information on the subject. Make sure the experiment is safe to perform. Ensure there is enough time to do the experiment before the science fair. For example, most plants take weeks to grow. If your child is doing a project on plants, he or she will need to start early. Visit for more helpful tips.

Ask a question, continued Here’s a helpful resource to find a great project idea. Visit the Science Buddies website at to utilize these tools: – The Topic Selection Wizard This brief online survey recommends project ideas that are best for your child, based on his or her interests. – Project Ideas Pick from a huge selection of project ideas, organized by difficulty level, and featuring safety guidelines, materials lists, and required time for each project.

Do background research. Collect information. – Define what to look for. – Look in a variety of sources. – Key Goal: Obtain enough information to make a prediction of what will happen in the experiment.

Do background research, continued Organize research. – With organized research that is based on questions, the writing will flow. Use multiple sources, no copying. Writing should be focused on the project.

Construct a hypothesis. What is a hypothesis? An educated guess about the answer to a question. If/then: If I do [this], then [this] will happen. – “If I increase the temperature of water in a cup, then the more sugar will dissolve.”

Test the hypothesis by doing an experiment. Process – Part 1: Design an experimental procedure. Steps and materials should be spelled out. – Part 2: Do an experiment. Actual testing of hypothesis occurs, answering the question.

Do an experiment. Expectations – It’s ok if the first experiment goes wrong and your child has to modify the procedure. – It’s ok if the experiment disproves the hypothesis. – Safety, safety, safety! – It takes time!

Analyze the data and draw a conclusion. Example of a graph that draws a conclusion: How wind generator power changes with wind speed Wind Speed (m/sec) Power (kW)

Communicate results. You can find this diagram and a lot of helpful information about display boards at

How to Help Project Step Helping at the Right Level Going Too Far Ask a question. Discussing with your child whether a project idea seems practical. Picking an idea and science project for your child; a topic that isn't of interest to him or her will turn into a boring project. Do background research Taking your child to the library. Helping your child think of keywords for Internet searches. Doing an Internet search and printing out articles. Construct a hypothesis. Asking how the hypothesis relates to an experiment the child can do. Writing the hypothesis yourself.

How to Help - cont. Project StepHelping at the Right LevelGoing Too Far Test the hypothesis by doing an experiment. Assisting in finding materials. Monitoring safety (you should always observe any steps involving heat or electricity). Writing the experimental procedure. Doing the experiment, except for potentially unsafe steps. Telling your child step-by-step what to do. Analyze data and draw a conclusion. Asking how your child will record the data in a data table. Reminding your child to tie the data back to the hypothesis and draw a conclusion. Creating a spreadsheet and making the graphs yourself, even if your child helps type in values. Announcing the conclusion yourself. Communicate your results. If a presentation is assigned, acting as the audience. If a display board is assigned, helping bring it to school. Writing any of the text on the display board. Determining the color scheme and other graphic elements.

Conclusion Students will learn how to complete a well thought out project and learn how to use software to assist them in completing and tracking all step of their projects.

Thank You Mary Helen Cholka – Science Fair Coordinator, Grade 6 Omar Varela – Grades 6 & 7 Angelita Howell – Grade 7 Edrick Arreola – Grade 8 Adrian Carbajal – Grade 8