Science Fair Projects

Choose a Topic Pick a topic that: Will be interesting. You will be able to complete in the required time.

Problem (Ask a Question) Write a Question that reflects your topic. Examples: How does caffeine affect the growth of a plant? What is the best stain remover? How does a microwave affect the reception of cell phones?

Purpose Write 1 to 3 sentences describing what you want to find out in this project. Example: The purpose of this project is to find out if a pea plant will grow taller when given caffeine rather than water. * This part is needed for your CONCLUSION.

Research Research should be designed to get background information about your topic, before you begin your experiment. Develop 3 questions that you want to answer about your topic. Try to use various sources for your research. Suggested sources (you need three!): Books Magazines Newspapers Internet

Hypothesis Make your guess Use your research to make an educated guess about how you think your experiment will turn out. Use the “ If __________ then _________ because ___________”format Example: If I pour 100ml of coffee on four pea plants and pour 100ml of water on another four pea plants, then I think the plants with coffee will grow taller because the caffeine will stimulate the plants.

Procedure Design your experiment Design your experiment so that they only test for one thing. Make sure that you do the same things to all groups of objects being tested. Example: If you are testing plants: Use the same seeds. Plant all of them with the same soil. Put them all in the same amount of light for the same amount of time. The only thing that should be different about the plants is that one received coffee and the other water.

Procedure To increase the validity of experiment Make sure to keep as many controls as you can Keep in mind sample size. The more objects in your sample the more valid your experiment. Use multiple trials. (At least FIVE.)

Procedure Write down step-by-step directions on how to do the experiment. Do not leave anything out! Be SPECIFIC!

Procedure DO NOT USE PRONOUNS Get 8 pea plants ( 100 cm tall). Place 4 pea plants on each tray. Label one set of plants “Caffeine”. Label the second set “Water”. Pour 100ml of coffee( with caffeine ) onto the soil of each plant twice a week. Pour 100ml of water onto the soil of each plant twice a week. Measure each plant with a metric ruler Record data in record book.

Materials Make a complete list of everything you will use in your experiment. Tell how many and how much of each object used. Use metric measures (cm, g, ml etc) only.

Identify the VARIABLES Independent Variable : liquid poured on plant Dependent Variable: growth of plant Controls: same plant, same soil and same amount of sunlight

Do your experiment. Have fun !

Make Charts and Graphs Display data using charts, tables, and graphs. Use the Graph Club or Inspiration program. Choose the correct graphs for your data. Bar-comparison/amounts Pie-percentage Line-change/time

Results Using your data write a paragraph about how your experiment turned out. Example: From reading the charts and graphs, Plant Group #1 grew an average of 40cm with 100ml of coffee. Plant Group #2 grew and average of 20cm with 100ml of water. The Plant Group that was given coffee grew 20cm more on the average than the Plant Group that was given water.

Conclusion Write a CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH. Restate the hypothesis and explain how you proved or falsified the hypothesis 1st Sentence: Purpose of the experiment. 2nd Sentence: Summarize your chart or graph. 3rd Sentence: Be sure to use the term “ The hypothesis was/was not supported. DO NOT say I was right/wrong. 4th Sentence: Indicate errors encountered during the experiment and suggest improvements. 5th Sentence: Suggest future considerations.

Future Considerations Tell what variable you would change if you could do the experiment again. Tell how you might take your experiment to the next step.

Conclusion Example: The purpose of this project is to find out if a pea plant will grow taller when given caffeine rather than water. The plants that were watered with coffee ( caffeine ) grew taller than those that were given water. The hypothesis that if I pour 100ml of coffee on four pea plants and pour 100ml of water on another four pea plants, then the plants with coffee will grow taller because the caffeine will stimulate the plants was supported. Therefore, caffeine has a positive effect on the growth of pea plants. This may be due the fact that caffeine is a stimulant. The caffeine could have stimulated the plant to grow.

Future Considerations Example If I could do this experiment again , the variable I would change would be the amount of caffeine I would place in each plant group. I would use 50ml for plant group #1, 100ml for plant group #2, and 150ml for plant group #3. I would also have three “control groups” of plants. One would get 50ml of water. One would get 100ml of water. And one would get 150ml of water. I want to see which amount of caffeine helps plants grow the tallest.

Make Your Board Start your information on the top left panel of the board, move down the left panel, across the middle panel, and from the top down on the right panel. Place pictures of your experiment on your board.

Make your Board

Science Fair Web Pages: Helpful Resources Science Fair Web Pages: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/index_A.htm Best site for help through out project! http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/fair.html This is a good site explaining the parts of a science fair project. http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/jtindell/ A web site for children to use in setting up their science fair project http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral A great site! It has info for parents, teachers, and students. It has project ideas, research tools, and tip sheets for all kinds of projects.

Bringing It Together Keys for success: Make a time-line and stick to it. Parental support Organization

References *education.com- science fair project ideas Field that you are interested: Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Earth Science, Genetics *science buddies Science Buddies Topics Selection Wizard Kids.gov science fair project ideas Science Fair Projects World (www.sciencefair-projects.org)