How to get started By Mrs. Livermore M.S.L.S, M.Ed. Science Fair Research How to get started By Mrs. Livermore M.S.L.S, M.Ed.

Practice, refine and practice some more Getting started Prepare a research folder Write experimental question Gather background information Gather research information (8) Prepare research paper Write the abstract Have an adult read it Is it testable? Is there enough research? Become an expert Scholarly work Introduction, Research & Process , Conclusion Between 100 to 250 words It’s a summary of your project Practice, refine and practice some more

Experimental question Can it be tested? How does the shape of a parachute affect the speed as it falls? Can I find enough research information? Is there enough Print & Non-print information about parachutes? Create guiding research questions What is the standard shape of a parachute? What is a good dropping distance? What is a parachute made of? How does it work? Prepare regular and null hypothesis Use “If …. Then ….” format on both hypothesis.

Regular & Null hypothesis Regular hypothesis: If I built a parachute with 3 different shapes circle, triangle, square then the circle will decrease the descending speed. Null hypothesis: (Disproves your hypothesis) If I built a parachute with 3 different shapes circle, triangle, square then the square will decrease the descending speed. Dependent Variable: (measured) the descending speed Independent Variables: (the things that change) the parachute shapes

Publisher’s information: Gather Information Using Databases Britannica online GALE Using the web Scholarly sites only Gather citation information Citation machine Print Citation Author’s name Title of book Publisher’s information: name, city & date Non-print Citation Author’s name Title of website Title of article URL address Date retrieved

Research paper guidelines Research paper in MLA style Use 1-inch top, bottom, and side margins 12 font point (do not use a fancy font) The heading appears on the first page : on upper left margin Use double space on the entire paper Indent at the beginning of each paragraph When writing a direct quote double tap and write the quotation inside quotation marks Page numbering in bottom right corner

Work cited page or Bibliography use a hanging indent after 1st line of a citation Double space separate each citation Use 12 inch font Do not use a fancy font Alphabetize by first letter B C D E G

Writing the abstract Brief summary of your project Between 100 and 250 words One or two sentence introduction Re-state the hypothesis and the key points of the experiment Describe the results (3 sentences) 1 to 2 sentence conclusion

Final Checklist A Sweepstakes award has… Originality Scholarly sources stating your research Hypothesis clearly stated Process is complete and not it isn’t vague Results of experiment displayed in various formats Are they clearly explained? Do you have colorful visuals? Know your project and prepare for possible questions from the judges! All research is backed up by list of citations Does your project meet all district standards? No grammatical or syntax errors!!! Dress for success Eighth-grader Sean Farrel from Dahlstrom Middle School. Photo courtesy of Hays Free Press

References WORK CITED "MLA formatting and style guide." Purdue Online writing lab. Purdue University, 2012. Web. 5 Oct 2012. Non print <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/>. Middle School Science Fair Feb. 9. 2012. Photograph. Hays Free Press, Kyle . <http://haysfreepress.com/2012/02/09/coming-up-020812/>. Non print Walker, Janice. "Instructions to Format a Manuscript following Modern Language Association (MLA) Style in Microsoft Word 2007." Janice R. Walker, 25 June 2012. Web. 5 Oct 2012. <http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~jwalker/tutorials/mlaword2007.html>. Non print