Science Fair Information No notes. Courtesy of Science Buddies: Providing free science fair project ideas, answers, and tools for serious students. Visit us online at www.sciencebuddies.org. April 7, 2008 Copyright ©2008 Kenneth Lafferty Hess Family Charitable Foundation. All rights reserved.

Introduction All 6th, 7th , and 8th graders must complete a science fair project at ELMS. Start thinking about what your topics are going to be. Take this time to thank the parents for coming, introduce yourself, and briefly explain the history of science fairs in your school. Encourage parents to take notes on their outlines and to ask you any questions as you go along.

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. If available, go ahead and provide parents with the date of the science fair and the date of the kickoff.

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 No notes.

Student Benefits, continued Integrates skills they’ve learned in other classes: Math skills Computer skills Research skills Writing and presentation skills No notes.

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 The school fair is the first step in the competitions that lead up to the international level, where prizes total over $3,000,000 and the top winners take home $50,000 scholarships. These competitions are for middle school and above. But even doing projects at the elementary level gets students ready to participate at these fairs later on. Preparing a science fair project is an excellent example of what education experts call active learning or inquiry (also, hands-on learning). It is a very effective instructional method; indeed, it is recommended as a cornerstone of successful science teaching. Yet, according to the National Research Council, active learning is not employed often enough in the classroom and its absence is seen as one of the key factors behind kids losing interest in science and not performing to their potential.

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. No notes.

What do the students need to do? No notes.

Overview 6 Science Fair Project Steps Ask a question. Do background research. Construct a hypothesis. Test the hypothesis by doing an experiment. Analyze the data and draw a conclusion. Communicate the results. Elementary school students, depending on age or skill-set, may or may not do background research.

Log Book Your will document your experiment, thoughts, ideas, actions, and conclusions in a Log book. This is like a journal. There are strict guidelines on keeping your log book. The book must have at least 30 logs.

Ask a question. This is the foundation. If you identify a question that is safe and can be answered through experimentation, the rest of the project will follow. Avoiding the shaky foundation: at this point, each student will fill out a project proposal, which is a rough map of where they plan to head. It is critical for me to evaluate each one so that the students can re-do their questions at this point, if it they are not practical or not safe.

Ask a question, continued How to Pick a Good Question The question should be interesting enough 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 you choose to do a project on plants, you will need to start early. Visit www.sciencebuddies.org for more helpful tips. No notes.

Ask a question, continued Here’s a helpful resource to find a great project idea. Visit the Science Buddies website at www.sciencebuddies.org to utilize these tools: The Topic Selection Wizard This brief online survey recommends project ideas that are best for you, based on your 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. The Topic Selection Wizard step will occur during class.

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. We will give students a worksheet to help them collect information. For example, one of the tables on the worksheet will help them brainstorm possible questions. Then students are asked to go through and pick the most relevant ones.

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. This is a key opportunity for the student to learn about ethics and how to avoid plagiarism.

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.” No notes.

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. No notes.

Do an experiment. Expectations It’s ok if the first experiment goes wrong and you have to modify the procedure. It’s ok if the experiment disproves the hypothesis. Safety, safety, safety! It takes time! No notes.

Analyze the data and draw a conclusion. Example of a graph that draws a conclusion: How wind generator power changes with wind speed. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 30 40 50 60 Wind Speed (m/sec) Power (kW) The graph shows that the power a generator is able to produce increases by the cube of the wind speed.

Writing the paper The paper will contain all the parts of the experiment. The paper must be 3-5 pages not including the following: Cover page Abstract Table of contents Acknowledgements Sources/bibliography

Research paper sections Cover Page Table of contents Abstract Background information (Introduction) Question and Hypothesis Experiment and Data Materials Procedures Data/Analysis Conclusions Acknowledgements bibliography

Communicate results. You can find this diagram and a lot of helpful information about display boards at www.sciencebuddies.org. The display board tells a story from left to right, generally on three panels. It mimics the steps in the scientific method and is a combination of written material, as well as photos, charts, diagrams, and graphs.

Have fun! Have fun! Mention a clear next step. The kickoff will be on [DATE] Parents will receive an information packet with a letter, tips on how to support their child throughout the process, and a copy of the student assignment timeline.

The Final Product Backboard Paper Logbook Experiment (if applicable)