What to have in order to create a winning science fair project!

Why do I care about this? If you are one of the lucky 18 selected to go to the County Science Fair you get to miss a day of School and visit USA’s campus to set up your experiment. Cash prizes for County Winners Experience for High School Science Fair

All science fair projects must follow the scientific method. Ask a question Develop a hypothesis Test the hypothesis with an experiment Analyze data from the experiment Form a conclusion

What will be the hardest part? The hardest part of the science project will be choosing a topic Interests Hobbies Curiosity

Topics that are Not Allowed Studies involving human test subjects Studies involving invertebrate and vertebrate animals Toxic substances Alcohol Tobacco Illegal Drugs

Stay away from these, they are not Science Experiments Volcanoes/ Earthquakes, Tornadoes Product tests (Which popcorn pops the most popcorn?, Which toothpaste whitens the best?, Which batteries last longer?, What brand of cookie has the most chocolate chips?, Which diaper is the most absorbent?) How does something work? (How does a battery work?)

Asking the Question Once you have decided on a topic it is time to develop a question that will be answered in your science project. Example: Which type of soft drinks will float in water?

Developing a Hypothesis Change your question to an if/then statement. Keep in mind any prior knowledge you have about your topic when developing your hypothesis Example: If a can of diet soda is placed in water, then it will float.

Experiment The Experiment is testing your hypothesis. It is like a recipe with specific directions. It contains a series of steps to follow with precise times, amounts, and sizes of items you are using.

Sample Experiment Materials Needed: 2 different brand cans of non-diet soda; 2 different brand cans of diet soda; 3 gallons of water; 4 gallon container to hold 3 gallons of water Experiment: The 4 gallon container should be filled with 3 gallons of water. All 4 cans of soda should be placed into the 4 gallon container of water. Data should be collected and recorded.

Record and Analyze Data While performing your experiment you should be recording any measurements or observations that you make Once the experiment is finished you can use your data to create graphs, charts, or data tables Type of Soda Float Sink Coca Cola X Diet Coke Pepsi Diet Pepsi

Making a Conclusion Your conclusion should: Tell what happened in the experiment Tell if your hypothesis was supported by the results Answer questions that came up during the experiment State any other information discovered during the experiment.

Sample Conclusion In the experiment, the diet sodas were the sodas that floated. I thought that the diet sodas would have floated because they did not contain as much sugar as non-diet sodas. The diet sodas were less dense than the water which made them float.

Abstract The abstract needs to answer the following questions: The abstract is a summary of your entire project. It should include no more than 250 words. The abstract needs to answer the following questions: What did you investigate? Why did you choose this topic? What was your hypothesis? How was your hypothesis supported by research? How did you test your hypothesis? What were your results? Did your results agree with your hypothesis?

Display Board Board size must be 24 x 36 inches Standard size from Wal-Mart

Items not allowed on display board: Living organisms, including plants Preserved animals Human or animal food Plant materials (living or dead) Water Lab/household chemicals Controlled substances, including tobacco Hazardous devices Sharp items Flames

designing your experiment Go out and have fun designing your experiment