Science Project: Some Pointers & Suggestions BY Norman Howell A Teaching Scientist

We are naturally Curios Curiosity makes us Wonder. Why did that happen. What would happen if I did this. or Wow look at this. Follow your curiosity. Read about what you see or wonder about. Use internet, library, newspapers and magazines. Ask your Librarian or Teacher or perhaps Mom or Dad. Called Literature Search—Every Scientist does it.

Eureka “I found it” “AHA” “Yes” “let’s try this” Many times you will find your answer but it will generate more questions. Give yourself some time to search and read. This will naturally lead to your “AHA” “Yes” “let’s try this” You have something to explore.

Idea has to be testable What causes gravity? Not testable What causes a rainbow? Testable. Need right kind of experiment. May need to try several different kinds of experiments--try different approaches--come from a different angle. You will find a way. Use your imagination. Reading is the biggest help.

HYPOTHESIS Your best educated guess. If (this variable is changed) then (this is the predicted result). Needs to be a complete sentence. Change only one variable at a time. Use the IF…… THEN…. Format.

The Experiment Materials List equipment and materials used to conduct the experiment. Do not get too detailed on materials used. Focus on what is used to run the experiment. Procedure Describe how you conducted the experiment. Stepwise procedure but can do several things in one step. Do not get overly detailed.

EXPERIMENT cont. Run the experiment and collect data and observations. DATA This is measurements such as mass, distance, time, volume, etc. Use the metric system of mass and measures. OBSERVATIONS What you see, hear, feel(touch), smell or taste. You smell very carefully and you NEVER TASTE—you will not live long.

Experimental Data Record your measurements (data) in a table. Tables have a complete sentence title. Table 1: Distance traveled in cm vs. time in seconds. Trial Distance in cm Time in seconds 1 45.3 4.5 2 44.8 4.2 3 45.9 4.6 4 44.2 4.0 5 45.5 Totals 225.7 21.8 Average 45.14 = 45.1 4.36 = 4.4

Calculations Your calculator does only computations. You DO NOT MEASURE with a calculator. So when your calculator gives you lots of numbers, remember they are NOT measurements. No more numbers in your calculated value than in best measurement. 45.14 is only a 45.1 measurement. 4.36 is only a 4.4 measurement. Rounding

Analysis/ Discussion/ Interpretation Numbers in a Table need analysis and interpretation. Do this by making a picture called a Graph. Graphs are called Figures. Figures are numbered. Figure 1, Figure 2, etc. Figures are given a simple sentence title. Figure 1: Graph of distance in cm vs. time in seconds (s) for 3 different round objects.

Figure 1: Graph of distance in cm vs Figure 1: Graph of distance in cm vs. time in seconds for four different balls.

Analysis of Graph The graph illustrates the distances various balls move in time. The steel ball goes the farthest in nine seconds and the ping pong ball the shortest distance in nine seconds. (Notice that the data does NOT start with zero. Your data may start anywhere on the graph.) You need a legend to identify each line.

Conclusion The Hypothesis was proven (true, false). Half true is false but needs more explanation. May need to revise your hypothesis and run the experiment again. Scientists do this all the time. Many, many experiments in one report. You need to find the right experiment by trial and error.

Further Work Further experimentation would provide more information on the movement of a round object made of different materials. This would help figure out why some balls roll farther and faster or slower than other balls. You learn from each experiment and the next one is better. You revise your hypothesis based on what you learned from the previous experiments. Scientists do this many times to get an answer.

Poster Pointers Print size no less than 22-26 point. You need to be able to read everything on your poster from a distance of 1 meter/yard. Never use the color yellow unless you have a very dark background. Use the fewest words possible. Not a story with character development. The objects have no character.

Poster Pointers cont. NEVER use the word “I”. You are not the experiment. Science writing is always done in 3rd person. “I” is 1st person. Graph lines must not fall on top of each other. You cannot see them if this happens. Need to use another graph or expand the values on the Y axis. Instead of 0,5,10 etc.use 0,2.5, 5.0 etc.

Final Words Give yourself time to read, think and experiment. Enjoy what you are doing, that makes it fun. Keep it simple. Use short sentences. Make your poster pleasing to the eye. If at first you don’t succeed then try, try again. Best wishes, good experimentation, and enjoy yourself. Mr. Norman Howell