Happy Science Fair: From Horror to Happy in Four (or so) Easy Steps Anderson Mill Elementary School October 2, 2014 

The Four Easy Steps 1. Choose a kid friendly question (and have the student answer it!). 2.Start early and follow a reasonable timeline. 3.Make it good science. 4.Think like a science fair judge.

Choose a kid friendly question (and have the student answer it!) Step One

Step Two Start early and follow a reasonable timeline

Step Three Make it good science

It’s ok if it doesn’t turn out the way you hypothesized. That’s science!

Step Four The title should be the question that’s being investigated. Focus on neat and “followable.” If you have to make it pretty, do it with data display and relevant digital pictures. Include the data and an explanation of what it means. (Check out this site for making graphs: createAGraph/ createAGraph/ ) Focus on science fundamentals. Follow the rules! Think like a science fair judge

The Rules A few surprises… Your project may NOT have plants or plant parts with it. Your project may NOT have any food with it. Your project may NOT have any liquids with it. Your project MAY have teeth, hair, nails, or dried animal bones with it. Yuck! The bottom line (Get it?! The bottom line!): Take pictures.

Title in the Form of a Question Results This tells us what happened. This should include evidence of at least 3 trials and can contain both quantitative (numbers) and qualitative (observations) results. This is a good place for pictures. Data This section should include labeled tables and/or graphs. This is a good section in which to garner higher presentation points with good looking, color graphs. Sites such as kids/createAgraph/defa ult.aspx are a good source. kids/createAgraph/defa ult.aspx Purpose/ Problem What is the student trying to find out? Research This can be experiential. “I have noticed that when….” Hypothesis What do you think will happen? This should be testable and based on the research! Procedures This is what you did. This should be listed out step- by-step. Variables should be noted. Materials Listed alphabetically. This section could be in the middle column, too. Summary of Results/ Discussion The data in a nutshell. What does it all mean? Conclusion What did you learn? Was the hypothesis supported or not? What would the student do differently next time? What other experiments would the student like to do based on these results? Acknowledgments This is where you credit the people that helped (parents, teachers, etc) by telling what part they played in the project. This can also serve as a place to reference items utilized for the research section.

Results, Data, Summary Pictures Data tables Notes Graphs No opinions – just the facts!

Conclusion BASED ON YOUR DATA was your hypothesis supported or not? What would you change next time? Your thoughts