How to do a Science Fair Project Prepared by: Alice Sanford NMGK12 Fellow, The University of Mississippi

What is a Science Fair Project? A Science Fair Project is an experiment that answers a question about a topic that you are interested in.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD 1.Observation: You observe a problem that you want answered. 2.Question: Ask a question about what you observe. 3.Hypothesis: You predict what you think the answer will be. 4.Experiment: Perform an experiment that will answer your question. 5.Results: Record your results. 6.Conclusion:

Where do you start? Ask and Plan FIRST, ASK your parents for permission! PLANNING is the key to a great Science Fair Project. Let your parents or teachers help you plan out what you want to do! Keep a journal.

Where do you start? Choose a topic First ask yourself, What am I interested in? Music, cooking, books, …? Check out some of the lists of project ideas from the handouts Choose a project on a subject that you are interested in!!

Now that I have Chosen a topic… READ!!! Read all of the information you can find on your topic. Ask for your parents’ help! Keep a record of where all the information came from!!!

Your Question Choose a question that has a one word answer or a YES or NO answer. CURIOSITY!!! Your question is never too simple to investigate!

Your Hypothesis What do you think the answer will be? Why?

Experiment Perform an experiment that will answer your question and hypothesis. Let your parents watch, too!

Record Results Keep records of what is happening in your experiment! Keeping data is very important for your final result!

Why do I have to do it two or more times? If you performed the experiment only once, you might have made a mistake. ALWAYS do your experiment more than once to be sure it is accurate

Important Things to Remember: From the very beginning, Keep notes on your project. Write down what you do each time you work on it. This will help you write your report. Keep up with where your information came from!!

CAUTION!!! NEVER!! copy someone’s project! Use the ideas to make your own project. You can use the same project, just do the work yourself!

Remember Your teachers and parents will be happy to help you!!! But do the work yourself!!! Make sure that the results of your experiment answers the question you have asked!