1. Stoney Creek Science Fair Information

2. Why Should You Do A Project? You will learn to think like a scientist. Real world application Hands-on approach to learning Allows students to investigate what they are interested in Doing a project can be lots of fun!

3. #1- The Planning Phase Most detailed part…includes: Log Book…..Log Book…..Log Book Log Book…..Log Book…..Log Book Deciding what to do Science Fair project must be an experiment; it cannot simply be a demonstration project. Doing some research Forming a hypothesis Writing out the experiment plan KEY: Keep It Simple!!

4. What’s the difference between and experiment and a demonstration A science fair project asks a “what if” question, which leads to a variable and eventually finding an answer or at the very least, a big discovery. A science demonstration is used to illustrate a science concept. See this website for addition information on how to turn a demonstration into an experiment. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/scie nce-fair-secrets/science-fair-911-demonstrations- vs-experiments/ http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/scie nce-fair-secrets/science-fair-911-demonstrations- vs-experiments/

5. #2- The Experimentation Phase The FUN part…includes: Hands-on….Hands-on…….Hands-on Actually conducting the experiment Collecting and recording the data Seeing if the hypothesis was correct

6. #3- The Artistic Phase The creative part…includes: Presentation……Presentation Putting the information on a Tri-fold board Having an organized plan Creating a display

7. Resources A to Z Science http://school.discoveryeducation.com/science faircentral/ http://school.discoveryeducation.com/science faircentral/ http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/ http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/ http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/

8. Working Together Students Work Responsibility Parents Encourage Answer questions Supervise safety Come to the fair! Teachers Step-by-step assignments Checkpoints graded along the way Science Fair Success

9. DateIn class Due on Monday of that week Parent signature week of March 10th We will kick off science fair by setting up log books and discussing how to find topics, write testable questions and how to write a hypothesis week of March 17th We will model how to create variables and how to write materials and procedures Question and Hypothesis page 1 week of March 24th We will start our class science project. During this time we will model how to collect data and write observation notes Variables, Materials and Procedures page 2 week of March 31st We will continue our class science project Materials and Procedures check #2 Pages 4-5 week of April 7th We will model writing a conclusion and putting together a science presentation board. Materials, Procedures and Data Check week of April 14 th Spring Break Week of April 21st Teacher will grade projects using the rubric and students will do class presentation. Completed Projects due to your classroom teacher on Monday April 24th Thursday Night Science Fair Night 6:00-7:30

10. Ask a question. This is the foundation or Problem Statement If your child identifies a question that is safe and can be answered through experimentation, the rest of the project will follow. A good question can be investigated (tested) and contains variables. A poor question is merely a demonstration or is too general. Problem statement must be approved by the teacher before continuing with the project. Be sure this is NOT a demonstration. It MUST test data.

11. Hypothesis The student will predict what is going to be the results of the investigation. The hypothesis should not be changed if it is incorrect. – The hypothesis is just an educated guess. Must be stated using “if”, “then” and “because” statement. – Example: “ If Brawny, Viva, and Bounty paper towels are tested for their absorbency, then Bounty will absorb the most water. I believe this because Bounty is “The quicker picker upper.”

12. Variables These are all the factors that affect the investigation. There are three types of variables: – Independent Variable: what changes, – Dependent Variable: what happens by itself, what you are measuring – Controlled Variable: what stays the same. The variables MUST be labeled on the display board in the materials list.

13. DATA!! DATA!! DATA!! 5 min10 min15 min20 min25 min30 min35 min40 min45 min Masking Tape1301201091089688 84 Aluminum Foil140128118111102100989190 Plasic Baggie13712011210810088 86 Electrical Tape13612011011199928886 Paper13112011010498929086

14. Display Board Must be tri fold Use the display board checklist from Science Buddies to insure that your board is complete. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair- projects/project_display_board.shtml#checklist http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair- projects/project_display_board.shtml#checklist

15. Display Board must have the following: Your completed display board should include these components: 1. Title Be creative! 2. Question 3. Hypothesis What was your prediction about your experiment? Be sure to write your hypothesis as an "If... then..." statement. 4. Procedure Write it as if someone else will be following your directions to repeat this experiment. You may include a list of Materials as well, if you have room on your board. 5. Results Include your observations. Include any data you gathered from your experiment. Organize data into graphs and tables. 6. Conclusion What did you learn? Was your hypothesis correct?

16. Example of a Display Board

17. Conclusion Students write about the results of the investigation – Ask yourself these questions before writing your conclusion 1.Did you get the results you expected to get? If not how were the results different? 2.Were there any unexpected problems or occurrences that may have affected the results of your investigation? 3.Do you think you collected sufficient data? (Were there enough trials? Samples?) 4.Do I need to revise my original hypothesis? (If you write a revised hypothesis, DO NOT use it to replace your original hypothesis for this project!

18. Oral Presentations During the week that the Display Board is due, students will be required to present their projects orally to the class. It is important that students follow the guidelines in the handouts to ensure that they meet all of the requirements for this assignment. Students MUST NOT read the information from the board. They need to address their classmates and maintain eye contact to demonstrate their knowledge of their project.

19. Scoring and Judging K-5 Class projects will be judged by an external team of judges. One class per grade level will be designated a winner (rubric to follow) 4-5 student projects will be judged using the rubric found in this power point. Classroom teachers will score the projects of their class and determine a first and second place winner for their classroom. Judges will then determine 4-5 grade level 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd place winners from among the classroom winners. Individual school winners (1 st place and 2 nd place) will come from the 6 (3 fourth grade and 3 fifth grade) grade level winners

20. Science Fair Night Thursday April 24 th 6:00 – 7:30 K-3 – Class project boards will be set up in (TBD) 4-5 – Class project and individual project boards must be set up in the classroom by 5:45 (Classroom winners by 4:30 for judging) From 6:00 – 7:00 boards will be available for parents to review in the classrooms. For 4 th and 5 th grade, the boards of the top 2 from each classroom will be in the hall way for judging to determine grade level and overall winners. 7:00 – 7:30 - Parents will gather in the multipurpose room for a presentation and the K-5 class project winners will be announced along with the 4-5 individual winners and the overall winners for the school

21. Science Fair Grading Rubric Project Research 108642 Topic is ability appropriate Challenging for studentMostly challenging Somewhat challenging Little challengeNo challenge Originality Mostly originalOver half original ideaHalf original idea Idea mostly someone else’s Idea totally someone else’s Introduction Clearly communicates why project was selected and analyzes the project Tells why project was selected and analyzes the project Analyzes project but fails to tell why project was selected Does not clearly analyzes project or tell why project selected Introduction very limited Materials are complete All materials are listed Missing two items or less Missing five items or less Major materials missing (>5) Most materials not listed Hypothesis Clear sentence format as guide for observing Sentence is unclear but still a guide for observing Somewhat a guide for observing Poor guide for observing Unclear lacking sentence format Procedure Clear, uses appropriate instruments, someone could easily replicate Missing 1-2 stepsMissing 3-4 stepsMissing 5-6 stepsVery unclear Data Data is dated, classified clearly, attractively and organized Data is dated, classified clearly and organized but not attractive Data is dated, classified clearly but not attractive or organized Data is present but difficult to understand Data is limited and hard to follow Sample Size used Procedure replicated accurately to show trends Procedure replicated at least 5 trials Procedure replicated with at least 3 trials Sample size inadequate Sample size very inadequate Conclusion Includes a computer generated graph, a complete verbal summary, and addresses the hypothesis Includes a complete verbal summary and addresses the hypothesis Includes a verbal summary and addresses the hypothesis Addresses the hypothesis with a limited verbal summary Only addresses the hypothesis Bibliography Has three diverse sources correctly cited Has three diverse sources but has 1-2 errors in citation format Has three diverse sources with major errors in citation format Has three sources with incomplete bibliography information Does not have three sources Presentation attention getting Nice use of color and graphics Uses some graphics and color Limited use of graphics but good color Limited use of color and little to no graphics Very plain with little color Free of spelling and grammar errors 2 or less errors3-4 errors5-6 errors7-8 errors9 or more errors

22. Overall Project 108531 Creativity, Colorful and Neatness, Pictures/Tables/ Graphs readability, Original Very neat and creative with multiple charts or graphs, very original. Creative with a chart or graph and neatly put together. Display board complete, not very neat, missing graph or pictures Not creative or neatly put together. Lacking chart or graph. Bare minimum done on display board. Accuracy, Clear Descriptions, Experimental Steps and Data, Clear Results and Conclusion Clear and complete with no missing information Clear and only minimal missing information Pretty clear and some information is missing Unclear and major information missing Very unclear with things missing Attended Science FairBonus 5 points Log Book 60 pointsComplete and checked off on time 55 points1 part late 50 pointsMissing 1 part or 2 parts late 45 points3 parts late 40 pointsMissing 2 parts or 4 parts late 35 points5 parts late 30 pointsMissing 3 parts 20 pointsBook turned in with 75 % missing 0 pointsNo book turned in Total Points Possible 200Your Points _______+______=_______