1. St. Mary’s Catholic School Science Fair 2013-2014 Student Kickoff

2. St. Mary’s Science Fair Resources you can call on  Teachers (Mrs. Cwalina & Mrs. Genth)  Science Fair Coordinators Mr. & Mrs. Grossbauer : (610-489-5598 / joe_grossbauer@msn.com ) joe_grossbauer@msn.com  Parents  Guidebook Take some time to read through it now, refer to it later

3. St. Mary’s Science Fair A Quick Review…

4. St. Mary’s Science Fair How do I start ? Choose a Topic  There are many different fields in science (GB pg 4-5). Pick something that interests you; it will make the project an enjoyable experience You can get ideas from books, your teachers, or just by looking around you and wondering how something works Use websites with “pre-canned” experiments as a last resort; the best projects tend to be those that were most creative, and designed by a student to test something that they were interested in

5. St. Mary’s Science Fair Follow the Scientific Method (GB pg 6-7)  The Scientific Method is a logical approach to performing an experiment  It starts with learning about the subject. Do some research on the subject. References are plentiful : Books Internet resources Experts Friends, neighbors, relatives

6. St. Mary’s Science Fair Spend time doing research  Books, Magazines, Internet sources, Experts  The more you know and understand the subject, the better you will be able to conduct the experiment, and then to be able to communicate it with others  Judges are looking for you to have understood your subject  A bibliography with 1 source is not sufficient research; MCSRC is looking for at least 5 sources Use the SMS Science Fair website as your first reference!

7. St. Mary’s Science Fair Follow the Scientific Method  Form a hypothesis A hypothesis is what you believe will be the answer to the question your experiment is trying to answer Examples :  I believe that the taller a cup of water, the longer it will take to freeze.  I believe that seeds will not germinate without light.

8. St. Mary’s Science Fair Follow the Scientific Method  Design the Experimental Procedure This is the set of instructions you will follow to test your hypothesis  If you were testing the “freezing cups of water” hypothesis, you might design an experiment that has you fill different sized cups with water, put them all in the freezer, and time to see how long each takes to freeze Remember, often times many factors can affect the outcome; change only one variable at a time  Does the location inside the freezer matter ?  Does the kind of cup (plastic, metal, paper) matter ? Execute multiple trials!! The procedure should be a recipe that someone else can follow

9. St. Mary’s Science Fair Follow the Scientific Method  Perform the Experiment Follow your instructions Repeat the experiment more than once Keep a journal  A logbook of your experiment trials. Mark down dates, data, anything else you think is important.  Note that all measurements and data need to be in metric units Change the procedure if something happens that you didn’t expect

10. St. Mary’s Science Fair Follow the Scientific Method  Analyze the data Look at the data you captured during your experiment Draw a graph, compute an average, etc to help understand the data  Draw a conclusion Is the answer to your hypothesis right or wrong ? Is there something more you should have done, or some other hypothesis that can be tested ?

11. St. Mary’s Science Fair Research Plans  Each student must submit a typed research plan (GB pg 8) Describes the experiment, the hypothesis being made along with the description of the experimental procedure Should include a bibliography of the resources used for researching the subject  Research plans must be approved by the teacher and science fair coordinator You will receive a feedback form approving or rejecting your experiment, along with some suggestions (GB pg 10)

12. Example Research Plan

13. St. Mary’s Science Fair As part of your project, we will ask you to complete and display an Abstract (GB pg7)  The abstract is done once your experiment is complete  A short report which gives the judges a quick overview of the project  It should be no more than 250 words  It should include The purpose A brief description of the procedure A review of the data and conclusions

14. St. Mary’s Science Fair Display (GB pg-11)  For the day of the science fair, all the experiments will be put on display  Your display should show all the major parts of doing the project. Make it look good ! Purpose Hypothesis Procedure Project Title Data Tables Photos Graphs Conclusion Bibliography Experimental Materials Journal Typical Display Setup Abstract

15. St. Mary’s Science Fair Display restrictions (GB pg-12) Displays can be no wider than 36” and no taller than 48” Do NOT place your name or the school name on your display Not allowed on/with your display :  Living things, including plants  Food  Chemicals including water  Glass or glass objects Take pictures and display the pictures  Photographs of people other than yourself or your immediate family are not allow Use Metric units for all measurements and data

17. St. Mary’s Science Fair Science Fair Day  Involves displaying & judging  Judges will be non-SMS people taken from various walks of life  Judges will score each of your experiments using the rubric in the GB pg13 Part of the judging will be an oral presentation

18. St. Mary’s Science Fair What areas do we need to focus on ?  Research Judges are looking for you to have understood your subject  Questions they’ll ask during oral judging  Looking for your bibliography, to see that you have researched your project using multiple sources; 5 resources are required  Journal / Logbook Keep and display the original It should be a record of everything you did; it’s ok if it includes mistakes made along the way. Many great things were discovered by mistake!

19. St. Mary’s Science Fair What areas should we focus on ?  Data analysis Don’t just list data, analyze and evaluate it Use graphs as appropriate to show your results  Display First thing anyone sees when they approach your project Make it eye-catching! Be creative

20. St. Mary’s Science Fair What does it mean to go to Montco Fair?  After our science fair is complete, we will be selecting a handful of projects to compete at the Montgomery County Science Research Competition (MCSRC)  The MCSRC works very similar to ours Judges review the project Judges perform an oral interview of the scientist  MCSRC is held March 13 th – 14 th DVSF Fair is April 1 st – April 3 rd

21. St. Mary’s Science Fair Certain kinds of experiments require approval from the MCSRC Science Committee before you are allowed to start  Any experiment that involves animals or humans This includes any experiment that involves surveys We are asking that NO projects involve ingestion – eating or drinking of anything  Done for safety reasons

22. St. Mary’s Science Fair There are a forms to be filled out (GB pg-9) When you submit your research plan, there are a couple of forms (simple!) for you to complete and submit  Your package will include a Research plan, Form 1A & 1B  Anything involving humans needs Form 4 too Depending upon your particular project, there may be other forms required; we will contact you if needed All forms are on the SMS Website There are some instructions in the guidebook, if you have any questions on the forms, just ask.

23. St. Mary’s Science Fair Calendar GB pg-3  Student KickoffSeptember 17, 2012  Research plans dueOctober 25, 2013  Projects DueJanuary 15, 2014  SMS Science FairJanuary 16, 2014

24. St. Mary’s Science Fair Final Reminder Notes Do research – many sources are available; you should have at least 5 Research plans need to be typed Return the required forms, including parent signatures No ingestion experiments please Keep a journal – record everything you do Change only one variable at a time Do a sufficient number of trials Units on your display must be in metric It’s OK if your hypothesis was wrong DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST WEEK TO WORK ON YOUR PROJECT!!

25. St. Mary’s Science Fair