Please keep in mind that the student should be able to orally present his research and explain the project.
1. What makes a great Science Fair Project
A. Project should contain one or more of the following qualities
1. A topic that is relevant to a concern of the day
2. A topic that fits into one of the science and engineering categories.
a. Behavior and social sciences
b. Biochemistry
c. Botany
d. Chemistry
e. Computer science
f. Earth and space science
g. Engineering
h. Environmental sciences
i. Mathematics
j. Medicine and health
k. Microbiology
l. Physics
m. Zoology
3. A much researched topic
4. The key to finding a topic is simple. Have your child pick a scientific area in which they are interested. Have them think about their experiences.
a. After they have explored their experiences, look in the newspaper, scientific magazines, the internet.
1. On AOL, type in keyword HOMEWORK HELP , You can ask questions in the science category and get answers from teachers.
b. Keep a notebook of science ideas and questions. This can be a journal, that can be useful as time goes on.
1. This should begin once a topic is chosen. This will contain all of the information about everything you are learning and doing on the project. Jot down everything, people interviewed, books read, articles pertaining to the topic, etc. Keep track of any important information so you don’t have to research things twice.
Anything potentially dangerous to the public is prohibited. No animal parts or photographs containing animals in “other than normal” conditions. No human or animal foods, chemicals, etc. (exceptions allowed are: teeth, hair, nails, dried animal bones, dry mount sections, and wet mount tissue slides)
c. Once you have a topic you must decide if you have enough time to research and experiment before the date of the science fair. Once you have your question, plan to do extensive research on the topic. Your question may change several times before the deadline date. As you do your research, you may find that your idea has been done many times or that someone else invented what you had in mind. You may have to think of a different angle or a better idea.
5. The development of a better technique
6. The development of a better final product
7. A well researched and thought-out project
2. Use the Scientific Method
A. The scientific method is the cornerstone of the Science fair project. It is used to do an experiment in an organized fashion.
1. The steps to the scientific method are:
a. Asking a question
b. Researching
c. Hypothesis
1. Forming an educated guess as to what the conclusion will be.
2. Needs to be proven or disproved
d. Gathering and listing the necessary materials.
e. Doing the experiment or executing the procedure.
1. Always use the metric system
2. You must correlate your information by comparing 2 or more variables.
a. The variables may be Dependent ( can be measured) or Independent )you can control or manipulate)
3. You need a control group in order to do an experiment (base used for comparing an experimental group)
a. A control group is given the same exact treatment as the experimental group with the exception of what you are manipulating.
b. Change only one variable at a time when experimenting.
f. Observing the results.
g. Organizing the data and stating a conclusion (The answer to the original question)
1. The organization of data can be in the form of a chart or graph. The results can be seen at a glance. The conclusion summarizes your project and it is here that you note if your results differ from your hypothesis. Give a detailed explanation.
3. The Display board
A. The Display board should display all the major parts of your science project.
1. Your Display board should be 2 or 3 sided
2. Should contain the following headings
a. Project Title
b. Hypothesis
c. Procedure
1. Listing of materials used and how they were used
d. Experiment
1. What your control group was and how you manipulated the other groups
e. Data
1. What your actual results were, or what happened during the experiment.
f. Conclusion
1. Summarize your information in no more than 250 words.
2. State whether your hypothesis was correct.