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What Is a Science Project?
Scientists all over the world make new discoveries by using the scientific method. Now, you can join their ranks! A science project is your chance to choose a subject of interest to you and study it in the exact same way that a professional scientific researcher would.
This year we decided to have a Science Expo at our school. The aim of this expo is to make teacher, learners and parents more aware of our world and the importance of science in this world we are living in.
Explore Your World
The whole point of a Science Expo is to give you a chance to explore on your own. Exploration can be a lot of fun.
You can look at your textbook to get some ideas. This will be a very good starting point for your project. Please keep in mind that these topics are only a guideline. There are many topics or themes from which you can choose from.
You must follow the SCIENTIFIC METHOD when doing the project.
The topics of the project can be of anything scientifically related and you must be able to present your information by means of a verbal report and a visual display. You must know what you are talking about and be able to answer questions from the judges.
The school will provide you with some materials. Your parents may have to provide materials as well.
We encourage that the whole family gets involved in this project over the April holidays.
The due date for this will be on 6 May 2015.
You will bring your projects to school and present it in your class. The best projects will be on display in the hall on 8 May 2015 for the parents to view.
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SCIENCE EXPO PROPOSAL FORM
BUCCLEUCH PRIMARY SCHOOL
NAME: ______
GRADE: ______
TEACHER: ______
Science Expo Project Information:
This year all learners will do experiments or projects.
SCIENCE FAIR TOPIC:
The big question! What do you want to find out? Describe your project.
______
______
Parent/Guardian Authorisation:
______
Parent/Guardian Name (Please Print) Date
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Getting Started
Step 1: Coming up with a Good Question…
Find Out More
To begin the brainstorming process, think about scientific topics you’ve always wanted to know more about.
From the list of topics that you brainstormed, choose five subjects that interest you most. Not all of these subjects have to be developed into an experiment; this is just a list of ideas of things that you may like to learn more about.
Now that you have picked out a topic that you like and that you are interested in, it’s time to write a question or identify a problem within that topic.
Step 2 : Doing the Research and forming a Hypothesis
Investigative Question
So you’ve chosen a topic. You even wrote a question in your journal. Now it is time to research your problem as much as possible. Becoming an expert at your topic is what real scientists do in real labs.When you’ve chosen five possible topics, you’ll want to figure outwhat you want to know about each topic. Your investigative question is what you intend to find out during the course of your experiment.
Using the topics you brainstormed earlier, you will choose arelated question that your experiment will answer.
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If you still need more ideas, here is a list websites that you can check out about science expo projects to give you even more ideas.
Websites
Internet Public Library
Discovery.com: Science Fair Central
Science Fair Idea Exchange
guestbook.html
Cyber-Fair
Try Science
The Yuckiest Site in the Internet
Experimental Science Projects: An Introductory
Level Guide
Gateway to Educational Materials: Science Fair Projects
projects.html
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The only variable you would change from plant to plant would be the amount of water it received. This is called the independentor manipulated variable. The independent variable is the factor you are testing. The results of the test that you do are called the dependent or responding variables. The responding variable is what happens as a result of your test. Knowing what your variables are is very important because if you don’t know them you won’t be able to collect your data or read your results.
Fourth: TEST, TEST, TEST. Remember that the judges expect your results to be consistent in order to be a good experiment, in other words, when you cook from a recipe you expect the outcomes to be the same if you followed the directions (or procedure) step by step. Don’t forget to take pictures of the science project being done and the results.
Fifth: Collect your DATA. This means write down or record the results of the experiment every time you test it. Be sure You also need to organize it in a way that it is easy to read the results. Most scientists use tables, graphs and other organisers to show their results. Organising makes the results easy to read, and much easier to recognize patterns that might be occurring in your results. (Besides, it impresses the judges when you use them.)
Step 4: Analysis
In this step ask the question, "What happened?" It is necessary to use your journal to record the following:
1. Data collected.
2. Observations made during the experiment (for comparison when you repeat the experiment).
a. What steps were important for the experiment?
b. What did I do that had the greatest effect on the experiment? The least? No effect?
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Here’s how the information is organized on the display shown
above:
• Top Left This section provides basic background information and introduces the purpose and hypothesis of the project.
• Bottom Left This section briefly explains the procedure that was followed (review your Procedural Plan for Action).
• Right-hand Panel Brief written summaries of the data and the conclusions are located on this panel. The research is displayed so that it is obvious that the data support the conclusions.
• Center The middle panel contains the title of the project and the name, grade, and school of the researcher.
Charts, graphs, photographs, and other illustrations are displayed here.
• Keep It Simple The display touches on all aspects of the project, but keeps the information general. The details of the project belong in the written report.
Summarize It! You’ll want to prepare a summary of what you did.
You can do this by following the steps below.
• Explain why your subject interested you.
• Define the hypothesis you developed.
• Describe how you decided what type of data to collect.
• Summarize the data you actually collected.
• Explain the conclusions you drew after you analyzed the data.
• Describe to the judges what you would do differently if you had another chance, and tell them why.
Good luck!!
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- How are the oral and written presentations? Does the learner understand their project or did they simply copy information out of a book?
1) Write a detailed paper.
2) Display your information using various graphs and charts.
3) Acknowledge all of your sources.
4) Know your subject matter and give a confident oral presentation.
If you fully understand what it is that you studied, your presentation will be smooth and easy. Have no fear, you will do great!
8 / BUCCLEUCH PRIMARY SCHOOL
SCIENCE EXPO 2015
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My Science journal
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THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The steps of the scientific method that you’ll be using, appear below. Each step is explained in phases 1–5 of this packet.
Purpose: developing an investigative question
Hypothesis: making an educated guess about the answer to
the investigative question based on research
Experiment: testing the hypothesis, collecting data, and
making observations
Analysis: organizing data from the research and experimentation
and looking for patterns
Conclusion: determining if the hypothesis is supported or
disproved by the experimental results
Communicating the Results: sharing the conclusion with
others
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Science Fair Primer
Science Fair Project Guidebook
Science Project Guidelines
The Ultimate Science Fair Resource
What Makes A Good Science Fair Project
Mr. McLaren's Science Fair Survival Page
sciencefair.html
Neuroscience for Kids: Successful Science Fair Projects
Attached please find a proposal form which you must fill in and bring back to school on the due date. This must be returned as this makes out a very important part of the Scientific method.
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Write a Hypothesis
Now it is the time to PREDICT what you think will happen if you test your problem. This type of “SMART GUESS” or PREDICTION is what real scientists call A HYPOTHESIS.
Using this fancy word will amaze your friends and will have you thinking like a full-fledged scientist.
Step 3: Testing your Hypothesis by doing an experiment
This step is your actual science expo project!
First: Gather up your materials: What will you need to perform your experiment? The safest way to do this is get that adult you recruited to help you get the stuff you need. Oh, did we mention to take pictures or draw pictures of your materials. This will come in handy when you are making your board display.
Second: Write a PROCEDURE. A procedure is a list of steps that you did to perform an experiment.
Why do you need to write it down? Well it’s like giving someone a recipe to your favorite dish. If they want to try it, they can follow your steps to test if it’s true. Scientists do this so that people will believe that they did the experiment and also to let other people test what they found out. Did we mention to take pictures of yourself doing the steps?
Third: Identify your variables. The variables are any factors that can change in an experiment.
Remember that when you are testing your experiment you should only test one variable at a time in order to get accurate results. In other words, if you want to test the affect that water has on plant growth, then all the plants you test should be in the same conditions, these are called controlled variables: same type of dirt, same type of plant, same type of location, same amount of sunlight, etc.
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c. What facts, numbers, or information developed from the experiment?
3. Events and any changes throughout the experiment.
4. Errors noted.
5. Tentative conclusions.
Step 5: Conclusion
At the conclusion of the experiment, you should ask, "What did I find out?" Here is a chance for you to tell what it is that you learned from the experiment. The conclusion should be as brief as possible. Questions that a judge might ask you in order to determine what you have learned are as follows:
• Did the results of your experiment confirm or deny your prediction?
• Are there any questions or issues that remain unanswered?
• Are there any changes that could have been made?
• As a result of the experiment, are there any suggestions or new questions to test?
• Was the experiment important? Why or why not?
• Did you have fun?!?
Step 6: Judging
You have now invested a lot of time and effort into your science fair project. You think that it is great, but what will the judges and your teacher think? Here are a few questions that judges ask themselves while evaluating your project.
- Is the topic an original one?
- Is the problem well defined?
- Are the methods of experimentation clearly described?
- Is the data displayed in a clear, concise manner?
- Does the conclusion refer back to the hypothesis?
- Is the presentation visually appealing?
The Layout of Your Display
Displays are usually divided into three sections. You can bend a cardboard
box so that it has a large middle section and two smaller “wings” that fold inward across the center. This design allows your display to fold flat, making it easier to transport and store. You can purchase hinges at an art supply or hardware store if you prefer to attach the “wings” that way.
An Example The illustration below is one example of how information can be laid out on the display. You can do it differently, but remember to place the information from left to right in the general order that you performed each item. It is also common to place models, samples, demonstration props, or small pieces of equipment in front of the
display board.
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