NatronaCounty

DistrictandRegionalScienceFair

StudentHandbook

2017

GETTINGSTARTED

CategoriesforDistrict(4th and 5th grade) sciencefairare:

•LifeScience:zoology,botany,behavioralscience,andecology.

•PhysicalScience:chemistry,electricity,light,sound,energy,and mechanics.

•EarthScience:geology,space science, astronomy,oceanography,and meteorology

•Consumer Science:testing aspects of various brands of consumer products

•Computer and Math:testing computers and their usage for computation, systems control, advanced algorithmic properties, artificial intelligence, and data. Mathematics, study of properties, statistics, measure mentation, and relation of quantities and sets using number and symbols.

CategoriesforRegional(6th – 8th grade) sciencefaircompetition are:

* Animal Science

* Behavioral & Social Sciences

* Biochemistry/Cellular & Molecular Biology/ Bioinformatics & Computational Biology

* Biomedical & Health Sciences

* Chemistry

* Earth & Environmental Sciences

* Energy & Transportation

* Engineering Design & Innovation

* Environmental Management

* Materials & Consumer Sciences

* Microbiology

* Physics/Astronomy/Planetary Sciences

* Plant Sciences

* Robotics/Computer/Mathematical Sciences

Thefirststep inbeginningascienceprojectistochoose atopic.

Ifyourquestioninvolvesanimalsyoumust havespecialpermissionfromyour teacherbeforeyoumay proceed.Youwillalso needtofilloutrequiredformsbeforeyoudoanyexperimentation.

Ifyourquestioninvolveshumans,youmustget specialpermissionfromyour teacher,filloutspecial forms,andget approvalfromtheIRBtoconduct yourinvestigation.

Here are thestepsfor developingascienceproject.

1. ChooseaTopic……………………..3

2. Research…………………………….5

3. DevelopaTestableQuestion…….....6

4. ResearchPlan……………………….8

5. Procedure…………………..……….7

6. Logbook…………………………….9

7. ResultsandConclusions……………10

8. Report andDisplay…………………11

9. Presentation…………………………12

IFYOUFOLLOWTHESUGGESTIONSINTHISGUIDEYOUSHOULDHAVEASUCCESSFUL SCIENCEPROJECT.

ChooseaTopic

•Startwithsomebrainstorming. Rememberwhenyoubrainstorm,NOideaisabad idea.

•Goto theLibrary and lookatthemagazinesthereabouttopicsthatinterestyou.

•Don'thesitatetoread allyoucaninordertofindsomethingyoucanfocuson foryourproject.

Browsing theInternetis anotherwaytogenerateideas. Pull upasearch and typethingsyou like.YouneverknowwheresurfingtheInternetwillget youwhen itcomesto ideasfora project.

•Talktopeople.Youneverknowwhom youmightbumpintothathasan interesting

background.Askthemwhattheyrememberedabout theirscienceclasseswhen theywere in school. Wasthereeveranythingfunnywhen itcametoexperiments?Whatcomestomind whentheythinkofthewordscience?Remember,ideasare not onlygeneratedfromtheprinted word,butalso thespokenword!

-Sometimesit’sdifficulttoselectaproject.Trythis:

1. Makeachartwith5columns.

2. Thinkof 5thingsyouliketodoor want tolearn about anduse those for theheadersofeach

column.Think aboutthingsyoualwayswantedtoknowaboutthesubject.List asmanythings abouteachsubjectasyoucan.

3. Thelongestlist maybe whereyouconcentrateonforan ideafor yourproject.

-If youdon’thaveanideayet,trythis:

•Thinkof 4Nouns, 4verbsand4morenouns.

•Thinkof someoddthingsthatyouwouldn't normallyput together.

Forexample:

Noun / Verb / Noun
Ball / Plant / Fan
Plant / Grow / Ants
Fan / Hang / Flowers
Stapler / Roll / Box

Nowput thewords togetherinasentencelike: Whatwouldhappen ifaballrolledthrougha lineof marchingants?Or,whatwouldhappen ifateabag were plantedaroundflowerswhilethey are growing?

Ifyou still don'thavean idea,trythiswebsite: lookfor“Science

FairProjectIdeas.”

CHECKPOINTSHEETFORA GOODTOPIC

1.Areyouinterestedin learningmore aboutthistopic?

2.Is the topic interestingenoughfor youtoread aboutbeforeyoustart?

3.Canyou findat least 3 sourcesofwritteninformationonthesubject?

4.Canyou findinformationatyour readinglevel?

5.Canyouwritea testablequestionaboutthistopic?

6.Canyousetupatestingsituationonthistopic?

7.Canyouget allthematerialsneededfor thetesting?

8.Canthetestingbe doneinyourtimeframe(4-5weeks)?

9.Canyou findinformationatyour readinglevel?

Writeyour topicinthespacebelow.

**Ifyourquestioninvolvesanimalsyoumust havespecialpermissionfromyour teacherbeforeyou may continuewithyourproject. Youwillalso needtofilloutrequiredformsbeforeyoudoany experimentation.

**Ifyourquestioninvolveshumans,youmustgetspecialpermissionfrom your teacheraswellasthe

IRBtoconductyour investigation.

Parentor Teacher's signature Date

Research

Beforeyougoanyfurther,youneedtodo someresearchonyourtopic. Backgroundresearchis importanttohelpyouunderstandwhat willbe takingplaceinyourexperiment.Afteryouhavedone someresearch,youshouldunderstandsomethingaboutthethingsyouwillbe testing andshouldbe ableto makeaneducated predictionaboutthefutureresultsofyourexperiment.

Yourresearchshouldcover:

GeneralInformation:

•Backgroundinformationaboutyour problem

•Definitionand/orexplanationof thetopic or problem

•Definitionand/orexplanationof termsandvocabularyfoundin theproblem

•Informationabouttopicsthatrelatetotheproblem

•Explanationof whyitisimportanttoknowaboutthisproblem

SpecificInformation:

•Resultsfrom other experimentssimilartoyours

•Informationfrominterviewswithexperts

•Studiesdonebycompaniesor consumergroups thatrelatetoyourproblem

•Informationnecessarytoexperimentsafely

As you findinformationthatisrelatedtoyour problem, youneedtowrite downwhereyougotthe informationfromaswellastheinformationitself.Thereare severalwaystokeepthisinformation, but themost organizedwaywouldbe tousebibliographycardsandnotecards.Theinformationmaybe stored usingreal notecardsor inanelectronicformatonthe computer.

DevelopaTestableQuestion

Nowthatyouhaveatopicandhavedonesomeresearch,youmustdesignaquestionthatwillguide yourinvestigation.Fromyour backgroundresearch, thinkof somethingthatyoulearned.

•Writeastatementaboutwhatyoulearned:

o(Example:Wingdesignseemstoaffectthequalityofairplaneflight.)

•Find inyourstatement,somethingyoucanchange.Thiswillbecometheindependentvariable.

o(Example:thesurface areaof thewings)

oWriteyour independentvariable:

•Next decidefromyour statementwhat maybeaffectedbytheindependentvariable.Thiswill becomethedependentvariable.

o(Example:thedistanceaplaneflies)

oWriteyour dependentvariable:

•Rewriteyourstatementasaproblemwiththeindependentvariablein thefirstblank andthe dependentvariablein thesecond blank.

oWhatisthe effectof on ?

o(Example:Whatisthe effectofwing surfacearea onthedistanceamodelairplane

flies?

oMyproblem:

•Determinehowyouare goingtochangetheindependentvariableinawayyoucan measure.

o(Example:increasesurface areaofwingsinsquarecentimeters.)

oHowyouwillchangetheindependentvariable:

•Predicthowyouthinkwhat youchangedwillaffectthedependentvariableinawayyoucan measure.

o(Example:theplanewillflyfartherincentimeters)

oYourprediction:

ResearchPlan

Afteryouhavewrittenyourproblemincause andeffectterms,youareready towriteyourResearch

Plan.

Theplanshouldhelpyousee theoverall"picture"ofwhat youare goingtotry todoinordertoanswer yourscienceprojectquestion.

List themainmaterialsyouwillneedfor yourexperimentandwhereyouwillget them.

As youperformyour investigation,conditionsmust be keptthesamethroughoutall thetesting.If these arenot keptconstant, youcannotbe sure thattheindependentvariableiswhat causedthedependent variabletochange.

•Thingsthatmust bekeptthesame(controls):

•Whatwillyouuse tomeasureyour results?

•Describeyourexpectedresults.Thisis calledyourhypothesis.Yourhypothesisisreallya

predictionbasedonyour research.Itshouldsayexactlywhat youthinkwillhappen.

•Whatdid youlearninyour researchthathelpedyoumakeyour prediction?

Procedure

Describeindetailtheproceduresyouwillfollow.Includeallsteps. Someonenotfamiliarwithyour experimentshouldbe abletodoexactlywhat youplantodo.Also,ifyourexperimentdoesnotwork, yourdetailedproceduremighthelpyoudecidehowto improveit.Useanotherpageifyouneedmore space.

Here are somehelpfulhintsforwriting yourdetailedprocedure

•Divideyourprocedureintosections.

•Numberyour stepsandbegineachoneonanew line.

•Put inplain words yourdependentandindependentvariables.

•Givedetailsonhowyouwillcontrolyourvariables.

•Tellhowmanysubjectsyouwillbe testingor howmanytrialsyouwilldo.

•Tellhowmuchtimeyouthinkisneededfortesting.

•Explainhowyouwillmeasureyour results.

Rememberyourprocedureislikearecipe.Makeitdetailedsoifyour experimentisduplicatedthe sameresultswouldoccur.

Logbook

Yourlogbookiswhere allyour resultsordataisrecordedwhileyouare conductingyourexperiment. Youshoulddisplayyour bookwithyour project.Yourlogbookshouldcontainlotsofimportant information.Itisimportanttokeepitorganizedandneat.

Helpfulhints.

•Writeyour problemonthefirstpage.

•Dividetherestofthelog intotwosections:DataandDaily work.

DataSection

•Usechartstoorganizeyour information.

•Separateyourtrialsontoseparatepages.

•Alldates, times,measurements*,shouldbe writtendownasthey aremade.

*Use metricmeasurementswheneverpossible.

Dailywork Section

•Writethedatefor each entry.

•Tellwhat youdid,anyproblems, andallchangesthatyoumakeinyour testing.

•Youmaywant toincludesomeinformationfrom yourresearchinthissection.

•Donot worryaboutrewritingyour log tomakeitlookbetter.Thisisarecordofwhattook placewhileitwashappening.

Results

Thissectionincludesallobservationsthatweremadeduringyourtesting.Yourresultsareall the thingsyoumeasuredor countedaspart ofyourdata.Thisalsoincludesthegeneralobservationsthat youmade. Yourjobnowistosummarizealltheresultsyouwroteinyour logbook.Thisis also where youdescribeyourconclusions.

Hintsfor reportingyourresults:

•Describewhat happenedwhen youdid yourtesting.

•Describewhat happenedtoyour controlgroupandtoeach experimentalgroup.

•Figure uptotalsandaveragesfor eachgroupandcomparetheresultsforonegrouptoanother.

•Only includewhat happenednotwhyithappened.

•Picturesthathelpshowwhatwashappeningduring testing can be includedhere.

•Youshouldtrytosummarizeyour resultsinagraphform.

oLinegraphs aregood forchartingchangeovertime.

oBargraphs are goodfor comparingthingsbetweengroups

•IMPORTANT:Youarenotallowedto includepicturesofpeople’sfacesinyour resultsifthey

were part of your study.

Conclusions

Aconclusionshows what youlearnedbydoingyourexperiment.Youwilldrawyour conclusionsfrom yourobservationsand measurements.Conclusionsalso explainwhysomethinghappenedduringthe experiment.You shouldhavemorethanone conclusion.

Hintsfor youconclusionpage:

•Includeat least oneparagraphwithdatatosupporteachofyour conclusions.

•Drawconclusionsonlyfromthedatayoucollected.

•Tellwhetherornotyousolvedyourproblem.Explainwhyor whynot.

•Acceptorrejectyourhypotheses.Givedatafrom yourteststosupportyourdecision.

•Ifyourejectyourhypothesesdonotfeel bad.Testingdoesnot alwaysgiveus theresultswe expect.Tellwhyyouthinkyourtestingturnedouttheway itdid.

•Explainwhat youlearnedfromtheproblemsthatoccurredduringyour testing.

•Writeaboutanyerrorsyoumayhavemadeduringyourtesting.Often mistakesare howwe

learnto improveour testing.

•Explainwhythistopicisimportanttobe studiedand tested.

•Talk abouthowyour projectcouldbe appliedonalarge scaletodosomegood.

Report

Thisisagreattimetopracticeyourwriting skills!Thereportisbest ifitisdoneonawordprocessor but ifyoudonot accesstooneitcan be handwritteninblackorblueink. Checkwithyourteacherfor theformathe/sheprefers.

Report hints:

•Startwitha titlepage.

•Includeanabstractwhichisasummaryofyour entireproject.

•Includethebackgroundinformationyoucollected.Remembertouseyour ownwords.

•Includeabibliography.Thisis anorganizedlistof sourcesthatyouused todoyour research.

Display

Thedisplayis animportantwaytoreportyourworktoothers.Themost importantpartof thedisplay isthebackboard.

Thebackboardshouldinclude:

•Titleof theproject

•Hypotheses

•Procedure

•Results

•Conclusion

Hintsforbackboard:

•Plan ahead.Donotattachanythinguntilyouknowexactlywhat youwant ontheboard.Lay thingsout indifferentplacesuntilyoucan findoutwhat works best.

•Headingsprintedonacomputermakeapolished look.

•Beneat.Avoidwriting onthebackboard.

•Proofread carefullybeforeyouglueanythingto the board.

•Withyourbackboard,youwillalso displayyour report,dailylogbook,andsomeofthe

materialsused inyour testing.

•Checkwithyourteacheraboutwhat materialsarepermittedtobe displayed.

•Formoreinformationvisitthissite: lookunder“Student

Resources.”

•Here isapictureofwhataboardmaylooklike:

Presentation

Awell-preparedandrehearsedpresentationcan impressjudgeswhomay evaluateyourproject. Plan aheadbymakinganoutlineofwhatyouwanttosharewiththejudges.

Judgesusuallyaskquestionssuchas:

•Whatwere thestepsof theinvestigation?

•Whatkind of backgroundresearchdid youdo?

•Whatwere yoursourcesfortheresearch?

•Whatwere thevariablesinthe experiment?

•Did thedata supportthe conclusions?

•Wastheproblemoriginal?

•Howdid youcomeupwiththequestion?

•Howmuch skill wasneededtodotheproject?

•Howmuchworkdidyoudo?

•Howmuchhelpdidyouneedfromanadult?

•Werethererepeated trials?

•Doesthelogbookhavedailyentriesand measurements?

•Howmuchtimewasspentontesting?

Whenyoumeetthejudge:

•Smile

•Usegoodposture

•Introduceyourself

•Make eye contact

•Speakloudlyandclearly

•Behonest andanswerthejudges’questions

•Thankthejudgesfortheir timeand interest