The Virtual Science Fair
Title: Virtual Science Fair
Grade Focus: 6 - 10
Subject: Science
Integration Activity: Digital Video/Web Page Creation/Web Cams
Recommended Time to Completion: 8 – 10 weeks (one class per week)
INTRODUCTION: Students in the class will demonstrate their knowledge and practical application of the Scientific Method by developing a science experiment for the Virtual Science Fair. All of the projects will be submitted online just as they would at a regular science fair. Students will work in pairs to find an answer to a question that has been approved by the teacher. They will use whatever technology they need to document the process. The documentation will be displayed on the Virtual Science Fair website for classmates and the judges to see.
PREREQUISITE EXPERIENCE: Experience with Internet research, use of a word processor, digital imaging, video production and web page creation.
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TEACHER PREP TIME: 2 hours or more
Familiarize yourself with the links in the Explore section. Review the Video Production and web page creation materials from www.NortelLearnitT.org. Eventually you will need to ensure the availability of equipment and supplies for the student experiments and that there is block of web space set aside for uploading the projects.
Teachers can also review the following resource. http://sciencefairproject.virtualave.net/teacher_resources.htm
PROJECT: The students will conduct the experiment using the Scientific method. They will assemble all of their documentation – text, photos, video and use it to create a web page entry to the Science Fair.
ASSESSMENT / GRADING: A rubric for this activity has been provided, however, the science projects will be judged by a team of experts (teachers).
TIME MANAGEMENT TIP: Students must work in groups of at least two and no more than four.
Have you ever had one of those questions that started – “I wonder what would happen to ______if I did ______“ or “what would happen to ______if ______happened”. How about, “why does this act this way? How would it act if I did this or took away that or added this?” Scientists are constantly asking important questions and forming ideas about what will happen based on what they already know (hypothesis). We tend to do that in some non-scientific ways from the time we are toddlers and constantly add to our personal knowledge base (i.e. if I pull the kitty’s tail what will happen).
Fortunately, good science is conducted under controlled situations to ensure that experiments are conducted properly and that results can be validated, confirmed, and replicated by others. The science community has over time, developed a standardized method for conducting experiments called the Scientific Method.
Your assignment is to conduct an original experiment using the scientific method and to document your process and results using a variety of media. You are encouraged to use digital imaging, text, video, and if appropriate, a web camera. Your results and materials will be assembled and provide the content for a web page submission to the Virtual Science Fair.
The resources in the Explore section will help you with the procedures and technology you will be using. There are some good ideas for how to put together a science fair project and some sample questions or topic areas.
Record your findings using a word processor. You will want to ensure that you understand the scientific method, the steps to creating your science fair project, and some possible ideas for an experiment.
Enjoy!
For this section you will need an Internet ready computer and a word processor. This list is a by no means complete. You should find some additional sites. Be sure to document them for distribution to others.
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/ideas.html
How to get started – finding a topic
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/fair.html
Science Fair Steps
Discovery.com
Ask a Question about Science Fairs
http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/askjvc.html
Designing a science fair project
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/articles/designing-a-science-fair-project-teaching-tip.html
Scientific Method
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/articles/scientific-method-teaching-tip.html
Project ideas
http://www.cdli.ca/sciencefairs/index.html
Web cams – you can monitor an experiment using a web cam
Here are some research examples
Michigan Fish Cam – live view of Salmon swimming in the St. Mary’s River
http://www.lssu.edu/arl/fishcam.php
Review materials dealing with video production, digital imaging and web page creation on www.Nortellearnit.org.
You should have enough background information to get started. Provide the detailed explanation about what occurs in each of the following steps.
Choose a topic
Conduct research about your topic.
The Scientific Method – Outline the steps
Conduct the experiment
Record Data
Report
Now that you have demonstrated that you know what occurs in each of the steps, lets begin.
What is your topic?
What did you find out about it during the research?
What is your hypothesis?
What technologies will you need to use to document your process and results for the virtual science fair.
Tips: Answer the following to help you decide
Will you videotape the actual experiment?
Will you document the process using digital cameras?
Is it the type of experiment that could be tracked from home by you or the students through the use of a web cam.
When you have completed your answers to the above questions, show them to your teacher and you will get final approval to begin or………back to the drawing board.
Time to conduct your experiment. Remember to document everything. It is much easier to get rid of photos or video clips than it is to create them afterwards.
When you have completed your experiment and tested your hypothesis, you will have to arrange all of your documentation for the web page. Remember, it is also important that your science project is presented clearly and attractively on the web page. Use your best footage, photos, and design concepts for your submission. Check that your page links work and that you have accurately described (text or video) your process and results. You may want to use graphs or charts as well. Be creative and use your imagination.
Present your findings to the class. You can show them the web page and discuss the experiment and results. You can make a presentation and point them to the web page (so they can vote for your project).
Provide a written report to your teacher and the web page citation to enter the Virtual Science Fair.
Good luck.
Evaluation Rubric
Criteria / Unsatisfactory / Needs Improvement / Satisfactory / ExemplaryResearch / Limited research, from limited sources / Somewhat well researched from somewhat varied sources. / Well researched, from various sources / Thorough research from varied sources presenting different points of view
Storyboard / planning / Limited planning evident / Some planning evident / Planning evident / Thorough planning evident
Content / Lacks detail / Some detail / Good detail / Excellent detail
Technology Use to Demonstrate Understanding / Technology use with little purpose / Technology use with some purpose / Technology use with purpose / Intuitive technology use with specific purpose
Overall Final Project / Inconsistent and inappropriate aesthetics and technical functionality / Somewhat consistent and appropriate aesthetics and technical functionality / Consistent and appropriate aesthetics and technical functionality / Consistent, creative and appropriate aesthetics and technical functionality
Self-valuation: What did you learn during this process. Did your hypothesis test out. What was your contribution to the final project?
Expand your Virtual Science Fair to other classes in the school. What about all of the schools in the district?
Return to the Internet and see if you can find other schools in the world that hold online science fairs. See if you can submit your project for evaluation.
Now that you are skilled at the process of investigating a variety of phenomena using the scientific method, why not conduct some additional experiments. Just for fun!