Science Fair Information

1. Science Fair Information

2. Information Covered • Science Fair Overview • Choosing A Topic • Introduction (Research) • Writing A Question • Writing A Hypothesis • Gathering & Listing Materials

3. Information Covered • Looking at Experimental Design • Writing A Procedure • Conducting An Experiment • Data / Results • Conclusion • Display & Binder

4. Seeing the Big Picture A Science Fair Project

5. Science Fair Overview All fifth graders must participate in the science fair. The science fair is a wonderful way for your child to learn and apply the scientific method, as well as peak their interest in questioning their surroundings.

6. A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT… Provides another great opportunity for students to work on their own ability level. Helps develop time management

7. A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT… Boosts pride by displaying hard work Builds public-speaking skills

8. Choosing A Topic That’s Right For You Due Date: November 29th

9. Choosing A Topic Pick something you have an interestin and know a little about already.

10. Choosing A Topic A science fair project must involve making a change and then looking for the impact of that change. A science fair project cannot be just a MODEL. We are becoming scientists and we actually have to TEST something.

11. Choosing A Topic Model: Papiér Mache / Baking Soda Volcano Experiment: Changing the amount of baking soda you add to the volcano to make it erupt.

12. Choosing A Topic Topics that won’t work: • Things you (or another family member) have already experimented with • Anything that may harm or interfere with an animal’s normal diet or behavior. • Anything that is dangerous or involves unapproved chemicals or materials.

13. Part 1: Introduction and Research DUE DATE: December 11th

14. Part 1 - Introduction (Research) • Rationale • Research your topic for background information • Why do you plan to conduct the experiment? • Purpose • What will you officially test and look for? • Hypothesis • What do you think will happen?

15. Why a Rationale? Scientists can never do an experiment without knowing a little bit about their topic. That’s why the next step, the HYPOTHESIS, is called an “educated” guess.

16. Writing the Rationale When you write the rationale, you will write two paragraphs: 1st paragraph – use computers and the library to conduct research on your topic. You will list facts about your topic and information that will be critical to you setting up a fair experiment 2nd paragraph – explain why you chose this topic and what you hope to learn as a result of the experiment

17. Writing A Question What is the effect of _______________________ on ________________________? Amount of baking soda rate of a volcano’s eruption Independent Variable Dependent Variable

18. Writing A Hypothesis • A hypothesis is your“guess” as to what is going to happen in an experiment. • You should base your hypothesis on what you already know about your topic or anything you may have learned from doing research.

19. Writing A Hypothesis Usually, we write a hypothesis in this format: If ___________________________ _________, then _________________ _______________________. This will occur because _____________. the amount of baking soda was increased the rate at which the volcano erupts will be faster (Add your research)

20. Writing A Hypothesis • Your hypothesis is YOUR guess. It may or may not be “right” at the end.

21. Writing A Hypothesis • A hypothesis is never wrong, so please don’t go back and change it at the end if your experiment doesn’t produce the results you expected. • Often, we learn even more if it turns out differently than we expected.

22. Part 2: Experiment Set up and EDD DUE DATE: December 18th

23. Part 2:1. Materials2. Experimental Design Diagram (EDD)3. Procedure Due Date:December 18th

24. Gathering & Listing Materials • It’s important to list and gather your materials before you start your experiment. • This will ensure you have everything that you need.

25. Gathering & Listing Materials You must be SPECIFIC with listing your materials. Water 1 Liter Water

26. Gathering & Listing Materials All materials must be listed inMETRIC units. The metric system is the universal science language.

27. Metric Units Include: Length: Meters, Centimeters, Millimeters Temperature: Celsius Volume: Liters, Milliliters Weight: Kilograms, Grams

28. Metric Units Include: If you don’t have these methods of measurement, we will help you with converting our system of measurement to Metric.

29. Experimental Design • Independent Variable: What YOU change in the experiment. Sometimes this is called the “manipulated variable.” In an experiment, you can only test ONE change. This helps you make sure you are observing the result of that one change. • Dependent Variable: What changes as a result of the independent variable. You are only looking at ONE specific response, although more may occur. Sometimes this is called the “responding variable.”

30. Experimental Design • CONSTANTS: What does NOT change during an experiment. This will usually be everything else in your materials besides the independent and dependent variable. “Steady as a rock”

31. Experimental Design CONTROL: • Your experiment may or may not have one of these. • Usually, this is the “normal” conditions. • Ex: A Control involves things like plants. If you were testing different liquids to water a plant with, a control would be watering a plant with water.

32. Finding Variables What is the effect of _______________________ on ________________________? amount of baking soda rate of a volcano’s eruption Independent Variable Dependent Variable

33. Procedure A procedure is similar to the steps in a recipe. Someone should easily be able to conduct your experiment by following the steps in your procedure.

34. The Steps In A Procedure: Are Numbered Are Sequential (In Order) Are specific Are In Sentence Form

35. Procedure • Step one should NOT be gather your materials. You will have already done this in the “materials” step.

36. COMPLETED BY: January 10th Conducting An Experiment

37. Conducting An Experiment Your experiment should have at least three trials.

38. Conducting An Experiment For example: For our volcano experiment, we were changing the amount of baking soda we added to: (For Example) • 15 ml • 30 ml • 45 ml

39. Conducting An Experiment Each of these amounts would be tested three times. That means you would do a total of 9 “eruptions.”

40. Conducting An Experiment • Something to keep in mind: If you are conducting an experiment with plants, you will need 9 of the same type / size plants.

41. Data & Results Due Date:January 17th

42. Data & Results This part of the scientific process shows the information you measured / observed in your experiment.

43. Ways to display data / results: Charts / Tables Graphs Pictures / Photographs Observations

44. Data & Results • In this step, you also want to provide a written summary of your results. This should include your independent and dependent variables.

45. The Conclusion Due Date:January 24th

46. Conclusion The conclusion is written in paragraph form. Here’s a helpful format for writing your conclusion:

47. Conclusion Think of the acronym RERUN R = Recall: describe procedure E = Explain: restate purpose R = Results: state results and if hypothesis was supported U = Uncertainty: describe any errors N = New: write 2 new things you learned and 2 questions for further investigation

48. Display & Binder Due Date:January 31st

49. Display & Binder Your display is the first thing that people will see when looking at your project.

50. “Must-Haves” On Your Display • Title (Center) • Purpose (Left) • Hypothesis (Left) • Materials (Left) • EDD (Center) • Procedure (Center) • Photos / Data / Graphs (Center) • Results (Right) • Conclusion (Right) The board should “flow” from one part to another. We don’t put a conclusion first, or a question last… it just wouldn’t make sense!