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Science Fair Projects. Choose a Topic. Pick a topic that: Will be interesting to you Fits into the 6 th grade curriculum You will be able to complete in the required time. (Science Fair is May 9 th 2014). Question/Problem.
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Choose a Topic Pick a topic that: • Will be interesting to you • Fits into the 6th grade curriculum • You will be able to complete in the required time. (Science Fair is May 9th 2014)
Question/Problem • Your question needs to test the independent variable and its affect on the dependent variable. Should start with How does… Example: How does caffeine affect the growth of a plant?
Hypothesis Make your guess • Use your research to make an educated guess about how you think your experiment will turn out. • Use the “ If, then” Format • If __________ then _____ because….” • Example: If I pour 100ml of coffee on four pea plants and pour 100ml of water in another four pea plants, then I think the plants with coffee will grow taller because caffeine will give extra energy to the plants allowing them to go through photosynthesis more often.
You must use at least 2-3 different sources (Use the meat strategy to help organize your ideas) Start with a thesis sentence/ main idea about your claim Include key details from articles (use quotes) and explain how these ideas are important to your experiment. Research should be designed to get background information about your topic, before you begin your experiment. This is the information to help you create a hypothesis. Introduction/Background Research
Materials Make a complete list of everything you will use in your experiment. Tell how many and how much of each object used.
Procedure • Design your experiment • Design your experiment so that they only test for one thing (Independent Variable). • Make sure that you do the same things to all groups of objects being tested. • Write down step-by-step directions on how to do your experiment. • Do not leave anything out!
Procedure • Get 8 pea plants ( 100 cm tall). • Place 4 pea plants on each tray. • Label one set of plants “Caffeine”. • Label the second set “Water”. • Pour 100ml of coffee( with caffeine ) onto the soil of each plant twice a week. • Pour 100ml of water onto the soil of each plant twice a week. • Measure each plant with a metric ruler • Record data in record book.
Variables • List all of the things kept constant during the experiment, these are your controlled variables. • Describe the independent and dependent variables of the experiment (what are you testing/observing) • Include possible sources of error or limitations
Data and Observations • Create a data chart or table to show observations of multiple trials. • What did you notice while doing your experiment? • Limitations: Did anything happen during your experiment that could have changed the results?
Data Analysis • Using your data write 2-3 paragraphs about how your experiment turned out. Example: From reading my charts and graphs, I know that Plant Group #1 grew an average of 40cm with 100ml of coffee. Plant Group #2 grew and average of 20cm with 100ml of water. The Plant Group that was given coffee grew 20cm more on the average than the Plant Group that was given water.
Discussion/Conclusion • Write down why you think your experiment turned out the way it did, include if your hypothesis was supported or not. Should be 2-3 paragraphs • Be sure to use the term “ My hypothesis was/was not supported by the data in my experiment. • Do not say I was right/wrong. • Use scientific reasoning for conclusion. (Why do you think those things happened in your experiment, look back at your research on the topic) • Explain any limitations or errors that occurred during your experiment.
Conclusion • Example: My hypothesis was supported. The plants that were watered with coffee ( caffeine ) grew taller than those that were given water. Therefore, caffeine has a positive effect on the growth of pea plants. This may be due the fact that caffeine is a stimulant. The caffeine could have stimulated the plant to grow.
Future Considerations (1 paragraph) • Tell what variable you would change if you could do the experiment again. • Tell how you might take your experiment to the next step. • Explain what you might do differently next time to gain different results
Future Considerations • Example • If I could do this experiment again , the variable I would change would be the amount of caffeine I would place in each plant group. I would use 50ml for plant group #1, 100ml for plant group #2, and 150ml for plant group #3. I would also have three “control groups” of plants. One would get 50ml of water. One would get 100ml of water. And one would get 150ml of water. I want to see which amount of caffeine helps plants grow the tallest.
Abstract • 1 paragraph • Summarize the entire experiment including: • What was the purpose of the experiment? • What were you going to do (procedure)? • What were the outcomes of the experiment? • What did your experiment teach you?
Work Cited • You need to include AT LEAST 2-3 sources of where you gained information from. • BAD EXAMPLE www.google.com (This does not tell me ANYTHING about the source) • GOOD EXAMPLE (This is a direct link to the article used) http://www.dw.de/polar-ice-sheets-melting-faster-than-ever/a-16432199 • REMEMBER- Not all information found on the internet is true. (Try to use .edu, .gov)
