What every student (parent) should know about the Science Fair!!!

1. Science Fair“Magic or Science“ Nebo ElementaryThursday, December 8th7:00 pmProjects due to teachers Tuesday, December 6th What every student (parent) should know about the Science Fair!!! *Title Cards and Boards may be purchased at school for $2.00

2. Select a Topic • Find an area that interests you. • Talk with your friends, family, and teachers • Review material located in media center • Think about problems around the house you would like to solve

3. State the *Problemin Question Form Who, What, When, Where, and especially Why? Also, so what? So what… if you find out plants grow better in one soil than the other. So what… if you find out one bubble gum makes bigger bubbles than another. So what… if plants do not grow in soil with detergent water. Ask why it would affect your life? *Title Card

4. Don’t Forget If you are using animals (including humans or a survey with humans), or any other live subject you must get prior approval from your teacher and fill out an appropriate form. Our science fair follows the national guidelines for science experiments.   http://apps.societyforscience.org/isef/students/wizard/index.asp

5. *Hypothesis Before starting, how do you think the question will be answered? What do you think will happen in your experiment? *Title Card

6. Consumer Science Ideas http://www.rossarts.org/naples/ideas.htm • Is the soup ready? How do different dried beans absorb water? • Which detergent breaks up oil best? • How does the absorption rate of various paper towels differ? • Which detergent makes the most bubbles? • How does the wattage of a light bulb affect how plants grow? • The Pasta Puzzle: How much water is required to cook different kinds of pasta? • Do different food wrappings affect spoilage of fruit? • How does packagaing affect the carbonation of soft drinks? • Do all dishwashing detergents produce the same amount of bubbles? Clean the same number of dishes? • Sugar vs. Sugar substitutes: Are they just as sweet?

7. Physical Science Ideas http://www.rossarts.org/naples/ideas.htm • What kind of salt works the best on icy sidewalks? • Which solution makes the strongest crystal? • Can seawater be "desalted" by freezing? • How is the strength of a magnet affected by glass, cardboard and plastic? • What is the best shape for a kite? • Which pulley lifts the best? • Do all objects fall at the same speed? • How does the weight of a pendulum affect the swing? • On what kind of surface will a ball roll fastest? • How does the length of a vibrating body affect sound? • How does the design of a paper airplane affect its flight? • Does the temperature of a soda affect how far it sprays? • How does the shape of a bridge affect its stability?

8. Animal Science Ideashttp://www.rossarts.org/naples/ideas.htm • Do different soils have different animal and plant life? • Can mice distinguish color? • Does the length of a mealworm affect its ability to respond to light? • Do different kinds of caterpillars eat different amounts of food • What colors attract moths and other insects at night? • Do dogs drink more water than cats? • What is the affect of temperature on the activity of (mealworms, crickets, etc.)? • Feeding earthworms: Do different diets affect them and the soil they enrich? • What color bird feeder attracts birds the most?

9. Earth Science Ideas http://www.rossarts.org/naples/ideas.htm • Does the moon rise every night at the same time and in the same location? • How accurate are long-range weather forecasts? • Is rainwater absorbed at the same rate in different kinds of soil? • From which direction does the wind blow most frequently? • Does weather folklore really predict the weather? • Which clouds accurately predict the weather? • How are different soils affected by erosion? What is the effect of freeze and thaw cycles? How does wind affect soil? How does water affect soil?

10. Plant Science Ideashttp://www.rossarts.org/naples/ideas.htm • Does the amount of light on plants affect their growth? • Does the amount of water given plants affect their growth? • What is the effect of detergent on bean seeds? • Under what color light do plants grow best? • In what kind of material (sand, clay, etc.) do seeds grow best? • How does the number of seeds produced by different plants compare? • Will different kinds of frozen seeds sprout? • Will plants grow better in soil or some other organic substance? • What can be done to increase the decomposing rate of plants? • Can plants tolerate grey water? Does it matter which kind of grey water is used on plants? • How do roots grow when the direction of gravity changes?

11. Locate these sites These sites will give you more ideas: • http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_question.shtml • http://www.braincake.org/?gclid=CL_Alu6hlZ4CFRtO2godBViA7g • http://www.rossarts.org/naples/ideas.htm • http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/ and lots, lots more on the web

12. Gather *Materials Do you have what you need to do your experiment? Is it going to be too expensive? Should you change to another experiment? Can you do your experiment multiple times? What is your *procedure? What sequence will you follow? *Title Cards

13. Gather *Data Where will you record your information? Will you use *graphs? Will you use notes? Will you take photos of project? Will you have examples of project? Will you have a science notebook? Will you write an *abstract? (This is a simple one page paper containing information about your project.) http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/classic/opic.)

14. *Results and *Variables What happened? What did you observe? What problems did you have as you worked on your experiment? What surprises? What caused the science experiment to turn out the way it did? (*Variables-if you want to win have more than one)You may want to record information in a log.

15. *Conclusion What did this experiment mean to you? What did you discover? Revisit the “so what” in your question/problem. How can you use this information? *Title Cards

16. Project Pizzazz…. Make your project something to be proud of… • no misspellings • lots of color • cut out letters • title cards (remember you got those with your science board) • Photos, graphs, journals, etc.

17. Science Fair Format

18. You are now officially a scientist! Congratulations!