log book for science fair

Flippen Elementary Science Fair Log Book Date: ____________

The science fair log book belongs to:

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Project Timeline

• Week of August 17 – Begin thinking about project topics/questions and acquire

journal

• Friday, August 21 – Officially formulate research question and begin research

• Monday, September 14 – Present research recorded in journal to teachers, use time

to formulate or confirm research question, develop hypothesis, formulate plan for

experiment (teacher guidance)

• September 14-25– Conduct experiment, observe and collect data (parental and/or

teacher guidance)

• Friday, September 18 – Journal checkpoint – Teacher checks journal for research

information, progress, data collection, etc.

• Friday, October 2 – Journal checkpoint – Teacher checks journal for research

information, progress, data collection, etc.

• October 5 - 30 – These weeks used to complete analyzing, finalizing journal, writing

abstract, writing final report, creating project presentation board (parental and/or

teacher guidance)

• Week of November 2-6 – Projects judged and graded by classroom teacher; top

projects move to school fair judging

• Tuesday, November 17 – School-wide science fair; students interviewed by judges

• Wednesday, November 18 – Winners announced and awards presented

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I understand that I am responsible for completing a science fair project, to include planning,

research, and a final product. I understand I am responsible for finding a mentor within the

community to lend assistance with my project. I agree to have my topic selected by the due

date.

Student Signature ___________________________________ Date _______________

Parent Signature ____________________________________ Date _______________


Use this page to list your special interest and resources.

Interests:

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Resources:

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Use this page to write down any interesting ideas you find during initial research.

1. ________________________________________________________________________

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2. ________________________________________________________________________

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3. ________________________________________________________________________

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4. ________________________________________________________________________

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5. ________________________________________________________________________

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6. ________________________________________________________________________

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Selecting a topic for your science fair project is probably the most difficult step. However, if

you begin your search with a field of science in which you are already interested, this first step

will be easy! The kind of project you need is one that produces measurable data; your project

must deal with an effect that can be measured with numbers and units. The best projects ask a

question and use scientific techniques to answer it.

1. ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________________

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Fill out the checklist to validate your topic.

Is there a specific answer? Do I know how to find it?

Do I have enough time? Can I get the materials I need? Is it safe? Is it ethical?

Do I understand it? Is it original? Am I truly interested?


Write one paragraph describing the ideas you would like to pursue for your science fair project.

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Your basic idea is workable, but you should

o Limit the scope to:___________________________________________________

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o Consider approaching it from a different angle, such as: _____________________

___________________________________________________________________

This idea is great with these minor adjustments : ________________________________

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You need to find something entirely different and resubmit because: o This is too sophisticated for an elementary school project. o This is an area not permitted by the school science fair. o This is too easy. o This is not a data gathering type of project.


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List the independent variables (causes) and dependent variables (effects).

Independent Variables

1. _____________________

2. _____________________

3. _____________________

4. _____________________

Dependent Variables

1. _____________________

2. _____________________

3. _____________________

4. _____________________

THIS TOPIC HAS BEEN APPROVED BY MRS. HENRIQUEZ AND YOUR SCIENCE TEACHER.

____________________________________ ____________________________________

I AGREE TO CONTINUE RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION ON THIS PROJECT

STUDENT SIGNATURE ____________________________________________________

I APPROVE OF THIS TOPIC AND UNDERSTAND SOME RESEARCH AND BACKBOARD COMPLETEION

WILL HAVE TO BE DONE AT HOME. (WHITE BACK BOARD PROVIDED)

PARENT SIGNATURE ______________________________________________________


Once your topic has been approved, continue to read about your topic. To develop a quality

project, you will need additional knowledge of the concepts, current information on the

subject, and scientific support of your idea. You will need to document the facts, concepts and

process upon which your research is based.

Taking notes – keep notes in this notebook. Pages can be added if needed. Be sure to date

each note page and list the source of the information. NO WIKIPEDIA and GOOGLE IS NOT A

SOURCE! Paraphrase the information, don’t copy word for word.

Example of notes page:

Date: _______________________

Source: Title _________________________________________ Author___________________

Web Address____________________ Publisher ______________________ Date __________

Useful Information:

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

How I can use this in my project:

_____________________________________________________________________________

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Date: _______________________

Source: Title _________________________________________ Author___________________

Web Address____________________ Publisher ______________________ Date __________

Useful Information:

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How I can use this in my project:

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A hypothesis is an idea explaining what you think the outcome of your project will be based on

the facts of your research. What is the purpose of your project? What question are you trying

to answer? What experimental data are you seeking? The hypothesis of your project should be

stated in one sentence.

Examples:

It is hypothesized that there is a relationship between ______________ and

_________________.

The hypothesis of this research project is that ____________________ will cause

significant change in ________________.

It is hypothesized that ______________________ will result in __________________.

What is your hypothesis?

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Create the title of your project based on this hypothesis

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Now you need to prove (or disprove) your hypothesis! This is when the fun starts! Time to

start your experiment!!! What is your plan? Your next step as an investigator is to come up

with a set of “step-by-step” directions. This is your PROCEDURE. You need to list all of the

steps, one at a time, so that another investigator could repeat your experiment without your

assistance.

As you plan your step-by-step directions, you must be sure you are conducting a fair test.

Remember to keep all of the conditions the same for both subjects. These conditions are the

variables. Unless you keep the conditions the same for each, you will not be able to draw a

conclusion at the end of the experiment that you have validated.

In some experiments, the DATA is all closely related to each other. You should record your

data on a GRAPH. If you are recording the hourly temperatures all day long, the temperature

of one hour increases or decreases from what it was the hour before. Data that occurs

continuously like that must be graphed in a line graph.

Experimental Design Materials

Variables of Experiment

Independent – The cause of the change in your research. In your experiment you will change ONE factor to observe what will happen. Dependent – You change one factor to observe what will happen to something else. The “something else” is the dependent variable, the effect.


Controls of Experiment

All other factors are kept the same.

Steps of Experiment


You will need your parents help with this step. Follow the procedures you

wrote step by step. Take pictures of your experiment and have others

tak4e pictures of you doing the experiment. Make observations and take

notes during the process. You may need to do it more than once. Collect

data EVERY TIME you conduct the experiment! You will need to explain

and display the data. Decide if the data should be collected in a chart,

data table or diagram.

What happened during your experiment? List your observations (remember to use all five senses!), make a graph of data, or take pictures to show what happened. ____________________________________________________________

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Example Data Table

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Example Graph Results


To determine what your data really means it is essential to analyze the results. How different

was the experimental data from the control? State the results then determine the reason or

reasons for the results. Why did what happened happen?

According to the data generated in this research project,

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____________________________________________________________________resulted in

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______________________________________________. These results may have been due to

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Was your hypothesis correct? Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________

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What new knowledge did you gain from doing this experiment?

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What was the most challenging part of your project?

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log book for science fair

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