Stoney CreekScience Fair Information

Night

Why Should You Do A Project?

• You will learn to think like a scientist.• Real world application• Hands-on approach to learning• Allows students to investigate what

they are interested in• Doing a project can be lots of fun!

#1- The Planning PhaseMost detailed part…includes:

Log Book…..Log Book…..Log Book

• Deciding what to do• Doing some research• Forming a hypothesis• Writing out the experiment plan

KEY: Keep It Simple!!

#2- The Experimentation PhaseThe FUN part…includes:

Hands-on….Hands-on…….Hands-on

• Actually conducting the experiment

• Collecting and recording the data

• Seeing if the hypothesis was correct

#3- The Artistic PhaseThe creative part…includes:Presentation……Presentation

• Putting the information on a Tri-fold board

• Having an organized plan• Creating a display

Working TogetherStudents

• Work• Responsibility

Parents• Encourage• Answer questions• Supervise safety• Come to the fair!

Teachers• Step-by-step assignments• Checkpoints graded along the way

Science Fair

Success

Date In the classroom Due on Monday of that week

Parent signature

week of Oct. 29th

We will kick off science fair by setting up log books and discussing topics and testable questions.

week of Nov. 5th

We will model how to write the purpose and hypothesis for a science project.

Questionpage 1

week of Nov. 12th

We will model how to create variables and how to write materials and procedures

Purpose and Hypothesis page 2

week of Nov. 19th

We will start our class science project. During this time we will model how to collect data and write observation notes

Variables, Materials, and Procedurespage 3- 5

week of Nov. 26th

We will continue our class science project

Materials and Procedures check #2Pages 4-5

week of Dec. 3rd

We will model writing a conclusion and putting together a science presentation board.

Due on Wednesday- Completed log book

Dec. 10th

Teacher will grade projects using the rubric and students will do class presentation.

Due on Tuesday- Completed Projects due to your

classroom teacher

Dec. 13th Thursday NightScience Fair Night 6:00-7:30

Display

Ask a question.• This is the foundation or Problem

Statement• If your child identifies a question

that is safe and can be answered through experimentation, the rest of the project will follow.

• A good question can be investigated (tested) and contains variables.

• A poor question is merely a demonstration or is too general.

• Problem statement must be approved by the teacher before continuing with the project.

• Be sure this is NOT a demonstration. It MUST test data.

Hypothesis• The student will predict what is going to be the

results of the investigation.

• The hypothesis should not be changed if it is incorrect.– The hypothesis is just an educated guess.

• Must be stated using “if”, “then” and “because” statement.– Example: “If Brawny, Viva, and Bounty paper

towels are tested for their absorbency, then Bounty will absorb the most water. I believe this because Bounty is “The quicker picker upper.”

Variables• These are all the factors that affect the

investigation.

• There are three types of variables:– Independent Variable: what changes,– Dependent Variable: what happens by itself,

what you are measuring– Controlled Variable: what stays the same.

• The variables MUST be labeled on the display board in the materials list.

DATA!! DATA!! DATA!!5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min 25 min 30 min 35 min 40 min 45 min

Masking Tape 130 120 109 108 96 88 88 88 84Aluminum Foil 140 128 118 111 102 100 98 91 90Plasic Baggie 137 120 112 108 100 88 88 86 86Electrical Tape 136 120 110 111 99 92 88 86 86Paper 131 120 110 104 98 92 90 86 86

5 mins 10 mins 15 mins 20 mins 25 mins 30 mins 35 mins 40 mins 45 mins0

20406080

100120140160

Masking TapeAluminum FoilPlasic BaggieElectrical TapePaper

Conclusion• Students write about the results of the investigation

– Ask yourself these questions before writing your conclusion1. Did you get the results you expected to get? If

not how were the results different?2. Were there any unexpected problems or

occurrences that may have affected the results of your investigation?

3. Do you think you collected sufficient data? (Were there enough trials? Samples?)

4. Do I need to revise my original hypothesis? (If you write a revised hypothesis, DO NOT use it to replace your original hypothesis for this project!

Oral Presentations• During the week that the Display Board is due, students will be required to present their projects orally to the class.

• It is important that students follow the guidelines in the handouts to ensure that they meet all of the requirements for this assignment.

• Students MUST NOT read the information from the board. They need to address their classmates and maintain eye contact to demonstrate their knowledge of their project.