Brief Description
When you do
a science fair project you become a scientist. You go through the same
investigative steps as a scientist to find the answer to such question as: Can
you tell the temperature from the chirping of crickets? Who has a better sense
of distance, boys or girls and why? In what kind of soil do plants grow the
best? The possibilities are endless but the projects should always be based on
what interests you.
There are
four main parts to a science fair project:
·
Lab.
Book: This will be your scientific diary. Everything you do, observe, or over
think should be in the lab. Book (also called Logbook). The day of the science
fair, judges might want to see this notebook.
·
Research
paper: You will do a library research on your topic to see what other
scientists have discovered. It`s important to have a complete bibliography at
the end of your research paper.
·
Project
display board: The final step of your project is to make a science fair board
with all the steps as in the drawing. This is the part of the project where you
can be as creative as you want, you can use all of your creative powers.
·
Oral
presentation: The oral presentation is when you speak to the judges. You need
to understand and know your project in order to explain your conclusions to the
judges.
Research paper
To write a
good Science Fair project, follow this guideline:
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Title Page
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Center the project
title
Name of your school
Members of the group
Grade (at the bottom
right)
If it is an outside
competition, add to this page the address of your school
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Contents
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Include a page
number for the beginning of each section
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Introduction
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Describe the
research problem that you are exploring. Explain the reasons why you wanted
to do this particular research. Briefly summarize your readings about this
topic and write down your hypothesis.
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Experiment
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Tell exactly how you
did your experiments, which variable you were testing and which variable(s)
you keep constant.
List your materials
and describe your procedure step by step so that the person that is reading
your report will be able to repeat your experiment.
Be sure to tell how
many times you repeated your experiments and how long your sample was.
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Discussion
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Data:
Show your results
both as data tables and as graphs (be
sure you label everything)
Summarize the data
table and graphs in a few sentences.
Did your experiment
seem to support your hypothesis? Explain.
Discuss the factors
that might have influenced your experiment.
Did your repeat your
experiment several times?
Did you keep all of
your variables constant except for one you were testing?
Did you have a
control group?
What other
experiments could you have tried?
How might the
results of your experiment be useful to other people?
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Acknowledgements
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Please give credit
to all those who have helped you with your project specially your mentor or
teacher.
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Bibliography
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Your reference list
should include all books and articles used in your research. There should be
at least four (4) different sources.
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SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS
OUTLINE 7-11TH
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INTRODUCTION OR
BACKGROUND
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·
Find a topic that really interests you
·
Become knowledgeable about the topic by reading books, surfing the
web, and observing as much as you can on your own. Take notes.
·
Develop a list of questions and write them down in your laboratory
notebook.
·
From this list, pick a topic that is both interesting and doable.
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PROBLEM
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·
What are you trying to find out by doing this project?
·
Try to state the problem in quantitative terms so that your results
will be numerical.
Ex.
Quantitative: Does fertilizer cause radish
plants to grow taller?
Qualitative: Does fertilizer cause radish
plants to grow better?
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HYPOTHESIS
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·
Hypothesis is your tentative explanation about WHY something happened.
It requires experiments to see if it is valid. It is not just a prediction of
what will happen.
Ex.
Prediction: More
earthworms will be found under the soil than on top of the soil. To see if
the prediction is correct, all you have to do is observe and count.
Hypothesis: More
earthworms are found under the soil because they prefer darkness. To see if
the hypothesis is valid, you must do experiments to test it. It might turn
out that darkness is not an important factor. Perhaps the moisture under the
soils is more important.
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MATERIALS
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·
List your materials
·
Use metric measurements of the quantities
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PROCEDURES
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·
This procedure has to be equal in your lab notebook.
·
Replicating your experiment several times is more valid.
·
Keep all your variables
constant except for the one you are testing.
·
Have a control group so that you can compare your experimental results
again with an expected known result.
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DATA TABLE
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·
Your experiment should be quantitative
·
Make a table with the results of observations. Make sure you leave
evidence of your arithmetic results.
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GRAPH
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·
Most commonly used are the line or bar graphics.
·
Make sure you label everything
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RESULTS
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·
In a few sentences summarize your data table and graphs.
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CONCLUTIONS
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·
Restate your hypothesis
·
State if your hypothesis was correct.
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LIMITATIONS
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·
How could you have improved your experiments?
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Number of trials
·
Have a control?
·
What else could you have done differently?
·
Are you planning to continue this experiment?
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APPLICATIONS
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·
How might the experiment be useful to other people?
·
Have your results demonstrate any applications that might be helpful
to others?
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PROJECTS TYPICS **All demonstrations are disqualified
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Behavioral Science
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Study of human and
animal behavior. In this type of studies you have to include quantitative
analysis.
Ex. Opinion surveys,
psychology, social and community relationships
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Botany
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Study of the plant
life
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Chemistry
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Study of the nature
of matter at atomic and molecular levels; all branches of chemistry,
inorganic, organic, physical, analytical, polymer and metallurgical
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Computer Science
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Design and
development of computer software and hardware
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Biology
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Study of all living
things.
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Earth Science
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Geology, mineralogy,
meteorology, oceanography, geography and seismography
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Engineering
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Projects that apply
scientific principles to practical applications of aeronautical, automotive,
civil, electrical, environmental and mechanical.
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Environmental
Science
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Projects that
include study of ecology, and air, water and land pollution.
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Medicine and Health
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The study of
diseases and health of humans and animals.
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Microbiology
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The study of all
categories of microorganisms
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Physics
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The study of optics,
electricity, thermodynamics, acoustics, mechanics, states of matter, quantum
mechanics, laws of motion and energy
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PROJECT SIZE
All
exhibits will be confined to table space having the following measurements:
·
48
inches wide
·
24
inches deep
·
36
inches tall plus and an additional 8 inches extension cardboard for the title
if necessary
LOSS OR DAMAGE
Valuable
equipment, such as computers might be part of the display only if the student
accepts fully responsibility.
ACA assumes
no responsibility for loss or damage to any project or project part.
Observations
·
Parents,
mentors or people outside of the group are not allowed in the display areas
during judging time
·
Students
must develop their own projects, they can have mentors, but the actual project
should be done by the students
·
Projects
should have correct spelling, grammar and punctuation
·
All
projects should have a logbook
·
All
presentations should be given in English
·
If
the group is not at the table by the time the judges pass by, they are immediately
disqualified
·
One
typed report is required for each project.
GENERAL SAFETY
Any exhibit
which violates these safety rules will be disqualified.
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1. Anything which could be hazardous
to the public is prohibited from display
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The prohibited items
includes:
·
Acid or toxic gases
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Live disease
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Microbial culture and fungi, live or dead
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Highly flammable materials
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Firearms or any other weapons
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Combustible gases
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Preserved vertebrate or invertebrate animals
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Human or animal parts (Exceptions: teeth, hair, bones, histological
sections, and wet-mount tissues slides)
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Poisons, drugs or controlled substances
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2.
All operating exhibits must meet the following requirements:
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·
Any exhibit producing temperatures exceeding 212 F must be insulated
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Any moving belts or pulleys must be covered
·
Batteries with open-top cells are not permitted
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All electrical wiring must be properly insulated
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3.
Each group is responsible for the removal of ALL the display materials
at the conclusion of the science fair.
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·
Any material found at the tables will be thrown away.
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CATEGORIES FOR SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS
Category
“A” 1-2 students working together
Category
“B” up to 4 students working together
GRADING
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GRADE
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OBSERVATIONS
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7th- 9th
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·
The students will be evaluated in science class.
·
10 points will be evaluated during the class following the rubric
below.
·
The total grade of the science fair project is going to be over 20
points
·
The evaluation of the remain 10 points will be based on their
performance during the Science Fair and the average of the points given by
the judges
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10th-11th
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·
The students will be evaluated in Chemistry, Biology and Physics
class.
·
10 points will be evaluated during the class following the rubric
below.
·
The total grade of the science fair project is going to be over 20
points per class
·
The evaluation of the remain 10 points will be based on their
performance during the Science Fair and the average of the points given by
the judges
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SCENCE FAIR RUBRIC
7TH-11TH
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Week
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Due Date
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Assignment
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Points
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1
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Recall the
scientific method with students
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2
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Check report and
correct errors
Bring all materials
needed for their experiments and also their display boards and log books
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2
2
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3
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Bring display board
information to be checked.
Bring final report.
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2
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4
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Check log books and
work on the display board
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2
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5
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Final check-up on
their science Fair projects
Agape Christian
Academy
Science Fair
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2
10
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