OPHS Science Fair

Choose a Topic Pick a topic that:  Will be interesting.  You will be able to complete in the required time.  I will schedule a couple of times the first week of December to hold help sessions to select topics

Title  Choose a title that reflects your topic and is in the form a question Example: How does caffeine affect the growth of a plant?

Research  Try to use various sources for your research. Work with the librarians  Suggested sources: Books Magazines Newspapers Internet  Research should be designed to get background information about your topic, before you begin your experiment. You can’t make an educated guess if you don’t have background knowledge.

Hypothesis Make your guess  Use your research to make an educated guess about how you think your experiment will turn out.  Use the “ If I __________ then I think _____”format 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 stimulate the plants.

Procedure  Design your experiment: Use the Experimental Design Diagram Diagram Form (Due 1/6/15)  Design your experiment so that they only test for one thing.  Make sure that you do the same things to all groups of objects being tested. Example: If you are testing plants:  Use the same seeds.  Plant all of them with the same soil.  Put them all in the same amount of light for the same amount of time.  The only thing that should be different about the plants is that one received coffee and the other water.

Procedure  To increase the validity of your experiment Make sure to keep a control group. Keep in mind sample size. The more objects in your sample the more valid your experiment. Use multiple trials. (At least three.)

Procedure  Write down step-by-step directions on how to do your experiment. Do not leave anything out!

Materials  Make a complete list of everything you will use in your experiment.  Tell how many and how much of each object used.  Use metric measures only.

Do your experiment.  Keep a detailed logbook  Take pictures of your experimental set up  Have fun!

LOGBOOK All the data gathered during your experiment should be carefully recorded in a lab notebook. Certainly this includes the data gathered as a result of the experiment itself, but it also includes much more.  Your Logbook should include:  1.A list of all the materials used.  2.Notes on all the preparations you made prior to starting your experiment.  3. Information about the resources you use (books, people, libraries, museums, etc.).

LOGBOOK (cont.) 4. Detailed day-by-day notes on the progress of the project. a. What you are actually doing b. Problems you encounter with the experiment c. Things you would change if you were doing this investigation again 5.Any drawings that might help explain your work. 6.Data that was gathered during the course of the experiment (notes, charts, tables, graphs)  BE SURE TO DATE EACH ENTRY IN YOUR LOGBOOK

Make Charts and Graphs  Display data using charts, tables, and graphs.  Choose the correct graphs for your data. Bar-comparison Pie-percentage Line-change/time

Data Analysis  Using your data write, in sentences, 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.

Conclusion  Write down why you think your experiment turned out the way it did, include if your hypothesis was supported or not. Be sure to use the term “ My hypothesis was/was not supported. Do not say I was right/wrong. Even when your hypothesis was not supported you gain information about your topic. Use scientific reasoning for conclusion.

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.

Make Your Board  Start your information on the top left panel of the board, move down the left panel, across the middle panel, and from the top down on the right panel.  Place pictures of your experiment on your board.

Make your Board

Helpful Resources Science Fair Web Pages Best site for help through out project! This is a good site explaining the parts of a science fair project. A web site for children to use in setting up their science fair project A great site! It has info for parents, teachers, and students. It has project ideas, research tools, and tip sheets for all kinds of projects.

Bringing It Together Keys for success: †Make a time-line and stick to it. †Parental support †Organization

Project Components 1. Title of project 2. Statement of problem, question, and purpose of project 3. Hypothesis 4. Material and procedures 5. Results ( tables, graphs, and photos) 6. Data analysis 7. Conclusions 8. Experimental Design Diagram 9. Abstract 10. Report

Due Dates  Experimental Design – January 6, 2015  Research Plan and the completed forms on pages 28, 29, and 31 of the Student handbook are due- January 27, 2014 (DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE)  School Science Fair- February 19, 2015  Regional Science Fair (if chosen)- February 27, Online registration 4:00 March 14, Regional Fair Project Set up (Kelly Learning Center) March 15, Regional Fair (Kelly Learning Center)

Support  I will hold two help session on 12/2 and 12/4 to help students develop research ideas and questions  I will hold another work session January to help with data analysis and other issues