All CCS 7 th and 8 th graders will participate! A science fair project is EXPERIMENTAL. That means it involves a test done to find an answer to a question you have.

Scientific Method The steps you will follow are used by scientists all over the world. There are basically six steps in the Scientific Method. State the question to be solved. Form a hypothesis to answer the question. Design an experiment to test your hypothesis. Collect data. Analyze the results. Draw conclusions. Report your results. (Display at the science fair.)

FIRST OFF, you need a topic! Your whole project will center around the topic that you choose. Choose something you enjoy! The reason to do a project is because it's fun and you will learn something you didn't know before by doing the experiment.

Think…think…think! Look online for science fair ideas. Look at projects in books. HOWEVER, don't just use these ideas exactly as you find them. (That’s plagiarism!) Add your own question, your own ideas. Make your project your very own!

Use your experiences to help you choose an area of interest and a topic within that area. Remember a time you looked at something and thought "I wonder what would happen if..." or a time when you thought about how you could change something to make it work “better” Why don’t you turn that question into your science fair project?

JUST DO IT! Get started right away thinking about your project! Talk to your parents about ideas. See if they have any suggestions for you. Science projects are a valuable learning tool. Learn all you can in the process! Be creative, innovative, and thorough in your planning! Good planning leads to a good project!

Science Fair DON’Ts Don’t copy a project someone has already done. Make your project your own. Don’t compare products. Although you will find science fair projects that have been done from 1 st to 12 th graders, some are too simple for you. By middle school, I’d like to see more scientific thought than a simple comparison of two or more products. (For example: Don’t compare which battery lasts longer: Energizer versus Duracell?)

MORE DON’TS Don't do a demonstration such as “How to make a…” Don’t just do research and write a simple report. Don’t just show a model. WHY? These don't use the scientific method. YOU MUST USE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD to experimentally answer a question.

Homework due by Thursday: Obtain a composition book (no spiral bound notebooks!) and write your name inside the front cover On the first page of the notebook, write possible topics/questions. Before Thursday, write FIVE (5) possible questions that you might be interested in experimenting to find the answers to.

Your question Your question must be TESTABLE by doing an experiment. On Thursday, we will look over the FIVE questions you have written and narrow down to one well- written TESTABLE question.

Research in books, journals, and websites. Research scientific principles upon which your project is founded. Explore possible answers to your question. Find ways that this type of question or a similar one has be experimentally explored by others before you. You must include 32 statements (“bullet points”) of information (8 bullet points from each of 4 difference sources.)

State your hypothesis A hypothesis is an educated guess. (Educated because you have done research and have an idea of what might happen based on that research.) Write a testable hypothesis to answer your question. State the hypothesis as a fact rather than using such words as “I think…”

Procedure The procedure should be very detailed, like a recipe in cooking. Someone should be able to take what you write and perform the exact same experiment that you have done. Your procedure contains two parts: 1. Materials and 2. Methods:

Procedure: 1. Materials: List details about the materials and equipment you will use for your experiment 2. Procedures: Step by step instructions of what to do. *As you perform your experiment, these may change, so when they do, you must change your list! Tell how you will regularly (daily, hourly, etc) measure the results. You must use SI (metric) units!!!

A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT You will need to plan a controlled experiment….You will change only one factor and observe its effects while keeping all the other factors as constant as possible. The ONE factor that changes in the experiment is called the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE.. The CONTROL is a part of the experiment where you run the test with as little change as possible (the “normal” conditions) so that the results found with your independent variable can be compared to it.

Do the experiment. START EARLY! Make good records of everything you do in the experiment and every result you get. See next slide on the LOG BOOK.

KEEP A LOG BOOK. Keep very detailed records in your log book. This should be a composition book. All measurements must be taken in METRIC (SI) UNITS. As much as you can, enter your data in table format (columns and rows) In addition to measured change, write down any other observations (like color changes, leaves falling off, etc.) in your log book. Date all entries.

YOUR LOG BOOK should be handwritten and have every entry dated. Everything for science fair is to be included in the log book!

PHOTOGRAPHS You may want to take photos as you go along that you can use on your display board later.

ORGANIZING AND ANALYZING DATA Consider displaying your data using graphs (line graphs bar graphs, or pie charts) and/or tables.

More on ANALYZING DATA In this section, you will also look at the data you collected and try to find general trends in the data (analyzing it). Summarize what you found. This is a good place to give possible reasons for an unexpected/unusual outcome.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS Relate your results to your hypothesis. Was your hypothesis supported by your experimental results? Explain why your hypothesis was or was not supported. In a paragraph or two, explain some or all of the following: What did you learn by doing this experiment? What would you do differently if you were doing this same project all over again? How could this project be improved? What would you do if you were going to do a follow-up project to this one?

We will discuss the details of your display board at a future time.