Science Fair Information

The purpose of the Science Fair is to offer students the opportunity to think deeply about science as it applies to everyday life.

Dates -Appalachian State University Brawley Middle School Science Fair - 6th – 8th grade - Thursday, November 21, 2014 - Media Center Iredell-Statesville Schools District Science Fair Middle School grades November 24, 2014 Northwest Regional Science Fair (Region 7) -December 16, 2014 -Appalachian State University For additional questions: nbanister@iss.k12.nc.us or bgarver@iss.k12.nc.us

This website will provide you all of the necessary information for completing a Science Fair Project in North Carolina. www.ncsciencefair.org Reference this site for… How to do a Science Fair Project. Downloading the Forms Needed. Following the Rules for doing a Project.

Steps in Developing a Science Fair Project Decide on a topic Plan steps in project Conduct some research about your topic Investigate and collect data Create a display with write-ups and graphics Practice talking about your project Do not put your name on the front or a picture of yourself.

Scientific Method The Question Your science fair project starts with a question. This might be based on an observation you have made or a particular topic that interests you. Think what you hope to discover during your investigation, what question would you like to answer? Your question needs to be about something you can measure and will typically start with words such as what, when, where, how or why. Background Research Talk to your science teacher and use resources such as books and the Internet to perform background research on your question. Gathering information now will help prepare you for the next step in the Scientific Method. Hypothesis Using your background research and current knowledge, make an educated guess that answers your question. Your hypothesis should be a simple statement that expresses what you think will happen. Experiment Create a step by step procedure and conduct an experiment that tests your hypothesis. The experiment should be a fair test that changes only one variable at a time while keeping everything else the same. Repeat the experiment a number of times to ensure your original results weren’t an accident. Data Collect data and record the progress of your experiment. Document your results with detailed measurements, descriptions and observations in the form of notes, journal entries, photos, charts and graphs. Observations Describe the observations you made during your experiment. Include information that could have affected your results such as errors, environmental factors and unexpected surprises. Conclusions Analyze the data you collected and summarize your results in written form. Use your analysis to answer your original question, do the results of your experiment support or oppose your hypothesis? Communication Present your findings in an appropriate form, whether it’s a final report for a scientific journal, a poster for school or a display board for a science fair competition.

Project Guidelines (These guidelines are set by the Regional and State Science Fairs) Projects should be the student’s own work. Parents should be a guide to encourage and offer ideas or materials. Find help for your project in the library or on the internet. Please practice school internet safety guidelines while researching at school or home. Be sure your topic is not too broad, such as “motors” or “plants”. The project should be specific and something you can observe, compare, and experiment. These are not considered projects, rather models and will NOT be judged: Experiments on live animals Models of Volcanoes Dinosaurs Electromagnets Light Blub Circuits The Solar System Tornado Bottles Your display should include the following steps of the Scientific Method. Purpose/Question Research- documented in bibliographic form Hypothesis Procedure Observation Conclusions Research Paper Students will be required to complete a short interview with the judges that will cover questions about their experiment. These questions are not predetermined and will be a result of any questions the judge may have after reviewing the project display board. Interviews will not be judged separately, but will be taken into consideration as judges score all areas of the project. Projects MUST be displayed on a “Project Display Board”. The boards MUST NOT have participants name or picture on FRONT of board. Projects will be judged based on a rubric. All projects will be given a total score. Awards will be given in order or points earned, greatest to least. Top three places will move on to the Regional Science Fair.