Science Fair Projects

3rd Biannual Science Symposium Partner project Judged by science department with winners in each class competing for prizes ALL projects will be presented to other science students, parents, admin., etc… Top 10 will have the opportunity to compete in the ISU Science Symposium

Choose a Topic Pick a topic that: Will be interesting. You can write a 5 page research paper on. You will be able to complete in the required time. Something that can be experimented on and has a relevance to your field

Paper Specifications Must be linked to symposium project in 4th term Will be the background, or preliminary research, required for you to fully understand your science symposium project 4-6 pages Times New Roman 12 pt. font, 1 inch margins Cited in the MLA style Minimum of 6 sources Of those 6 sources, only 2 can be internet based More to come on citations and sourcing (brought to you by Mrs. Flott!)

Important Paper Dates Friday, January 24th – 5 potential topics due Wednesday, January 29th – Topics handed back, proposals started Friday, January 31st – Final proposal due Friday, February 7th – Hard copy sources due, interlinear citation sheet due Friday, February 28th – Works Cited due Monday, March 3rd – Peer Editing day (3 required) Friday, March 7th – Final paper due

Finalized Proposal (cont.) Your finalized proposal must be: Typed 12 point Times New Roman Double Spaced Bulleted with sections that contain the following headings (next slide)

Finalized Proposals Must contain the following Title/Topic with necessary background information Hypothesis Variables Constants & Controls Procedure Materials Cost Analysis

Your Board – for those who want to get started

The Board Please get out Poster Presentation sheet Tri-fold poster board will be used to present data at symposium Will be provided Must be typed Typing specification in packet Must be self-standing Note what must be on tri-fold

Parts of your Tri-fold

Title Choose a title that reflects your topic and is not oversimplified Place your name and your partner’s name underneath the main title Font specification on sheet

Abstract/Introduction Complete overview of experiment Includes purpose, experiment, variables, & results Summary form, less than 250 words Absolutely NO pronouns

Good Abstract/Bad Abstract Please refer to the abstract page as we will be going over an example of a good abstract vs. a bad abstract Good why? Bad why?

Hypothesis A hypothesis is not an educated guess Use your preliminary research to make a hypothesis about how you think your experiment will turn out. Easiest to use the “ If I __________ then I think _____”format Example: If 100 ml of coffee is poured on four pea plants and 100 ml of water in another four pea plants, then the plants with coffee will grow taller as caffeine will stimulate the plants’ growth rate.

Experimental Procedure Design your experiment Design your experiment so that they only test for one thing. CONTROL 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.

Procedure Write down step-by-step directions on how to do your experiment. Do not leave anything out. Keep sentences short and to the point, do not waste room. Bullet variables at the end. Example

Procedure Get 8 pea plants ( 100 cm tall). Place 4 pea plants on each tray. Label one set of plants “Caffeine”. Label the second set “Water”. Pour 100ml of coffee( with caffeine ) onto the soil of each plant twice a week. Pour 100ml of water onto the soil of each plant twice a week. Measure each plant with a metric ruler Record data in record book.

Data/Results All measurements must be in metric Meat of presentation Should take up the most room Should be visually stimulating Display data using charts, tables, and graphs. Choose the correct graphs for your data. Bar-comparison Pie-percentage Line-change/time All measurements must be in metric

Results At the bottom of the results section, write a few sentences how your experiment turned out. (Summarize your results) Example: From reading my charts and graphs, 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 Refer back to hypothesis Be sure to use the term “The hypothesis was/was not supported. Do not say it was right/wrong. Even when your hypothesis was not supported information is gained about the topic. Use scientific reasoning for conclusion, no colloquialism. Discuss any errors and how they could have contributed to manipulating data

Future Considerations Tell what you would change if you could do the experiment again. Tell how you might take your experiment to the next step. Tell what other scientists may be doing with this in your particular field Still no pronouns – if you need help, ask!

Bibliography If you use a source, you must cite it. Let’s just clear this up, YOU WILL HAVE SOURCES! MLA style Ezbib & Son of Citation Machine

Additional Info. Copies of abstract sitting in front of poster Regular size font (12 pt, Times New Roman) Research Report Everything restated in paragraph form Regular font

Rubric Rubric for posters will be given at a later date 120 points Do not overlook an area

Questions ????