Science Fair 2014

Science fair projects at the middle school level are much more advanced than elementary projects.

Main Differences More stringent rules A proposal must be submitted to teacher for approval. Forms MUST be filled out, signed and dated prior to experimentation. Your project can include human or animal subjects, but you must consider the safety, ethics, and the rights of your subjects 6th-8th grade compete with each other. Winning students can advance to the State Fair, and potentially win monetary awards and college scholarships! Much more work is involved.

Science Fair in Middle School What are the Judges Looking for? Project topics should demonstrate an appropriate level of challenge for high-achieving students. Models and demonstrations, while educational, are not Science Fair projects! The ONLY fungi allowed for at home experimentation are brewers yeast and bakers yeast.

Science Fair in Middle School What are the Judges Looking for? Your project must allow for measurable results(quantitative observations), such as time, distance, capacity, temperature, or changes in rates. Product testing is not permitted unless you test the chemistry or physics of specific ingredients or components using a controlled experiment. In other words, you can test different products if you compare unique ingredients or components (their chemical or physical properties) or compare various levels of an ingredient or vary the characteristics of a physical factor. All other factors must be strictly controlled. Your project must address why there may be a difference in the effectiveness between products based on chemical or physical differences.

Speaking of measurement… Metric is the language of science: meter, liter, gram, Celsius. Do NOT use cups, gallons, ounces, pounds, inches, feet, miles, Fahrenheit (unless included in parentheses in addition to the metric units). Time is the same in metric and in the English system: seconds, minutes, hours.

Where Do I Begin? Topic selection is the hardest part!!! Research topics that interest you. Use current events to inspire you: read magazines and newspapers, watch the news, get online. Try to solve a problem, invent something, improve something, or make something more efficient. Write a proposal of experiment in your log book. What problem are you investigating? Write a DETAILED procedure. Identify your variables. Submit proposal to your teacher.

Log Book EVERYTHING you do should be recorded in your log book (not just your experiment). Date every entry – extremely important!!! Use non-erasable pen, not pencil. Do NOT tear out pages, or use white out, or scribble out mistakes. Draw ONE line (mistack) through any mistakes. Your log book should document the process of selecting a topic, your topic research, rough drafts of your Research Plan, your data – EVERYTHING!

Log Book Sample Entry 9/6/07 Today I went to the computer lab to research possible experiment topics. I found several that interested me. I made copies of the website pages. I discussed the prospects with my teacher and my Mom and decided to do….

What Next? AFTER your teacher has approved your proposal, (record the date submitted and approved in your log book) THEN you must begin filling out all of the required Intel ISEF Official Forms and complete you Research Plan. There are several official forms that are required for all projects—they aren’t hard to do, but you must pay attention to the details. That’s part of science, too! You may NOT start experimenting until AFTER all required ISEF forms AND your Research Plan are signed and approved by your teacher and if the project requires it, the IRRSEF Review Board.

Which Official Forms Do I Fill Out? ALL projects require: Form 1: Checklist for Adult Sponsor Form 1A: Student Checklist Research Plan (Not really a form; it’s a separate typed document) Form 1B: Approval Form. Form 3: Risk Assessment Form Forms must be typed or filled out using blue ink. All signatures must also be in blue ink. Leave the following portions blank: Adult Sponsor Signature and Date (bottom of Form 1). ACTUAL start and end date (Form 1A, #6). SRC/IRB Approval Boxes (Form 1B, Parts 2 and 3).

IMPORTANT: Your ADULT SPONSOR is your teacher. Your DESIGNATED SUPERVISOR is usually your parent or guardian (the person who will supervise you while you perform your experiment).

You fill out the top two lines! Your parent or mentor is your DESIGNATED SUPERVISOR— the adult person who will be with when you are doing your experiment. They DO NOT sign this form Your teacher is your ADULT SPONSOR. He/She will sign the bottom of this form when all of your forms are in order!

Don’t fill out ACTUAL start and end dates until later! YOU have to fill out this page! Make sure you decide on a project TITLE soon—it has to go on all forms and match what goes on your board! Don’t fill out ACTUAL start and end dates until later!

You and your parents must sign here. Part 1: You and your parents must sign here. This form must be dated BEFORE the ACTUAL start date recorded in your log book and on Form 1A. Part 2: This section will be completed by the IRRSEF if your project requires prior approval. This section must be dated BEFORE the ACTUAL start date recorded in your log book and on Form 1A.

Risk Assessment: Form 3 Before you can receive approval, you must determine any potential risks and describe them on this form. This is the most difficult of all the forms. You cannot fill out the Risk Assessment (Form 3) until you know the procedures you plan to use, so complete your Research Plan FIRST. If you are using any special chemicals, you must describe all necessary safety precautions, cite the MSDS for each chemical, and attach the bibliography and MSDS to this form. If you are using any organisms, you must describe all safety precautions, describe and cite all care and disposal methods and attach a bibliography. If you are using any hazardous devices, you must describe all safety precautions in detail.

Research Plan This “form” does not look like a form because there are no blanks to fill in. Read it carefully. You must provide all of the information outlined on this form on a separate sheet of paper. It should be typed. It must include a bibliography, minimum 5 sources.

Projects with Special Considerations If you want to do a project that involves: Humans and vertebrates. Bacteria, fungi, pathogenic microbes. Some invertebrates. Certain chemicals, activities, or devices that might be considered dangerous. …then additional forms MAY be required depending on the nature of your project. Projects that require these extra forms are called “Special Considerations” projects.

Refresh my memory… What is a Vertebrate? Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Mammals

What Forms Do Special Consideration Projects Need? Working with vertebrate animals? Either Form 5A or Form 5B. Humans involved in your project? Form 4 (2 pages). Conducting your experiment in a company lab or university lab? Form 1C. Working with a professional scientist as a mentor? Form 2. Working with potentially dangerous chemicals, activities, or devices? Form 3. Working with microbes? Form 6.

PRIOR APPROVAL Most “special considerations” projects not only require additional forms, but also must be approved by the SRC/IRB review board BEFORE experimentation can begin! All projects involving humans, vertebrates, and microbes require PRIOR APPROVAL! Your teacher will submit your forms to the board. DO NOT start your project until the board approves the project. (Your teacher will let you know.) Projects with only minor risk will not need to go before the board, but will require a Risk Assessment (Form 3).

Where do I get these forms? On the class website, click and open Intel ISEF Official Forms (Partially Filled) 2012-13. Save this document to your network account or flash drive. You can now type directly on the ISEF forms and save what you type!!! Remember to save each time you make changes. I have already filled in some information for you (my info, school address, etc.).

Research Report You are required to do a detailed research report on the topic of your experiment . In this way the teacher knows if you have done sufficient research to thoroughly know your topic and develop your hypothesis. Use the Research Planning Worksheet (which is located on the class website) to help you identify key words and develop questions that will guide your research. You should research your topic and make copies of websites that have information specific to your topic. READ them, become familiar with your topic. Place them in a folder labeled “Reprint file”. Use these to write your report. Your report must be at least 5 paragraphs long, which includes an introduction and a conclusion. Remember that: The information copied from other sources are referenced, have been put in quotation marks Referenced material is followed by a citation identifying the source

Variables These are factors in your experiment that you must identify. (They are a part of your proposal and should be on your board.) Independent-the one thing that you are changing in your experiment. Dependent-What are you measuring? Constants-everything you keep the same to ensure accuracy and validity. Control-a group to which the independent variable is NOT applied to.

Experimentation After you gather your materials and are ready to start, document everything in your log book. Create a chart to record data. Make sure Charts are labeled properly clearly identifying the data types and units of measurement for each. A good experiment is repeated multiple times OR has a large test group.

Examples If you are doing an experiment with plants, insects, brine shrimp, or human subjects you should have a LARGE number in each test group. (And always have a control group.) If you are running an experiment that involves timed trials, repeat the experiment at least 5 times and average your results.

Graphing Results The Excel program or other computer graphing programs should be used to develop computer generated graphs. Make sure : The graph has a title and clearly describes what the data is about The independent variable is on the x-axis and the dependent variable is on the y-axis The axes are properly labeled and include units of measurement The judges will be looking for good math in your results. Can you find the mean, median and mode? Your teacher may teach you some more advanced statistics for analyzing your results.

Abstract An abstract is a summarized version of your project. It must be typed on the official state abstract form. It includes the purpose, hypothesis, procedure, data analysis and conclusion. It is written in past tense and 200-250 words in length. It must be written on The Official Abstract Form Make 3 copies, one for your final report, one for your show board, and one for your records.

Final Report Title page. Abstract. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION  Question Variables Independent Dependent Constants Control(if there is one) Hypothesis. BACKGROUND RESEARCH. MATERIALS & EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Data Analysis and Discussion. This section includes: Charts  Graphs A summary of what you found out in your experiment, focusing on your observations, data table, and graph(s). CONCLUSION Acknowledgements.(optional)   BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The Education Foundation of Indian River County are the proud sponsors of this program and provide funding for the regional fair. In addition the foundation provides the funds for student participation in state and international competition.