Ant Appetites How do I use research for my science fair project?

Write a Question What are you interested in? Pick a topic. What do you want to know about this topic? Write a question that you do not know the answer to.

Sample Questions Do hand motions affect your memory? Which color Saran Wrap allows plants to grow the tallest? Does the type of water you feed a plant affect its growth? Does chewed gum lose mass? Which bandage stays on best when placed in water?

More Sample Questions Does spending more money for your sunscreen give more protection from the sun? Does fabric softener affect drying time? What is the effect of soccer ball temperature in kicking distance? What effect does music have on blood pressure?

Which sugar substance will ants prefer? Once you decide on a question, it’s time to do some research.

Research is like Chex Mix.

To begin… To make Chex Mix, you must first go to the store to get the ingredients. To do research, you must first go to the library to get resources.

Select only what you need… Corn Chex cereal Rice Chex cereal Wheat Chex cereal Mixed nuts Pretzels Facts Keywords Definitions Information Ideas

Spices and condiments give the recipe flavor. Traditional Chex Party Mix Worcestershire Sauce Butter Salt Garlic Powder Onion Powder

Give your project flavor… Adjectives, adverbs, and interesting verbs make your project interesting (it’s okay to use a thesaurus). Tell what you think is important. Explain what you’ve learned. Give your opinion. After all, this is your project.

To create an original recipe… Leave out some ingredients (Rice Chex cereal, mixed nuts). Add ingredients (cashews). Change the spices or condiments (take out Onion Powder and add Chipotle Powder and the Secret Ingredient). Secret Ingredient

To create an original project: Decide what is important. Leave out the boring information. Leave out the “little words” (and, but, or, for, if…) You can use “common knowledge” (dates, names, facts). You can add your ideas and thoughts. You can add “different” words. You can change the order of the information.

Final Product Bake your version of Chex Mix, then display your creation in a manner that you are proud of.

Final Product Your final product should show what you have learned. It should show what you think is important. You should be proud of what you have created.

Back to Ants… Taking Notes Using books and/or web sites, find something that relates to your topic. Read a “chunk.” A chunk could be a paragraph or a page. Don’t try to read too much at a time. Think about what you read. What is important? THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF TAKING NOTES IS READING!!!

Taking Notes Select a few key facts from your chunk. Write down important keywords, facts, dates, names, ideas. Select new information. When taking notes, try not to use small words like a, an, the, is, was. Use commas and dashes instead of words to show that you are not copying sentences.

Read, then decide what is important. In the article “Ants are Very Fond of Sweets,” found online at: u.ac.jp/BE/Kingdom/3637/3637e.html, is this paragraph: u.ac.jp/BE/Kingdom/3637/3637e.html “Ants are very fond of sweets, and have a keen sense of smell of honeydew and sugar. However, they do not eat sweets exclusively. While sweets supply energy for various activities of ants, food materials such as dead insects and plant seeds are also essential for ants as the nutritional sources of the components of their body structures.”

Now write your notes. Ants – like sweets Smell – honeydew, sugar Eat stuff other than sugar Sweets = energy Other food = dead insects, plant seeds

Get another source and do the same thing. In the World Book Encyclopedia 2000, it says, “ Harvester ants collect seeds and store them in special chambers in their nests. They thus always have a supply of food available. Dairying ants live chiefly on a sugary liquid called honeydew. Honey ants gather honeydew from insects or from plants and store it in their nests.”

Take more notes. Harvester ants – eat seeds; keep them in special chambers – nest Honeydew = sugary liquid Dairying ants & honey ants – like honeydew

Time to write… After you combine information from your notes, add in the “flavoring,” and write your paragraph or paper. Example: Some ants, such as dairying ants and honey ants seem to like sweet things. They particularly like honeydew which is a sugary liquid. This gives them their tremendous energy.

Now it’s time to work on your project: After you do your research, then write your hypothesis. What materials do you need to do your experiment? Conduct your experiment. What is your procedure? What are the results of your experiment? Make a graph or chart showing your results. What is your conclusion? Was your hypothesis correct?

Your final project…