Science Fair Projects Requirements, Tips, etc.

When is the project due? The Sweetwater Science Fair will be on Friday, January 29, Time to be announced at a later date. The project requirements must be turned in the week of January 4 th. Late projects will not be eligible for the competition and may incur point deductions at the teacher’s discretion. Each homeroom teacher in grades 3 rd – 5 th will complete progress checks of your log books. These dates will be chosen by each teacher. Each student must submit a completed log book and a power point presentation. 5 th grade students must also submit a research paper.

What makes a good science fair project? Find a topic that interests you since you will be spending a lot of time on this project. You can use the topic selection wizard on to help you find an idea. You must complete an experiment or an engineering activity. Volcanoes are not considered to be an experiment and not allowed to be chosen to meet this required activity. Your topic must allow you to create a “fair test”. This means you only change one factor (variable) and keep all others the same. Your project must include factors that can be measured easily with numbers.

Projects to avoid Comparisons such as, “Which tastes better: Coke or Pepsi?” Most consumer product testing of “Which is best?” type items. Such as popcorn, bubblegum, make-up, detergents, etc. Effect of colored light on plants. Effect of music or talking on plants. Effect of music, video games, or running on blood pressure. Any project that uses harmful chemicals or causes harm to people or animals.

S.F. Question Question - Experiment The question should be interesting enough to read about, then work on for the next few months. There should be at least 3 sources of written information on the subject.

Background Research/Hypothesis What is background research? This is information about the topic of your experiment question. Make sure that your research is relevant to your topic. What makes a good hypothesis? A hypothesis is an educated guess that can be tested. The hypothesis is written in the following form: If (I do this) then (this will happen).

Materials List You must list the materials that you will need in your log book as well as in your power point presentation. The materials list must be very specific. Good Materials List 500 mL of de-ionized water Stopwatch with 0.1 sec. accuracy AA alkaline battery Bad Material List Water Clock battery

Variables You will have to list the variables from your experiment. You will list the independent variable, dependent variable, and the controlled variables. Independent variable – the part that you changed. You should only change one thing. Dependent variable – the part that you measure to see how the change affected the test. You should measure only one thing and use metric measurements. Controlled variables – the parts that stayed the same throughout the experiment.

Procedure The procedure is the step-by- step directions for your experiment. It should be so detailed and complete that someone else could duplicate your experiment exactly. You will also have to test the experiment at least three times to have enough data to analyze.

Results Choose the correct graph that is appropriate for your data. You should include the following charts: Chart showing average results. Graph showing results from each test.

Conclusion Your conclusion will summarize how your results support or reject your hypothesis. The conclusion should… Summarize your project results in a few sentences and use this summary to support your conclusion. Include key facts from your background research to help explain your results. State whether your results support or contradict your hypothesis. Suggest changes that you would do if you tested this experiment again, especially if your hypothesis was incorrect.