Stoney Creek Science Fair Information Night

Why Should You Do A Project? You will learn to think like a scientist. Real world application Hands-on approach to learning Allows students to investigate what they are interested in Doing a project can be lots of fun!

#1- The Planning Phase Most detailed part…includes: Log Book…..Log Book…..Log Book Log Book…..Log Book…..Log Book Deciding what to do Doing some research Forming a hypothesis Writing out the experiment plan KEY: Keep It Simple!!

#2- The Experimentation Phase The FUN part…includes: Hands-on….Hands-on…….Hands-on Actually conducting the experiment Collecting and recording the data Seeing if the hypothesis was correct

#3- The Artistic Phase The creative part…includes: Presentation……Presentation Putting the information on a Tri-fold board Having an organized plan Creating a display

Working Together Students Work Responsibility Parents Encourage Answer questions Supervise safety Come to the fair! Teachers Step-by-step assignments Checkpoints graded along the way Science Fair Success

DateIn the classroom Due on Monday of that week Parent signature week of Oct. 29 th We will kick off science fair by setting up log books and discussing topics and testable questions. week of Nov. 5 th We will model how to write the purpose and hypothesis for a science project. Question page 1 week of Nov. 12 th We will model how to create variables and how to write materials and procedures Purpose and Hypothesis page 2 week of Nov. 19 th We will start our class science project. During this time we will model how to collect data and write observation notes Variables, Materials, and Procedures page 3- 5 week of Nov. 26 th We will continue our class science project Materials and Procedures check #2 Pages 4-5 week of Dec. 3 rd We will model writing a conclusion and putting together a science presentation board. Due on Wednesday- Completed log book Dec. 10 th Teacher will grade projects using the rubric and students will do class presentation. Due on Tuesday- Completed Projects due to your classroom teacher Dec. 13 th Thursday Night Science Fair Night 6:00-7:30

Display

Ask a question. This is the foundation or Problem Statement If your child identifies a question that is safe and can be answered through experimentation, the rest of the project will follow. A good question can be investigated (tested) and contains variables. A poor question is merely a demonstration or is too general. Problem statement must be approved by the teacher before continuing with the project. Be sure this is NOT a demonstration. It MUST test data.

Hypothesis The student will predict what is going to be the results of the investigation. The hypothesis should not be changed if it is incorrect. – The hypothesis is just an educated guess. Must be stated using “if”, “then” and “because” statement. – Example: “ If Brawny, Viva, and Bounty paper towels are tested for their absorbency, then Bounty will absorb the most water. I believe this because Bounty is “The quicker picker upper.”

Variables These are all the factors that affect the investigation. There are three types of variables: – Independent Variable: what changes, – Dependent Variable: what happens by itself, what you are measuring – Controlled Variable: what stays the same. The variables MUST be labeled on the display board in the materials list.

DATA!! DATA!! DATA!! 5 min10 min15 min20 min25 min30 min35 min40 min45 min Masking Tape Aluminum Foil Plasic Baggie Electrical Tape Paper

Conclusion Students write about the results of the investigation – Ask yourself these questions before writing your conclusion 1.Did you get the results you expected to get? If not how were the results different? 2.Were there any unexpected problems or occurrences that may have affected the results of your investigation? 3.Do you think you collected sufficient data? (Were there enough trials? Samples?) 4.Do I need to revise my original hypothesis? (If you write a revised hypothesis, DO NOT use it to replace your original hypothesis for this project!

Oral Presentations During the week that the Display Board is due, students will be required to present their projects orally to the class. It is important that students follow the guidelines in the handouts to ensure that they meet all of the requirements for this assignment. Students MUST NOT read the information from the board. They need to address their classmates and maintain eye contact to demonstrate their knowledge of their project.