1. May Ranch Science Fair
2014

2. Let’s Get Started You should have received the science fair packet.
All 4th and 5th grade students are required to complete a science fair project.
Important Note for 4th and 5th Graders: The project MUST be an EXPERIMENT, not a model, collection, demonstration or research report!!
The science project is due February 3rd. Check with your child’s teacher for specific due dates.

3. First thing’s first
You need to think about something that is of interest to him or her.
After you have something in mind, research the subject. Look in books, magazines, the internet, even talk to an expert.
Time to come up with a question, problem or purpose for your project. (All of this should be written in their journal)
The problem or purpose should be about something that would benefit society in some way.

4. First things first Continued
Once you have decided the purpose of the project, the question you will try to answer, or the problem you are trying to solve, your child needs to make their hypothesis.
Hypothesis is an educated guess about the outcome of your project’s question, problem or purpose. Tell why you believe this to be true.
During this entire time, you should be writing in a journal each day. Record what you are doing, discovering and are going to do next.
Complete the experiment. A good scientist conducts the experiment several times to see if they get the same results. Keep notes in journal and take pictures.

5. The Three Steps to Your Child’s Science Fair Project
The Journal
From the beginning to the end you need to keep a journal. Some projects, ones that require daily observations, will require that you write in it every day and others may only require writing when you are working on the project.

6. Journal Entry Example Example: January 12, 2010
Today my teacher talked with us about the science fair. We got our packets and talked about the different things we could do our project on. I think I want to do mine on if using antibacterial hand sanitizer is a good way to wash your hands.
Example: January 13, 2010
I talked with my teacher today and she said I could a project on how effective antibacterial hand sanitizer is at removing germs. I will begin researching on my computer after school.
I looked up many different things on the internet. I want to look up different kinds of bacteria that could get on your hands, what are the ingredients in hand sanitizer that kill germs and how not using water helps kill germs. I will list all my research I find below… Then list everything you find online.

7. The Journal
Your journal (the scientist) is where you keep all of your notes, ideas, facts they have found, everything. The journal needs to be hand written. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it is where a scientist brainstorms their ideas, writes down their daily accounts, it is the place where the proof can be found. Never rip out a page in your journal, just put a X over the page and leave it. A scientist never throws any notes away. Some of our greatest inventions have been discovered through mistakes.

8. Step 2: The Notebook This is the final copy of your project.
It needs to be typed or neatly written.
Put your first & last name, grade & teacher on the back of notebook. Out of sight of judges.
Page 1. Title and Problem Question- This is the front cover, it should have the title of the project on it. (i.e. Which Battery is Better?)
Page 2. Table of Contents- List the things that would be found in the notebook and on what page. (i.e. Research Report ……………………..page 2)
Title and Problem Question- This is the front cover, it should have the title of the project on it. (i.e. Which Battery is Better?)
Table of Contents- List the things that would be found in the notebook and on what page. (i.e. Research Report ……………………..page 2)
Research Report- Tell what you learned about your topic before you did the experiment. Use books, magazines, science book or internet. This report must be written in student’s own words and not just copied from the source.
Hypothesis- An educated guess about the outcome or results of the experiment and must be based on facts found in research. (i.e. “I believe that bread mold does not need light for reproduction on white bread. I base my hypothesis on the fact that organisms with chlorophyll need light to survive. Molds do not have chlorophyll.”)
List of Materials- List all materials used for your experiment
Experiment- Step by step detailed explanation of how to do the experiment. If drawings will make it clearer, draw each step and write an explanation of what is happening.
Data (Results of Experiment) – What you observed. Show your data. This could be in the form of a graph, chart or table.
Conclusion – Look over your journal, charts, notes and any information you have. This should be minimum 1 paragraph. This refers back to the original problem or question. Remember, your final conclusion might not agree with your original hypothesis. Your experiment might not have turned out the way you thought it would! Don’t be afraid to say that you made a mistake or were wrong! Great discoveries come from what we learn from mistakes. Future Research, If your hypothesis was incorrect, what might you do differently if you performed the experiment again? If it was correct what other research might you like to do on this same topic?
Bibliography – A list of all the resources you used throughout the project. List all books, articles, magazines, people you talked to, and websites.

9. Step 2: The Notebook Continued
Page 3. Research Report- Tell what you learned about your topic before you did the experiment. Use books, magazines, science book or internet. This report must be written in student’s own words and not just copied from the source.
Page 4. Hypothesis- An educated guess about the outcome or results of the experiment and must be based on facts found in research. (i.e. “I believe that bread mold does not need light for reproduction on white bread. I base my hypothesis on the fact that organisms with chlorophyll need light to survive. Molds do not have chlorophyll.”)
Title and Problem Question- This is the front cover, it should have the title of the project on it. (i.e. Which Battery is Better?)
Table of Contents- List the things that would be found in the notebook and on what page. (i.e. Research Report ……………………..page 2)
Research Report- Tell what you learned about your topic before you did the experiment. Use books, magazines, science book or internet. This report must be written in student’s own words and not just copied from the source.
Hypothesis- An educated guess about the outcome or results of the experiment and must be based on facts found in research. (i.e. “I believe that bread mold does not need light for reproduction on white bread. I base my hypothesis on the fact that organisms with chlorophyll need light to survive. Molds do not have chlorophyll.”)
List of Materials- List all materials used for your experiment
Experiment- Step by step detailed explanation of how to do the experiment. If drawings will make it clearer, draw each step and write an explanation of what is happening.
Data (Results of Experiment) – What you observed. Show your data. This could be in the form of a graph, chart or table.
Conclusion – Look over your journal, charts, notes and any information you have. This should be minimum 1 paragraph. This refers back to the original problem or question. Remember, your final conclusion might not agree with your original hypothesis. Your experiment might not have turned out the way you thought it would! Don’t be afraid to say that you made a mistake or were wrong! Great discoveries come from what we learn from mistakes. Future Research, If your hypothesis was incorrect, what might you do differently if you performed the experiment again? If it was correct what other research might you like to do on this same topic?
Bibliography – A list of all the resources you used throughout the project. List all books, articles, magazines, people you talked to, and websites.

10. Step 2: The Notebook Continued
Page 5. List of Materials- List all materials used for your experiment
Page 6. Experiment- Step by step detailed explanation of how to do the experiment. If drawings will make it clearer, draw each step and write an explanation of what is happening. A good scientist will repeat the experiment several times to see if they get the same results
Page 7. Data (Results of Experiment) – What you observed. Show your data. This could be in the form of a graph, chart or table.
Title and Problem Question- This is the front cover, it should have the title of the project on it. (i.e. Which Battery is Better?)
Table of Contents- List the things that would be found in the notebook and on what page. (i.e. Research Report ……………………..page 2)
Research Report- Tell what you learned about your topic before you did the experiment. Use books, magazines, science book or internet. This report must be written in student’s own words and not just copied from the source.
Hypothesis- An educated guess about the outcome or results of the experiment and must be based on facts found in research. (i.e. “I believe that bread mold does not need light for reproduction on white bread. I base my hypothesis on the fact that organisms with chlorophyll need light to survive. Molds do not have chlorophyll.”)
List of Materials- List all materials used for your experiment
Experiment- Step by step detailed explanation of how to do the experiment. If drawings will make it clearer, draw each step and write an explanation of what is happening.
Data (Results of Experiment) – What you observed. Show your data. This could be in the form of a graph, chart or table.
Conclusion – Look over your journal, charts, notes and any information you have. This should be minimum 1 paragraph. This refers back to the original problem or question. Remember, your final conclusion might not agree with your original hypothesis. Your experiment might not have turned out the way you thought it would! Don’t be afraid to say that you made a mistake or were wrong! Great discoveries come from what we learn from mistakes. Future Research, If your hypothesis was incorrect, what might you do differently if you performed the experiment again? If it was correct what other research might you like to do on this same topic?
Bibliography – A list of all the resources you used throughout the project. List all books, articles, magazines, people you talked to, and websites.

11. Step 2: The Notebook Continued
Page 8. Conclusion – Look over your journal, charts, notes and any information you have. This should be minimum 1 page. This refers back to the original problem or question. Remember, your final conclusion might not agree with your original hypothesis. Your experiment might not have turned out the way you thought it would! Don’t be afraid to say that you made a mistake or were wrong! Great discoveries come from what we learn from mistakes. Future Research, If your hypothesis was incorrect, what might you do differently if you performed the experiment again? If it was correct what other research might you like to do on this same topic?
Title and Problem Question- This is the front cover, it should have the title of the project on it. (i.e. Which Battery is Better?)
Table of Contents- List the things that would be found in the notebook and on what page. (i.e. Research Report ……………………..page 2)
Research Report- Tell what you learned about your topic before you did the experiment. Use books, magazines, science book or internet. This report must be written in student’s own words and not just copied from the source.
Hypothesis- An educated guess about the outcome or results of the experiment and must be based on facts found in research. (i.e. “I believe that bread mold does not need light for reproduction on white bread. I base my hypothesis on the fact that organisms with chlorophyll need light to survive. Molds do not have chlorophyll.”)
List of Materials- List all materials used for your experiment
Experiment- Step by step detailed explanation of how to do the experiment. If drawings will make it clearer, draw each step and write an explanation of what is happening.
Data (Results of Experiment) – What you observed. Show your data. This could be in the form of a graph, chart or table.
Conclusion – Look over your journal, charts, notes and any information you have. This should be minimum 1 paragraph. This refers back to the original problem or question. Remember, your final conclusion might not agree with your original hypothesis. Your experiment might not have turned out the way you thought it would! Don’t be afraid to say that you made a mistake or were wrong! Great discoveries come from what we learn from mistakes. Future Research, If your hypothesis was incorrect, what might you do differently if you performed the experiment again? If it was correct what other research might you like to do on this same topic?
Bibliography – A list of all the resources you used throughout the project. List all books, articles, magazines, people you talked to, and websites.

12. Step 2: The Notebook Continued
Page 9. Bibliography – A list of all the resources you used throughout the project. List all books, articles, magazines, people you talked to, and websites.
Page 10. Acknowledgements – Please thank anyone and everyone who helped you on this project!! Include how each person helped you.
Title and Problem Question- This is the front cover, it should have the title of the project on it. (i.e. Which Battery is Better?)
Table of Contents- List the things that would be found in the notebook and on what page. (i.e. Research Report ……………………..page 2)
Research Report- Tell what you learned about your topic before you did the experiment. Use books, magazines, science book or internet. This report must be written in student’s own words and not just copied from the source.
Hypothesis- An educated guess about the outcome or results of the experiment and must be based on facts found in research. (i.e. “I believe that bread mold does not need light for reproduction on white bread. I base my hypothesis on the fact that organisms with chlorophyll need light to survive. Molds do not have chlorophyll.”)
List of Materials- List all materials used for your experiment
Experiment- Step by step detailed explanation of how to do the experiment. If drawings will make it clearer, draw each step and write an explanation of what is happening.
Data (Results of Experiment) – What you observed. Show your data. This could be in the form of a graph, chart or table.
Conclusion – Look over your journal, charts, notes and any information you have. This should be minimum 1 paragraph. This refers back to the original problem or question. Remember, your final conclusion might not agree with your original hypothesis. Your experiment might not have turned out the way you thought it would! Don’t be afraid to say that you made a mistake or were wrong! Great discoveries come from what we learn from mistakes. Future Research, If your hypothesis was incorrect, what might you do differently if you performed the experiment again? If it was correct what other research might you like to do on this same topic?
Bibliography – A list of all the resources you used throughout the project. List all books, articles, magazines, people you talked to, and websites.

13. Step 3: The visual part of your science project.
The Display Board
The visual part of your science project.
This is the part of the project that should be done last.
You are to present your topic including: Title, Problem or question or purpose, Hypothesis, Procedure, Results (Data), and Conclusions.
The purpose of the science board is to make a visual replica of your notebook (Step 2).
No pictures of people’s faces can be on your board.
The board should be neat and visually pleasing. It is the first impression of your project.

14. Some Good Resources
Easy Bibs – This website makes creating your bibliography super easy. Just put in the information and it automatically creates the cite for you.
This website has great step- by- step procedures for completing your child’s science fair project.
Remember you can help your child, but it is their project. They need to do the work.