Rowayton Elementary School Science Fair

March 5th and March 6th

Types of Projects• Experimental Category• Students is seeking to find an

answer to a problem and has conducted an experiment for this purpose. Project needs to follow the scientific method.

• Example: Student wishes to determine whether soil, sand or pebbles are the best environment to grow plants in.

• Invention Category

• Students design a new device or improve an existing device.

Student Must Designate Which Area of Science the Project Deals With

• Biology• Chemistry• Physics• Earth Science

Project Size

• Project must be confined to table or floor space not exceeding 75 cm front to back, 50 cm side to side and 3 meters high.

• Oversized projects will be disqualified

• Project should stand alone. Child should not have to be to explain the project, All pertinent procedures, data, analysis and conclusion should be included in report.

Experimental Project Must Follow Scientific Method

Experimental Projects Should Follow the Scientific Method

• First: Make an observation. Then propose a question based on that observation.

• I noticed that different brands of paper towels work better than others.

• I wonder which brand of paper towels works the best.

Develop a Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is an educated guess about the answer to your question.

• Don’t worry if your answer is right or not!• You will learn a lot regardless if your

hypothesis is correct.

• Hypothesis: I think that Bounty paper towels are the most absorbent!

Identify Independent, Dependent Variables and Constant

• Independent Variable is the factor you change on purpose (the brand of paper towels)

• Dependent Variable is the factor that responds to the change in the independent variable. (the amount of water that is absorbed by the paper towel)

• Controlled variables are the factors that remain unchanged throughout the experiment. (The amount of water you are soaking up with the paper towel will remain the same)

Design an Experiment that helps you answer your question

• Your experiment should be outlined in a list of steps or procedures you have to perform to test your hypothesis.

• Run several trials of your experiment. The more trials you perform, the more reliable your data will be.

• Record your experiment results in a journal.• Take photos to document experiment.

Data

• Represent your data visually• This should be in a graph or table

Brand of Paper Towels Amount of Water AbsorbedBounty ½ cup Whole Foods ¼ cupRecycled Brand ¼ cup

Conclusion

• Did your data support your hypothesis?• If not, can you form a new hypothesis?• Were you surprised by anything?• If you were to run the experiment again, what

would you do differently.• Include a bibliography

Overview of Scientific Method

• Question: What are you trying to figure out?• Hypothesis: What do you think is going to happen?• Identify the independent, dependent variables and

constants in your project.• Design an experiment. Record a list of materials and the

steps you are taking.• Perform the experiment in multiple trials and record data.• Visually represent the data in graph or table.• Write a conclusion that summarizes whether your

hypothesis is correct or not. • Include a bibliography.

1st Grade Project in 2014

Things to Remember

• Projects should be kid generated. Parental assistance should be noted on the project if it was provided.

• If your project moves on to the district wide fair, there will be a ribbon denoting that on Friday afternoon.

• There is a list of possible science fair projects on the website, but try to pick a question that truly interests you!

• Be creative! Judges like to see originality of thought!