Stoney CreekScience Fair Information

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 PhaseMost detailed part…includes:

Log Book…..Log Book…..Log Book

• Deciding what to do • Science Fair project must be an experiment;

it cannot simply be a demonstration project. • Doing some research• Forming a hypothesis• Writing out the experiment plan

KEY: Keep It Simple!!

What’s the difference between and experiment and a demonstration

• A science fair project asks a “what if” question, which leads to a variable and eventually finding an answer or at the very least, a big discovery. A science demonstration is used to illustrate a science concept.

• See this website for addition information on how to turn a demonstration into an experiment. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/science-fair-secrets/science-fair-911-demonstrations-vs-experiments/

#2- The Experimentation PhaseThe 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 PhaseThe creative part…includes:Presentation……Presentation

• Putting the information on a Tri-fold board

• Having an organized plan• Creating a display

Resources

• A to Z Science• http://school.discoveryeducation.com/science

faircentral/• http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/• http://www.sciencebuddies.org/• http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/• http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/

Working TogetherStudents

• 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

Date In class Due on Monday of that week

Parent signature

week of March 10th

We will kick off science fair by setting up log books and discussing how to find topics, write testable questions and how to write a hypothesis

week of March 17th

We will model how to create variables and how to write materials and procedures

Question and Hypothesispage 1

week of March 24th

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 2

week of March 31stWe will continue our class science project

Materials and Procedures check #2Pages 4-5

week of April 7th

We will model writing a conclusion and putting together a science presentation board.

Materials, Procedures and Data Check

week of April 14th Spring Break

Week of April 21st

Teacher will grade projects using the rubric and students will do class presentation.

Completed Projects due to your classroom teacher on

Monday

April 24th Thursday NightScience Fair Night 6:00-7:30

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 min 10 min 15 min 20 min 25 min 30 min 35 min 40 min 45 min

Masking Tape 130 120 109 108 96 88 88 88 84Aluminum Foil 140 128 118 111 102 100 98 91 90Plasic Baggie 137 120 112 108 100 88 88 86 86Electrical Tape 136 120 110 111 99 92 88 86 86Paper 131 120 110 104 98 92 90 86 86

5 mins 10 mins 15 mins 20 mins 25 mins 30 mins 35 mins 40 mins 45 mins0

20406080

100120140160

Masking TapeAluminum FoilPlasic BaggieElectrical TapePaper

Display Board• Must be tri fold• Use the display board checklist from Science

Buddies to insure that your board is complete. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_display_board.shtml#checklist

Display Board must have the following:

• Your completed display board should include these components:• 1. Title• Be creative! • 2. Question• 3. Hypothesis• What was your prediction about your experiment? • Be sure to write your hypothesis as an "If... then..." statement. • 4. Procedure• Write it as if someone else will be following your directions to repeat this experiment. • You may include a list of Materials as well, if you have room on your board. • 5. Results• Include your observations. • Include any data you gathered from your experiment. Organize data into graphs and tables. • 6. Conclusion• What did you learn? • Was your hypothesis correct?

Example of a Display Board

Conclusion• Students write about the results of the investigation

– Ask yourself these questions before writing your conclusion1. 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.

Scoring and Judging

• K-5 Class projects will be judged by an external team of judges. One class per grade level will be designated a winner (rubric to follow)

• 4-5 student projects will be judged using the rubric found in this power point. Classroom teachers will score the projects of their class and determine a first and second place winner for their classroom.

• Judges will then determine 4-5 grade level 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners from among the classroom winners.

• Individual school winners (1st place and 2nd place) will come from the 6 (3 fourth grade and 3 fifth grade) grade level winners

Science Fair Night• Thursday April 24th 6:00 – 7:30• K-3 – Class project boards will be set up in (TBD)• 4-5 – Class project and individual project boards must be set up

in the classroom by 5:45 (Classroom winners by 4:30 for judging)• From 6:00 – 7:00 boards will be available for parents to review in

the classrooms. For 4th and 5th grade, the boards of the top 2 from each classroom will be in the hall way for judging to determine grade level and overall winners.

• 7:00 – 7:30 - Parents will gather in the multipurpose room for a presentation and the K-5 class project winners will be announced along with the 4-5 individual winners and the overall winners for the school

Science Fair Grading Rubric Project Research

10 8 6 4 2

Topic is ability appropriate

Challenging for student

Mostly challengingSomewhat challenging

Little challenge No challenge

Originality Mostly originalOver half original

ideaHalf original idea

Idea mostly someone else’s

Idea totally someone else’s

Introduction

Clearly communicates why

project was selected and analyzes the

project

Tells why project was selected and

analyzes the project

Analyzes project but fails to tell

why project was selected

Does not clearly analyzes project

or tell why project selected

Introduction very limited

Materials are completeAll materials are

listedMissing two items

or lessMissing five items

or lessMajor materials

missing (>5)Most materials

not listed

Hypothesis

Clear sentence format as guide for

observing

Sentence is unclear but still a

guide for observing

Somewhat a guide for observing

Poor guide for observing

Unclear lacking sentence format

Procedure

Clear, uses appropriate instruments,

someone could easily replicate

Missing 1-2 steps Missing 3-4 stepsMissing 5-6

stepsVery unclear

Data

Data is dated, classified clearly, attractively and

organized

Data is dated, classified clearly and organized but not attractive

Data is dated, classified clearly but not attractive

or organized

Data is present but difficult to

understand

Data is limited and hard to

follow

Sample Size used

Procedure replicated

accurately to show trends

Procedure replicated at least 5 trials

Procedure replicated with at

least 3 trials

Sample size inadequate

Sample size very

inadequate

Conclusion

Includes a computer

generated graph, a complete verbal summary, and addresses the

hypothesis

Includes a complete verbal summary and addresses the hypothesis

Includes a verbal summary and addresses the

hypothesis

Addresses the hypothesis with a limited verbal

summary

Only addresses the hypothesis

Bibliography

Has three diverse sources correctly

cited

Has three diverse sources but has 1-2 errors in citation

format

Has three diverse sources with major errors in citation

format

Has three sources with incomplete

bibliography information

Does not have three sources

Presentation attention getting

Nice use of color and graphics

Uses some graphics and color

Limited use of graphics but good

color

Limited use of color and little to no graphics

Very plain with little color

Free of spelling and grammar errors

2 or less errors 3-4 errors 5-6 errors 7-8 errors 9 or more errors

Overall Project10 8 5 3 1

Creativity, Colorful and Neatness, Pictures/Tables/Graphs readability, Original

Very neat and creative with multiple charts or graphs, very original.

Creative with a chart or graph and neatly put together.

Display board complete, not very neat, missing graph or pictures

Not creative or neatly put together. Lacking chart or graph.

Bare minimum done on display board.

Accuracy, Clear Descriptions, Experimental Steps and Data, Clear Results and Conclusion

Clear and complete with no missing information

Clear and only minimal missing information

Pretty clear and some information is missing

Unclear and major information missing

Very unclear with things missing

Attended Science Fair Bonus 5 points

Log Book

60 points Complete and checked off on time

55 points 1 part late

50 points Missing 1 part or 2 parts late

45 points 3 parts late

40 points Missing 2 parts or 4 parts late

35 points 5 parts late

30 points Missing 3 parts

20 points Book turned in with 75 % missing

0 points No book turned in

Total Points Possible 200 Your Points _______+______=_______