Science Fair By: Krueger and Wideman

Materials Everyone Needs

Science Journal (also called log)-this could be pieces of paper stapled together or a notebook

Science Fair board- this can be purchased from school for $4.50

Camera-you need to take pictures of your experiment and print them out (we just used our ipad)

Materials NOT Allowed at the Fair Living organisms including plants Human or animal food Plant materials: including living, dead or preserved (wood

needed for construction of project or board is allowed All chemical including water All weapons including lasers Dry ice Sharp items (needles, nails, syringes, pipettes, knives) Flames or flammable items Batteries with open top cells School name or identification Photographs with faces Glass or glass objects

There is no electricity at the fair

Make Sure You…

Write on your board in third person which means not using words like me, I, us, or we and instead using words like you

DON’T use faces in your pictures Put your first and last name on the

BACK of your science board Don’t put our school name on your

board Hand write your science journal or log Have 3 controlled or constant variables You must perform your experiment 3

times

Make Sure You…

Cite your sources that you used for research and pictures (if you got pictures from the internet)

Know the difference between a problem and a question (this will be explained more in our example) Ex: Question- Does the size of the bowl affect

how long it takes for the liquid to cool? Ex: Problem-Which size bowl should I use to

keep my liquid warm the longest?

In Your Journal Have…

Your title Your question Your problem Your research Your hypothesis Your independent, dependent and

constant or controlled variables Your materials listed Your procedure Your results (in a graph, table etc.) Your conclusion

Science Experiment Example

Question or Topic: Does the size of the bowl affect how long it takes for the liquid (water) to cool?

Problem: Which size bowl should I use to keep my liquids warm the longest? This project reminded us of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We wanted to test if Papa Bear’s bowl would be the hottest, Mama Bear’s bowl would be the coldest, and Baby Bear’s bowl would be just right. Was the story scientific?

Science Experiment Example

Research: In a larger container, there is a higher volume of water that will have more energy. In a small container, there is a smaller volume of water that will have less energy. The more energy, the higher the temperature. Therefore, the smaller container will have less energy and less heat which will allow it to cool faster. There are many different kinds of energy. One of them is heat energy which is the form of energy that transfers among particles in a substance. In other words, the heat transformed by particles are bouncing into each other. The more particles, the more heat. Source: enwin.com, ducksters.com

Science Experiment Example

Hypothesis: If the bowl is smaller, then the temperature of the water will cool more quickly.

Materials: water, 3 Melamine bowls sizes 750ml, 2,129ml, 4,100ml, Oxo cooking thermometer (up to 22o degrees), and timer

Science Experiment Example

Procedure:1. Gather 3 Melamine bowls (see sizes in material list).2. Pour hot tap water into each bowl, fill up to spout.3. Immediately place Oxo thermometer into each bowl and record temperature.4. After temperature is recorded for all three bowls, begin timer for 5 minutes. 5. After 5 minutes, place thermometer into each bowl and, again, record your temperature. 6. After 5 more minutes, place thermometer into each bowl for the final time and record temperature.7. Repeat steps 2-7 two more times.

Science Experiment Example

Results: The smaller size bowl consistently decreased in temperature.

Trial 1

Bowl Size Starting temp.

Temperature after 5 min

Temperature after 10 min

Temperature after 15 min

750 ml 122º 117º 112º 108º

2,129ml 122º 119º 115º 110º

4,100ml 122 120º 116º 115º

Trial 2

Bowl Size Starting Temperatur

e

Temperature after 5

min

Temperature after 10

min

Temperature after 15

min

750 ml 122º 115º 111º 106º

2, 129 ml 122º 118º 115º 108º

4,100 ml 122º 120º 117º 114º

Trial 3

Bowl Size Starting Temperatur

e

Temperature after 5

min

Temperature after 10

min

Temperature after 15

min

750 ml 122º 117º 110º 107º

2, 129 ml 122º 120º 115º 110º

4,100 ml 122º 120º 116º 114º

Science Fair Example

Conclusion: Our hypothesis was correct. The size of the bowl does affect how long it takes for the water to cool. The smaller bowl consistently decreased in temperature for each 5 minute interval. Due to the larger volume of water in the large bowl, along with the more energy in the large bowl, the water took longer to cool. Two things to improve for next time are to use the exact same amount of water for each bowl and use a more accurate or digital thermometer.

Pictures

On Your Science Board Have…

Title Problem Hypothesis Variables (independent, dependent) Control (constant variable) Background (research) Materials Procedure Pictures Observations and Results (charts, tables, graphs) Conclusion First and last name on the back NO SCHOOL NAME

Need More Help With The Board?

We recommend using this page from the Lincoln County R III Elementary Science Fair Handbook

Example

Example