ESKOM CAPE TOWN EXPO FOR YOUNG SCIENTISTS

EXPO WORKSHOPSFOR TEACHERS

2015

Extra information for teachers

• Teacher involvement

• Scientific method & engineering process

• Categories

• Successful projects

• Judging & Rubrics

• Research plans & abstracts

• Plagiarism & ethics

• Dates 2

Teachers – what do you need to do?• Feb/March: Approve the research plan inc. topic and

focus question

• March – May: 1. Teachers to mentor learners. 2. Check their progress regularly. 3. Evaluate projects in pieces

• May: Bring workshop learners to Mini Expo

• June - July: Evaluate project progress & select your school’s top projects to bring to Expo

• July: enter your school’s projects into Cape Town Expo. Double check projects’ ethics

• Help the learners to upgrade their projects before bringing them to Expo

• Distribute information (refer to the Expo calendar)3

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Scientific Method

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml#overviewofthescientificmethod

Engineering Design Process

5http://www.sciencebuddies.org/engineering-design-process/engineering-design-process-steps.shtml#theengineeringdesignprocess

Computer Science and Maths Projects Computer Science Projects

These often involve creating and writing new algorithms to solve a problem or improve on an existing algorithm. Simulations, models or “virtual reality”. Computer projects which involve the development of new software also follow a design process. Documentation of any code written is essential.

Mathematics ProjectsThese involve proofs, solving equations, etc. Mathematics is the language of science and is used to explain existing phenomena or prove new concepts and ideas.Maths projects almost always deal with areas of Mathematics that are outside the normal school curriculum. Looking at past Olympiad questions could be used to spark ideas for further investigation.

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*CATEGORIES Expo has 24 categories and a project must fit into

one of the categories

There are categories for Gr 6 & 7 (Primary), Gr 8 & 9 (Junior) and Gr 10,11 & 12 (Senior).

Learners can enter their own individual projects or two learners can work together and enter a group project

A learner may only enter ONE project in ONE region each year

No more than two learners will be able to enter a project at one Regional.

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*CATEGORIES

****See handout , FB and website for details

Agricultural Sciences

Animal and Veterinary Science, including Marine Animals and Animal Ecology

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Computer Science and Information Technology

Earth Science– including Geography, Geology, Oceanography and Housing and Settlement Studies

Energy: Non-renewable - fossil fuels and use of electricity

Energy: Renewable - Solar, wind, wave, hydro

Energy: Renewable - Biofuels, geothermal, bio digesters

Energy efficiency and conservation: efficient use of energy and ways of using less energy

Engineering: Electronics and Electrical

Engineering: Chemical, Metallurgical, Civil and Mining

Engineering: Mechanical, Aeronautical and Industrial

Environmental Management: study of human interaction with the environment (e.g. waste management, deforestation, land management and bioremediation)

Environmental Science: changes to the environment (e.g. pollution, climate change, carbon emissions)

Food Science, Food Technology and Healthy Eating

Health Care and Sports Science

Innovation and Technology

Mathematics and Statistics

Medical Sciences: Human Biology (anatomy, genetics, physiology)

Microbiology and Diseases, Disease-causing organisms, Medicine

Physics, Astronomy and Space Science

Plant Sciences including Marine Plants and Plant Ecology

Social and Psychological Sciences

Sustainable Development , Recycling and Recycled materials

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ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT – things for you as teacher to teach

your learners & check that they are doing

1.Project data book/Rough work

Book or file in which results are recorded as they are produced – learners might not remember some observations and data after experiment

Include careful notes during data collection of every detail of data and observations

Data tables are essential

Make sure each entry is dated

ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

2. Scientific report

• The project written up in scientific language in the third person

• Presented in a file with a contents page and dividers

• The detail of the project is in the report

• With headings as shown on the following slides

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Introduction

Summary of relevant background reading done

Summary of the key points including purpose

Overview of how the investigation was conducted

Aim and hypothesis/engineering goals

Including variables

Method

Written in numbered points like a set of

instructions

Includes materials and equipment 11

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Observations / data / results

Provide key results in tables and relevant graphs that lead directly to the conclusions

Copied from the rough data book and presented in a programme such as Excel

Analysis and discussion

Critically evaluate the results and describe patterns and trends as well as unusual or unexpected results.

Give reasons for the results

Discuss improvements that could be made

Conclusions

• Conclusions should be described briefly.

• Link back to hypothesis.

• State some applications.

• Discuss extensions of the research project

Acknowledgements

• It is OK to have help, but it must be acknowledged

• Write a paragraph stating all the names of the people & institutions AND HOW they helped .

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References

• ALL resources and references used, including teachers or people interviewed are listed.

• Information is organised so that readers could seek out & find the sources referred to.

• In the case of a book, the title of the book, its author, publishing company, the city where the publishing company is located, and the date the book was published must be given.

• For a magazine issue, the volume of the magazine, & pages the article appeared on should be stated.

• Internet sites as opposed to search engines should be correctly referenced.

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The following are sample of different sources:

Article – Johnson, Peter H. “Wired for Warmth,” (electric soil warmer & ndash; plant propagators), Rodale’s Organic Gardening, Jan. 1987, vol 34,68

Book – Irwin, Wires & Watt (1981) Math New York, Scribner

Encyclopedia - “Gyroscopic Properties, “The World Book Encyclopedia, 1968, vol 8, 477

Website – J. Smith (2012) Planning for college and Academic Planning. The College Board. Available at:http://www.collegeboard.org/features/parentd/html/academic/html

Date accessed: 7 June 2012.

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3. THE DISPLAY AT EXPO

The display represents all the work that learners have done

It should be made in such a way that it attracts and holds the interest of the viewer

It has to be thorough, but not too crowded, so keep it simple

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HINTS FOR DISPLAY

Poster: This summarises the report showing the

most important information;*Has a neat descriptive title & headings: largeenough to be read at a distance of about 1 meter.*Pictures of important phases of the project can beused, they must have captions and credit author*Use neat, colorful headings, charts and graphs tomake the display eye-catching, but it should looksimple not crowded.Display: *This needs to be organized and make sure

that the display follows a sequence.*The display should follow size limitations and safety

rules. 18

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JUDGING: judges will focus on the following wrt learners and projects

Were they creative when doing their project? Does the research show creativity? Did they solve the question in an original way? Did they construct or design new equipment? Did they follow the scientific methods and procedure in the

scientific project? Did they use scientific literature when they did your initial

research? Did they clearly state the variables? Did they use controls? Does the data support the conclusions? Do they recognize the limitations of the data/experiment? And

did they state them in your conclusions? Where they thorough in doing their science project?

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RESEARCH PLANS 1• Every student should type a research plan which they

should submit to their teacher/mentor/qualified scientist at the beginning of your project. Aim for an original and creative project!

• This plan shows how they intend to do their project so it is written in the future tense.

• They need to be absolutely sure that their project fits into of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists 20134 categories.

• They need to be sure that their project is ethical – for more information on ethics consult the Expo Guide book on the Expo website: www.exposcience.co.za

• The length of the research plan should be between 2 - 4 pages long. 21

RESEARCH PLANS 2

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• ESKOM EXPO FOR YOUNG SCIENTISTS 2014• TEMPLATE FOR RESEARCH PLAN FOR PROJECTS 2014• NAME:• INITIAL PROJECT TOPIC:• INITIAL EXPO CATEGORY:• Question or Problem being addressed:• Engineering Goals (for engineering projects) or Hypothesis

(for all other projects):• Variables listed or requirements listed that the design

needs:• Procedures (method): • Data Analysis: • Bibliography: • Teacher’s/mentor’s comment:• Teacher’s/mentor’s signature and date:

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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT

This is written after completion of the project just before coming to Cape Town Expo

Half to one A4 page in length

A brief summary of the project

Should reflect the focus of the project

Judges should gain a basic idea of the project after reading the abstract

Details and discussions should not be included

An abstract should not include a bibliography

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PARTS OF AN ABSTRACT PURPOSE

An introductory statement of the reason for choosing and doing this topic AND a statement of the problem or hypothesis being studied.

PROCEDURE/METHOD

A summary of the key points and an overview of how the investigation was conducted.

OBSERVATION / DATA / RESULTS

Provide key results that lead directly to directly the conclusions.

CONCLUSIONS

Conclusions should be described briefly.

State some applications and extensions of the research project

Key dates for Cape Town Expo 2015• Mini-Expo and Judges workshop: Workshop

schools only on Saturday 16 May @ South Peninsula High School – closing date for Mini Expo applications 7 May.

• Applications for Cape Town Expo open: 22

June TBC

• Closing date for applications: 27 July

• Preparation afternoon: Friday 7 August

• Cape Town Expo: Tuesday 18, Wednesday 19

and Thursday 20 August.

• Cape Town Expo venue: TBC25

Sources of informationExpo Guide Book

http://www.exposcience.co.za/index.php/student-information.html

"Waterfall model" by Peter Kemp / Paul Smith - Adapted from Paul Smith's work at wikipedia. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waterfall_model.svg#mediaviewer/File:Waterfall_model.svg”

Science Buddieshttp://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_guide_index.shtmland Brian Cox

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CAPE TOWN EXPO 2015

Website: www.expo.wcape.school.zaFacebook page:

www.facebook.com/CapeTownExpoLook often for project ideas, updates, copies of

documents etc

CONTACT DETAILS:Mrs Olga PeelRegional Science Fair Directoremail: opeel@bishops.org.za