My Science Fair Project

What does that mean anyway?

2013

• A step by step guide for the Science Fair project was provided by your teacher.

• The best topic will be about something that you enjoy. Think about things that you are interested in and make a list of what you know and what you want to know about the topic.

• Another way to come up with a topic is to complete the survey that is in the packet provided by your teacher. Go to

www.sciencebuddies.organd click on topic selection

wizard

Once you have an idea about what you want your experiment to be, then you need to phrase it as a question – a question

that you need to do an experiment to answer.

Let’s Review

What is my question?

Every Project Must Have A Purpose→ Once you have chosen a topic, try to explain the purpose of the experimentation in one to three sentences. → Scientists use an experiment to search for cause and effect relationships in nature.

→You can start this way: "The purpose of this project is __________." Your purpose may include any hypotheses (scientific guesses) that you have as to the outcome of your experimentation.

→Here is an example of one student's purpose:The purpose of this project is to determine if earthworms affect soil nutrients.

→In one sentence, the student has described what he is attempting to find out experimentally and what his test subjects are going to be.

→A likely hypothesis would follow as "I predict that plants will grow taller in soil containing earthworms than in soil without earthworms." It can also be stated as "If a plant is placed in soil with earthworms, then it will grow better than a plant in soil without earthworms."

Now I need a hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a prediction or educated guess about what will happen in your experiment. Use your past experiences and what you already know about your topic to help you make a hypothesis.

• A hypothesis can be stated as an “if - then” statement. “If I do this, then I

think this will happen.”

• Example: If I make a paper airplane from construction paper, then I think it will fly farther than an airplane made from regular computer paper.

• Before you write your hypothesis, you need to decide what you are going to change and what you are going to measure in your experiment.

• IF YOUR DATA DISPROVES YOUR HYPOTHESIS DO NOT CHANGE YOUR HYPOTHESIS! Disproving your hypothesis can lead to amazing new discoveries and can make your project even more exciting.

What are my variables?Things that can vary and change.

• Test Variable (Independent variable)

• Outcome Variable (Dependent variable)

• Controlled Variables: When conducting an experiment, all other variables must be kept the same throughout the investigation; they should be controlled. The variables that are not changed are called controlled variables.

Remember: DRY MIX

ependent Variable

esponds (outcome)

axis

height

soil

Bean Plant Data

DRY M I X

axi

s

Nd

ep

en

de

nt

(te

st)

an

ipu

late

d

My Materials List • Make a detailed list of what you need to do

your experiment.• Remember measuring tools and safety

equipment.• Try to list out exact measurements of

materials if you know them (use metric measurements).

• If you are using a specific brand name – name it.

• Make sure you have enough material to do at least 3 repetitions.

• If you think of something you will need as you are doing your experiment, make sure you add it to your materials list.

Experimental Procedure

Write a step by step procedure, list out exactly what you are going to do.

You want your procedure to be so detailed that another student could follow (replicate) your procedure and do the experiment exactly the same way you did.

If you think of details as you are doing your experiment or make changes in your procedure, be sure to write those changes down in your procedure as well.

Make sure you are repeating your experiment at least 3 times.

Data Collection• All experiments require data. • During your experiment keep a log of the data you collect

and any observations you make.• Before you start your experiment, make a data table where

you can collect your data. • If something unexpected happens as you are collecting

your data – write it down! • Take photographs as you are doing your experiment.

Remember to keep your face out of the photographs.

Results• You have collected your data now

what do you do?• Average your data.• Use a graph to help explain your

data.• Choose a type of graph that will best

show any patterns, changes (or lack of changes) in your data – Circle Graph– Bar Graph– Line Graph (showing change over time- good for fifth

grade students to use)

• Use photographs to illustrate changes.

In.

In.

The ABSTRACTAn abstract is an abbreviated version of your science fair project final report. It is limited to a maximum of 250 words. The abstract should have the following five pieces:•Introduction. This is where you describe the purpose for doing your science fair project or invention. Why should anyone care about the work you did? •Problem Statement. Identify the problem you solved or the hypothesis you investigated.•Procedures. What was your approach for investigating the problem? Don't go into detail about materials unless they were critical to your success. Do describe the most important variables if you have room.•Results. What answer did you obtain? Be specific and use numbers to describe your results. Do not use vague terms like "most" or "some."•Conclusions. State what your science fair project or invention contributes to the area you worked in. Did you meet your objectives? For an engineering project state whether you met your design criteria.

• Advertisers are always touting more powerful and longer lasting batteries, but which batteries really do last longer, and is battery life impacted by the speed of the current drain? This project looks at which AA battery maintains its voltage for the longest period of time in low, medium, and high current drain devices. The batteries were tested in a CD player (low drain device), a flashlight (medium drain device), and a camera flash (high drain device) by measuring the battery voltage (dependent variable) at different time intervals (independent variable) for each of the battery types in each of the devices. My hypothesis was that Energizer would last the longest in all of the devices tested. The experimental results supported my hypothesis by showing that the Energizer performs with increasing superiority, the higher the current drain of the device. The experiment also showed that the heavy-duty non-alkaline batteries do not maintain their voltage as long as either alkaline battery at any level of current drain.

SAMPLE OF The ABSTRACT

Basic Outline

any questions???