Science Fair DayEast Point Elementary School

October 2, 2013

What is the scariest thing about October?

Halloween? All the scary movies? Finding a good costume?

IT’S SCIENCE FAIR!Striking fear into the hearts of parents for 50+ years

Don’t worry, we are here to help…

Today we will: Go through the Scientific process Show examples of projects that are appropriate and

projects that are not Show you what the finished Science Fair board should

look like Explain the different categories Go over dates and rules Provide websites that can help

The Scientific Process

1. ASK A TESTABLE QUESTION

Which kitchen surface holds the most bacteria, the counter, the microwave, the sink, or the refrigerator door handle?

The Scientific Process 2. Create a hypothesis.

Find some books on the topic of your project. Based on what you read in the books, create an

educated guess to your question.

It says here that the kitchen sink is cleaned the least often…

The Scientific Process

3. Plan your project by making a list of the materials you will need and the procedure you will follow

The Scientific Process 4. After purchasing your materials and writing out

your procedure, start the project. Make sure to have a chart on which to record your

results.

The Scientific Process

5. Record your results in both a table or graph and words.

The Scientific Process 7. Draw your conclusions

What did you learn? Was your hypothesis correct? Did your experiment results match the information you

read? Would you do things differently if you did the

experiment again?

So, what is appropriate and what is not?

1. Your project must be testable and NOT simply a demonstration of how something works

What does that mean? A testable project is something that you can test.

For elementary school, it has one variable (the thing you are testing). In the example of the “which kitchen surface holds the

most bacteria?” the surface being tested is the variable. Another example could be, “do plants grow best in clay

pots or plastic pots?” In this case, the material the pot is made out of is the variable.

A good rule of thumb would be at the end of the project you will have selected one thing or another as an answer to your question.

Projects that are not testable:

The following projects are examples of things that are not testable and therefore inappropriate: Showing how a volcano (or anything) works Building a model of anything

X

A finished Science Fair Board

Includes ALL the steps of the Scientific Process as well as any graphs, pictures, and decorations you choose to add.

Different Categories Your child’s project will be placed into one of the

following categories: Life Science Chemistry Physics Earth Science

Dates Please following the pacing guide that was sent home with your

child for when you should complete each section of the project. The final, completed project is due in your child’s classroom on

November 1, 2013. The students will present to their class at this time.

The top five students from each class will submit their project to the school fair, to be held on November 4, 2013.

The judges’ results will be tallied and announced on November 5, 2013. Parents can view the Science Fair projects that night during student led conferences.

The district fair will be December 7, 2013, with set up on December 5 and 6. The sweepstakes winners from each grade level in each category will advance to district.

Rules The project must be an experiment and not a

demonstration. No living objects (dogs, cats, mice, ants,

cockroaches, etc.) may be used in the experiment. Materials should NOT be brought to the fair (you can

include them in pictures on the board).

Websites that can help: www.sciencebuddies.org www.all-science-projects.com www.scienceproject.com www.discoveryeducation.com

Go to parent section and type “science fair” into the search

www.ipl.org Click on “for kids,” then “math and science,” then

“experiments and science fair projects”

Additional Resource Science Fair Blast Off

October 5, 2013 9am – 4pm 4001 E. Paisano (El Paso Zoo)

El Paso Water Utilities Discovery Center is hosting a clinic for Science fair projects at the zoo for the cost of regular zoo admission. They will help you:

Select Science Fair projects How to prepare How to present