ProjectComponents

ScientificMethodandNarrative

AllprojectsmustusetheScientificMethodandmustcontainavariable(somechangeintheprocedurewherecomparisons
canbemade)thathasbeentestedwithatleast5trials.Ademonstrationprojectmodelsascientificconceptorprinciple
withouttestingavariable.Itdisplaysfactsorinformationandmaybeputondisplay,butwillnotbejudged.
Allthefollowingcomponentsmustbeincludedintheprojectpresentationexcepttheextensiveresearchpaperwhichis
optional.Theproblem,hypothesis,procedure,observations/resultsandconclusionshouldappearonthe
presentationsboard.Allothermaterialsareconsideredextraneousandshouldbeplacedwiththedisplayinany
optionalspace,eitherontheboardoronthetablewiththeboard.
I.PROBLEM:Thequestiontobetested.

Shouldbestatedasaninterrogativesentenceimplyingmorethanayesornoresponse.

Shouldidentifytheindependentvariable(thefactorthatischangedortested)andthedependentvariable(whatwill
bemeasuredorshouldchange).

Examples:Whatistheeffectof___on___?

or

Howdo/does____affect____?

or

To

whatextentdo/does____affect____?
II.HYPOTHESIS:Aneducatedguessthatoutlineswhatisbelievedtobetheintendedoutcomeoftheexperiment.
1.

Shouldalsocontainastatementofwhythisoutcomewillbeobservedbasedonsomekindofbackground
knowledge.
Participantmayuseanyofthefollowingmodelsinhelpingthemconstructahypothesis.
IfI_______then______,because_________.
__________,whenI________because___________.
IfIchange________then________will(changeby)______,because_______.
Thestatementthat_______(is/isnot)truebecause________.
(More/Less)________will_________,because_________.

III.PROCEDURE:Alistofthestepsusedtoconducttheexperiment.

Eachstatementshouldbeginwithanactionverbandcontainadescriptionoftheuseoftheconstant,independent
anddependentvariables.

Amaterialslistshouldbeincluded.

Indicateaminimumof5trials.

IV.OBSERVATIONS/RESULTS:Collectedquantitativedatafromtheexperiment.
1.

Shouldbedisplayedwithachart,graph,pictures,log/journalorsomeothertypeofrecordingdevicethataccurately
showswhathappenedwhiletheexperimentwasbeingconducted.

2.

Shoulddisplaydatacollectionof5ormoretrials.

V.CONCLUSION:Aninterpretation/analysisoftheobservations/resultsoftheexperimentalprocedure.

Stateswhetherthehypothesiswasorwasnotsupported.

Answersthequestion"Whatwaslearned?".

Theresultsshouldbeinterpretedandjustified,butshouldnotbestatedasaproof.

Maycontainastatementaboutfurtherexploration.

VII.NARRATIVEREPORT:This23page,12fontdoublespaceddocument(iftyped),excludingattachedbibliography,is
designedtohelpfacilitatejudging.

Coverpageisoptional.

Shouldgiveabriefoverviewoftheproject,ashortreviewofresearch,andanyotherinformationthatwould
provideevidenceforassessingtheproject.

Bibliographyfor:

4thand5thgradeprojectsshouldcontainoneormoresources.

6ththrough8thgradeprojectsshouldhaveaminimumof3sources.

9ththrough12thgradeprojectsshouldhaveaminimumof5sources.

VIII.RESEARCHPAPER:Optionalforgrades48.Mandatoryforgrades912.

Thispapermaybeanylengthandshouldcontainresearchedinformationthatsupportstheexperiment.

Shouldcontainacompletebibliographyofsourcesandbeplacedwithextraneousmaterials.