Cajon Park

Junior High

Science Fair

Project Guide
 Science Fair Project Timeline
Due date

1. Choosing your project

Writing your question _______
(Begin your research now!)

2. Hypothesis _______

3. Review of Literature _______

4. List of Materials & Procedures

(Begin Experimentation Now!) _______

5. Initial Data Check _______

6. Data Tables & Graphs _______

7. Written Results _______

8. Conclusion _______

9. Introduction & Abstract _______

10. Science Fair Report & _______

Display Board
 Student Guide to a Successful Science Fair Project

Welcome to Cajon Park Junior Highs annual Science Fair! This is your chance to engage in
hands-on experimentation and see a science project through from start to completion. You
have the opportunity to experience the success and sometimes failure that scientists do while
trying to discover or explain things that affect our lives.

You are encouraged to choose your Science Fair project wisely. Choose something
understandable and of interest to you in order to make it a positive experience. Science that
affects your daily life will be meaningful to you.

An excellent website that can guide you through the entire process and give examples of
work is http://www.sciencebuddies.com.

You will be following the guidelines of the Scientific Method as you conduct your
experiment. Remember to follow them as they will keep you on track of what you are to
accomplish throughout your project.

Scientific Method
Step 1: Question or Problem to be investigated
Step 2: Hypothesis
Step 3: List of Materials & Procedures
(Experimentation)
Step 4: Data, Graphs & Written Results (Analysis)
Step 5: Conclusion & Recommendations

This guide will explain, in detail, how to write the pieces of your project and how to organize
your binder and display board. Please utilize this resource.
Once you have selected a project and formulated a scientific question (Step 1 of the
Scientific Method), you are ready to research your topic. This is a time consuming
process, please keep our time line in mind and leave enough time to run your
experiment.

Please be aware that the research portion of your Science Fair Project should be
5-10 or more pages in length (typed and double spaced).
All Internet sources that you use must be printed out. This hard copy must be
included in your binder.
5 or more sources must be used to do your research. At least one of them must be
a print resource (book, encyclopedia, journal article).

This project is worth 20% of your second trimester grade! Keep in mind that you will still
have homework during this time period from all of your other classes, science included. Do
not procrastinate -- get started immediately and work steadily throughout the process!

Your project will be entered in the Science Fair to be held in January. Winners will move on
to the Santee School Districts Science Fair and have the opportunity to move on to the
Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair competition.

Please make note of some of the projects that are discouraged or forbidden by the Greater
San Diego Science and Engineering Fair. I encourage you not to choose topics of this nature,
as it is difficult to obtain objective data from them.
Survey projects
Effect of music, colored light, talking or tobacco on plants
Mold, bacteria or fungus growth
Tests with illogical variables (i.e., feeding alcohol to plants)
Effect of exercise, music, video games, light etc. on blood pressure
Experiments with purely subjective measures (opinions or likes/dislikes)
Reaction times
Battery life
Popcorn volume tests
Taste comparisons
Smell tests, color, etc. to improve test scores
Flight tests
Ball bounce tests with poor measurement techniques
Consumer testing, Product comparisons
Projects with small sample sizes or limited number of test runs
Anything in violation of animal regulations

See the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair website for a more complete list:
www.gsdsef.org
Please note that in order for your experiment to show reliable data and results, an
adequate number of test trials must be completed. I require at least 10 test trials per
group tested, and the San Diego Greater Science and Engineering Fair requires at least
20 test trials per group. Remember, you will have a control group and at least 1
experimental group.

Your entire Science Fair project will be displayed in two ways: a comprehensive report
binder and a display board. All writing should be typed or word-processed on a computer
with an acceptable font in size 12 to 14. Acceptable fonts are Times New Roman, Arial,
Book Antiqua, Century, Tahoma, or something comparable. You may use a larger font
for headings and on the pieces of information that go on your display board.

All work must be typed. Handwritten work will not be accepted.

I expect all work to be proofread and spell-checked before it is handed in. Do not rely on
spell-check by itself, as it can recognize words that are spelled incorrectly but will not correct
improper word choice.

Grammar and sentence structure must be correct. Sentences must be complete and make
sense. They must have a subject and verb with details added. Capitalization must be correct,
and your work must be properly placed into paragraphs. Have other people proofread your
report and help you edit it.

The use of first person: This is a formal, scientific report that presents facts, research and
experimental results. There is very little opinion in scientific reports. For this reason,
scientists avoid the use of first or second person nouns or pronouns (I, my, me, us, we, our,
you, your, etc.). Use the third person when writing many portions of your report. The third
person refers to the subject you are writing about (i.e., the plant, the fertilizer, some rocks,
etc.).
Plagiarism
Be aware that you must conduct your own research and write your own scientific
report. You may not copy another persons words or ideas without giving them credit.
This is considered plagiarism and is grounds for being disqualified from the Science Fair
and will result in a loss of points for the Review of Literature section of the report.

If you reference an authors work or ideas you must cite the author in the body of your text
and in the bibliography, at the end of your research paper.
For example: Dr. Smith states that Antibiotic over-use is the main cause of bacterial
resistance in cases of ear infections. Or
Overuse of antibiotics has been shown to be the reason that bacteria are becoming resistant
to treatment. (Dr. Smith, 2002)

**All rough draft work and research must be recorded in your spiral
notebook. This will ensure that all work is available anytime throughout the
project and that nothing gets lost. This spiral notebook is required to be in
your science fair binder when you turn it in.

The typed report must be in a 3-ring binder (I recommend a 2

inch, or larger, binder). A nice way to present the material is to put
each part of the report in a tabbed section of the binder. Some
people like to put each page in a plastic page protector (use extra
wide binder tabs if you do this). Your spiral notebook and printed
Internet sources will be put in the back of this binder.
 Contents of your Science Fair Binder
To be presented in this order
Please type each heading at the top of each page in your final draft.

Title Page
Choose a title that describes the effect or thing you are investigating. It should be short and
relate directly to your research project. It must grab the attention of the reader. Your name,
school, grade, city, state, and zip code must be printed under the title. This goes inside your
binder. If you use a view binder, print another copy of your title page, but omit your name,
school, etc.

Abstract
This is a 3 paragraph summary of your project and is written after your experiment is
completed and all data is analyzed. First person is acceptable.
Paragraph 1: Describe your question or problem you are investigating. State your
hypothesis.
Paragraph 2: Briefly summarize how you conducted your experiment and the results you
obtained. Do not restate your entire procedure list!
Paragraph 3: Explain what you learned from your Review of Literature research and how it
helped you with your experiment. It may have influenced how you designed the experiment
or helped you understand the results you got.

Acknowledgements
This is the place to thank those people who helped you with your project. You may use first
person.

Table of Contents
List the parts of your report and the page number they start on (from this point on forward).
The Abstract will be page i and the Acknowledgements will be page ii. The table of contents
page is created after your report is finished and edited. Only then can you accurately
document the page numbers of each page of your report. Page numbers should be typed on
the right side of the Table of Contents. (see the example printed in this book) Each page of
typed text must have its page number at the bottom.

Introduction
This section is 3 paragraphs. You may use first person.
Paragraph 1: Introduce the question or problem you are investigating and explain why you
chose it.
Paragraph 2: What did you learn from your Review of Literature research? This is the place
to explain some of the science behind your project. You may add interesting facts.
Paragraph 3: How might your experiment be helpful to the world or someone? Could it
improve the production of a product? Could it provide a cost savings for a consumer? Think
globally.
Question
(Step 1 of the scientific method) State your question or problem that you will be
investigating in your project. Use third person.

Hypothesis
(Step 2 of the scientific method) This is where you state what you believe the outcome of
your experiment will be. Remember to use third person. You may also state the reason you
believe your outcome will occur. For example: The plants fed fertilizer will grow 20% taller
than plants fed drinking water. Giving nutrients to a plant should provide a balanced diet,
which will increase a plants ability to produce food and cause it to grow taller. Some
hypotheses are written in the form of an If---Then statement. For example: If plants are fed
fertilizer, then they will grow 20% taller than plants fed drinking water. Use the format that
fits best with your question.

Review of Literature
You will be using the research notes you have been taking to write a report about your subject
matter and what other scientists have discovered about your subject. This section of your
science fair report must be a minimum of 5-10 pages, and must cite the work of all authors
you have quoted or taken ideas from. See the portion of this guide on Plagiarism. A
bibliography, at the end of your entire report, will give the full citing of each publication.
Keep track of your sources and all notes in your spiral notebook. This is written in 3rd
person.

List of Materials
(Step 3 of the Scientific Method) List everything that you will use in your experimentation.
Each ingredient should be on a new line. Include tools used (measuring cups, thermometers,
etc.) as well as supplies (baking soda, fertilizer, etc.). Remember, scientists replicate
experiments and would need to know the exact materials needed to run yours. Specify if the
amounts are for one trial or the entire experiment.

Procedures
(Step 3 continued) This is the most important piece of your science report. You must list the
exact steps needed to carry out your experiment. Each step should be numbered and on a
new line. Be very specific in telling what to do and what to observe. (Remember
Operational Definitions!) On the bottom of this page, list the manipulated (independent),
responding (dependent), and control variables. Written in 3rd person.
Data
Data tables and/or data logs need to be included in your report. Be sure they are neat and easy
to read. Label your columns and rows so the data is easy to understand. Include units of
measurement. Title your table and explain what any measurements represent, ie. time in
minutes. Quantitative and Qualitative observations are recorded here. All original data must
be kept in your spiral notebook, which will be included in your final report binder. Data
must be in metric measurements.

Graphs
Graphs are generated from information in a data table or data log. Be sure to choose the proper
type of graph to best display your information. Fully label the x-axis and y-axis, and title your
graphs. Refer to your text book for more information on graphs. Each graph must have an
explanation of what it shows. It can be put in with a textbox in Excel.

Photos / Illustrations
Include photos of your materials and experiment. Please do not show yours or anyone elses
face in the photos as it is against science fair policy. You may include drawn or copied (with a
citation) illustrations that demonstrate your topic.

Written Results
A short paragraph or two describing, in words, what was observed in your experiment and the
results achieved. This is where you report on your data collected. Give specific examples of
some data, such as averages. You can report how measurements compared with each other. Do
not explain why the results occurred, only what occurred. Use third person.

Conclusion
This is the portion of your report where you summarize your experiment. This section should
be 3 paragraphs. You may use first person.

Paragraph 1 should be a brief description of the question/problem you were investigating and
how you thought it would turn out. Briefly explain how you carried out the experiment and the
results you got. You must state whether your hypothesis was supported or not supported.

In the 2nd paragraph you may discuss why you think the experiment turned out the way it did.
You may refer back to what you learned from your research to support your opinions.

In the 3rd paragraph you may discuss whether you thought the experiment was successful, or
not. You can make suggestions or recommendations of how to run it differently or how to
extend the investigation.

Bibliography
This is a very important part of your report! If you do not cite your sources properly, you are at
risk of receiving a failing grade. List all sources, in alphabetical order, according to the proper
format. See the bibliography format requirements printed in this book.
(Example of the Table of Contents Page)

Table of Contents
Abstract .i

Acknowledgements ..ii

Introduction 1

Question .2

Hypothesis .3

Review of Literature ..4

List of Materials .9

Procedures 10

Data ...12

Graphs ...14

Photos / Illustrations ..18

Written Results ..20

Conclusion .21

Bibliography ..22
 Bibliography Format
Books:
Author (Last name, First name). Title. Place of Publication: Publisher name, Year of
publication.

Example:
Thompson, Emily. Helping Plants Grow. San Francisco: Scholastic, 2002.

Magazines:
Author (Last name, First name). Title of Article. Magazine name date: page numbers.

Example:
Smith, George. The Effect of Erosion on Soil. Scientific America Oct. 2001: 24-27.

Encyclopedias:
Author (Last name, First name). Title of Article. Encyclopedia Name. Copyright date ed.

Example:
Jefferson, Elizabeth. Spiders in Nature. Encyclopedia Brittanica. 1989 ed.

Electronic Encyclopedia:
Article Title. Encyclopedia. Copyright date. CD Publisher.

Example:
Boiling Point of Water. Microsoft Encarta. 2001. CD Microsoft.

Internet Website:
Author (Last name, First name). Title of Article. Title of Website. Date last revised (day
month year.). Sponsoring Institution. Date you accessed it (day month year). <URL
address>.

Example:
Perkins, David. Liquids and Solids. Properties of Matter. 5 May 2003. Princeton
University. 27 Sept. 2003. < http://princeton.edu/matter/liquids.html>.

** Be sure to include proper punctuation in your bibliography. Pay attention to the above
examples.
 Science Fair Backboard
Part of your Science Fair project is the completion of the display backboard. This is your
advertisement for your project. It attracts attention, but must be easy to read and professional.
Your board must be neatly arranged and the information must flow in a logical pattern. You
may get creative with computer graphics or use stick on letters for your titles. To make the
information stand out, you may choose to mount your text on colored paper. Please use the
same font for all text. The font should be larger than in your typed report, but not to exceed
18 - 20 for text. Titles may be in a larger and bold font.

These items must be included on your board:

Title Procedures
Abstract Data
Introduction Graphs
Question Results The drawing below is just one way
to arrange your board. Use
Hypothesis Conclusion creativity, but it must flow in a
List of Materials Photos/Illustrations logical order.

These items are exactly the same as in the written report, possibly with a larger font size to
accommodate the display board. You may format some pieces in landscape view to fit
better on your board.

Photos / illustrations are a great way to make your display board interesting, and to show the
audience the hard work put into your project. It is highly recommended to add pictures to your
backboard. Be sure that there are no faces in the pictures!

TITLE

List of Data
Materials Abstract Introduction Table &
Graphs
Question Hypothesis
Written
Procedures Results
Photos
Conclusion

A great way to make your writing stand out is to back each piece of writing with colored paper.
Create a color theme on your display board. You may decorate it, but keep it professional.
Std. # _______ Name ______________________
Per. _______

Science Fair Project Rubric

Points Possible Earned
Title Page 0 1 2 3 4 5
Abstract 0 1 2 3 4 5
Acknowledgements 0 1 2 3 4 5
Table of Contents 0 1 2 3 4 5
Introduction 0 1 2 3 4 5
Question 0 1 2 3 4 5
Hypothesis 0 1 2 3 4 5
Review of Literature 0 10 20 30 40 50
List of Materials 0 1 2 3 4 5
Procedures 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Data Table or Log 01 2 3 4 5
Graphs 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Photos / Illustrations 0 1 2 3 4 5
Written Results 0 1 2 3 4 5
Conclusion 0 1 2 3 4 5
Bibliography 0 1 2 3 4 5
Report is professional 0 1 2 3 4 5
Correct spelling & grammar 0 1 2 3 4 5
Display Board 0 10 20 30 40 50
Effort throughout project 0 10 20 30 40 50
Note : 0 = missing section
Total = 250 points __________

*****No late projects will be accepted. Please arrange delivery ahead

of time if you know you will be absent. If you are sick on the due date, a
parent MUST call or e-mail me to make special arrangements.

This rubric must be included with your project to receive credit