Why?

Pursue your personal areas of interest (school appropriate)

Display your research
Earn scholarships, award, and other prizes!

1st Place - Plaque and $100 Check

2nd Place - Plaque and $75 Check
3rd Place - Plaque and $50 Check
Honorable Mention - Medallion
What is a Science Project?
A science project is based on observation, investigation, and
scientific thinking.
The best project is one which interests the investigator (student).
A true science project is an investigation of a question involving
research, planning, and application of scientific methods to seek an
answer to the question.
Before you start your project..
Choose your topic
Begin a science journal
Read about your topic to develop some background knowledge.
Write down your sources for your bibliography.
Develop a research question or engineering problem.
Think about your experimental design or engineering design process.
Do NOT do or buy anything yet!!!
MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE RULES IN YOUR PACKET!!!!
Before you start your project..
Make a research plan
-Question or problem (must be real world)
-Goals/expected outcomes/hypotheses
-Methods or procedures
-Types of data to be collected and how it will be analyzed
-Bibliography
**Your plan must be approved and your forms signed BEFORE you
begin to do actual experimentation.**
 Scientific Method
https://www.brainpop.com/science/scientificinquiry/scientificmethod/
 Question or Problem
What topic interests me? What is a question for which I would like to
seek an answer?
Is this question too difficult for me to solve?
What materials will be needed? Does this problem require
sophisticated or expensive materials?
Is the problem a safe one?
Is it a valid one? Will it be possible to obtain results from this
investigation?
Is it of significance to todays society?
 Hypothesis
It is NOT an educated guess!
A tentative theory about the natural world
A concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain
facts or phenomena
A proposal to explain certain facts or observation
You will attempt to explain what should happen
 Procedure
Include a step-by-step recipe for your science experiment
Detail matters = someone else can duplicate your experiment exactly
 Experiment
Keep daily records, recording
observations in an orderly
manner in tables and charts.
Be certain observations include
the units of measurement
being used.
Determine whether results
recorded in tables can be more
easily understood with the use
of graphs.
All graphs must have a title
which tells the reader what the
graph is explaining.
The (x-axis) and (y-axis) should
be labeled
 Analysis
Interpret results and data, draw
conclusions, consider
applications.
Drawing conclusionsMaking sense of
what has been observed. Making a
generalization based on observations
and results
 Conclusion
Construct models, illustrations,
and/or displays. Finish research
paper.
Summarize your science fair
project results in a few sentences
and use this summary to support
your conclusion. Include key facts
from your background research to
help explain your results as
needed.
State whether your results support
or contradict your hypothesis.
If appropriate, state the
relationship between the
independent and dependent
variable.
Summarize and evaluate your
experimental procedure, making
comments about its success and
effectiveness.
Suggest changes in the
experimental procedure (or design)
and/or possibilities for further
study.
 What is a bibliography?
a list of writings with time and place of publication (such as the
writings of a single author or the works referred to in preparing a
document etc.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDGdqoCyAtw
 Key Points
A. Do the Work Yourself

This is your project! One purpose of the science fair is to encourage

you to do experiments. Do most of the work yourself; develop the idea
on your own. Ask a question and then design an experiment to try to
answer it.

You are encouraged to get advice from others, and you may need
them to help with construction of an apparatus (device, machine, tool,
etc), but the project should be basically your project.
Key Points
B. Start Early

It always takes longer than you think to do a good science project. You
may have delays getting materials, constructing the apparatus, writing
the report or making the display. Your proposed project may not work
as you feel it should, and you may wish to start another one.
Key Points
C. Work Regularly

Do not put it off until you have time; make time! Set aside a regular
time to work even if only for a short time. Keep a written record at
every stage of the project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-g3vOKYZKk