Science Fair Rules and Requirements

Transcription

1 Science Fair Rules and Requirements Dear Parents, Soon your child will take part in an exciting school event a science fair. At Forest Park, we believe that this annual event offers our students a rich experience to explore beyond the classroom. Using their natural curiosity and the scientific method, they gain a deep understanding of the fundamental principles of discovery, and hopefully they realize that science can be a lot of fun! You are receiving this packet to help you and your child prepare for the Science Fair. The Forest Park Science Fair will be January 13 16, 2014: 01/13: Projects are brought to school and set up 01/14 & 01/15: Judging 01/16: Awards Ceremony, 2:00 pm in the cafeteria These guidelines will give your child some idea of how to create a great science fair project. Please read the information packet and the guidelines below completely, paying particular attention to the timeline of events. Classroom teachers will be taking science grades for each deadline! Then, keep this packet in a special place. Remember that your child s success in our science fair is not measured with a trophy or ribbon; he or she will succeed by learning and understanding more about science and how scientists work. Please call anytime ( ) or (jason.finney@lrsd.org) with questions and/or suggestions. We are looking forward to a memorable and exciting science fair LET THE FUN BEGIN! Sincerely, Mr. Finney, Ms. Dailey, Ms. Lineberger, & Ms. Yeatman

2 General Rules 1. All fourth graders are required to complete individual projects, and the components are included in the child s science grade. Fifth graders have the option of competing. 2. Awards will be given to the 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd place winners from each classroom, as well as an overall school winner. Fifth grade students will compete as a group. 3. The use of live vertebrate animals is ABSOLUTELY PROHIBITED. NO EXCEPTIONS. 4. Batteries, electrical equipment, and household chemicals may be used in the experiment but may NOT be included in the display. Photographs of those items may be included. We must be mindful that our school has very young children, and their safety is our utmost concern. 5. Do not make a model. Examples of models include a volcano or the solar system. Models do not show experimentation we want children to perform experiments! 6. Display boards may not exceed a width of 48 inches or a height of 36 inches (standard tri-fold board). Displays with title boards are permitted. 7. Put your name on the BACK of the board, as well as on the back of the research paper. Photographs that are included on the project board may NOT show the face of the child. 8. To be judged, the project must include all of the parts described on the following page, including the lab book.

3 Required Parts of a Science Fair Projects 1. LAB BOOK Get this first! The lab book is a journal of the investigation or experiment. All data, recordings, information and ideas are recorded in the lab book. 2. TITLE Make sure it clearly identifies your topic, and make it interesting! 3. QUESTION - A short sentence about what question you are trying to answer through experimentation and why you chose this particular project. 4. RESEARCH - In an investigation or experiment you must gain knowledge and information about your project s subject. The research will allow you to make an educated guess or hypothesis. You will type a short (1 or 2 pages) essay about the topic and include the following: A. Title Page (include the title of your project and the date. Do NOT include your name!) B. Definitions of all important words and concepts that describe your experiment. C. Answers to all your background research plan questions. D. Mathematical formulas, if any, that you will need to describe the results of your experiment 5. HYPOTHESIS - In an investigation or experiment, it is your prediction about the outcome of the experiment. What do you think will happen, or what will the outcome be? 6. PROCEDURE & MATERIALS- A step-by-step explanation of how you carried out the project. How did you test the hypothesis? What are the variables? 7. RESULTS & CONCLUSION - In an investigation or experiment, you can display the resulting data in table form, graph form and/or written form. The conclusion states what you found out from the experiment. It also states whether the hypothesis has been proven or not. If the hypothesis was proven incorrect, you must state why you think that the hypothesis was not correct. Keep it short.

4 More about recording data in your lab book Use your lab book for recording all measurements and observations and day-to-day activity associated with your project. Record information on a regular basis and consider the following: Make sure that included in your data are accurate metric measurements. Give masses in grams, volumes in milliliters, and linear measurements in centimeters. It is better to have too much data and information than not enough, so keep extremely good notes. When making an observation write down the date and time and anything associated with the observation like hot or cold conditions, sunny or dark conditions, rainy or dry or other types of pertinent information. Keep track of the materials used, their quantities and costs. Consider taking photographs as part of your display. EATING THE ELEPHANT ONE BITE AT A TIME TAKING ON A SCIENCE PROJECT MIGHT SEEM LIKE A HUGE TASK, BUT IT DOESN T HAVE TO BE AN OVERWHELMING EXPERIENCE. USE THE TIMETABLE ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES TO THINK THROUGH THE STEPS IN THE PROCESS AND FOLLOW A CLEAR SCHEDULE.

5 COMPONENTS Start your lab book to keep all your notes and research along the way. Choose your QUESTION to investigate, write it in your lab book, and hand in the Science Project Proposal Form. Complete and hand in the Background Research Plan Worksheet Start researching information about your question using the Internet or library resources. Write or type a ROUGH DRAFT of your research essay about your question and ask a teacher, parent or peer to proofread it. Type a FINAL DRAFT of your research essay. Write a HYPOTHESIS or a good guess in your lab book about what you think will be the outcome of your experiment. Record dates, times, and other important information in your lab book In your lab book write a step-by-step PROCEDURE OR EXPERIMENT to test your hypothesis. Record in your lab book MATERIALS you will need for your experiment. Collect the materials needed for your project. Let Mr. Finney or your teacher know if you need help obtaining materials. Record dates, times, and other activities or information regarding your project in your lab book. Conduct your experiment and collect data in your lab book. Take pictures if possible RECORD ALL DATA, CHARTS, TIMES, INFORMATION IN YOUR LAB BOOK DATE DUE OCT. 31 MONDAY NOV.10 NOV. 14 NOV. 21 DEC. 5 DEC. 12

6 Develop your RESULTS from your lab book in written form and/or in graphs, charts or tables. Write your CONCLUSION in your lab book. The conclusion should support/deny your hypothesis based on the data collected during the experiment. Record all information in your lab book. Put together your display backboard using clear headings, title, and steps of the scientific method, pictures, charts, graphs, tables. DO NOT GLUE IT TIGHT UNTIL IT HAS BEEN CHECKED RIGHT! The backboard is all of the information you have collected regarding your project. It should be extremely neat and well organized. Continue to record everything in your lab book Check to make sure everything is complete and ready to be displayed You re Done! FRIDAY DEC. 19 BRING YOUR PROJECT TO SCHOOL ON TUES. JAN 13 th