Twin Chimneys Elementary

What is a “Science Fair Project?”

• A scientific question that you want to answer or solve.

All Scientific Experiments have the following;

• Question • Background Information• Hypothesis• Variables• Materials• Procedure• Results• Conclusion• Application to life

How Do I Begin?• Develop your question

– Will it? – What if? – How? – When?

• Find out if it is an experiment or a “demonstration”– a demonstration is a project that proves

something (volcano erupting)• Can it be tested?

Now What?• Write a hypothesis (an educated

guess)–What do you think the answer to the

question might be?–What do you think the solution to

the problem might be?–Must be written in an “if…then”

statement. • i.e. If the brand of paper towel effects absorption, then

Brawny will absorb the most water because…

There are three types of variables in a scientific problem:

-Independent (manipulated) variable- this is the variable that you are changing (testing). i.e. the brands of paper towels

-Dependent (responding) variable- this is the variable that is changing because of what you have done (result). i.e. the amount of water absorbed

-Constant- everything else in your experiment should remain the same for each trial. i.e. the amount of water used, the amount of paper towels, etc.

Variables

MaterialsAll of your materials need to listed in your log book. Make sure to include the amount of each item used and be exact in its description.

ALWAYS use metric measurements in your science fair project!

The TOUGHEST part• Write the procedure!

–What steps will you follow to solve the scientific problem?

– Is it clear enough that someone could reproduce your experiment?

–You MUST do 3 trials for each variable tested for validity.

The Next TOUGHEST Part• Record your observations

– What actually happened as you followed your outline procedures?

– What did you see?– What did you hear?– What did you taste?– HINT HINT: Use a calendar type log

to record daily observations

So What Happened?• Write the results

– Write them as if you were a detective, no opinions!

– This is NOT the time to draw conclusions!!– This is where you would include you data,

which should be represented in graphs, tables, etc.

Almost There!• Time to write the conclusion!

– A short paragraph that states • Do you accept or reject your original

hypothesis?• What did you learn from your

experiment?• What discoveries did you make as you

worked through your scientific problem?• Is there anything you would change with

your experiment if you were to do it all over again?

You Are Really Close to the End!

• Application to Life

–How will you use your information to help others?

YOU ARE DONE!!!• Put it all in a log book• Put it on the display board