Science Fair Project Blueprint The A-B-C's of How to do a Science Fair Project

A) Solve a problem by carrying out the scientific method. B) Prepare a report to describe what you did. C) Create a display to show what you did.

HEY GREAT! YOU GET TO DO A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT! Are you confused about all those science terms like "scientific method," "results," "controls," "conclusions," etc.? Don’t worry, these blueprints will help you easily complete the project step by step. Take a look at the 3 steps above to get a big picture of what lies ahead. Follow these steps carefully and thoroughly and you’ll find that doing a science fair project can be fun and really not that difficult! In case you’re thinking of skipping all this reading and just jumping down to step #1, STOP. If you carefully read this introduction, you’ll have a much better understanding as you follow the instructions in these blueprints. But before we get to your project, let’s make up a story to help explain the scientific method.

Here’s a Mini Case History to show you how to solve a problem using the

SCIENTIFIC METHOD A long time ago, before anyone knew anything about plants, Bobby Botanist planted some corn. He noticed that some corn grew tall and healthy, while other

corn plants barely grew at all. This puzzled Bobby, so he observed his garden some more. He noticed that the sunny parts of the garden produced the tallest corn. The shady areas produced short growing corn. He asked himself, "Does sunlight affect the height of corn?" (He asked a question.) Since nobody had ever studied this, he couldn’t just look it up in a book. No one yet knew the answer! After more observations, he guessed that "The more sun a corn stock gets, the better it grows." (This was his hypothesis.) It was just a guess though. He wanted to PROVE he was correct. To prove his hypothesis he grew corn seeds in 4 separate locations, each with a different amount of sunlight. Some got sun for 6 hours a day, some got sun for 4 hours a day, others 2, and some got no sun at all. He made sure they all had equal amounts of water and that they were planted in the same type of soil. He used the same type of corn seeds and he planted several seeds in each location. Why did he make sure all these other variables were the same? He measured the corn each day and recorded the height of each plant. He kept accurate records of the corn growth. After 2 months he evaluated his results and concluded that his hypothesis looked to be correct. The more sun the plants got, the taller they seemed to grow.

Bobby Botanist Carried Out The Scientific Method! 1) He asked a question (or stated the problem). Does sunlight affect the height of corn? 2) He learned more about the topic. He observed that plants grow higher in some parts of the garden. 3) He made a hypothesis. The more sun the corn gets, the higher it will grow. 4) He carried out a well planned study to prove his hypothesis. He exposed the plants to various sunlight conditions. 5) He concluded that his research supported his hypothesis. The more sun, the taller the corn.

A) Now it’s Your Turn to Solve a Problem

Using the Scientific Method… OK, you know all about the scientific method. Your teacher’s probably been lecturing about it for weeks. Review the 5 steps above to remind yourself of the method. Get a notebook and keep detailed notes of everything you do in the next 5 steps. Be sure to document every detail in your notebook!

Here we go! 1) This is easy! State the problem. What is the question you are asking or the problem you want to solve?

2) Learn more about your project. Gather information as it relates to the topic. You are looking for RELATED information that will help you come up with an educated guess of the correct answer. Write it down, draw pictures, take notes, learn, learn, learn! Ask experts, go to the library, get on the Internet, observe. Keep focused on the question. Don’t bother with information that is not useful. (Bobby Botanist didn’t need to know that corn is a favorite food in Mexico) . Remember that for this step, you are not trying to find the answer to your question. You are trying to gather information that will help you make a hypothesis. You are looking for information that will help you make an educated guess.

3) Make an educated guess to answer your question. Based on what you have learned, finish the sentence below: I think the answer to my question is (this answer is your hypothesis):

4) Now it’s time to prove that your hypothesis is correct (or not) It’s time to DO the experiment!

5) What can you conclude? Do you think your hypothesis was right or wrong? Remember, if your hypothesis seems to be wrong, that’s OK! Scientists are usually wrong at first. You may need to change your hypothesis and carry out another experiment.

B) Writing the Report to Describe What You Did… Your report is the final document that explains what you did in Step A. If scientists never told others about their findings, scientists wouldn’t be very helpful! Before you start writing your report, here’s a suggestion. Ask a parent or other adult if you could explain to them your entire project. Sit down with them and just tell them the entire story. Tell them the question you were trying to answer, what you learned about the topic, what you used in the experiment, how you did it, what you concluded. A report is just that, a story explaining what you did. Reports are easier to read if they are organized into sections. Your teacher may have set guidelines for this so be sure to follow his or her instructions and modify the sections below as needed. The following sections are often found in the report: General Tips: Your report should be typed on plain white paper. The report should be easy to read without lots of colorful designs. Reports are meant to present information accurately and objectively. Use easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Helvetica or Times. 12 point is a good size for most of the body text. Title: This is the question you asked or the problem you solved (see sample pages). Include your name and date and any other information requested by your teacher. Table of Contents: A list of the sections included in your report. Introduction: A brief summary stating what you were trying to find, how you proceeded, and your findings. Background Information: Describe the research you did and what you learned prior to actually doing the experiment. Only include information that is relevant to

your question. Do not include trivial information about your topic that really has no value in solving the problem. Hypothesis: Describe your hypothesis and explain why you thought this was the answer to your question. What have you learned that made you suggest this hypothesis? Materials: Describe the materials you used for your experiment. Be specific! How many? What size? Procedures: Explain step by step how you carried out your experiment. Explain WHY you did each step if it is not obvious. The key feature of a procedure is that it be a clear enough set of instructions on how to do your investigation so that someone else could conduct the experiment exactly as you did. There is no single accepted format for procedures such as numbering, bulleting, or paragraphing so be sure you know which of these formats your teacher is requiring. Some elements that all good procedures must have are as follows: • Include and be specific about all materials used. • Write a clear explanation/description about how you made your measurements. Readers must know what the numbers in your data table mean. • Explain how many trials you conducted. • Explain all of the conditions, controls, that remained the same throughout your experiment. Results: Describe what you found. Tables and charts and pictures are often best used to describe your findings. Use metric units to measure. If you need metric conversions, there are numerous sites on the Internet that will help you convert from English to Metric units. - Millimeters or Centimeters rather than inches. - Grams or Kilograms rather than ounces or pounds. - Milliliters or Liters rather than ounces, quarts, or gallons. Conclusion: First, you must state whether your hypothesis was supported or not. Be sure to provide specific numbers from your investigation when you do this. An often made mistake is to simply state “Because my data shows this.” Be specific and cite your data. Finally, it is nice to end your conclusion with a statement about other questions or investigations that this experiment might lead to. Do you think your hypothesis is still the correct answer to the question? Or do you think your hypothesis was incorrect? What did you learn? What might you do different next time? How could your work be helpful?

C) Creating a Display to Show What You Did… Your display is what gets attention. It should be well organized. Viewers should be able to quickly get an idea of what question you were trying to find an answer to, how you did it, and what answer you found. See sample display below.

Samples of a table, bar graph, line graph, pie chart…