Sterling Elementary Science Fair2010-11

Date: January 19-21, 2010

Science Fair Contacts

Rebecca Hill rhill@glynn.k12.ga.usKim Waters kwaters@glynn.k12.ga.us

Eligible Students: All students may enter a project. Projects can be completed either individually or with a group. Only 4/5th grade students can advance to the regional science fair.

Sterling Elementary Science Fair Project Application

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Dear students and parents,

Students are invited to participate in this year's science fair. All science fair projects will be voluntary and completed at home. Any student wishing to participate will receive a Science Fair Handbook that will explain all the rules and procedures. These are available through your child’s teacher. The due date for your child's entry to the science fair will be January 19, 2011. The Sterling Science Fair will have 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and Honorable Mention awards. The top four projects from fourth and fifth grade combined will have the opportunity to go on to the Coastal Georgia Community College Regional Fair.

If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher.

• The student will pick up a Science Fair Handbook from his / her classroom teacher. • The student then chooses a topic and completes the science project.• Students will need to us a bound notebook (composition notebook) to record his/her hypothesis, research, experiment log, results, etc.• Remember, experiments do not have to be a success in order to compete in the fair.• The student displays his/her project on the display board. The display board must include the following: Title, Problem, Hypothesis, Procedure, Materials, Data Analysis, Results, and Conclusion. All display boards are due January 19, 2011.• Judges will evaluate each science project on January 20, 2011. • Projects will be on display January 21, 2011 for students, teachers, and parents to visit.• Each student will receive a Certificate of Participation and a ribbon depending on the number of points earned for his/her project. Judging will be done by selected members of the community.

Steps for application and completion

Required Materials for Display

• Display board must include the following: Title, Problem, Hypothesis, Procedure, Materials, Data Analysis, Results, and Conclusion• Scientific log that records day by day events of your experimentation. The contents of the Log Book must be handwritten with ink in a bound book.

Criteria for Judging

Evidence of knowledge Conclusion drawn Validity of informationUse of scientific method Visual presentation of board Tabulation of results

* No live animals, taxidermy specimens, preserved vertebrate animals or parts, including embryos* No dried or living plant materials* No human or animal food* No photographs of human subjects, unless a permission form has been signed and is included with the abstract.* No soil or waste samples* No chemicals, including water* No human / animal parts or body fluids* Anything potentially hazardous to public display is prohibited, such as live disease causing pathogenic organisms, microbial cultures, and fungi, food, syringes, flames (open or concealed), highly flammable display materials, combustible solids, dangerous chemicals, including caustics/acids, tanks with combustible gases, or lasers.

Special rules and restrictions

This is a timeline of the order of the events. This would be helpful to use in setting personal goals and completion times.

Use the timeline to create a series of deadlines to keep you on target.

Date Due

Date Completed

Things to Do

Choose a topic and write a project question.

Research the topic using books, the Internet, and other resources.

Write a hypothesis.

Design an experiment to test the hypothesis.

Conduct the experiment and record observations.

Make a table or chart for data. Draw one or more graphs for data.

Write the project report or abstract.

Make the project display on a display board.

January 19th

Present the project at the Sterling Science Fair.

Other:

Science Fair Project Timeline

GETTING STARTED• The first thing you need to do is choose

a topic. Make sure you pick a topic that you are interested in.– You may have hobbies or problems that

you see that need solutions, and you may have an idea for it.

– A science project is something that has not been proven yet. For example, we already know how volcanoes erupt, so this would NOT be a topic.

– Be sure your teacher approves your topic BEFORE you begin

• But, if you are trying to decide if people can tell the difference in the taste of a cookie used with Splenda or a cookie baked with sugar, this WOULD be an experiment.

• The most important things to remember when conducting a science experiment are the following:– Be sure to follow the scientific method– Be sure to keep a log book– The display board should be the LAST thing

you do.

Data Log Book

• The log book is the MOST important part of your experiment. EVERYTHING will go into your log book.

• Start with making a list of topics that you are interested in studying. (put in log book)

• Conduct some research so that you are familiar with your topic. (put in log book)

• Your log book should be HANDWRITTEN in ink.

• Leave a couple of pages blank in the front of the book to allow for a table of contents

• Make a list of all materials that you will need to do your experiment.

• It is a good idea to make drawings of things that may help to explain your project.

• Make notes of any problems that you may have.

– It is important to make any notes like this because this is how scientists can invent new things because of other researchers’ errors!!!)

• Record all your data in your log book.

• If you are measuring something or observing it over a period of time, write your data down daily.

• Be sure to write all the steps of the scientific method in your log book as you go through your experiment.

Step 1. Observe and ask Questions

•Based on your observations, identify the problem you wish to explore.

•Then, ask a clear, specific, testable question.

•I am going to use the cookie project for the example for the next few slides.

• I want to bake cookies for the students in the classroom, but I have a diabetic student who cannot have sugar. This is my problem. So, I would do some research on Splenda to find out what it is made of, and how it is made.

• Then, I would create a question to find the answer, “Is it SPLENDA or SUGAR? Can people tell the difference between a cookie made with Splenda or a cookie made with sugar?”

STEP 2: Form a Hypothesis• This is “What do you think will happen?”• After conducting research and getting

familiar with your topic, it is time to form your opinion as to what the results will be.

• It is ALRIGHT if your hypothesis is not the same as your results! DO NOT change your hypothesis.

• A hypothesis is just an educated GUESS!

• So, I am going to form a hypothesis for my project.

• “I think that people will be able to tell the difference between Splenda and Sugar cookies.”

STEP 3: PLAN your experiment

•ALWAYS PLAN before you do!•You need to make a list of all

materials that you will need.•Then, you will need to make a

list of the procedure that you will do your experiment.

•Make step-by-step instructions.

Materials• Recipe for sugar cookies• sugar• flour• Splenda• butter • mixing bowl• mixer • cookie pan• PAM• oven• timer• spatula• 2 plates • index card• marker• 5 people

Procedure

• Step 1: I will get all my materials together to begin making my

cookies.

• Step 2: Follow recipe for making sugar cookies.

• Step 3: Bake sugar cookies

• Step 4: While sugar cookies are baking, prepare recipe again, but substitute Splenda for sugar.

• Step 5: Bake Splenda cookies

• Step 6: Place each batch on different plates

• Step 7: Fold index cards in half and label the sugar cookies A and the Splenda cookies B.

• Step 8: Then, choose 5 people (usually family members) to do a taste test to determine if they can tell which cookie is baked with Splenda.

• Step 9: Record their findings in log book.

STEP 4: Conduct the experiment

•Follow your materials and procedure.

STEP 5: Results

•After you conduct your experiment, you need to record all results in your log book.

•Your data can be easily put into a graph. You can draw one or create one on the computer.

• Out of the 5 people who participated in the taste test, only 1 person was able to tell the difference between the two cookies.

Results

STEP 6: Conclusions • When writing the conclusions to your

experiment, answer whether or not your hypothesis was correct and of anything that may have affected the results of the test. Include things like: Should you have conducted the experiment on more people? What variables were important?

• NEVER alter your results or hypothesis to fit a theory.

• Even if your results did not support your hypothesis, you still have accomplished successful scientific research.

My hypothesis for my study proved to be incorrect. I believe that in order to have a more accurate answer, I need to conduct my experiment on more than 5 people. One thing that may have affected my results is that out of the 5 people who participated in the study, 3 of them use Splenda regularly at home.

Conclusions

Pictures of the Display Boards as a Finished Product

What Judges Look for:

• Creativity - Be creative when phrasing your question and how you display it on your board.

• Your Own Work - Be sure that you make your board yourself. Your parents can help, but YOU should be the one who is writing everything and putting it together.

• Write big - The rule is that if it can’t be read 6 feet away, it is too small. If you are typing, use big font. Use bullets-you don’t have to write in complete sentences on your board

• Understanding -You should make sure you have knowledge of what you did. Your board and log book should show that.

• Neither food or living things can be part of your display. That includes plants, foods, candy, etc…

• However, you can, and should, take pictures throughout your experiment and post them on your board.

• IF you use PHOTOS, you ARE allowed to be in the picture. However, you must give credit to whom took the picture. If it is someone that is not part of your family, they must have a permission form completed.

Things you need to know

• You CANNOT grow any kind of molds! No cheese, breads, etc..

• You CANNOT alter a plant such as using sugar water, coke, etc.. However, you can use plants like “Which fertilizer makes plants grow faster?”

• The last thing you should write in your log book is:

• “If I had the chance to re-do my investigation, I would change……..”

Science Fair Resourceshttp://www.sciencebuddies.org

Science Fair Project Resource Guidehttp://www.ipl.org/div/projectguide/

Science Fair Infohttp://www.kathimitchell.com/scifair.htm Elmer’s Science Fair Centralhttp://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/

Coastal Georgia Regional Science and Engineering Fairhttp://www.ccga.edu/ScienceFair/

Additional Online Resources