PUT THIS PACKET IN A SAFE PLACE. THIS CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR PROJECT.








KANAPAHA SCIENCE FAIR




SCIENCE FAIR TIMELINE OF

DUE DATES

(Put these on your calendar)


Note: All first draft work should be of final draft quality. All first drafts need to be typed and of the proper length.


Proposal Form Due ____________

(You must have the proposal form approved before you begin your project)


IISEF Forms Due _________________ (We will fill these out in class)


Project Report:

Title, Table of Contents, Research & Bibliography 1st Draft Due: ______________


Introduction 1st Draft Due: _____________


Materials & Procedure 1st Draft Due: ___________


LOG BOOK CHECK # 1 _________________


Results (including Graphs & Charts) 1st Draft Due: _____________


Discussion & Conclusion 1st Draft Due: _____________


Abstract & Acknowledgements 1st Draft Due: __________


LOG BOOK CHECK # 2 ___________________


Project Report & Log Book Final Draft Due: ____________________


Poster Board Due (Date of Presentation) ____________________


Last Day for Science Fair Sign-up ____________________


KMS SCIENCE FAIR ____________________




SHOULD I JOIN THE SCIENCE FAIR?

FAQS

Do I have to do a science fair project?

Yes. All students are required to do a project. Everyone is responsible for handing in project report, a comprehensive logbook, a poster board, as well as performing an in-class presentation.


Do I have to enroll in the science fair?

No. You do not have to participate in the KMS science fair if you do not wish to.


If I enroll, do I have to do any extra work?

Students who enroll in the science fair will give an additional presentation to the science fair judges that are assigned to them. Some students consider this extra work, and some think it is fun!


Will my performance for the judges affect my grade?

No. The grade for your project will be based on my rubric. This packet includes a Judge’s rubric as well as a class rubric. Notice that they are different. The judges are concerned with only the quality of the science experiment and the poster presentation. I grade you on not only the quality of your scientific work, but also on whether you followed the project guidelines. I also look at ALL FOUR parts of the project to assign a grade. Your entire project will already be graded by the time the science fair takes place.


Will I miss school if I enroll?

Yes. Students who participate in the science fair will be excused from classes on the day of the judging from ~ 9AM -1PM. Students generally return to classes around 4th period. You will be responsible for the work you miss in those classes.


Do I get any Extra Credit?

Yes. Students who participate will be given a form they may fill out for extra credit. You must complete the form for the extra credit points (the form goes in the Above & Beyonds section of your notebook, but does not count as the above & beyond for the unit).


What happens if I win the school science fair?

If you are recommended to go on to the regional science fair, we will have a meeting to discuss all the paperwork and new science fair dates. Generally the Regional Science fair takes place at Santa Fe Community College some time around February. Middle school students may progress up to a State level Fair.


Can I work with a friend?

While this is allowed by the Fair Regulations, I do not recommend working in a group. While it may seem easier at first, later on it may be difficult to get together with your partner at critical times, and it is very important to know who is responsible for what. Also, it is more difficult to progress to the regional fair if you are in a group.


I’m still not sure if I want to join…

Many participants look back on it as a positive experience. While presenting for the judges may seem intimidating at first, most students don’t find it as scary as presenting in front of the class. The rest of the time you get to enjoy the excitement of the fair and see all the cool projects that other students have worked on. Also, you are required to do this again in 7th grade—Some 6th graders consider it good practice if they are interested in joining the fair next year!




WHAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR:


You will get 4 separate grades for this project. They are as follows:



1. Project Report. This paper includes all the information on your experiment, including your background research. Look to the page on the project report for more detailed information. _________________ Pts.


2. Lab Notebook. This is the notebook that you had with you during the experiment. It should document EVERYTHING about your experiment, as well as all of your observations and raw data. This should be written in EVERY TIME you do work on your experiment. _______________ Pts.


3. Backboard. This is a 3-fold poster board that contains all the data necessary to explain your project. Should include lots of pictures and diagrams! ______________Pts.


4. In-Class Presentation. For this grade, you will be evaluated on how thoroughly you explain your experiment, as well as your speech/presentation skills. You will need to prepare a 5-minute speech. _______________ Pts.




It is VERY IMPORTANT that you have all of these parts. It will be difficult to pass the entire project with one of these missing. Make sure you look through each checklist and double-check your work so that you know you have each item.





Getting Started!


Doing a science fair experiment can be an amazing experience or a real drag – it all depends on the preparation. Make sure you start your project the day it gets approved by your teacher so that you don’t end up paying for it at the end! Here are 7 steps that can help you on your way to completing your science fair project.



1. Choosing a Topic: This is the most important part of the whole process. Remember that science is everywhere and there are cool questions to be answered in every aspect of life. Pick a topic that interests you, and pick a question that you really want answered! Talk to parents, friends, teachers, and librarians for ideas – or visit a place that interests you. Be Careful: Make sure it is a topic that you can find background information on easily, and make sure it is a question that you can answer by conducting an experiment. Don’t overload yourself with too much! NOTE: No Volcanoes and no Mentos Explosions!


2. Researching Your Topic: This should be done before you do any experimentation. Research can take many different forms. Depending on how much information is available on your topic, you can use the Internet, books, articles from magazines, phone/personal interviews and information on product labels. It is important to find out background information on your all aspects of your idea, as well as who has previously (if anyone) done experiments similar to yours.

3. Forming a Hypothesis: After researching your topic, make a hypothesis as to what you think will occur. Make sure it is a testable hypothesis – this may be difficult to do if you are doing an engineering project. Come talk to me if you are interested in any of these kinds of projects.


4. Conducting your Experiment: Once you decide what you are going to test for, you need design a way to test that hypothesis. You need to have only one independent variable – all the others need to be controlled. See the Example experiment so that you can understand better how to go about setting up an experiment.


5. Recording your results. The most important part of your experiment is writing it down! In every experiment you need to have some form of data table. The data table is where you record your observations from your experiment – which you should be making EVERY DAY. Your DEPENDENT variable (the variable that you measure) needs to be CONCRETE. This means that you can easily tell if one INDEPENDENT variable (the one you are testing) is greater than another. There should be no room for ambiguity.


6. Interpreting your results. After your experiment is completed – look over your results. Now you can determine if your hypothesis is correct! Organize your data in a way that makes sense! This usually takes the form of a chart or graph. This format should make it easier to draw solid conclusions.



7. Communicating your results. After you know your conclusion, its time to write the paper! We write written reports so other scientists can look at our results and make their own conclusions! This process is exceptionally important for two reasons: 1. It allows our knowledge base to grow (other scientists can then research your project when doing their experiments), and also it allows us to root out illegitimate research (when scientists didn’t follow the right processes).



PROJECT REPORT GUIDELINES


The project report is the formal written piece on your entire experiment.

It should include the following items:


______ Title Page / Abstract ______Table of Contents

______ Introduction ______ Research

______ Materials/Procedures ______Analysis (Includes Data and Discussion)

______Conclusions ______Bibliography / Acknowledgements


Title Page / Abstract (1 page)

This should include the title of your project. Keep it simple! The title should explain in simple terms what you did in your experiment.

The abstract is a 1-3 paragraph statement that summarizes your entire experiment from beginning to end. It should include the following elements: your purpose, your hypothesis, what your experiment entails, your results, and your conclusions. In real science papers (in scientific journals), the abstract is on the front page of the study, so someone reading it can get a quick summary – that way they will know quickly if it relates to their research without needing to read the whole article.


Table of Contents (1 page)

This should list all the parts of your experiment and what page they are on! This means that you must have numbered pages. The placement of your numbers should be bottom right.


Introduction (1-3 paragraphs)

This is a 1-3 paragraph section that introduces your topic. It should include the reasoning behind doing the experiment (the purpose), and your hypothesis statement.


Research (2 pages)

THIS SECTION IS VERY IMPORTANT!!! This is an original paper written by you that summarizes all the background information you could find on your topic. If you are having trouble finding two pages worth of information on a subject, then my suggestion is to get a new topic. Your search could include interviews, books, internet websites, box labels, and data collected from companies. Your paper needs to include a bibliography which tells me where you got all of your information from.


Materials/Procedures (2 pages)

The purpose of this section is to make it possible for other people to recreate your experiment. It is exceptionally important that you are detailed and specific when describing each step. This section may be in the form of a bulleted list for the materials, and a numbered list for the procedures.


Analysis (1 page writing + Data Tables and Graphs)

This section is where you provide your raw data, the graphs and tables. The written section should describe your observations you made during your experiment, your interpretation of the data, and descriptions of the graphs and tables that you provide.


Conclusions (2-3 paragraphs)

In this section you need to restate your hypothesis, summarize your results and make your final statements about your project.


Bibliography (5 sources) / Acknowledgements (1 paragraph)

You need to cite at least 5 sources for your project report. Sources can be personal interviews, books, articles, websites, labels, and flyers. See the bibliography page for the right formats.



THE LAB NOTEBOOK

Materials:

1 journal / Composition notebook

Camera / Photographs


For people who make science their careers, the lab notebook is the most important thing that they create. The lab notebook is a record of their observations, thoughts, ideas and data. Ideally, your notebook starts before you even begin your experiment and records your thought processes before you even pick an idea! It should record EVERY PART OF THE JOURNEY – including buying materials, problems you encounter, frustrations you have, exciting breakthroughs, detailed observations, and conclusions you come to along the way.



  1. Write in it often! For a 2 month long project, you should have at least 20 entries


  1. Don’t hold back! This is just for you – don’t be afraid to write all thoughts that come to mind while you are working on your experiment. Small details will often help you remember things that you forget for when you are writing your report later.


  1. Be thorough in your observations! Good observations are detailed and complete. Paint a picture of what you see when recording your data. Be sure take lots of photos all along the way – it will make your life a lot easier later!



Each entry in your lab notebook should have the following information:


  1. Date / Time

  2. Daily Observations

  3. Recorded Data (in data table) – this can be typed, but make sure to print and include it!

  4. Optional: Extra thoughts, ideas, frustrations.




THE PRESENTATION








You will give a presentation to the class, and if you enter into the science fair you will give a presentation to the judges as well.


  1. Know your experiment backwards and forwards

  2. Talk though each step, explain each graph/table

  3. Talk to your audience (not your board)

  4. Project your voice clearly, confidently

THE PROJECT BOARD






















The display poster board is an important tool for the presentation of your research.

The objective of a poster board is to present the main areas of your project so that others can easily understand what you discovered.  This is not the same as your written report.  The actual project will have a lot more detail that will be shown in your written report.  Think of the poster board as a commercial for your project.  The commercial will state the main points and key features of your research project so that others will understand it easily.

Like books, people will read your poster board from left to right and top to bottom.  It is a good idea to arrange your project information so that observers can read your display in logical order.  Part of your challenge is to make it easy for others to understand your work.  The only section not following this convention is the title which should be located at the top center of your display.

TAKE PICTURES EARLY AND OFTEN! A picture tells a thousand words, and a poster board is much improved with photographs!


SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT RUBRIC

 

 

Lab Report (50)

 

______ Title Page / Abstract /Table of Contents (5)

______ Introduction (5)                                              

______ Research (20)

______ Materials/ Procedures / Analysis (Includes Data and Discussion) (15)

______Conclusion / Bibliography / Acknowledgements (5)

 

 

 

Lab Notebook (50)

 

______ Entries are thorough, thoughtful, and complete.  (15)

______ Entries are in the correct format (10)

______ Quality of observations (10)

______ Data tables included (5)

 

 

 

 

Presentation (50)

 

________ Speech skills (eye contact, voice projection, confidence, etc.) (10)

________ all content covered (30)

________ Answers questions accurately / clearly knows subject and project well (10)

 

 

 

 

Poster Board (50)

 

_______ Experiment is thoroughly covered (30)

_______ Board is neat / attractively designed (10)

_______ Pictures included (10)

 

 

TOTAL PROJECT GRADE:  _______________________

 

 

 

SCIENCE FAIR PROPOSAL FORM

 

 

Name ______________________________                          Date ____________

 

Period:  _____________                                            

 

 

  1. My Tentative Project Title is: _________________________________________

 

  1. Write a general description of your topic idea:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Write a general description of how you plan on conducting your experiment: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. What will you be testing?

 

 

  1. How will you measure your results?

 

 

  1. Why did you choose this topic? 

 

 

 

Student Signature _____________________________________

 

Parent Signature ______________________________________