2008-2009 Horn

January 6, 2009

Dear Parents:

We are having a Science Fair Exhibit at Horn Academy! It will be held on March 24, 2009. The purpose of this science fair is to exercise thinking skills and expand knowledge of a topic of science. It is also to obtain a better understanding of the scientific method.

Students in fifth grades will be required to do a science project. Students may enter as an individual or a group of two or three students. Each project must be an experiment where only one thing is changed. (The project draft form will explain this in more detail.)

In order to help your child with this project, we have assembled a packet of guidelines and ideas. This packet will be available on line by January 6, 2009. The packet will not be distributed unless a written request has been submitted to Mrs. Daugherty. Parents can assist their child throughout the preparation of this project by providing encouragement, praise, necessary materials, and appropriate guidance.

Please read the attached information carefully. It contains needed information and helpful suggestions for every student and his/her parent.

I hope the children have a good experience doing their science projects. There are many topic ideas in books available in the lab, in the library and on the Internet. If you have any questions about the Fair I will be happy to meet with you by appointment.

Science Fair Exhibit Timeline 2008-2009:

January 6, 2009 - Science Fair Packet goes home

January 9, 2009 - Return signed portion of cover letter

February 6, 2009 – Question and Hypothesis form due

February 27, 2009 - Materials, Procedure and variables form due

March 16-20, 2009 - Spring Break

March 24, 2009 - Projects DUE

I understand that my child has a science fair project due on March 24, 2009. I also understand that there are several parts to this project that are due at various time and each part will receive a grade.

Student Name____________________________________________________________

Parent’s Signature_________________________________________________________

General Information

Projects should not be extensive, complicated or difficult. The goal is to have students demonstrate competence in the process skills and focus on the science, not decorate the biggest project board. However, we feel that students should attempt an experiment at an appropriately challenging level.

Students, while parents and others may help you with your project, the project must be your work. You must be able to discuss. Parents can be helpful with things like heavy lifting and lots of moral support, but may not DO it for you!

You will need to keep a lab notebook with journal entries containing all written work you have done on your project. Your notebook will also contain all the data, notes, and graphs you have made as you do your experiment.

Ideally, the name of the class, student(s) or school must NOT appear anywhere on the front of the display, lab notebook or model where it can be seen. If photographs are used in the display, student’s faces should NOT be identifiable.

Keep project titles short.

You must demonstrate through, pictures, charts, graphs, diagrams and tables that THREE trials were accomplished during the conducting of your experiment. What this means is that when you choose what you want to test for, and do your experiment, you must repeat it again two MORE times. (Scientists cannot publish their results if they only do an experiment once. Nobody would believe them. So, they do it over several more times to prove it will turn out the same way every time.)

Final Presentation Product: Please use a standard science fair display board, available at most office supply stores.

Project Draft Form

Use this as part of your journal, along with notes on your daily activities and observations also to help fill out your project form to be turned in to Mrs. Daugherty.

(Items marked with * are mandatory)

*TITLE OF PROJECT: _________________________________________________

*PURPOSE: What question am I trying to answer? What is the purpose of my experiment? What am I trying to find out? What am I comparing?

_____________________________________________________________________

*HYPOTHESIS: What do I think will probably happen when I test things? What is my

best guess, remembering that it’s OK if things actually turn out differently at the end.

Also, WHY do I think or feel this way?

If I __________________________________________________________________

then _________________________________________________________________

*VARIABLES, CONSTANTS and CONTROLS: Variables are things (conditions and factors) about your experiment that you change to see what happens, and the kind of measurements or observations you can document when you make those changes.

Constants are what must stay the same to keep the experiment “fair” and let you compare.

Manipulative (or independent) Variable - This is the one, single thing you purposely change (or manipulate) because you want to see what will happen.

Responding (or dependent) Variable - This is the one single thing you choose to measure or observe so you can compare how your change affected things both before and after; its value “responds” to the test/change you made.

Project Constants -These are the parts of the project that have to stay the SAME (constant) to make your test fair. (List as many as you have)

Project Controls – Some projects may require a control sample that you treat normally, one you already know how it will turn out. This is so that you can compare or measure your experiment results against it, and see how big a difference your change made. Not all projects need a control sample, but one might be helpful for those involving plant growth or chemical reactions to compare experimental results against.

*MATERIALS: (a complete list of everything you need to do the experiment - supplies, equipment, measurement tools, etc.): __________________________________________

*PROCEDURE: (The “how to” directions that someone else would need so they could

do the experiment the exact same way you did) Make sure you do at least three trials (run your experiment three times) to be certain your results weren’t an accident.

YOU MUST DO YOUR EXPERIMENT BEFORE WRITING THIS NEXT PART!!

*RESULTS: Tell WHAT happened. Briefly answer your Purpose question with

complete sentences and back it up with data. (BE SURE YOU TRIED THE

EXPERIMENT THREE TIMES, TO MAKE SURE YOUR RESULT WASN’T AN

ACCIDENT!) Did your hypothesis turn out to be correct, or did something different or unexpected happen? On your project display, you must also illustrate your results somehow in your choice of charts or graphs, depending on which type make sense for your project. You may also add photos or drawings to help show your results. (Keep all your records of any notes, sketches, numbers, scratch paper, lists, daily measurements of changes, etc., writing down everything that you did or noticed, when you did it or noticed it, and what happened, keeping it for your journal section in the lab notebook.)

Don’t forget your graph or chart to show results!!

The following Create a Graph website can help you make graphs on the computer:

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx

*CONCLUSIONS: Tell WHY you think things turned out the way they did. Your research report should have covered information that can help you decide what to say about your project’s results and the reasons you think things happened that way.

Consider adding these sections near, or as part of, your conclusions on your display for extra points.

Limitations: What, if anything, went wrong; what could have affected the results; what might have held you back somehow or kept you from doing something else you wanted to add; what would you do differently if you did it again?

Applications: Why it is useful to know the results of this project; how is your experiment useful; how can you help others by what you have learned here?

Further Study: How could you take this project a step further; what new questions could you explore within your topic; what other related experiments do you think you could try next to expand your knowledge?

*BIBLIOGRAPHY: You must have a minimum of three sources.

Student Step-by-Step Check List

□ Think about a QUESTION or topic that you can investigate yourself. See the helpful sheets in the packet. Once you select a question give your teacher the topic sheet for permission to begin planning.

□ Begin a JOURNAL to write down everything you do, observe, and think during your research and during your investigation. This should be handwritten and begin the date you get the science fair packet. See the sample page.

□ Form a HYPOTHESIS about what you think might be the answer to your question.

□ Plan a PROCEDURE to test your hypothesis. Decide what MATERIALS you will need and WRITE STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS for what you will do and how you will do it. Please be sure you follow science safety rules. Make sure you identify the VARIABLES in your procedure.

□ Construct a CHART to help you COLLECT and ORGANIZE YOUR DATA.

□ Fill out your SCIENCE PROJECT PROPOSAL. You and your parents sign it. Return it to your teacher on or before the date in your calendar.

□ After you receive permission, FOLLOW THE STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS of your procedure. You may change these directions if you need to, but make note of it in your journal.

□ RECORD all of your data onto your chart and in your journal.

□ Make a GRAPH of your results so others can see at a glance what you’ve learned.

□ Write a CONCLUSION statement that summarizes your results and either restates your hypothesis (if it is correct) or revises it (if it is not supported).

Tell why you think you got the results you did.

□ Construct your PROJECT DISPLAY neatly and bring it to school on time.

TIPS for Parents

The name of the class, student or school must not appear on the project.

Selecting a topic is the hardest part of the project. There are lots of books available at the public library, Horn library or Horn science lab. Good ideas can be found in Janice VanCleave’s books, AIM S publications (see Horn library) and the internet. Help your child pick a question to answer that is specific but not too difficult to answer. Keep it simple.

Your role is to guide and assist. Be prepared to offer help but do not do the project. Know the rules and guidelines and check your child’s progress regularly. Help them keep track of deadlines. Thinking ahead to avoid problems in design, available time and resources is a valuable skill to learn.

The American Chemical Society has a downloadable parents guide to Science Fairs with good information and ideas.

http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/wondernet/grownups/scifair.pdf

Ideas for Science Fair Topics

What type of string or line carries sound waves the best?

Which metal conducts heat the best?

How do different soft drinks affect teeth?

How does exercise affect the heart?

What percentage of seeds in a packet will germinate?

Does the heart rate increase with increasing sound volume?

Does the weight of an object affect how quickly it falls?

Do suction cups stick equally well to all surfaces?

Which brand of tape holds things together the best?

Which materials hold heat the best?

Does temperature affect how much salt or sugar can be dissolved in water?

What affect does temperature have on water evaporation?

Do girls or boys have better reflexes?

Which kind of ball bounces highest?

Do sow bugs (or snails) prefer light or dark?

Does the shape of an aluminum foil boat affect how much weight it can carry?

Final Checklist - Did I finish everything I need?

_______Purpose - What question am I trying to answer? What is the purpose of my experiment, what am I trying to find out?

______Hypothesis - What do I think/hope will probably happen? What is my best guess, keeping in mind that it’s OK if it turns out later I was wrong? Why do I think/feel this way?

______ Variables, Constants and Controls.

______Materials - A complete list of everything you need/use

______Procedure - The directions that tell “how to” do the experiment step by step.

_____ Repeat the experiment THREE times to be sure of your answers

______Results - A sentence or two telling WHAT actually happened, answering the purpose question. (If your results come from, or include, lots of numbers, show them in a chart or graph. Be sure you have at least three trials and graph all the information!)

______Graphs, charts or other ways of presenting the results

______Conclusions - A paragraph explaining WHY things turned out the way they did.

______Journal/Lab Notebook - This notebook must be turned in with your display board. It will contain all your handwritten work. It must contain your journal information of the steps you took – and when – to complete your work. It should also contain any handwritten drafts, charts and diagrams you made to keep track of your project before copying them over for your display. It must also contain a bibliography with at least THREE sources, or places you got information. Also helpful for extra points are paragraphs on Limitations, Applications and Further Study.

_______All handwritten work, including journaling, data collection, charts, graphs

_______Bibliography - minimum 3 sources (also put on presentation display)

Science Fair Board and Folder Display Info

The most important things about your project are that you:

1) have all the mandatory parts of an experiment

2) show results from doing three trials

3) can talk about what you did!!

And while neatness and attractiveness is recommended, the biggest board or the one with the most stuff on it is not necessarily going to get the highest grade.

This year, you may bring samples of your experiment materials to display on exhibition day, as long as they are not made from or contain materials that can harm anyone. For example, glass jars can break when dropped and hurt someone, so just take pictures instead and put them on your board. Your display may certainly look different from everyone else’s, but must still have all the mandatory parts on it.

Project boards purchased at office supply stores may be either white or colored. You may make your own title strips or use the ones that sometimes come with the board you bought.

The journal or daily log should be in a separate folder that accompanies the large display board.

Remember, it can be quite simple to turn anything that catches your interest into an “experiment” where you test for or compare something, rather than just doing a “demonstration” that only shows how something works. If you like a particular kind of demonstration idea, try making one small change, doing it a second way to see what happens. Find out which way works better. Now you have an experiment! Repeat the changed version two more times to get three sets of results. The more interested you are in something, the more fun you’ll have and the better you’ll do!

Some experiments may take six weeks (for example, growing plants); some experiments may take six minutes ( for example, rolling cars down a ramp onto different surfaces or testing paper airplanes). But they ALL take a long time to type up or write nicely and then paste up for presentation.

Your project probably cannot be finished in one day, so don’t wait until the last minute to start!

Question and Hypothesis Form due February 6, 2009

Purpose/ Title (in question form)

_______________________________________________________________________?

Hypothesis:

If I _________________________________________________________________then

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Materials, Procedure and Variable Form due February 27, 2009

Materials List: