Science Fair: From Horror to Happy in Four (or so) Easy Steps

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Science Fair From Horror to Happy in Four (or
so) Easy Steps
?

• Anderson Mill Elementary School
• October 2, 2014

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The Four Easy Steps

• Choose a kid friendly question (and have the
  student answer it!).
• 2. Start early and follow a reasonable
  timeline.
• 3. Make it good science.
• 4. Think like a science fair judge.

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Step One
Choose a kid friendly question (and have the
student answer it!)
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Step Two
Start early and follow a reasonable timeline
5
Step Three
Make it good science
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Its ok if it doesnt turn out the way
you hypothesized. Thats science!
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Step Four

• The title should be the question
• thats being investigated.
• Focus on neat and followable. If
• you have to make it pretty, do it
• with data display and relevant
• digital pictures.
• Include the data and an explanation
• of what it means. (Check out this
• site for making graphs
• http//nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAGraph/)
• Focus on science fundamentals.
• Follow the rules!

Think like a science fair judge
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The Rules

• A few surprises
• Your project may NOT have plants or plant parts
  with it.
• Your project may NOT have any food with it.
• Your project may NOT have any liquids with it.
• Your project MAY have teeth, hair, nails, or
  dried animal bones with it.
• Yuck!

The bottom line (Get it?! The bottom line!)
Take pictures.
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Title in the Form of a Question
Results This tells us what happened. This should
include evidence of at least 3 trials and can
contain both quantitative (numbers) and
qualitative (observations) results. This is a
good place for pictures. Data This section
should include labeled tables and/or graphs.
This is a good section in which to garner higher
presentation points with good looking, color
graphs. Sites such as http//nces.ed.gov/nceskids
/createAgraph/default.aspx are a good source.
Purpose/ Problem What is the student trying to
find out? Research This can be experiential. I
have noticed that when. Hypothesis What do you
think will happen? This should be testable and
based on the research! Procedures This is what
you did. This should be listed out step-by-step.
Variables should be noted. Materials Listed
alphabetically. This section could be in the
middle column, too.
Summary of Results/ Discussion The data in a
nutshell. What does it all mean? Conclusion What
did you learn? Was the hypothesis supported or
not? What would the student do differently next
time? What other experiments would the student
like to do based on these results? Acknowledgment
s This is where you credit the people that helped
(parents, teachers, etc) by telling what part
they played in the project. This can also serve
as a place to reference items utilized for the
research section.
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Results, Data, Summary

• Pictures
• Data tables
• Notes
• Graphs
• No opinions just the facts!

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Conclusion

• BASED ON YOUR DATA was your hypothesis supported
  or not?
• What would you change next time?
• Your thoughts