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DON’T PANIC! THE COMMUNITY OF SCIENCE FAIR WIZARDS ARE HERE TO HELP YOU… TEACHERS, PARENTS AND TEACHERS WORLDWIDE!
 I know when its science fair time because e-ons of emails arrive every day from parents, students and teachers:
Will you send me a science fair project?
What is a good science fair project that my daughter can do for her 7th grade science fair?
Do you have easy science fair projects on your site?
Do you know where I can find ….
Well, now we have created a Forum for you to share your science fair experience, ask questions and get answers from each other. This is a blog for students, parents and teachers… a place for you to help each other.
Each post is monitored and will be posted after it is read by an adult. So please keep your comments honest, clean, and helpful. This is an educational site. The purpose of the Super Science Fair Projects blog is to help you to create the best science fair project on the planet! It is not a place to visit with your friends or to joke around. Those posts will be deleted.
By subscribing to the Free Science Fair Enthusiasts weekly/monthly newsletter where you will be kept informed of new information posted on this Forum.
We look forward to your input.
Madeline Binder
Last week we designed our science fair project’s experiment, and this week we are going to complete the experiment. During this step of the scientific method you will be doing two things, (1) completing your experiments and (2) collecting data. This step can take anywhere from a few minutes to several months depending on the complexity of your project.
Before you start working on your experiment, you will want to set up your data collection system. A notebook is a great tool to use to collect your data. If you use a data collection journal you will want to standardize your entries. Each entry that you make will need to include the date, time, observations and specific data measurements and readings. The second option that you have is to create a data collection form. This form will include spaces for the specific pieces of information that you need to collect.
As you collect your data make sure you also collect graphics for your project. For example, when working on astronomy for kids projects you will want to take photographs through your telescope or create drawings of your observations. These will help you when you analyze your data in the next step, as well as help you to put together a winning display.
If there are a lot of observations that need to be made during your experiment then you have a couple of options. First you can have someone help you make observations and collect data. Your second option is to video record the experiment. Both of these options will give you a second pair of eyes that will allow you to collect as much data as possible from your experiments. They will also make sure your results are more accurate.
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If you have been following this blog this month then you have already learned how to develop a hypothesis and how to conduct your background research. This week we are moving on to the next step in the scientific method, designing your experiment. This step is one that you need to pay close attention to, as it will determine how successful your science fair project will be.
The first thing that you need to do is to look at your hypothesis and determine how you can create an experiment that will either answer your hypothesis’ question or support it or disprove it. For example, if your hypothesis is “A fire will go out if oxygen is removed from the equation” then your experiment will need to set up a controlled environment where you can remove oxygen from the environment and examine what happens to the fire.
The second part of designing an experiment for your biochemistry science fair project or other type of science fair project is to determine what your dependent and independent variables will be. Variables are the factors related to your topic that impact what happens. The independent variable is what you will be manipulating and the dependent variable will be what you will be observing. In the case of the fire experiment, the independent variable will be the oxygen and the dependent variable will be the fire. Your controlled variable is going to be what you keep the same. In this case the fuel and heat sources are the controlled variables, because you aren’t changing them.
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Last week we talked about developing your science fair project’s hypothesis. This week we will be discussing how to conduct the background research for your project. This is an activity that needs to be done both before you create your hypothesis and after you develop your hypothesis.
No matter if you are working on 24-hour science fair projects or a complex multi-month science fair project, you need to begin the scientific method by learning about your topic. Your initial background research will be a general survey of your topic. For example, if you are working on a project about seed germination, then you will want to learn about germination and plant growth. The purpose of this research is to help you understand your project and to help you find a topic to base your hypothesis on.
After you have developed your hypothesis you will need to conduct the second part of your research. This research will focus on science fair projects that have already been done on your topic, as well as on new findings about your topic. Great resources for this phase of your project’s research will be the Internet, news headlines, your textbook and science fair kits. As part of your research you will also want to complete some basic science experiments to learn the basic concepts associated with your project.
After you have finished both parts of your research you will need to compose a short essay which summarizes what you have learned so far. A simple way to do this is to write a short paragraph on each resource or topic that you researched. Remember to create a bibliography for your project.
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During the month of August we will be going over each step of the scientific method. Each week we will tackle a different component. This week we are going to talk about developing a hypothesis.
Super science fair projects needs a great hypothesis. Your hypothesis is basically a prediction of what will happen or a question that you want to answer. For example, if you are developing a science fair project on combustion your hypothesis can be something like: When a fire is deprived of oxygen it will go out. As you can see this is a prediction about what will happen during your experiment. The second option that you have for your hypothesis is to ask a yes or no question about your topic, for example: Will a fire go out if the oxygen is removed?
When developing your science fair project’s hypothesis you want to keep it simple and to the point. A great hypothesis will address only one specific topic. If you are working with a complex science topic you can create several hypotheses to test.
Most students entering a science fair will only need to develop and refer to a single hypothesis. However, older students who are interested in producing an upper level project may also want to introduce a null hypothesis. A null hypothesis is basically the opposite of your hypothesis. This means that if your hypothesis is correct your null hypothesis will be incorrect, and vise versa.
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This week I want to talk more about possible science fair projects that you can complete during the upcoming science fair season. This week’s project ideas are going to focus on fire place screens and gift baskets. Odd topics for science fair projects, I know, but let’s run with them any ways.
The first topic for your science fair projects is fire place screens. There are a lot of different science fair projects that you can develop around a fire place screen, including earth science fair projects and thermal energy science fair projects. For example, you can experiment with different types of materials to see which one will resist heat the best or which ones will provide a shatterproof screen. You can also develop a science fair project that uses a fire place screen for an unusual purpose, like to generate power. Use your imagination.
The second topic for your science fair project is gift baskets. You can develop biology science fair projects that look at different materials that can be used for the basket’s construction that will prevent the contents from becoming soggy or dry, or that will keep the contents cool or warm. You can also look at developing a gift basket that is alive. For example you can shape a plant using a mesh frame in the shape of a basket and then create a topiary gift basket that is not only a plant gift, but that also can carry other gifts.
Like I mentioned last week I have been looking for blogs that provide readers with good science fair project ideas. This week I came across a good one called Science Fair Projects. Check out this blog for more project ideas.
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