All about

completing

a Fair Project.
By: The Whole Faculty
Science Group
 What is a Science Project?
 A science fair project is a
project that is one that ask
a question and has an
experiment to attempt to
answer the question.
 A science fair is NOT a
simply a project that is on a
science topic such as
plants, animals, health, etc.
 What are the parts of a Science
Project?
 A project board with
the steps of the
scientific method.
 An abstract.
 A Report
 A model or display
(if applicable)
Parts of the Scientific
Method
 Purpose
 Hypothesis
 Experiment
(Procedure,
Research)
 Analysis
 Conclusion
What is the Purpose?
 What is your goal?
 What idea are you trying to test?
 What is the scientific question
you are trying to answer?
 Ex. Can a plant live more days without
sun or light?
What is the Hypothesis?
 Tell how you think your project can demonstrate your
purpose.
 Make a prediction regarding the outcome of your
experiment.
 State the results you are predicting in measurable terms.
 Ex. I think that plants can live without water longer than
without sunlight.
What is the Procedure?
 Give a detailed explanation of how the experiment will be
performed to test your hypothesis.
 Be clear about the variables (elements of the experiment that
change to test your hypothesis) versus your controls (elements of
the experiment that do not change).
 Be very specific about how you will measure results to prove or
disprove your hypothesis. You should include a regular timetable
for measuring results or observing the projects (i.e. every hour,
every day, every week).
 Your procedure should be like a recipe -- Another person should
be able to perform your experiment following your procedure.
Test this with a friend or parent to be sure you have not forgotten
anything.
What is the Materials?
 List all materials and equipment that were used.
 Your list of materials should include all of the
ingredients of the procedure recipe.
 Make sure you list all the materials used in the
Procedure.
What is the Research & Data?
 Keep a detailed journal of observations, data and/or results. They
can be data measurements and written notes about what you are
sensing (hearing, seeing, or touching) about your experiment.
 Photograph your project results or phases of the project if
appropriate to help your analysis and possibly to demonstrate
your experiment on your exhibit board.
 You can include graphs showing information like growth,
increase, decrease, etc.
 Include some of the background information you read and
researched before you began your experiment.
What is the Analysis?
 Explain your observations, data and/or
results. This is a summary of what your data
has shown you.
 List the main points of what you've learned.
 Why did the results occur? What did your
experiment prove?
 Was your hypothesis correct? Did your
experiment prove or disprove your
hypothesis? Should be explained thoroughly
What is the Conclusion?
 A summary of your interpretation of the data and results
of the experiment.
 You should restate the hypothesis and whether you
found the hypothesis to be true or false.
 You should also comment on how the results of the
experiment satisfied your original purpose.
 Answer your problem/purpose statement.
 What does it all add up to? What is the value of your
project?
 What further study do you recommend given the results
of your experiment? What would be the next question to
ask?
 If you repeated this project, what would you change?
 What is the Research Paper?
 The research paper is the main body of the Science project.
 Title Page
 Table of Contents  
 Question and Hypothesis: The question that you are trying to answer with your
experiment. Be sure to clearly state your hypothesis at the end.
 Review of Literature: Background information that reflects the knowledge you
have acquired, through your research, on the topic your of your experiment. You
should be providing the reader with useful background information for your project.
 Materials and Procedure (Research Plan): This is essentially your research plan.
You should be certain to include a list of all materials that were used in your
experiment and how they were used. It is best to present your procedure in steps and
to include as much detail as possible about measurements and techniques in each
step.
 Results: A precise recap of what you found out in your experiment, focusing on
your observations and data, leaving all interpretation for the Conclusion section.
 Conclusion: A summary of your interpretation of the data and results of the
experiment. You should restate the hypothesis and whether you found the hypothesis
to be true or false. You should also comment on how the results of the experiment
satisfied your original purpose.
 Reference List / Bibliography
 Table and Figures: Include tables, charts, and photographs that further help explain
your experiment and results. It tells in the Scientific Method all steps followed and
results of the experiment.
Title Page (1 st
page of Research
)  Your title page should
EXAMPLE
have your title of the
project in the middle of the page and also
centered in theWhatmiddle.
drink stains your teeth the
most?
 Under the title it should 12/14/06 have the division, all

children at our school

Elementary will
Division be in the Elementary
Chemistry
Division.
 Then what category the project goes in. Botany
(plants), Zoology (animals), Physics
Table of Contents (2nd page of Research)
 The Table of Contents page needs to be titled Table of
Contents. Table of Contents
Section Page
 This page should be numbered 2 at the bottom.
Title Page ……………......................1
 It should tell Table
what of is found
Contents on each
……....................
Body of Research ………………… 3-6
page
2 of the research
paper. Abstract ………………..................... 7
Bibliography .................................... 8
 The Body of Research will have information
Table and Figures............................ 9 about the
Bibliography..................................... 10
topic the experiment is on and all the parts of the
Scientific Method (purpose, hypothesis, procedure,
materials, results, analysis, conclusion)

2
Body of Research (3 rd
page of
Research)
 The Body of Research papers contains all of the
Title
research about your topic from Encyclopedias,
Books, Internet, Magazine/Newspaper Articles,
I. Purpose
and Interviews from experts.
II. Hypothesis
 The Body ofIII.Procedure
Research also includes all the steps
in the scientificA.method.
Research
 Also, unlike the B.Abstract, this can include all
Experiment
details aboutIV.your experiments (problems,
Results
additional ideas for next time, etc.)
V. Conclusion
 Make sure you number3 the bottom of each page.
What is the Abstract?
 An abstract gives the essence of the project in a
brief but complete form — it should not exceed
250 words.
 Judges and the public should have a fairly
accurate idea of the project after reading the
abstract.
 Your abstract should be about 3 paragraphs.
 It should briefly go through all the steps in the
scientific method without opinions or extra
elaborations.
 Parts of your Abstract
 Purpose of the Experiment
 An introductory statement of the reason for investigating the topic of the project.
 A statement of the problem or hypothesis being studied.

Procedures Used
 A summarization of the key points and an overview of how the investigation was conducted.
 An abstract does not give details about the materials used unless it greatly influenced the
procedure or had to be developed to do the investigation.
 An abstract should only include procedures done by the student. Work done by a mentor
(such as surgical procedures) or work done prior to student involvement must not be
included.

Observation/Data/Results
 This section should provide key results that lead directly to the conclusions you have drawn.
 It should not give too many details about the results nor include tables or graphs.

Conclusions
 Conclusions from the investigation should be described briefly.
 The summary paragraph should reflect on the process and possibly state some applications
and extensions of the investigation.
Bibliography (The last page of your
Research Paper)
 You must have used at least 5 sources research
cited.
 These resources cannot be all the same.
 Some of the resources are:
 Magazine/Newspapers Articles
 Encyclopedias
 Books
 Internet
 Interviews from experts on topic
 What should you consider when
doing a Science Fair Project?
 You must be able to perform the experiment using the
scientific method.
 Make sure the equipment you will need to do the
experiment is available.
 Consider whether you'll have enough time to complete
the experiment.
 Demonstrations and models--while good learning
tools--are not experiments. For example, a model
showing how the human heart works in not
appropriate for the science fair.
Steps to a Successful Science Fair
Project
1. Become familiar with the scientific method.
2. Select a topic that interests YOU. Your topic should be stated in the
form of a question, which you'll answer through experimentation. For
example, "What effect does the size of a hole in a parachute have on its
rate of descent?"
3. Research your topic and form a hypothesis (guess the answer to your
question).
4. Design an experiment to answer your question.
5. Fill out all the required forms BEFORE you start your experiment.
6. Conduct your experiment and record the results.
7. Interpret the data. Put the results in charts and graphs. Draw a
conclusion about your hypothesis.
8. Make a display and write a short report.
9. Practice your presentation to the judges.
10. Come to the science fair and have fun!
Some websites that
might help
 http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/
 http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifai
rstudio/handbook/scientificmethod.html

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/fair/ideasframe.htm
 http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/sciencefairs/
 http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/SciProjInt
ro.html
Thanks for coming
& Good Luck
Scientist!