Science Project Checklist



Science Project Checklist [pic]

O 1. Ask a QUESTION that you can investigate yourself. Make sure you have a control and variables that you can test and measure.

O 2. Begin a JOURNAL to write down everything you do, observe, and think during your investigation.

▪ You will need to have at least 5 journal entries. Journal entries should be dated for each time recorded and at least a paragraph long for each entry.

O 3. Form a HYPOTHESIS about what you think the answer to your question will be.

O 4. 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. Make sure you follow the rules for SCIENCE SAFETY and WORKING WITH ANIMALS. **Please check SARSEF rules for use of people/animals in experiments. These experiments must be pre-approved by the organization to be judged**

O 5. Fill out your SCIENCE PROJECT PROPOSAL and sign it. Then, have your teacher and your parents sign it too! This should be completed before you actually do the steps of your procedure.

O 6. Follow the step-by-step directions of your procedure and RECORD your data onto your chart/graph.

O 7. COLLECT and ORGANIZE your DATA. Then make a GRAPH of the results, so others can see at a glance what you’ve learned.

O 8. Write a CONCLUSION statement which either restates your hypothesis (if it is supported) or revises it (if it is not supported).

O 9. Type a SCIENCE PROJECT REPORT that summarizes your investigation. The information for your report has been recorded on your project proposal on page 7. Improve your proposal and type it up. An example of a completed report is on pages 11&12.

O 10. Be prepared to give an ORAL PRESENTATION. There is an example on page 9 to help you get started.

O 11. Construct your SCIENCE PROJECT DISPLAY. All displays should contain the fundamental information including the Question, Hypothesis, Materials, Procedure, Data, Results, and Conclusion. Feel free to include an abstract which is required for SARSEF.

• SARSEF board regulations: Projects in Grades K-8 must be no more than:30 in. deep (front to back), 36 in. wide (side-side), 42 in. high (only for table-display)

An abstract is a brief (250 words or less), written discussion/summary of your Science Project. It includes: The Project Title, The purpose of your project / experiment:  An introductory statement explaining the reason for the research, or a statement of the problem, hypothesis or question A summary/description of the procedures, emphasizing the key points or steps The results and observations made Conclusions of your investigation and it may also include any possible research applications or goals. If there is space, you may also include where this will take you next.

Science Project

Completion Schedule

For _________________________

Keep this schedule in a place where it is easily seen.

|Assignment |Date Due |Date Completed | Points |

| | | |awarded |

|Question | | |/10 |

|Hypothesis | | |/10 |

|Completed Project Proposal | | |/20 |

|Parent Signature pg. 8 | | |/10 |

|5 Journal Entries | | |/50 |

|Report | | |/100 |

|Oral Presentation | | |/100 |

|Project Display | | |/45 |

|Total points possible | | |/345 |

Rubric for Oral Presentation:

Question: ___/10 Comments:

Hypothesis: ___/10 _______________________________________

Materials: ___/10 _______________________________________ Directions: ___/10 _______________________________________

Results: ___/10 _______________________________________

Conclusion: ___/20 _______________________________________

Application: ___/20 _______________________________________

Clarity: ___/10 ________________________________________

Total: ____ /100

Rubric for Project Report:

Question: ___/10 Comments:

Hypothesis: ___/10 _______________________________________

Materials: ___/10 _______________________________________ Directions: __/20 _______________________________________

Results: ___/10 _______________________________________

Conclusion: ___/20 _______________________________________

Application: ___/20 _______________________________________

Total: ____ /100

Rubric for Journal:

Dated Entries: _____/10 Comments:

(2 points per day) _________________________________

Detailed Entries: ____/40 _________________________________

Includes detailed information about _______________________________________

what is happening during the project, _______________________________________

data/results, changes or ideas

Science Fair Project Board Rubric

Project Title: ________________________

Rubric Items

Part I Scientific

Procedure: Impressive Adequate Minimal

Clear & specific question 5 4 3 2 1

Clear & specific hypothesis 5 4 3 2 1

Complete & thorough 5 4 3 2 1

Method (Step by Step)

Complete & thorough 5 4 3 2 1

Data (logs, graphs, tables...)

Conclusion supported by Data 5 4 3 2 1

Conclusion relevant to 5 4 3 2 1

Hypothesis

Part II Originality:

Original topic or approach 5 4 3 2 1

Part III Simplicity:

Appropriate Materials & 5 4 3 2 1

Construction

Clarity of overall project 5 4 3 2 1

Total Possible: 45

Your Score: ____

Comments:

Selecting a Science Topic

After you have selected an area of science that interests you, think about a question that you are curious about and would like to solve. The question you try to solve will be the topic of your science fair project. You need to choose a question that can be answered by the experiment and that you can do. Do not choose a question that does not interest you or one that is too hard to solve.

This sample of research questions are from four areas of science: behavioral, life, physical and earth science. They may help you think of your own research question.

• How does electricity travel through wires?

• How is electricity generated from solar energy?

• How can rusting be prevented?

• How can gasoline make a car move?

• How can a tomato plant be grafted to a potato plant?

• How does overcrowding affect life in a terrarium?

• How does gravity affect the growth of a plant?

• How is a bridge built so it does not collapse?

• How do soft drinks affect teeth?

• How does exercise affect the heart?

• How accurately are weather and natural disasters forecasted?

• How do pesticides affect plants?

• What effects do freezing and thawing have on rocks?

• What pollutes our water?

• An investigation of bacteria and fingernails

• Why do rocks sink and supertankers float?

• The effects of a classroom seating arrangement on student

performance

• The effects of eye dominance on task performance

Project Proposal

Project Title: _________________________

Question:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hypothesis:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Materials:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step-by-Step Directions: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Results

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Application

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

APPROVED:

This is a topic that I have chosen, reviewed with my parents, and will commit to working on diligently. I understand that this is a large part of my Science grade and will put my best effort, time, and hard work into earning a good grade.

___________________________ ___________

Student Date

I have looked over the project with my student and will support and help them to complete their project on time.

____________________________ ____________

Parent/Guardian Date

____________________________ ____________

Teacher Date

Sample Experiment My Oral Presentation

Use the following outline as a guide.

The title of my project is ____________________________________.

I became interested in doing this project when ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Question I asked was ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Hypothesis I formed was ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Procedure I used to test my hypothesis was to

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Use as few words as possible.)

I repeated this procedure ___ times to make certain that my results were valid.

The Results were ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The results showed that my hypothesis was ____________________________________

(supported or not supported)

The Conclusion I reached was ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(If your hypothesis was supported, restate your hypothesis. If you hypothesis was not supported, state your revised hypothesis.)

If I were to do this investigation again, I would ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Write something you might change, or do differently.)

Example Project Report

Problem Statement:

Does insecticide protect lima bean plants from insects?

Purpose:

To see if lima bean plants can thrive at the same rate with and without the use of insecticides.

Hypothesis:

If insecticide is sprayed on lima bean plants, then the plants will be protected from insects.

Materials:

One pack of lima bean seeds (25 seeds) Sixteen 10” plant pots

One 16oz. Can of Ortho insecticide One 5lb bag of potting soil

Procedure:

1. Sixteen lima been seeds will be planted in 10” plant pots. All 16 plants will have the same amount of water and sunlight for the entire experiment.

2. At the start of the second week, insecticide will be sprayed on all of the plants in Group B, plants 9-16.

3. Twice a week, for the rest of the experiment, insecticide will be sprayed on the plants in Group B.

4. The health of all the plants will be looked at every day. As signs of insect damage occur, they will be noted and their progression checked as the experiment continues.

5. The data will be recorded in a data log and pictures will be taken weekly of all the plants in the experiment.

6. By the 7th week, the experiment will end and the results will be calculated.

7. The results will then be compared to the hypothesis.

Controls:

All plants in the experiment will be grown in 10” plant pots and will receive the same amount of water and sunlight. Group A, plants 1-8, will be my control group.

Variable(s):

Insecticide will be sprayed only on the plants in Group B, plants 9-16.

Data:

Please see my data log, graphs and photographs for data information.

Observations and Results:

For the first two weeks, all the lima bean plants grew without any problem. All 16 plants were growing at the same rate and were healthy. In the third week, little white spots began to appear on the leaves of some of the Group A plants. Two days later, holes appeared on the leaves of most of the plants in Group A. It was observed that small, green caterpillars were eating the leaves where the holes were. All the plants in Group B continued to be healthy and grow. IN the 5h week, there were no leaves left on the unsprayed plants. By the end of the experiment, all but one of the unsprayed plants in Group A had died. All the plants in Group B were alive.

Conclusions:

The conclusion supported the hypothesis that insecticide would protect lima bean plants from insects> all of the plants in Group B that were sprayed with insecticide had no damage from insects, while caterpillars at the unsprayed plants in Group A. However, two of the sprayed plants in Group B developed a fungus in week 6. It is also concluded that another substance, such as a fungicide, may be needed to help lima bean plants grow properly.

Application:

Farmers can use insecticide to protect their lima bean plants from being eaten by insects. By using insecticides, farmers can make more money because more of their crops will be able to be harvested.

The Scientific Method

When conducting a science experiment, one should use the scientific method. The scientific method is an orderly system used to solve problems. Many scientists through years of research and study formed the general rules of the scientific method.

[pic] 1. Identify the Problem

2. Collect all available information

3. Develop a hypothesis

4. Design an experiment before doing it

5. Perform an experiment to test your hypothesis

6. Observe, record, and analyze your data

7. Repeat the experiment

8. Draw conclusions about the experiment from

analyzed data

9. Applications (how it applies to real life situations)

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