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Parent and Student
Handbook
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Science and!! Technology
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Exhibit
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March
20
, 2015
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Letter to Families................................................................................3
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Grade Level Guidelines......................................................................3
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What is a Science and Technology Exhibit…………………………3
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Experimental or Non-Experimental…………………………………4
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Getting Started: Researching Science Fair Projects…………………4
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Helpful Websites.................................................................................4
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For Parents: How Can I Help My Child?............................................5
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The Eight Steps of the Scientific Method...........................................7
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The Project Presentation....................................................................10
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Creating the Display Unit..................................................................11
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Exhibit Materials: Safety First...........................................................12
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A Safety Checklist………………………….………………………12
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The Written Report............................................................................13
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Eleven Components of the Written Report........................................13
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PNA Science Exhibit Commitment Form…………………….……16
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Dear Parents and Students,
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The Science and Technology Exhibit will be held on Friday, March 20th, 2015 at PNA.
The teachers at PNA will be working with students in their classes to generate ideas for the
Science Fair, while the primary work must be done at home. This handbook provides a
“roadmap” for generating ideas, and creating a fun, educational and safe Science Fair Exhibit.
Parents are invited to come and view the exhibits which will be showcased in the gym on
March 20th from 1pm to 3pm and will be part of a school-wide sharing of projects. All
participating students will have an ice cream party in celebration of their accomplishments. The date for the Science and Technology Exhibit was chosen specifically to allow
interested students to also participate in the Alaska Science and Engineering Fair on March
20th – 22nd, 2015. Participation in the Alaska Science & Engineering Fair requires that projects
adhere to the ISEF International Rules. This document can be accessed at: http://
www.societyforscience.org/isef/rulesandguidelines. Particularly noteworthy is that experiments
involving animals must be approved prior to conducting experiments. Regardless of one’s plans
for participating in the State Fair, review of this document is worthwhile - particularly at the
Middle School level. More information can be found at: www.alaskasciencefair.org. !
Grade Level Guidelines
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As they develop their science skills, each grade has specific requirements:
Level Guidelines for Participation:
!Grade
– KG: Optional
!EK
1
Grade:
!2 Grade:Optional
Required - Class Project or Individual Project
Please
3 Grade: Optional Sign & Return the Commitment Form
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4 Grade: Optional
st
nd
rd
th
5th Grade:
All students
their parents
need to signProject
and return
the Science
Required - and
An Experimental
or Demonstration
(No Collections)
6th Grade: Commitment
Optional
Exhibit
Form found on the last page of this handbook
th
7
Grade:
Exhibit
Required
Only)
byThursday, February(Experimental
20th, 2014. Projects
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What is a Science and Technology Exhibit?
“A science project is like a mystery in which you are the detective searching for answers.”
Science Educator Janice VanCleave !
This quote broadly describes what a PNA Science and Technology Exhibit
is; however, the actual process can involve much more. Such is science.
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Experimental or Non-Experimental?
Basically, there are two kinds of science exhibits: Experimental exhibits and
everything else. Experimental exhibits make up the bulk of the competitive
projects submitted to Science Fairs as they directly apply the Scientific Method
(see handbook, page 7). Non-Experimental exhibits can comprise of a
demonstration, an invention, a collection or a research project and are more
frequent in the younger grades.
Students can work individually, with their family, or as a group. We
recognize the work of an early elementary student is different from a middle school
student, particularly for written reports, and these age appropriate differences in
presentation are expected. !
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Getting Started: Researching Science Projects
Select a project by thinking about things that spark your interest. Is there a
hobby or topic that you would like to explore further? What questions come to
mind?
Helpful Websites
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Check out these websites for more ideas and the fundamentals of science projects.
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http://www.scienceproject.com http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/sciencefairideas/ http://www.ipl.org/div/projectguide/gettingstarted.html & search science fair.
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Please feel free to contact us at any time with your questions. Also, please
remember to fill in the Commitment Form before Thursday, February 19th and
return it to your child’s teacher or the front office. !
Thank you and Happy Investigating! -- The Science Fair Committee: Justin
Frodella, Bruce Hamler, Marcella Hitchcock and Pete Johnson
For questions, contact:
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Bruce Hamler
Science Fair Director
[email protected]
or
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Marcella Hitchcock
Lower School Coordinator
[email protected]
For Parents: How can I help my child with a science fair project?
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➢ Be Positive.
Be positive about your children’s work. Praise them when they
succeed. Be there to help them when they are having problems.
They need your support and encouragement. !
➢ Be aware of the Perfect Parent Syndrome.
Human beings are not perfect; we all make mistakes. Allow
your children to make mistakes, and then help them capitalize on
these mistakes, and learn from them. Jean Paiget once said that
children learn more from their mistakes and wrong answers than
they do from correct ones.
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➢ Look around you.
Coming up with ideas for a project can be difficult, but it
doesn’t have to be if you look creatively around you. Many different
interests and disciplines can produce ideas for science projects. !
➢ Seek out people to help you.
Contact people who have expertise in science and those you
can call to help with ideas on how to get started or help while the
project is in progress. Does your child have a favorite science
teacher? Local businesses and industries often have educational
resources that may be willing to lend a hand for ideas and support.
Keep a record of science fair ideas and materials that you can obtain
from each source along with the names of key personnel and their
telephone numbers for handy reference. Contact these people for
help.
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➢ Work with materials. Allow your child to work with actual materials. Inexpensive
everyday household materials often work best. Your children will
enjoy mixing powders, growing plants, breeding fish, or building a
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maze for a pet gerbil out of scrap cardboard. Encourage your
children to work with these ideas and materials instead of merely
reading about scientific discoveries in a book.
➢ Allow time for thinking and exploring alone. Praise your children and help out, but be ever so careful not to
do for what they can do for themselves. Remember, it is your child’s
project, not yours. !
➢ Stress how-to skills. You will want your children to develop some very specific
skills. Some of these skills include observing, classifying,
comparing, sorting, describing, inferring, and using space-time
relationships. These are the early foundations that develop into
critical thinking and problem-solving skills. !
➢ Daily log of research activity. You and your child will want to keep accurate records of
research activity while doing a science fair project. Information
should be collected and recorded at regular intervals.
➢ Presentation. You will want to encourage your child to use the daily log
when writing a paper for a science fair project. The written paper
should include a description of the problem studies, some guesses
on how to solve the problem, the methods used for collecting
information, testing procedures, and some tentative findings and
conclusions. Help your child develop and plan an attractive display.
Then, go over possible questions that people may ask your child
while the project is exhibited at the fair. !
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For Experimental Projects:
The Eight Steps of the Scientific Method
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Not all science exhibits are experimental—but, if yours is, then you should
follow the Scientific Method. Remember, your project should address a specific
question. If the question is too vague or too detailed then it will be more difficult to
find/reach the answer within a few weeks.
By following the steps on this sheet, you can design your research. Scientists
follow these steps whenever they do an experiment. !
Steps of the Scientific Method
1. Identify your problem.
2. Refer to authoritative sources.
3. Ask an appropriate question. 4. Develop a hypothesis.
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5. Conduct experiments.
6. Keep detailed records.
7. Analyze the result.
8. Develop a conclusion.
1) Identify Your Problem
Teachers and parents can assist you in carefully defining the scope of a
problem for investigation and narrowing it to a level that you can explore. With so
many potential topics from which to choose, students must narrow their choices to
a specific one. Here is where guidance from teachers and parents becomes so
important. It is not unusual for students to decide to do an experimental project on
a broad topic like “grass” for example. Students should ask questions that will
assist them in defining a more specific investigation. !
For example: “What feature about grass interests you the most?
2) Refer to Authoritative Sources
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Conduct some background research on your topic. Read books, magazine
articles and Internet sites. You can also talk with scientists and engineers. !
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3) Ask an Appropriate Question
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Make up a very specific question. Your parents and teachers can help you.
For example, if you have an interest in learning about how plants grow in different
colored lights you might ask, “What is the difference in the rate of growth of four
plants, each grown in differently colored light?”
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4) Develop a Hypothesis
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After you have a question, turn that question into a hypothesis. A hypothesis
is an educated guess. It states how the scientist thinks the experiment will turn out.
Create the hypothesis by identifying the subjects of the experiment (plants) and
stating what is being measured (rate of growth), the conditions of the experiment
(different-colored light sources), and the expected results (light colors produce
faster growth rates than dark colors). An example is, “Bean plants grown under
dark-colored light will grow more slowly than bean plants grown under lightcolored light.”
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5) Design & Conduct the Experiment
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Testing your hypothesis is at the heart of the scientific method. Here you
learn what happens when a condition is changed.
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Be sure to examine one idea or variable at a time. You also must decide how
many times to conduct the experiment, the number of items subjected to the test,
how long the test will last, and what special materials you will need. !
It is important to conduct an experiment several times. Conducting an
experiment once does not provide sufficient proof. Determine how you will
conduct your multiple tests. Will the experiment take place over a few hours, days,
or weeks? Will it include varieties of animals or plants? What measuring
instruments will be used? Will the experiment be conducted in daylight or
darkness, in a lab or in your house? !
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6) Observe & Record Results
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Scientists maintain records of everything they do during an experiment.
Keep a log or record book of everything you do and observe during the
investigation. Record-keeping lets you keep track of individual events during the
experiment. It also helps you find errors that may creep into the experiment. !
7) Analyze the Results
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After the experiment has been conducted and the data is collected, it is time
to analyze that information. What facts or numbers were produced? For example,
did three of the plants show slower rates of growth than a fourth? Studying
information is an important part of the entire project. It is here you look at the
results and begin to formulate a conclusion. !
What if the data does not confirm your original hypothesis? For example, as
a result of this experiment you may discover there was no difference in the growth
rate of plants under different colors of light. That is fine. The original hypothesis
was simply an educated guess based upon information you had at the start of the
experiment. This happens to scientists all the time and is a normal part of the
scientific method. The importance of the experience lies in your opportunity to
investigate and learn by using the scientific method. !
8) Develop a Conclusion !
Once you have conducted the experiment, collected the data, and analyzed
the results, it is time to write a conclusion. The conclusion should provide some
answer to the original question, even if the experiment did not support your
original hypothesis. !
The conclusion summarizes what you learned by conducting the experiment.
The conclusion should contain a statement or series of statements on the
importance of the experiment. For example, a student who discovered that a plant
grows well in a variety of light may conclude that “grow” lights are an unnecessary
expense in your home. The conclusion is an opportunity for you to draw
relationships between the experiment and the bigger world.
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For All Projects: !
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The Project Presentation
Your display will be the culmination of weeks of study and preparation. It is
here that you demonstrate your ingenuity and share what you have learned.
The exhibit should consist of three elements; the display, exhibit materials,
and a written report. Again, age appropriate differences in presentation are fine. !
What it Looks Like
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In most cases you will use a standard three panel display board that unfolds to be 3
feet tall by 4 feet wide. !
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The display unit forms the background for the project. It should be built of
sturdy materials for a vertical display of graphs, charts, photographs, and other
printed information that is vital to observers. A good display unit must stand for
several days so strong, rigid materials are preferred such as foam core,
particleboard, cork board, pegboard, or plywood.
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Use a font size of at least 16 points for the text on your display board so it can be read
from a few feet away. The title should be big and easy to read from across the room. Your title should
accurately describe your work, but also grab people’s attention.
A picture speaks a thousand words! Don’t be afraid to use pictures or draw diagrams
to present non-numerical data, to propose models that explain your results, or to show
your experiment setup. !10
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Creating the Display Unit
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Construction: The display unit must be freestanding. Most display units consist of three panels
hinged together. You can find inexpensive display boards made of cardboard at local stores.
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Setup: The backdrop will include information about the project. Make your backdrop attractive
without including too much material. !
Purpose: This statement lists the reasons for pursuing the project. What did you hope to learn by
conducting this investigation? !
Procedure: What did you do to carry out your plan of action? What materials and methods were
used to discover new information about the topic?
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Problem: A problem statement outlines a condition or fact you seek to investigate. Note: A
problem statement is most commonly included in experimental projects. !
Name: Be sure to write your name on the back of your display. This is required if you plan to
enter your exhibit in the Alaska Science and Engineering Fair. !
Hypothesis: A hypothesis is an educated guess or prediction about what you think will happen.
Note: Hypotheses are used mainly in experimental projects.
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Title of the Project: The title must describe, very succinctly, the focus of the project. It should
be short (10 words or less), neatly lettered, and easy to read. !
Results: What did you learn during or after your investigation? In other words, what facts were
discovered that were not known before? !
Conclusion: This statement summarizes the investigation. It should offer an answer to the
original questions. You may discover something not originally planned – that too should be
included. !
Visual Aids: These include photographs, charts, surveys, graphs, data, drawings, paintings,
diagrams, and/or other illustrative materials that show vital information gathered during the
project. !
Lettering: Good lettering is important. Lettering used on the display must be neat and of proper
size. The title should have the largest letters. Signs pasted over each supplemental section are
smaller. Typed words, stencils or press on letters add a professional appearance to the display.
Please remember to check and have someone else double-check all spelling and punctuation.
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Exhibit Materials: Safety First!
The exhibit materials are those used in the experiment. They allow others to see the
materials involved in the student’s investigation.
The devices and samples placed on the table in front of the backdrop unit can be an exciting
part of the project. For projects that involve a collection, the exhibit material is the collection. In
a project illustrating an apparatus, an example would be put on display for the viewer. As a rule,
the display items should illustrate a concept sufficiently so that you do not have to be present to
explain the entire project.
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Here are some procedures to keep in mind while setting up your display:
Safety first! Before beginning research involving hazardous chemicals, activities or
devices, be sure to check with the school as more strict rules and guidelines may be in effect.
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Hazardous activities involve a level of risk above and beyond that encountered in the
student’s everyday life.
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Exhibit items should also present no hazards to observers. No breakable or dangerous
items should be included. If electricity is used, safeguards must be established to prevent
electrical shocks or hazards. Battery powered equipment is preferable. !
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A Safety Checklist
➢ Are electrical items like lamps safe? (i.e., UL listed, no frayed cords or loose bulbs?
➢ Could an item get hot enough to burn someone? Is it shielded from exploring hands?
➢ Could electrical cords trip someone? Are they anchored?
➢ Could a tug on the table cover bring down the whole display?
➢ Are sharp objects firmly anchored or out of reach?
➢ Will the display be safe if left unattended?
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Avoid clutter. Include enough items to illustrate important concepts of the project, but don’t
crowd the display. !
Avoid using liquids or chemicals. Take photographs of liquids at home and then post the photos
on the display unit. !
Seal in smelly items. If molds or decaying items are exhibited, they must be sealed tightly inside
glass or plastic jars.
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No animals of any kind are allowed in the school. The animals should be left at home and
photographs of them included as part of the display. !12
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The Written Report
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(Recommended if going to state science fair)
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Please keep a written record of your investigations. The written
report outlines the original problem and the methods used to investigate
it. The report should be accurate and easy to read. It should give a clear
summary of the project. The report provides observers with a blow by
blow account of everything the student did throughout the length and
breadth of the project. Reports should be neatly bound in an attractive
folder or binder. These are available at a variety of office supply stores.
It is preferable for the report to be done on the computer. A neat
handwritten copy may also be acceptable. The report should include the
following:
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The Eleven Components of the Written Report
1) Title Page:
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The first page in the report should include the title of the project as
well as the name and grade of the student.
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2) Table of Contents:
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This allows for easy location of the various contents of the report.
3) Statement of purpose:
This two or three sentence statement explains what the student
expected to discover by investigating the chosen topic. It also gives the
reason why the student chose to learn more about the subject.
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4) Hypothesis:
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Students who select an experiment to perform should include a
hypothesis in the written report.
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5) Research:
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This part of the report discusses the background information the
student collected about the chosen topic. Books, articles, authorities, and
outside materials should be discussed. It should be written in the
student’s own words and not copied from an encyclopedia or other
reference. !
6) Materials:
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This is a list of the materials and supplies used in the project.
Quantities and amounts of each should be indicated, especially if the
student conducted an experiment. !
7) Procedure:
The student lists and describes steps to conduct the project.
Usually presented in a numbered format, this part of the report shows the
stages of the project in such a way that others could repeat the
procedure. !
8) Observations and Results:
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The student tells what he or she learned from the project. What
new information was provided as a result of pursuing this topic? What
does the student know now that wasn’t known before? It is important to
include graphs, charts, or other visual data that summarize the results of
a study.
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9) Conclusion: !
This is a brief statement explaining why a project turned out the
way it did. The word “because” is a good way to turn an observation into
a conclusion. If an experiment was chosen, the conclusion should tell
whether the hypothesis was proven or not. !
10) Bibliography:
The bibliography should list the printed materials the student
consulted in carrying out the project. Items should be listed in
alphabetical order in a standard format.
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11) Acknowledgments:
The student thanks the people who helped. Everyone that was
interviewed, including teachers, scientists, and other experts should be
mentioned.
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Pacific Northern Academy 2015 Science Exhibit Commitment Form Name_______________________________Grade______ An experiment (Required for 7th Grade)
Proposed Topic:
___________________________________________________
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Experimental Question:
___________________________________________________
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How you will try to answer this question:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
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!A non-experiment such as a demonstration, invention, or collection.
!(Collections not permitted for 5 graders)
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!Proposed Topic:
!_________________________________________________
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!Description: ____________________________________
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Student Signature ___________________ Date _______________
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Parent Signature ___________________ Date _______________
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School
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