Ag. Fair Project 2016-17
Lafayette Charter School will be holding its annual Agriculture Fair on
Thursday, March 16, 2017.
All 4-8 grade students are required to complete an Agriculture Fair
project at home and be prepared to present his/her project to judges on
presentation day. Students in grades K-3 are encouraged, but not required,
to complete a project for presentation.
This assignment has proven to be a valuable opportunity for students
to be creative, develop pride in their work, make oral presentations in front
of an audience, and to learn and apply the scientific method. Although
practice in the scientific method will be provided at school, the project will
need to be done at home. Your suggestions and positive encouragement
will be of great value and support to your students’ efforts. Keep in mind
that the major goal of the fair is for the projects to display data collection
and hands-on-experimentations with the emphasis on agriculture and the
use of the scientific method.
Once a topic of interest has been chosen, your student will need to
create a related scientific question. It is important to select a question that
is going to be interesting to work on for at least a few weeks and that is
specific enough to allow your student to find the answer with a simple
experiment. A scientific question usually starts with: How, What, When,
Who, Which, Why, or Where.
2016-17 Ag Fair Timetable
Assignment
Student/Parent Acknowledgement Form
(Orange)
Ag Fair Project Plan
(Yellow)
Ag Fair Project and Judging
Due Date
Monday, January 23, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Thursday, March 16, 2017
The following is a list of steps that should be of help to both you
and your student in completing an experiment.
1. Question: Choose a problem to investigate. Make sure it is
interesting to you and can be tested in the time allotted. Write the
problem in the form of a question
2. Observation: Consider what you already know about the topic.
Note any observations you can make to help you create your
hypothesis.
3. Develop a Hypothesis: If __________, then ____________will
happen. This is your scientific guess as to the results of the
experiment.
4. Experiment: Plan the steps of the experiment you will use to test
your hypothesis. Have controls in place with the variable being the
one thing you are testing. Record all observations. Note all dates
and times throughout your experiment. Compile images (drawings
or photography/graphs/charts, etc.) to accompany your
presentation.
5. Conclusion: Make a conclusion based upon your observations,
research, test results and comparisons. Be sure to compare your
results to your original hypothesis. It is okay if your conclusion
does not match your hypothesis! Scientists never talk about their
hypothesis being "right" or "wrong." Instead, they say that their
data "supports" or "does not support" their hypothesis.
6. Communicate: When you have finished, take a look at your
project. What went as you had hypothesized? What could you have
done differently or better? How could other people use your
information? (Application) How can you best arrange your
information to share with others? Practice sharing information
about your project in an oral presentation.
Doing a Fair Test:
Conducting a fair test is one of the most important ingredients of doing
good, scientifically valuable experiments. To insure that your experiment is
a fair test, you must change only one factor at a time while keeping all
other conditions the same.
Scientists call the changing factors in an experiment the variables.
Example
Agriculture Fair Board Display and Rules
This is an example of how your board may be laid out. Remember
that you can be creative with this part of your project. You will want to
design your board so that it is eye-catching and easy to understand.
Purpose
Research
Hypothesis





Catchy Title
Data
Graphs, Pictures, Tables,
Charts here
Experiment
Conclusion
Application
If you haven't done so already, obtain a notebook to record all of your
observations during your experiment.
Before starting your experiment, prepare a data table so you can quickly write
down your measurements as you observe them.
Follow your experimental procedure exactly. If you need to make changes in the
procedure (which often happens), write down the changes exactly as you made
them.
Be consistent, careful, and accurate when you take your measurements.
Numerical measurements are best.
Take pictures of your experiment for use on your display board if you can.
Board Dimensions: Your board must fit within a rectangular space that is 32 inches
wide by 38 inches deep and can be no more than 36 inches tall. Some store-bought
boards may need to be trimmed. Wal-Mart and Kempske’s Office supply are great
sources for presentation boards.
Presentation Rules: Please follow these rules to protect yourself and other presenters.
Your journal is the only part of your project not attached to your board. Remember that a
picture is worth a thousand words!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The display must be sturdy and self-standing with no hazardous construction.
No attachments to walls are permitted.
No open flames are permitted.
No running water is available.
Live animals may be displayed if prior approval is given and it is essential to
the presentation.
6. No microbial cultures or fungal cultures may be displayed.
7. No flammable, toxic, hazardous, or controlled substances may be displayed.
8. The Agriculture Committee reserves the right to remove any items or projects
that do not follow the rules of the fair or that are deemed objectionable or
hazardous.
Agriculture Project Ideas
Here is a small list of project ideas that may interest you. This is not the only
source of information. You may want to check the library or Internet for more ideas.
Make sure that your project is appropriate for your student’s age level.
Plants
 Will vitamins affect the growth of
plants?
 Does the amount of water given to
plants affect their growth?
 Does the amount of light affect plant
growth?
 What is the effect of detergent on
bean seeds?
 Under what color of light do plants
grow best?
 In what kind of material (sand, clay,
soil, etc.) do seeds grow best?
 Will frozen seeds sprout?
 What kinds of obstacles will roots
grow through or around?
 How do plant hormones affect plant
growth?
 What plants do we grow in our
area?
 How do farmers decided on what
feed to give animals?
 What is average market weight and
investments in livestock animals?


How much money does it take to
raise a crop?
How do you market and sell crops?
What are futures?
Earth and Space
 Is tillage always necessary for
growing food?
 How can soil erosion be reduced on
cultivated land?
 Is rainwater absorbed at the same
rate in different kinds of soils?
 From which directions does the
wind blow most frequently?

 How does tile work? What types of
tile are used in farmland drainage?
 What is agriculture run off?
Physical Science
 How do plants and microbes interact
with the soil?


What is irradiation and how is it
used in the fresh fruit and vegetable
industries?
How can plant diseases be
genetically controlled?



How is soil aerated? Why is this
done?
How are the qualities of soils rated?
Could a soil’s rate change over time?
What type of soil do you have in the
county that you live in?
Check online for project ideas. Science fair sites can be useful, just look for topics
relating to earth, soil, plants, animals, farming, environment, etc.
Practice Interview Questions












Tell me about your project.
Where did you get the idea for your Ag Fair Project?
What did you learn from your project?
What resources did you use in preparing your project/presentation?
If you were to do this project again, what would you do differently?
Were any of your results unexpected?
What background research did you do for your project?
What were you careful to not let change in your experiment (controls), and what did you purposefully
change (variables)?
What would your next experiment be to continue this study?
Do you intend to continue work in this area? If so, how? If not, why?
What practical applications or future use do your results have?
What data do you have to back up your conclusions?
Helping Your Child with His/Her Ag Fair Project
Things a parent may do:
1. Give encouragement, support, and guidance. Be positive; your child reflects your attitude.
2. Make sure your child feels it is his/her project. Is this topic one that your child is interested in? Make
sure the project is primarily the work of your child.
3. Realize that the main purpose of an agriculture fair project is to help your child use and strengthen the
basic skills he/she has learned and to develop higher level thinking skills.
4. Realize your child will need help in understanding, acquiring, and using the major science process skills
(researching, organizing, measuring, calculating, reporting, demonstrating, experimenting, collecting,
constructing, and presenting).
5. Help your child stay on schedule to prevent a last minute project and a disruptive household. Note due
dates and plan ahead on how to meet them.
6. Help your child design a safe agriculture fair project.
7. Provide transportation to places that can help your child find project information (libraries, nature
centers, universities, etc.)
8. Practice with your child his/her oral presentation.
9. Help type and assist in layout of the board.
Ag Fair Standards
By doing an Ag Fair project, your child is meeting standards in several subject areas, including:
Language Arts
Writing Strategies (research), Writing Applications (reports), Reading Comprehension (focus on informational
materials), Word Analysis Fluency and Systematic Vocabulary Development, Listening and Speaking
Strategies (interview)
Math
Number Sense (decimals, percents, fractions), Algebra and Functions (use of formulas, simple equations,
symbols), Measurement and Geometry (area, volume, measuring accurately), Statistics Data Analysis and
Probability (graphing, working with data), Mathematical Reasoning (how to approach problems)
Science
Investigation and Experimentation: classify objects, develop a testable question, plan and conduct an
experiment, variables, select appropriate tools to measure observations, record data properly, draw conclusions
from scientific evidence, write a report of an investigation
Agriculture Fair Packet
Student/Parent Acknowledgement Form
Our family has received and read the timetable for the Agriculture Fair
Project. We understand that the teachers have assisted the students at school with
information on the scientific method and understand that, due to the uniqueness of
each student’s project, it is necessary for the Agriculture Fair project to be
completed at home.
My Topic: ___________________________________________
My Hypothesis: _______________________________________
__________________________________________
(Printed student’s name)
___________________________________________
(Student’s signature)
___________________________________________
(Parent’s signature)
Return by Monday, January 23rd, 2017
Men love to wonder and that is the seed of our science.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
If often happens that an unsuccessful experiment may produce an excellent observation. There
are, therefore, no unsuccessful experiments.
-Claude Bernard
Ag Fair Project Plan
Due February 16, 2017
Name: ________________________________________
Project Title: __________________________________________________
Purpose (What do you want to find out?):
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Hypothesis (If…then I believe…): ________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Materials Needed:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Procedure (Steps to your experiment): _____________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________