The Sharon Academy Middle School Science Fair
For the remainder of the year you will be conducting research and experiments in response to your own scientific question. This will culminate in the presentation of your findings at the Science Fair. You will have class time to work, however a lot will still need to be done at home so use the timeline below to keep yourself on track and moving at a reasonable rate. Most of you will also need to put in some weekend time as well. I have had students whose project required 3 hours per weekend, while others required 8 hours per weekend depending on the difficulty of the project. If you are working with a partner, remember, you will need to coordinate what each of you do for homework each night and meeting times outside of school. For details about the individual pieces below see the “Written Work Criteria”. Also be sure to read the sample report to give you some idea of what I am looking for.
Timeline
­
Select topic and begin to develop Scientific Question Work Period
Due Date
4/5­4/7
Thurs April 7th
April Break 4/11 to 4/15
­
Research topic ­background info, including previous studies 4/18­4/22
on subject, all recorded in your Journal ­
­
­
­
­
Fri April 22nd Solidify Scientific question
Preliminary drafts in Journal:
Experimental set up
Hypothesis
Materials list
Procedure­ Can be written in numbered steps at this point. (When you perform the experiment you will likely 4/25­4/26
Tues April 26th
4/27­5/2
Mon May 2nd 5/3­5/5
Thurs May 5th need to adjust some things and you can record the changes to the procedure in your journal.) ­
Typed rough draft of Introduction (don’t forget to read the sample before you write!) ­
Collect materials for experiment
­
Perform experiment and record observations and data in Journal
(Please note that some of the experiments will need to be done at school and/or at home. Also, If your experiment will take longer than three days, you need to start it sooner. Let me know ASAP if this is the case so that I can help you plan.)
Wed May 11th ­
Complete Data and Analysis section­ This includes computer generated graphs with captions.
­
Typed Conclusion­ This should essentially be a final draft of the conclusion, as I will have been guiding you during work periods.
Students away at High Five 5/17­5/19 and No school on Friday the 20th. (you should plan to work on the ­
5/6­5/11
5/12­5/24
(this work period spans the days at High­Five)
Tues May 24th weekend before and after High­Five.)
­
­
Finish final draft of all written work :
This means typing up Experimental set up, Hypothesis, Materials, and Procedure (don’t forget to write it in past tense and paragraph form), correcting Introduction etc. 5/25­5/27
Fri May 27th 5/31­6/1
Wed June 1st 6/2
Thurs June 2nd Science fair!
(Plan on working the weekend of the 30th as you may have to do some catch­up)
­
­
­
Make last minute corrections to written work Prepare poster
Prepare & practice presentation of experiment
­
Set up completed poster in the morning (do not plan to work on the poster during this time period)
Present poster to other students
Science Fair
­
­
The Science Fair will be held Thursday June 2nd from 6:30­8pm at the Middle School. Students should arrive by 6:25. Science Fair Grading Criteria
100 points
Possible Self Teacher Points
Scientific thought:






Evaluation
Possible Self Points
Evaluation
Teacher Evaluation
20
Project demonstrates understanding of existing knowledge of topic
Experimental design demonstrates understanding of scientific methods (see scientific method review sheet and “Written Work Criteria” sheet)
Scientific journal contains:

Evaluation
10
Interesting observations made during the experiment are summarized
All data collected (handwritten in data table)
Pictures with captions are used instead of writing where possible
All research notes and drawings
If notes are printed off computer they should be pasted in journal
Written work:



20
Contains all required information as seen in the “Written Work Criteria” sheet
Contains proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure
Information in paragraphs flow nicely, No personal pronouns are used (I, we, they, etc.)
Creativity:


5
The topic is original or the approach to the problem shows some originality and/or
The construction or design of equipment shows originality and/or
Students used creative solutions to solve problems that arose in the project.
Process:

Student had a positive attitude and was open to changing direction when necessary

Student accepted and responded to feedback
25

Student stayed focused on work during class and did not distract others

Materials needed for experiment were kept organized in the classroom and put neatly away when class was finished. Experimental space was cleaned up before next class

Student demonstrated an appropriate level of academic independence throughout the project

Work was completed outside of school when necessary

Student edited own work. Everything was proof­
read and corrections were made to the best of their ability before any pieces were handed in for assistance

Student demonstrated a growing understanding of the project and the concepts involved throughout the duration of the investigation

Student demonstrated a growing understanding of the scientific method throughout the duration of the investigation

Experiment was carried out with care and attention to detail, the results demonstrate precision

Workmanship of any model, experimental materials, or other construction is neat and well done
Possible Self Points
Evaluation
Display: 


Stands up on its own
Font style is easily read at 3 feet away from the display
Has relevant title that can be seen from a distance 
Poster is well organized and self­explanatory. It can easily be read like a newspaper­ starting with the scientific question in the upper part of the left panel, moving down the panel then over to the top of the next panel, and finishing with the conclusion and sources/endnotes on the lower right panel (See the Sample Display Layout sheet).

Data is displayed neatly in a table and contains a caption describing it (you may have more than one data table, in which case you need a caption for both)
Captions describe all diagrams, pictures
Visually attractive­appropriate color scheme, edges are neat where cuts were made (use the paper cutters), things are glued on level and strait


Interview/presentation:






10
10
Student demonstrates knowledge of the subject area
Student demonstrates knowledge of the scientific method
Student speaks and presents information clearly
Visual aids are used when speaking where appropriate (i.e. if you are discussing a trend in the data, point to the graph you are describing and show the audience exactly what you are talking about)
Student can answer questions that ask them to predict outcomes of future experiments based on the results of their own experiment. If project is a team effort, the team participates in the interview process equally
Total Points
100
Teacher Evaluation
Written Work Criteria Scientific question: ­
­
­
Specific
Measurable
Asks what effect something has on something else (unless another type of question was approved)
Introduction: ­
­
­
­
­
Introduces the topic of the project and explains the value of it (why should the audience care?)
Describes any previous studies relevant to your topic
Explains what will be tested (briefly, 1­2 sentences)
Explains how the question will be tested (briefly, 1­2 sentences)
No personal pronouns (I, me, we)
Experimental Set Up
­
Dependent variable, independent variable, control variables, experimental group, and control group are clearly identified in a table titled “Experimental Set Up”
Hypothesis ­
­
­
­
Written as a statement that predicts the outcome of the experiments
No personal pronouns used and No “I think” statements
Mentions both the dependent and independent variables
Materials and Procedure (methods)
­
­
­
­
Uses short clear statements in past tense
Paragraph form
Illustrations are added where necessary
No personal pronouns Data
­
­
­
­
­
Data tables are accurate, properly titled and labeled. Experiment data is collected directly into journal. Data from all repeat trials is included
Computer generated data table is created for the poster.
Includes photos when necessary for data collection along with captions (For instance, if you are looking at the effect of acid rain on corn plant root growth, you would need to accompany numerical data with photos of the roots from both the control and experimental groups)
Analysis
­
­
­
Analyses data using appropriate tools such as mean median, mode, percentages, range (when applicable)
Includes graphs (computer generated) showing data relationships with appropriate titles, labels, and captions
No personal pronouns ­
­
­
­
­
­
Tells exactly what happened in the experiment and whether or not the results support the hypothesis
Discusses data to explain why you think you got the results you did.
Discusses what went well in the project and what could have been better. If there were problems with the procedure how might you change it if you were to do this experiment again?
Discusses the usefulness of your discoveries (real world applications)
Suggests other experiments to further your exploration
Citations
­
Citations are properly noted throughout (you may use parenthetical citations as you have learned in social studies, or footnotes/endnotes)