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A Science Fair Guide for TeacherBy Joel Palmer

Science Fair

The purpose of science fair in school is not to produce champion

state winners. The purpose of school science fair is to allow students t

participate in the fun part of science. Lets face it, for most scientists

science is not learning a lot of isolated factoids. Rather it is the exciteconfronting a question and finding the fundamental truth about it. Oft

science classes students spend more time learning factoids than they

spend doing science. This concern is seen in the increased emphasis onbased science at the national and state level. Science fair projects are

ways to stimulate student thinking and excitement in science. Unfortun

upper elementary grades science fair is seen as a drudge by teachers, s

parents. This is not how it should be.It is possible for science fair to be a good experience for all invo

often we are guilty of teaching by assignment. We assign science fair pthen grade students on how well they do them with out any instruction

This is similar to the way we often attempt to teach creativity. We giv

an assignment to create something and then grade them on how well this done because we realize creativity is important but we really do not k

teach students how to be creative. Often the case with science fair is

assign it but never teach students how to do it. We know it is importanstudents how to do science fair, but in the early grades few teachers h

scientific expertise to really teach student to conduct good research.

students reach the middle grades many teachers assume that studentsto do science fair because they have done it before. This is a vicious cy

result is that students are seldom taught how to do a quality science faThis leads to frustration on the part of students and parents as well asnightmare for teachers.

With todays emphasis on covering the curriculum, how does a te

time to teach science fair? A better question might be "How can we af


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How do we go about teaching students how to do science project

Fair Project Books and brochures abound, but few provided repeatablesteps to walk a student from the selection of a problem to the conclusi

project. None of them provide a guide for teachers to incorporate scie

into their year-long curriculum. Doing so can be a rewarding, profitablewith multiple rewards for both teachers and students.

Step One - Pick a Problem

After years in the classroom dealing with required science fair pbecame clear that this step is probably the most problematic step in th

process. Not only is this step difficult and frustrating, it can set up stu

success or failure. A report on the state of scientific research in the Sduring the 1980's indicated that the researchers were not given freed

pursue topics of their choosing, but rather were forced to study specif

assigned to them by higher level bureaucrats, many times non-scientist

of innovation and new development was dismal. In contrast in the Uniteduring the same period, in fact throughout our history, scientific resea

been driven by the personal interest of the scientist involved. Conseque

level of innovation and discovery in this country has been astounding. W

students are allowed to investigate areas of personal interest the level

research will also be astounding.

When research scientists pick an area of research they rely on atremendous amount of background knowledge about their area of inter

as other related areas of science. It has also been shown that seeming

disconnected areas of interest, such as literature and the arts, aid sciefinding new insights and connections in research. Unfortunately studen

they be third graders or high school seniors, do not have this wealth of

knowledge. Often our response to this lack of preparation is to pass ouscience fair problems or pass around books of science fair ideas and ex

Seldom do such tactics produce excitement or high levels of interest in

such projects.How then do we lead students to pick meaningful projects that c

interest and propel them to complete the project? One approach that h


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weeks to read. The teacher should periodically check the logs to monito

progress. It is important that the student record all information from need to create a bibliography for their project even if they do not do a

research paper. This is a great time to work with the English departme

librarian on how to gather information and create a bibliography.At the end of this period students should submit their Reading L

with five questions. These questions are the key to selecting a problem

students the following scenario:

"You have an opportunity to spend some time with the worlds greexpert on fill in students topic of interest. You get to ask them five qu

What would you ask them?" (You can not ask personal information quesquestions must be about the topic.) The questions should be based on s

you have read.

These questions form the basis of a science fair research probleteacher can meet with each student for a short period of time to discu

questions and focus in on the problem. This is difficult to do and the m

consuming part of the entire process, but it is worth it. It may take a d

seat work for the other students as you conference with each student time well spent. During this conference you provide your expertise to h

student think about these questions from a scientific point of view and

how to investigate this problem properly. This is the last part that will

class time.At this point it is appropriate to ask the students to collect info

from their reading and write a research paper to accompany their projup to the discretion of the teacher but is very important for students

go on to the regional level of competition.

Step Two - Statement of the Problem

The students charge is to formally write up the problem and def

decision to investigate this problem. This is another opportunity to int

your English department and make your principal happy. The defense ofproblem is a form of persuasive writing. This is one of the types of wri

students need to master The students should be writing for publicatio


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spelling errors. It must be clear, concise and scientifically accurate. On

problem has been accepted the teacher should place it in a file folder wstudent's name. This folder will hold all the parts of the students proj

are accepted and need to be stored by the teacher. The student does

home. This takes minimal class time. The teacher simply checks the progives them back to the student the next day until they are accepted. T

must continually remind the students who have not had their problem a

Step Three - Statement of the HypothesisOnce the problem is accepted the student may start working on

hypothesis. The hypothesis is an important and often miss-understood

scientific method. The word hypothesis is often misdefined and misundHypothesis is often defined as a guess or educated guess. This is a

misunderstanding of the nature of hypotheses. A better definition is A

is the best explanation of the known facts. There is a difference bet

hypothesis and a scientific hypothesis. A scientific hypothesis must beThere is not enough room here to fully discuss this topic. In a nutshell

hypothesis is one that has the possibility of being proven incorrect. Th

hypothesis "There is no other (besides human) intelligent life in the un

falsifiable. All you would have to disprove it is to find one other sentien

and the hypothesis is proven wrong. This hypothesis "There is other (b

human) intelligent life in the universe" is not falsifiable. To show that tstatement is false one would have to search the entire universe and che

form of intelligent life. Even then you might have missed a form of inte

that is so different from our own that you could not have recognized. Bgreat hypothesis, and either may be correct (one of them must be corr

only the first one can be the subject of scientific study.

The types of non-scientific hypothesis that you might hear fromare Nibble brand tennis shoe makes you run faster. This is non falsifi

should be changed to Nibble brand tennis shoe help a person run faste

Johnson brand tennis shoes. This is not a distinction that should be bewith elementary students and should be handled very carefully with mid

students Instead the teacher should steer students to formulate fals


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grade is given based on how many attempts the student needs to have t

hypothesis accepted as publishable. Once the Hypothesis is accepted itthe folder.

Step Four - Materials and Procedure:

The materials and procedure are crucial to the function of the pAppendix 3 is a listing of five types of science fair projects. This list is

exclusive but does a good job of covering the main ways of doing scient

research. Each type of project will have its own type of procedure. Somay be a combination of more than type of project. Some of them req

groups, but many do not.

After the type of project is decided the student is ready to movdeveloping a procedure. A crucial step that is often left out of develop

procedure is the issue of data collection. Students need to decide what

data they will be collecting, and what is the best way to record it. They

develop data forms and charts. They might also need instructions abouappropriate ways to display data. Do they need bar graphs, line graphs,

plots? The student's math teachers are a good source of information a

reinforcement for data collection and analysis. This should be included

procedures. It is a good idea to have students develop procedures first

them, and pick out all the materials they will need.

This is an excellent opportunity for peer review. Using a matrix, 4) students should exchange their procedures and evaluate them for ea

the matrix is used as a basis for accepting or rejecting student proced

students will have much higher acceptance rates.This is a good time to introduce the International Science and En

Fair (ISEF) required forms for the middle school and high school level

Every student must fill out four of these forms! (Appendix 5). At thelementary level it is a good time to go over the district rules for scien

projects. It is the teacher's responsibility to check that the student'

procedure is not hazardous to the student or others and that it is moraand legal. The teacher is not responsible for actions students may carr

not covered in the procedure and might be inappropriate but can be he


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forms then tell the teacher which additional forms are required. If the

and Procedures are not accepted until the forms are complete, the studcomplete the forms properly or it severely affects their grade. At thi

would be appropriate to give students a deadline to submit any addition

needed and give them a grade based on how may times they submit thebefore the are complete.

Once the teachers has all of the forms from any student they ne

submit them to the "Scientific Review Committee" (SRC) or "Institutio

Board"(IRB) as required on the forms. SRC is a committee formed by tAffiliate of the International Science and Engineering Fair. The IRB is

school committee composed of an administrator, a health care professiscience teacher. The purpose of the SRC is to insure that the student

any thing that is dangerous, unethical or illegal. The IRB committee is t

that any experimentation involving humans is conducted legally and will harm to the subjects. It is apparent that both of these committees ap

be received prior to the student conducting the experiment. At times t

committees will send the proposal back with suggestions that need to b

the forms resubmitted.

Step Five - Conduct The Experiment And Collect Data.

At this point the student is ready to conduct his research. They

developed a good problem and hypothesis. They have a strong procedurgood materials list and a plan, including data sheets, for collecting data

high school students have their ISEF forms filled out and approved, if

A real plus for following these procedures is that all the materials are publication and sitting in a file folder in the teacher's filing cabinet. Id

should be following a timeline (Appendix 6) that will get you to this poin

week 10 of the school year. If that is not possible then it definitely shcompleted by the winter holiday. Students now have time to carry out

experiments. The teacher needs to continue to monitor students' progr

experiment. One approach is to ask students to keep a lab journal. Mansupply stores carry bound composition books that usually have black and

mottled covers Some now come in various colors The purpose of a bou


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Step Six - Analysis and Conclusion:

The students need a deadline for completion of the experiment a

collection that allows time for them to analyze data and draw conclusiodead line needs to be at least three weeks before the date of the loca

allows them two weeks to write up their conclusion and submit them to This is another great opportunity for persuasive writing. The conclusion

address the original hypothesis and whether the data supports or cont

hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis if it is contradicted. It is not

them to just say, "The data proves my hypothesis." They must be requiexplain why they believe that. In addition the use of the term "prove" o

should be discouraged. Data either supports or contradicts a hypothesif ever proves any thing! Students should be encouraged to provide gra

charts to support their claim. Once the conclusion has been accepted it

the student's science fair folder. For middle school and above all studedevelop an abstract to accompany their project. The ISEF provides a f

directions for developing an abstract. Elementary students that are go

regional contest should also develop an abstract.

Step Six - Display Board:

The student should have one to two weeks to develop their displa

For many students this is what science fair is all about and yet it really

thin layer of icing on a huge rich multi-layer cake. Students need to coninformation they have gathered on the display board. The exhibition of

models or experimental setups are nice but not essential. Students sho

encouraged to use photographs, drawings, and diagrams to illustrate thTeachers need to guide students to consider what is appropriate to dis

fairs are open to the public at some time. The displays should be viewed

perspective of a four or five year old! What looks tasty, what is fun to

etc? They should be viewed form the prospective individuals. What m

to take or tamper with? Elementary school teachers should check with

district's rules and or policies. Middle and high schools should follow thfrom the ISEF. The ISEF "Rules And Guidelines" and "Forms" can be d

PDF format from the ISEF web site


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The Teachers role:

The teacher's role is to provide information and structure that g

students through the process of conducting scientific research. Followsteps above and providing students with ongoing feedback and reasonab

elevate science fair projects from assign and forget to a truly valuableopportunity that allows students to conduct meaningful research.

The Parents Role:

The parent's job is to provide material and support for the studeconduct the research. This is often difficult for parents to do when th

assigned a couple weeks before the fair and little or no guidance provid

teacher. In this situation the parent is often forced to take a very actthe project just to get it finished.

In Conclusion:

One of the greatest compliments I ever received as a teacher wpanicked phone call from a distraught parent in early February. His firs

where "Mr. Palmer when are we going to start science fair?" Notice he

are we" not "when is my child" This was the parent of a gifted child

been doing science fair projects since first grade. His paradigm of sciehe and his daughter doing a project each February in about two week's

pleased to inform him that we had already started science fair. In fact

started the first week of school and were almost finished. I was also awith him exactly what his daughter was doing because I had been follow

work all along the way. He was stunned and pleased. He could not believ

daughter had left to do was to put her information on a display board.


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Name: _____________________ Science Fair Topic Date: _____

Period: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Reading Log, Page 1 Teacher: ____

Periodicals:

Name of Periodical: _________________________________________________________________Title of Article:______________________________________________________________________

Authors: ___________________________________________________________________________

Date: ___________________ Volume#:______________________ Page#: ____________________

Publisher: __________________________________________________________________________

Notes and Comments:_________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Name of Periodical: _________________________________________________________________

Title of Article:______________________________________________________________________

Authors: ___________________________________________________________________________

Date: ___________________ Volume#:______________________ Page#: ____________________

Publisher: __________________________________________________________________________


___________________________________________________________________________________


Title of Article:______________________________________________________________________

Authors: ___________________________________________________________________________

Date: ___________________ Volume#:______________________ Page#: ____________________

Publisher: __________________________________________________________________________


___________________________________________________________________________________


Title of Article:______________________________________________________________________

Authors: ___________________________________________________________________________

Date: ___________________ Volume#:______________________ Page#: ____________________

Publisher: __________________________________________________________________________


___________________________________________________________________________________


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Books:Name of book:______________________________________________________________________

Authors: ___________________________________________________________________________

Copyright date: ______________________ Page#s: __________________________

Publisher: _________________________________________ City of publication: ________________

Where did you get the book:____________________________________________________________


___________________________________________________________________________________

Name of book:______________________________________________________________________Authors: ___________________________________________________________________________





___________________________________________________________________________________

Name of book:______________________________________________________________________

Authors: ___________________________________________________________________________





___________________________________________________________________________________

Name of book:______________________________________________________________________

Authors: ___________________________________________________________________________





___________________________________________________________________________________


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Websites:Web Address: ______________________________________________________________________

Authors (if available):_________________________________________________________________

Dates you browsed site: _______________________________________________________________

Affiliated institutions: ________________________________________________________________

Any additionl information that validates the site: ____________________________________________


___________________________________________________________________________________

Web Address: ______________________________________________________________________Authors (if available):_________________________________________________________________





___________________________________________________________________________________

Web Address: ______________________________________________________________________






___________________________________________________________________________________

Web Address: ______________________________________________________________________






______________________________________________________________________


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Name:_______________

Period:1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Science

FairRecordSheet

pg.

1

Date:___

/___

/______

Teacher:_________________

A+

A

A

A

A-

B+

B

B

B

B-

C+

C

C

C

C-

F

GRADE

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

1

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

2

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

3

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

4

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

5

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

6

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

7

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

8

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

9

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

10

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

Activity

StudentName

Appendix2

p.

1


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Name:_______________

Period:1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Science

FairRecordSheet

pg.

2

Date:___

/___

/______

Teacher:_________________

11

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

12

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

13

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

14

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

15

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

16

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

17

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

18

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

19

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

20

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

Appendix2

p.

2


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Name:_______________

Period:1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Science

FairRecordSheet

pg.

3

Date:___

/___

/______

Teacher:_________________

21

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

22

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

23

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

24

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

25

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

26

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

27

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

28

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

29

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

30

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

Appendix

2

p.

3


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Name:_______________

Period:1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Science

FairRecordSheet

pg.

4

Date:___

/___

/______

Teacher:_

________________

31

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

32

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

33

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

34

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

35

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

36

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

37

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

38

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Hypothesis

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Conclusion

39

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Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

40

Problem

Hypothesis

Procedure

Conclusion

Appendix

2

p.

4


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What is a science fair experiment?Adapted from How to Create a Science Fair Project

by Frank Schaffer Publications (Barnes and Noble)

It can be An experiment An observation

A model An invention

A collectio

An experiment...

is a test of a cause/effect relationship. An experiment occurs whe

is changed and an other variable responds to the first and is watched. All ot

remained the same throughout the experiment.

An observation...

starts with a the question and looks at, specific movement, behavio

in nature are observed over a period of time. Once the observations are gat

are studied for patterns that will answer the question. One example of a obstudy is the study of an ant's eating habits.

A model...

is a way to display the parts of something and show what each part

out a particular function. A model study can provide answers to questions lik

it work?" or "What does it look like?" An example of a functional model is b

electromagnet. Purchased model kits are usually not appropriate.

An invention...

can be one of two things. First, it could be something or some proc

never been made or done before (e.g., the first spaceship). The other type

one in which a thing or process is modified in some way (e.g., a better brake

car).

A collection...


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Name:__

__________________

Title:___

__________________

Reviewer:_________________

Materia

lsandProcedures

Eva

luationRubric

Teacher:_____

______________

Date:_____

______________

Period:1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

4

3

2

1

Score

Test

Variables

Testvariablesareidentifiedan

d

theirrelationshipidentified.

Testvariablesareidentifiedbu

t

relationshipisnotclear.

Testvariablesarenotclearly

identified.

Testvariablesarenotidentified.

Control

VariablesControlvariablesareidentifiedand

methodofcontrolisclearly

identified.

Controlvariablesareidentifiedb

ut

methodofcontrolisnotclear

.

Controlvariablesarenotclearly

identified.

Controlvariablesarenot

identified.

Control

Group

Controlgroupisclearlyidentified

andcontrollableifapplicable.

Controlgroupisidentifiedbutn

ot

clearlycontrolledifapplicable.

Controlgroupispoorlyidentifie

d

ornotcontrollableifapplicable

.

Controlgroupis

notidentified

andshouldbe.

Theremaybenoscorein

thisrow.

Safety

Allsafetyissuesareclearly

identifiedandappropriatestep

s

aregiventominimizedanger

.

Mostsafetyissuesareclearly

identifiedandappropriatestep

s

aregiventominimizedanger.

Somesafetyissuesareclearly

identifiedandsomestepsare

giventominimizedanger.

Few

safetyissuesareclearly

identifiedandfew

stepsaregive

n

tominimizedanger.

Clarity

Instructionsareclearandcanbe

easilyfollowedtoobtain

repeatableresults.

Instructionsarecompleteandcould

be

followedtoobtainthesameresult

s

buttheremaybesomeconfusion

.

Instructionscovertheprocedurebu

t

maynotincludeallnecessarystepsto

ensurerepeatableresults.

Instructionsareconfusingand

difficulttofollow.

Identification

Measurabledatahasbeen

identifiedanddatarecordshee

ts

areclearandeasytouse.

Measurabledatahasbeen

identifiedbutrecordingprocedu

re

isnotclear.

Measurabledataisnotclearly

identifiedandcollectionprocedu

re

isnotclear.

Measurabledataisnotidentified

andnoprocedureisindicatedfo

r

datacollection.

Collection

tools

Alltoolsorequipmentneededfor

datacollectionarelistedand

obtainable.

Mosttoolsorequipmentneede

d

fordatacollectionarelistedbu

t

maynotbeobtainable.

Sometoolsorequipmentare

listedfordatacollectionbutma

y

beinappropriateorunobtainable.

Toolsandequipmentneededfor

datacollectionarenotlisted.

List

Listisclearandcomplete

includingsuggestionsforobtain

ing

materials.

Listiscompletewithfew

orno

suggestionsforobtaining

materials.

Listisnotclearorcompletewit

h

nosuggestionsforobtaining

materials.

Listismissing.

Practicality

Allmaterialsarereasonablean

d

obtainablebythestudent.

Mostmaterialsarereasonableand

obtainable

Materialsareinappropriateor

impossibletoobtain.

Listismissing.

Spelling

Nospellingorcapitalizationerro

rs.

Onetotwoerrorsinspellingo

r

capitalization.

Morethantwoerrorsinspellingor

capitalization.

Manyerrorsinspellingor

capitalization.

Punctuation

Noerrorsinpunctuationincluding

properbibliographyformat.

Oneortwoerrorsinpunctuatio

n

orproperbibliographyformat.

Morethantwoerrorsin

punctuationandbibliography

format.

Manyerrorsinpunctuation

includingimproperbibliography

format.

Clarity

Clearlyandneatlyhandwrittenorty

ped

doublespaced

inareadablefont

of

appropriatesize.

(12p)

Handwrittenortypeddoublespace

d.

Notclearorneatorintolargeorto

smallfontoronedifficulttoread.

Thedocumentisnotneatoreas

y

toready.

Thelookdistractsfrom

theinformation.

Verysloppyandunattractive.

MechanicsTOTALS

ScienceContent

Procedure s Data Materials

Appendix

4


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Appendix6

FirstSixWeeks

Studentspick

topicofinterest

2-3Days

BeginReading

2-3Weeks

FiveQuestionsDue

SubmitMaterialsand

ProcedureForApproval

3weeks

SubmitProblem

ForApproval

3weeks

StudentStarts

Exp

erimentation

Atthistimestudentsmaystartconductingliteratureres

earchtosupporttheirProblemand

hypothesis.

Theymaydothisasaform

alresearchpaper.

RegionalorDistrictFair

StudentCompletes

Experiments

AnalyzeDataandDrawConclusions

IdealDatesF

or

SchoolFairs

StudentDev

elopsDisplayBoard

SecondSixWeeks

ThirdSixWeeks

FourthSixWeeks

FifthSixWeeks

SixthSixWeeks

Formalresearchpaperdue.

SubmitProblem

ForApprov

al

3weeks

Documents

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