St. Mary’s Catholic School Science Fair 2014-2015

St. Mary’s Catholic School Science Fair

2014-2015Student Kickoff

St. Mary’s Science Fair

Resources you can call on Teachers (Mrs. Cwalina & Mrs. Genth) Science Fair Coordinators

Mr. & Mrs. Grossbauer : (610-489-5598 / [email protected] )

Parents Guidebook

Take some time to read through it now, refer to it later

mailto:[email protected]


A Quick Review…


How do I start ? Choose a Topic

There are many different fields in science (GB pg 4-5). Pick something that interests you; it will make the project an enjoyable experience You can get ideas from books, your teachers, or just by

looking around you and wondering how something works Use websites with “pre-canned” experiments as a last resort;

the best projects tend to be those that were most creative, and designed by a student to test something that they were interested in


Follow the Scientific Method (GB pg 6-7) The Scientific Method is a logical approach to

performing an experiment It starts with learning about the subject. Do some

research on the subject. References are plentiful : Books Internet resources Experts Friends, neighbors, relatives

St. Mary’s Science Fair Spend time doing research

The more you know and understand the subject, the better you will be able to conduct the experiment, and then to be able to communicate it with others

Judges are looking for you to have understood your subject

A bibliography with 1 source is not sufficient research; MCSRC is looking for at least 5 sources Use the SMS Science Fair website as your first reference!


Follow the Scientific Method Form a hypothesis

A hypothesis is what you believe will be the answer to the question your experiment is trying to answer

Examples : I believe that the taller a cup of water, the longer it will take to

freeze. I believe that seeds will not germinate without light.

St. Mary’s Science Fair Follow the Scientific Method

Design the Experimental Procedure This is the set of instructions you will follow to test your hypothesis

If you were testing the “freezing cups of water” hypothesis, you might design an experiment that has you fill different sized cups with water, put them all in the freezer, and time to see how long each takes to freeze

Remember, often times many factors can affect the outcome; change only one variable at a time Does the location inside the freezer matter ? Does the kind of cup (plastic, metal, paper) matter ?

Execute multiple trials!! The procedure should be a recipe that someone else can

follow


Follow the Scientific Method Perform the Experiment

Follow your instructions Repeat the experiment more than once Keep a journal

A logbook of your experiment trials. Mark down dates, data, anything else you think is important.

Note that all measurements and data need to be in metric units Change the procedure if something happens that you didn’t

expect


Follow the Scientific Method Analyze the data

Look at the data you captured during your experiment Draw a graph, compute an average, etc to help understand

the data

Draw a conclusion Is the answer to your hypothesis right or wrong ? Is there something more you should have done, or some other

hypothesis that can be tested ?


Research Plans Each student must submit a typed research plan (GB

pg 8) Describes the experiment, the hypothesis being made along

with the description of the experimental procedure Should include a bibliography of the resources used for

researching the subject

Research plans must be approved by the teacher and science fair coordinator You will receive a feedback form approving or rejecting your

experiment, along with some suggestions (GB pg 10)

Example Research PlanAll the important parts: Hypothesis, Procedure, Analysis methods, Bibliography

This is what is due Oct 24th!


As part of your project, we will ask you to complete and display an Abstract (GB pg7) The abstract is done once your experiment is

complete A short report which gives the judges a quick overview

of the project It should be no more than 250 words – use the online

form It should include

The purpose A brief description of the procedure A review of the data and conclusions


Display (GB pg-11) For the day of the science

fair, all the experiments will be put on display

Your display should show all the major parts of doing the project. Make it look good !

Purpose

Hypothesis

Procedure Project Title

Data Tables

Photos

Graphs

Abstract

Bibliography

Experimental Materials Journal

Typical Display Setup

Conclusion

Abstract needs to be in upper left; the rest

is up to you


Display restrictions (GB pg-12) Displays can be no wider than 36” and no taller than 48” Do NOT place the school name on your display Not allowed on/with your display :

Living things, including plants Food Chemicals including water Glass or glass objects

Take pictures and display the pictures Photographs of people other than yourself or your immediate

family are not allow Use Metric units for all measurements and data


Science Fair Day Involves displaying & judging Judges will be non-SMS people taken from

various walks of life Judges will score each of your experiments using

the rubric in the GB pg13 Part of the judging will be an oral presentation

The judges want to see if you understand your own work The very first question most judges will ask is “So, tell me

about your project”. Be sure you can tell them what you did and learned.


What areas do we need to focus on ? Research

Judges are looking for you to have understood your subject Questions they’ll ask during oral judging Looking for your bibliography, to see that you have researched

your project using multiple sources; 5 resources are required

Journal / Logbook Keep and display the original It should be a record of everything you did; it’s ok if it includes

mistakes made along the way. Many great things were discovered by mistake!


What areas should we focus on ? Data analysis

Don’t just list data, analyze and evaluate it Use graphs as appropriate to show your results It’s ok if your hypothesis is wrong. That doesn’t mean the

experiment failed, in fact it succeeded in testing the hypothesis.

Display First thing anyone sees when they approach your project Make it eye-catching! Be creative


What does it mean to go to Montco Fair? After our science fair is complete, we will be selecting

a handful of projects to compete at the Montgomery County Science Research Competition (MCSRC)

The MCSRC works very similar to ours Judges review the project Judges perform an oral interview of the scientist

MCSRC is held March 9th – 13th DVSF Fair is March 31st – April 2nd


Certain kinds of experiments require approval from the MCSRC Science Committee before you are allowed to start Any experiment that involves animals or humans

This includes any experiment that involves surveys

We are asking that NO projects involve ingestion – eating or drinking of anything Done for safety reasons


There are a forms to be filled out (GB pg-9) When you submit your research plan, there are a couple

of forms (simple!) for you to complete and submit Your package will include a Research plan, Form 1A & 1B Anything involving humans needs Form 4 too

Depending upon your particular project, there may be other forms required; we will contact you if needed

All forms are on the SMS Website

There are some instructions in the guidebook, if you

have any questions on the forms, just ask.


Calendar GB pg-3

Student Kickoff September 11, 2014 Research plans due October 24, 2014 Projects Due January 14, 2015 SMS Science Fair January 15, 2015


Final Reminder Notes Do research – many sources are available; you should have at least

5 Research plans need to be typed Return the required forms, including parent signatures No ingestion experiments please Keep a journal – record everything you do. Bring the original! Change only one variable at a time Do a sufficient number of trials Units on your display must be in metric It’s OK if your hypothesis was wrong If you are growing plants…start now! And plant a lot of seeds!

DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST WEEK TO WORK ON YOUR PROJECT!!


Documents

St. Mary’s Catholic School Science Fair 2014-2015