Science Fair

Science fair is starting. We will be starting our class project this week. Remember a great project starts off with your child asking a question that they want to answer. A science fair project consists of a meaningful question asked by the "researcher" who comes up with a hypothesis of what he thinks will happen, a collection of data over time to get a good size sample, to find an answer to his question from the results of the experiment.

Science Project
A meaningful question is answered through the collection of data over time. Repeat trials are done to confirm the data collected were accurate.
TYPES OF PROJECTS NOT MEETING THE CRITERIA FOR A SCIENCE ENTRY:
Reports:
A report glued to a backboard with a visual aid (model, pictures, drawings) reporting the research and data of others.

A CONSUMER ADVICE PROJECT
Data can be collected on a single day to make a recommendation as to the "best", "most", ETC.
Scientific method is followed but the question is not aimed at gaining a deeper understanding. (Could be easily turned into a true science project by asking the question "Why do some paper towels soak up more water than others? Then measuring qualitative and quantitative differences as the cause.)

DEMOSTRATION
A known principle is set up as an experiment with a known outcome. Sx. "How does power move in a circuit?" A circuit with a "on" and "off" switch. "How do prisms work?"
(Could be turned into an experiment by asking a different questions that would allow data to be collected as one variable changes.)

NO HAZMAT MATERIALS!!!!!! MOLD EXPERIMENTS, BACTERIA GROWTH, ETC>

FAIR TEST NO LIVING THING CAN BE HARMED OT KILLED IN THE NAME OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY!!!