Contents

Planning Your Science Fair Project
What is a Science Fair Project?
The Steps of the Scientific Method

Page 3

Doing Your Science Fair Project

1. Your Topic
2. Getting Ready for Your Experiments
3. Do the Experiment
4. Put the Results in Order
5. Finishing

Page 4

1. Write a Formal Report
2. Making Your Backboard
3. How My Teacher May Help
4. How My Parents May Help
   

PLANNING YOUR SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT

The Scientific Method

• The scientific method is one way to solve problems.
• Scientists use this method because its step by step pattern and giving of facts is easy for others to understand.

WHAT IS A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT?

• A good science fair project is a way of finding out about something you want to know more about.
• During your experiments, you write a DIARY or JOURNAL about what is happening.
• This diary or journal is called a LOG or LOGBOOK.
• After you finish the experiments, you will write a FORMAL REPORT about what you have done.
• Finally you will make a DISPLAY of your work.
  

ALWAYS WRITE EVERYTHING YOU DO IN YOUR LOGBOOK

THE STEPS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

1. QUESTION or PROBLEM

• This introduces your topic in a statement that will tell others what you are trying to understand.
• Think of some science question you want to answer.
• Or think or something in science you want to find more about.

(Write the question or problem in your logbook.)

2. HYPOTHESIS

• Read about your topic.
• Then make a good guess about what you think will happen when you work with your problem or question.

(Write the hypothesis in your logbook.)

3. EXPERIMENTAL PLAN

• Write down the steps you will use to find out about your question or problem.
• Find ways to test your hypothesis.
• Include any measurements you will be making.
• Include the materials you will be using.

(Write the plan in your logbook.)

4. OBSERVATION or DATA from your EXPERIMENT

• Follow your experimental plan.
• Everything you do with your experiment must be written in your logbook.
• This is usually done day by day.
• It may change according to your plan.
• All measurements should be in metric units.

(Write in your logbook all the data or information.)

5. RESULTS

• Put your data from the experiment in an order that helps you understand what has happened.
• Make a bar graph, line graph or pie graph to show what has happened.

(Write all your results in your logbook.)

6. CONCLUSIONS

• Explain how you arrived at your conclusions.
• Do the results of your experiments support your hypothesis?
• Explain how the results support your hypothesis.
• Or explain how the results DO NOT support your hypothesis.
• YOUR EXPERIMENT IS NOT A FAILURE JUST BECAUSE THE RESULTS DO NOT AGREE WITH YOUR HYPOTHESIS!

(Write your conclusions in your logbook.)

Continue to Page 2

© 2001 by Bob Gelinas
Last Revision - 8/23/98