Science research » Graphs

Science Fair Projects – Complete Guide to a Winning Science Project Step 2 – Topic Research

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:19:05 +0000

First, get yourself a spiral notebook to be used as your journal. All science fair projects need to have notes taken as you work though them. This notebook is where you will record your topic research and your project research. It should have your ideas as well as those you get from printed information or from other people. It will also need to include descriptions of your experiment along with diagrams, graphs and other recorded notes of your results.

You will want all information written in the journal to be as neat as possible and make sure to include the date. This will be your complete and accurate record of your project from beginning to end. The information in the journal will be used to write your written report. Your journal will be displayed with your completed project.

Selecting a Topic

You want to get the best grade possible on your project, win awards at the fair and learn anything new about science you can. Judges will evaluate the science fair projects on a number of criteria. You will be able to achieve some or all of these as long as you spend the time working on your project it needs, so you will want to choose a topic you are interested in. If you can, it is best to choose a topic and stick with it. Don’t bounce around from topic to topic.

Look at the World Around You

By using an exploring question you can turn things you see everyday into a science project. For an example, the grass in your neighbor’s yard is always greener than in your yard. Why is his grass greener than ours? You have a question about plants. Could you turn it into a project? If you keep thinking about it, you might start to realize there is some nutrient in his soil that is not in yours.

If you keep your eyes and ears open and you start asking more exploring questions, you will find numerous things that could be turned into a project. You may wonder about the difference in paints. There are many questions you may have, but you don’t always ask them.

Find a Topic in Science Magazines

If you find a topic in a science magazine, do not expect them to come with instructions on how to do the experiment. You will have to come up with that one on your own. Just look at facts that seeming interesting to you. If they lead you to ask and exploring question, you may have a project topic. You can even try looking into a science fair project book or Science Experiment Books.

Three Steps to a Topic

You have decided to enter a project into the science fair, but you really don’t know where to start. The first thing you have to do is come up with a project idea. Start with a topic that interests you will have fun and learn something while working on this project. Here are a few hints for coming up with a project idea.

Look at these ideas and find a topic that interests you.

People Animals Plants Rocks Space Weather Electricity

There are many projects you can come up with using any one of these topic ideas. Come up with a question you have about one of these topics. You can start off with a simple question and make it a better question. Such as, “Why does it rain?” You want to get more specific about your question. So then you expound on it to become “How much rain did California get last year compared to 5 years ago?” Good topics for science fair projects include anything that you can do an experiment on to see if it is true or false.

Categories of Topic Ideas
Check with your teacher, but usually every fair has a list of categories. You may need to ask the advice of your teacher to find the right category for your project. You must have your project entered into the right category to win. If your project happened to get entered into the wrong category, you can be penalized because the judges are required to judge a project based on its category. For a list of categories, check out the resources on the web site below:

By: Aurora Lipper

Science Fair Project Topics For Winning Science Projects

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:16:18 +0000

There are countless science fair project topics. To figure out a topic, you must first decide on a category of interest; Astronomy, Biology, Zoology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Engineering, Environmental, Microbiology, Physical Science or Mathematics. Once you have found a category that you like, you can then decide on a topic. It may not be an easy task, since there are countless topics on each category, but it will not take you long before you choose something that really interests you. Just remember that any project has the potential to be a winning science project, and keep in mind that the judges are looking mainly at presentation and whether or not you learned something from the project.

You don’t want to pick a topic that is too easy, nor do you want to choose one that is beyond your level. The judges want to see that you are knowledgeable about your project and that you have documented your findings. Obviously, the first thing they will notice is your presentation, so you want to make sure it’s eye catching and well organized. If you use graphs in your project, make sure to double check your figures and ensure you understand the graphs you are presenting. If you can’t explain your work, you are definitely going to lose points. Basically, if you chose a topic that interests you, is on your skill level, that you genuinely learn something from your project, are able to show and explain your work, and present the project in an organized and eye catching manner, you are likely to score great points with the judges.

By: Dee Schrock

Science Fair Success – Writing a Great Science Fair Report

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:57:48 +0000

No matter what your science fair project is about, one thing is certain: your science project report will communicate the nature of your experiment as well as the information that you learned from the experiment. Many students enjoy actually doing the science fair experiment, but struggle with the report because it requires in-depth writing and analysis.

By breaking the project report into small steps, you will be able to complete the report without a lot of hassle. A thorough report can also mean the difference between a good grade on your science project and a so-so grade. Remember: the judges will also take a look at your report, so make sure you pay attention to the details when you create it!

Here are the sections you’ll need to include in your report:

Abstract. Your abstract should provide a short overview of the science project report. Briefly state what the report is about and what people will learn by reading the report. I usually try to keep abstracts to about a paragraph. Introduction. The introduction to your report can be anywhere from one paragraph to an entire page. This is the section where you will provide background information about the topic of your report and any pertinent information that you will include in your report, such as terms and equations. Experiments. In this section, you should describe in details how you went about conducting your experiment. Outline methods that you used to perform the experiment as well as methods you used to collect data. Data. This is the part of the science project report where you will include completed data. You can use charts, graphs, photos and other visual aids to help communicate data. If you have a large amount of data, it may be wise to organize the data in appendices at the end of your report as well. Discussion. No matter what kind of science fair project you do, chances are good that you will have your own opinion about how it worked and how effective it was. Discuss the results and talk about anything that you would change in the discussion section of your report.Conclusion. This is my favorite section of the science project report because it is where you tie together information that you learned from the experiment and draw your own conclusions. Hopefully this is also where you can share your own ideas and opinions that you gathered from your experiment. Acknowledgements. Thank anyone that helped you with your project, such as your parents, siblings, friends and teachers. This section can include a brief statement of how people helped you and allows you to send out a great big “thank you!”References. No science project would be complete without a list of references that you used in order to complete the experiment. Cite the references according to the citation method that you teacher prefers, such as MLA format. Also, be sure to recognize the people that gave you information as well, such as a doctor or scientist you may have interviewed.

A good science project report requires that you take time to pay attention to each section. You cannot complete a science fair report the night before a fair and expect it to be thorough and an accurate representation of your talent. Therefore, start in advance, plan, and work hard to include all of the information and ideas needed to make your report complete. Have fun!
If you’re ready to get going with your own science project report or project, your next step is to download a free copy of “Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects” from the link below right now.

By: Aurora L.