Student will complete a Science Fair project on a topic of their choosing. This topic will have to be approved by the teacher. The project in its entirety will be due April 27th with no exceptions.
In order to receive full credit on this assignment the student will need to have at least all of the following pieces completed satisfactorily. All written material should be typed and graphs should be made on the computer.
Abstract: This will be completed after all other written parts and the research is complete. This should be one paragraph which gives a complete summary of the whole project and brief results.
Materials: Student should list all materials used including variables, measurement tools, equipment, etc.
Procedure: This should be several short paragraphs explaining exactly what the student did in their experiment. Detail should not be spared. The goal is that another person somewhere else could read the procedure and repeat the experiment exactly somewhere else without speaking to the researcher. Think of this like a detailed recipe.
Results: Results of experiment should be presented in a graphical fashion either in graph form or table or both. A graph should always be used when appropriate.
Graphs/Images: Computer produced graphs or images detailing the process of the experiment should be used. Tasteful relevant decoration should be used to make your over all poster more appeal.
Discussion: Here, in at least a paragraph the student should summarize the results of the experiment. The student should identify any patterns or trends that are observed. They should point out problems with the data such as an unusually high number or low number
Conclusion: The conclusion evaluates the hypothesis of the experiment. In a brief paragraph the findings of the experiment should be stated. For example, it was determined in the experiment that phosphate fertilizers help plants grow an average of 80% faster than plants without fertilizers and 20% faster than plants given nitrate fertilizers.
Future: Science
is an ongoing process. In this section of the report, the student should write
about what could be done next with this experiment, what new ideas or questions
were raised.
Presentation
Board: All of this material should be presented on a tri-fold board.
Poster board will not be accepted. It may be made of Styrofoam or cardboard
and it should be able to stand on its own. Ideally, this should also be adorned
with border and cut-out letters. Section titles should be used for each section
described here. The student will be required to present the project in a school-wide
Science Fair near the end of the year.
Web pages to help you:
Find a topic:
Here are some ideas: http://mysciencekit.com/scifairideas.htm
Other Web Resources:
http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/ideas.html
http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/category0.html
Steps to follow:
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/steps.html
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/SciProjIntro.html
Tips to Writing your Report:
http://www.scifair.org/articles/reports.shtml
Tips for making your display board:
http://www.scifair.org/articles/display.shtml
One grade will be assigned to the project as a whole. This grade will count as a test grade and will have the weight of 4 test grades. This should mean that if a student has been diligent throughout the school year they should not fail the course if the project is SUCESSFULLY completed.
|
Criteria |
4 Points |
3 points |
2 points |
1 point |
|
Sections Score: |
All sections required are
present. |
1 or 2 sections required
are missing. |
More than 2 sections
required are not present. |
Only 1 or none of the
correct sections required are present. |
|
Writing Score: |
All sections are typed and
word processed. They all follow requirements and are complete and accurate. |
All sections are typed and
word processed but they are not completely accurate or do not follow the
requirements. |
Either sections are not
typed and word processed or sections are not completely accurate and some do
not follow requirements. |
The written part strays
greatly from the requirements. Work is incomplete or poorly done. |
|
Design and controls Score: |
Research or experiment is
sound and only one variable was changed at a time. |
Research or experiment is questionable, it does not follow scientific standards and
could lead to inconclusive results. |
More than one variable was
tested at one time or no control was used. |
More than one variable was
tested at one time and no control was used. |
|
Quality of Work Score: |
All parts of the project
were of good quality sections were typed, graphs were well done, it is clear
that time was spent on the visual appeal. |
It is clear that more time
could have been spent putting the project together and creating all of the
pieces. |
It is clear that the
student, though he or she completed the project, needed to spend more time
putting it together so that it is more presentable. |
Project is either not all
together or was clearly done at the last minute. |
|
Accuracy Score: |
Interpretation of data and
results is conservative and accurate. Data presented was collected correctly. |
Data was collected
incorrectly, or Interpretation of data or results was improperly generalized
or just wrong. |
Data was not correctly
collected and the interpretation of that data is also flawed. Or The interpretation
of the correctly gathered data is completely off-base. |
The data was not collected
correctly and the interpretation of that data is completely off-base. |
|
Total |
Score × 5 = ____________ |
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