Science Fair Title

The Purpose Statement should explain what it is you are trying to discover or prove. The Purpose should be written in a form of a statement. Try to make your statement original and creative.

The statement should clearly explain:

1. The problem that you are trying to solve with your experiment.
2. Why you want to do this experiment.
3. How you think the information gained from the experiment will help other people.

Example of a Purpose Statement:

The purpose of this experiment was to find out how the density of plant cover affects soil erosion. I became interested in this experiment when the hillside next to our yard began to erode. The information from this experiment will help people to determine how many plants they should plant on their yards hillside.

Fill in the blanks below to create a quality Purpose Statement.

The purpose of this experiment was to ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I became interested in this experiment when ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The information gained from this experiment will help others by ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Hypothesis is an educated guess that tries to answer a question or solve a problem that you are trying to find out more about. The hypothesis is done after you do your research on a specific topic and before you do any experimenting.

The Hypothesis should follow these rules:

1. A hypothesis is a question, which has been reworded into a form that can be tested by an experiment.
2. There is usually one hypothesis for each question you have.
3. You must do at least one experiment to test each hypothesis. This is a very important step.

Example of a Hypothesis:

My hypothesis is that grass will do a better job at preventing soil erosion on the hillside than shrubs. I base my hypothesis on the idea that there are more roots in the grass than the shrubs.

Fill in the blanks below to create a quality Hypothesis.

My hypothesis is ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I base my hypothesis on ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The materials list is a complete list of all materials including details and amounts. Be sure to include quantities (how much), length, volume, and mass. List these in metric units. Be specific in your description of the item needed. Include photos, or drawings of the materials if it helps the person to identify the material needed in the project.

The Material List should follow these rules:

1. Be specific to amount, size and length.
2. Listed in metric units where appropriate.

Example of a Material List:

Bad Material List:

Good Material List:

1. 20 Liters of Water
2. Stop watch with second hand
3. Metric Ruler with millimeters listed
4. 3 cubic meters of potting soil

Fill in the Quantity: Description of Items: needed to create a quality Materials List.

The procedures are a detailed, step-by-step set of instructions on how to prepare and carry out your experiement. These should be written so that the experiement can be recreated by anyone who picks up your procedures. Write the procedure as you do the steps of a lab. Be very specific; don't assume that the reader knows how much, how many, or how long.

The Procedures should follow these rules:

1. Label each step with a number or letter.
2. Write your procedures in a cookbook format
3. Be very specific with quantities, amounts and the order that things need to be done or completed.

Example of a Procedures / Method list:

1. Prepare three trays by putting an equal amount of potting soil in each tray. If you are using pans or cookie sheets, spread a layer of gravel on the bottom of the pan before adding the soil. This will allow for drainage since you will be watering all three pans while the grass is growing.
2. Set Tray 1 aside. In Tray 2, cover the soil with a layer of leaves and grass clippings. In Tray 3, sprinkle grass seed on the top of the soil.
3. Place the three trays in a place where they are level and have similar light and temperature conditions. (The temperature must be above 50°F (10°C) for the grass to grow.)
4. Use the sprinkling can to give each tray the same amount of water. Continue watering all three trays approximately every 3 days until the grass in Tray 3 is about .5 inches (1.25 centimeters) tall. This may take one week or longer. You may have to adjust your watering schedule depending on how fast the soil dries. Check the soil daily to see if it looks and feels moist.

Fill in the blanks below to create a quality Procedure / Method list.

Procedures:

1) __________________________________________

2)__________________________________________

3)__________________________________________

Use a notebook or a booklet. Like a diary, write down all the things you have done on your project each day. Be sure to include any and all details. A good scientist keeps careful, detailed records of findings and test results. Include such things as amounts / quantities used, color changes, growth etc.. Record any procedure that you carry out during the experiment. Include the date and time that this was completed.

Example of Project Experimental Log:

Date:TimeProcedures/ Observations

Jan. 5, 200510:45amBegan research on the different types of soil and how erosion occures on a hillside. Checked out books on grass and shrubs. Worked on this for 45 minutes.

Jan. 9, 20054:25pmWorked on cutting plywood sheets to build hillside slopes. Placed slopes on racks and hung growth lights over surfaces. Readied for soiil, sod and shrubs. Worked on for 2 hours.

Writing the Results will include both text and illustrative materials AKA the tables and charts. Use the text to explain and guide the reader through your key results, i.e., the information which answer the hypothesis you investigated. Use the tables and charts to help strengthen and explain what you are stating in your text.

Your results should follow these guidelines:

1. Include what you wanted to accomplish and prove during your experiment.
2. Describe and report what you discovered. Be sure to include any data that might have been collected. It is important to show this data even if it did not support your hypothesis. The process of completing the experiment with true data is what is important.
3. The function of the Results section is to objectively present your key results, without interpretation.

Example of how to write the results:

The original purpose of this experiment was to see how a seeds germination is effected by the time of exposure to running water. The results of the experiment were that the duration of exposure to running water had a great effect on overall seed germination. (See chart #1). The seeds exposed to the 48-hour treatment had the highest percentage rate of germination (See chart #2). This was 2 times that of the 12-h group and 5 times that of our control group that was not exposed to the running water treatment.

Fill in the blanks below to create a quality Results page.

The original purpose of this experiment was to ______________________________
___________________________________________________________________

The results of the experiment were _______________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

What is a conclusion? A conclusion is a reexamination of your original hypothesis in regards to the data you have collected. Your conclusion will continue by describing how your results prove or disprove your hypothesis. Your conclusion included what questions you have developed in doing the experiment. It also includes how you might change your experiment if you were to continue this topic in order to explore those questions that you developed during the experiment.

Example of a conclusion:

My hypothesis was that grass would do a better job at preventing soil erosion on the hillside than shrubs. I base my hypothesis on the idea that there are more roots in the grass than the shrubs. The results indicate that this hypothesis should be considered false. The dense amount of shrub cover shielded the underlying dirt better than the grass. Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if different kinds of shrubs have the same effect on preventing erosion. If I were to conduct this science fair project again I would try both deciduous as well as coniferous shrubs.

Fill in the following lines to create a successful Conclusion:

My hypothesis was ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Results indicate that this hypothesis should be considered ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Becuase of the results of this experiment ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If I were to conduct this science fair project again I would ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is a Bibliography? The bibliography is an alphabetical list of the sources that you used to research your topic, design the experiment and form the hypothesis. Look at the format that each example is typed. Use this format exactly when you type your bibliography. It is called the bibliography citation machine. Use the APA format when using this source.

Examples of how to cite your sources in a bibliography:

BOOKS

SINGLE AUTHOR
Author (Last Name, First Name). Title of Book. City: Publishing Company, Date.
Duggan, Alfred. The Castle Book. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1991.

BOOK BY TWO OR MORE AUTHORS
First Author (Last Name, First Name) and Second Author (First Name, Last Name. Title of Book. City: Publishing Company, Date.
Jacobson, Morris K. and Rosemary K. Pang. Wonders of Sponges. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1997.

PERIODICALS

MAGAZINE ARTICLE WITH AUTHOR
Author (Last Name, First Name). "Title of Article." Title of Magazine. Volume or Edition (Month and Year of Publication), page(s).
Severy, Merle. "The World of Bees." National Geographic. 172 (November 1997), 552.

MAGAZINE ARTICLE WITHOUT AUTHOR
"Title of Article." Title of Newspaper. Volume or Edition (Month and Year of Publication) page(s).
"New Human Life." Science News. 132 (December 26, 1994), 391.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WITH AUTHOR
Author (Last Name, First Name). "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper. Date.
Anderson, Jack. "Nuclear Regulators." Rocky Mountain News. January 5, 1998.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WITHOUT AUTHOR
"Title of Article." Title of Newspaper. Date.
"Asian Nations Putting Pressure on France." New York Times, July 30, 1995.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

"Title of Article." Complete Title of Encyclopedia, year.
"Laser," World Book Encyclopedia, 1995.

ELECTRONIC SOURCES

CD ROM
"Name of Article." Complete Title of Encyclopedia or Program. City: Publishing Company, Date.
"Astronomy." Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. Danbury: Grolier Electronic Publishing Co., 195.

WWW SITES
Author (Last Name, First Name). "Title of Work. " Date posted on WWW (Latest date if available). Protocol//and full address (date you obtained information).
Burka, Lauren P. "Hypertext History." 1992. httyp://www.ccs.new.edu/home/lpd/mud (Dec. 5, 1994).

OTHER SOURCES

INTERVIEW
Last Name, First name. Interview. Interview location. City, Sate, Month, Day, Year.
Schweitzer, Brian. Interview. Governors Office. Helena, Montana, Feb. 4, 2005.

VIDEOTAPE
Title of program. city: Production or Publishing company. Date, Type of media.
Joan of Arc; A Portrait of a Legend. New York: Vid American, Inc. 1985. Videocassette.

TV PROGRAM
Title of Program. Staton. Month, Day, Year, City, State. Type of Program.
USA Tonight. CBS, Dec. 4, 1997. New York City: New York. Television broadcast.