DearParents,September 15,2016

During American Education Week, the fifth graders will be participating in a sciencefair.The intention is to have the students create a science investigation using the scientificmethod.

The students can either write their investigation in a report, create a tri-fold boardthatwill display all parts of the science investigation, or create a Power Point Presentation thatwilldisplay the components as well. The following information should be included on theirfinalproduct:

Focus Question +Purpose

Hypothesis

Materials

Variables

Procedures

Data – this can be a graph, a chart orboth

Conclusion

The students are not allowed to use live animals, flammable materials, or anyotherhazardous or harmful materials in theirproject.

The projects should be able to fit on top of a classroom desk and should be broughttoschool no later than Thursday, November10.

Attached we have provided a framework to complete the parts of thescientificinvestigation. Please have your child follow this format. Your child will also have a duedatesheet in their science notebook that will aid in making sure the project componentsarecompleted on time. Please make sure you sign off on each deadlinedate!

Sincerely,

Ms. Broy, Ms. Connelly, and Mr.MahoneyThe Fifth Grade ScienceTeam

Your experiment should have all of the partsbelow.

Question + Purpose: This is the question you aretesting.

  • Ex: How does vinegar affect the growth of a plant? I am testing this so that I can obtain knowledgeabouthow to best grow plants in myhouse.

Hypothesis:Thisisyourpredictionabouthowtheexperimentresults.Youmustexplainwhyyoumadetheprediction.

  • Ex: I predict that the plant will not grow because vinegar is an acid and will harm theplant.

Materials:Youmustlistallofthematerialsyouusedtoperformtheexperiment.

Variables: You must list thevariables.

IndependentVariable-Thisistheonethingthatyouchangeinyourexperimenttotesttheresults

  • Ex: The independent variable would be vinegar that is added to theplant.

Controlled Variables: These are the variables that stay the same or the control you are testing yourexperimentagainst

  • Ex: The control would be the same type of plant that is being fed water instead of vinegar, thesameamount of liquid given to each plant, the same type of soil, and the same amount ofsunlight.

Dependent Variable: This is what will change because of the independentvariable

  • Ex: The dependent variable will be the growth of theplant.

Procedures:Youshouldnumberallofthestepsyoutooktosetupandconductyourexperiment.

Data: All experiments should be conducted 3 times. List the results in a table and average theresults.

  • Ex:Ifyoudropaballondifferentsurfacestodetermineifthesurfaceaffectstheheightofthebounce,you should repeat the experiment several times and take an average of theresults.
  • Otherwise you may want to create a graph or a data chart to model your results. Ex: I could use alinegraph to show the weekly measurements of my plantgrowth.

Conclusion:Thisiswhereyouwriteupyourresultsinaparagraphform.Youshoulduseyourbackgroundknowledgeabout the topic to explain why your result happened. Remember to state whether your prediction was the sameordifferentfromyourresults.Theconclusionshouldbeatleast2paragraphslong.Amodelisbelow.

Inthisinvestigation,Iwantedtofind outifvinegarwouldaffectthegrowthofaplant.Ipredicted/hypothesized that the plant would not grow and would not survive because vinegar is an acid andwouldbetoostrongfor theplant. Mypredictionwasthesameasmyresults(myhypothesiswasproventrue)becausemydatashowedthattheplantthat wasfed vinegar didnotgrowaswellastheplantthat wasfed water.Iobservedthateventhoughthesameplantswereidenticalspeciesand receivedthesameamountofliquid,hadthesametypeofsoil,andreceivedthesameamountofsunlight,theplantthatwasfedvinegardidnotgrowatallandbegan to die. The control plant grew 8 inches. Therefore, I conclude that vinegar will affect the growth ofaplant.

TheresultsofmyinvestigationareconsistentwiththeinformationIknowaboutacids.Vinegarisanacidand acids are corrosive. Although vinegar will not affect a person if ingested, the plant could not toleratetheacidityoftheliquid.Waterwouldhavebeenabletodilutetheacid,butwaterwasnotused.IfIhadaddedabasetomyplant,theacidandbasewouldhavereactedtoformwaterandtheplantmayhavesurvived.