5th Annual Science Fair Guide
AmPark Neighborhood School
Monday, May 7th, 2018
Trifold & Project Due Date: Monday, May 7th, 2018
Dear AmPark Community,
We are so excited to participate in the 5th annual AmPark Science Fair being held on Monday, May 7th, 2018!
We are excited to announce that four projects from AmPark will also be selected to be displayed at the citywide NYC Science Expo in Manhattan in June. In order for your child’s project to be eligible for the Science Expo, they must follow the guidelines for projects provide by the Science Expo. Eligible projects must fall under one of these categories:
-an observational study on Madagascar hissing cockroach behavior;
-an experimental investigation on the growth rate of corn and bean plants when grown together or separately;
-an engineering design project that explores the ability of selected paper airplane designs to fly a certain distance
In this packet there are descriptions of what elements need to be included on the Tri-fold board for each type of project as well as a set of student pages that outline the process for each kind of project.
Projects for the NYC Science Expo will be selected by a panel of community members.
We cannot wait to see all of your projects.
Best, Science Fair Committee
The Scientific Method
- Make an Observation: Scientists study nature and the real world. Are you interested in space? Dinosaurs? Weather? Money? Brains?
- Ask a Question. What do you wonder about your topic? Think about question words such as: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How (See following pages for more specific examples)
- PART 1 Conduct Background Research. Find out more about your topic, using books, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, museums, and interviews with experts. A trip to the library will do the trick! Ask a librarian for help finding information about your topic if you get stuck. If you use the Internet, look for reliable sources such as .gov or .edu sites, or carefully consider the expertise of the author.
Part 2 - Construct a Hypothesis. Rewrite your question as a statement you can test. For the example above, you might narrow it down to a hypothesis such as, “Clouds last longer in cooler weather than in hotter weather.”
- Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment. You might decide to time how long it takes for clouds to disappear on one day at one temperature, then measure how long clouds last on a cooler or warmer day. To make sure that your experiment is “fair”, you
should change only one factor (variable) and keep all other conditions the same. So for the example, you might want to limit your clouds to a certain range of sizes, and a certain shape, so that you don't confuse effects of temperature on cloud lifespan with effects of size or shape.
You should also try to increase your sample size to make sure your results hold for many cases (for instance, measure more than one cloud on each day, and/or measure over several days.)
- Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion. In our example, you might calculate the average lifespan of the clouds on a warm day, and compare it to the lifespan of clouds on a cool day. You might draw a graph showing how cloud lifespan changes with temperature. You might find, for instance, that clouds have shorter lifespans during cooler weather, so you would conclude that your hypothesis was false.
- Reports Your Results: An important part of science is telling people about what you found.
Example Project Questions
Scientific Investigation / Observational StudyHow does the amount of water you give a plant affect its growth?
Select 2 or 3 identical plants. Place them all in the same spot so they get the same amount of light. Each watering time, water them a set different amount. Measure growth and compare the results / A student finds a hurt butterfly outside of their house.
The student researches butterfly to learn more about them and their behavior, then decides to keep a journal and a checklist to monitor behavior as the butterfly is nursed back to health.
How does the shape of a paper airplane wing affects how far it can fly?
Build paper airplanes identical in everything except for one fold, and see which planes travel the longest or fastest. / Why do some fish in the fish tank stay in certain locations?
Research the fish to learn more about it, monitor fish behavior keeping a log by tallying the number of fish in certain spots during certain times of the day.
How does the amount of vinegar affect how large the balloon blows up?
Conduct an experiment with mixtures of baking soda and vinegar to make a balloon blow up. Change the amount of vinegar each time and measure the circumference of the balloon to compare results. / Why do some plants move?
A student notices that some of the plants at home lean in different directions and different amounts. The student does some research and identifies the different ways that plants respond to changes in their environment.
How does exercise affect heart rate?
Do the same physical activity (like jumping jacks) for different amounts of time and after each time find your heart rate. Record your results and look at the trends. / What food is best for my pet mouse?
A student notices that sometimes their pet mouse eats all of the food and other times there is left over. The student observes the mice at each feeding and records what they notice.
How does your sight affect your sense of taste?
Select several different foods and have people taste test those foods with their eyes closed to see if they can guess what it is that they are eating. Record the results. Are their differences between girls and boys or people of different ages? / How do the tides affect the plants & animals that live along the shoreline?
A student notices that when the tide comes in or out the landscape of the shoreline changes. The student decides to take several walks along the beach at different times of the tides, taking notes and observations about what organisms are visible as well as researching and learning about the tides.
Reporting Your Results at the Science Fair on a Tri-fold Board
Scientific Investigation
Reporting Your Results at the Science Fair on a Tri-fold Board
Observational Study
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Quick Reference Vocabulary List
analysis – taking apart information and rearranging it, in order to understand it better
conclusion – what you decide that the results from your experiment mean
control group – group identical to the experimental group, except that it didn't get the treatment
data – information that you collect
experiment – A try or a test.
Experimental group – group that received a change in the variable factor (a different treatment that the control group didn't get)
hypothesis – a testable statement
observation – something that you see, or notice
results – what happened in the experiment
sample size – number of repeats made to make sure that your results are not just due to luck
Statement – something that you say about the thing that you're interested in
variable factor – a change or difference between the control and experimental groups
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Resources
●Science Buddies-- comprehensive site with science fair tips and topics for all ages
●PBS Kids Science Fair:
●Science Fair Guide Resources for Parents:
●Discovery Education Science Fair Central:
●Intel International Science and Engineering Fair website – good description of Scientific
Method, research categories, tips for parents, and student checklist:
●University of Michigan Internet Public Library Kidspace Science Fair Project Resources -
many links to other Science Fair websites, scientific method, project ideas, and how to
complete a science fair project:
●Society of Amateur Scientists Science Fair page – HYPERLINK "
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