Planning and Conducting the Investigation

Planning and Conducting the Investigation

To ensure that science fair projects are done well, they should be started no later than the beginning of the school year. The student should make a planning timetable so that there will be sufficient time to carry out all the steps in the process. Below is a suggested timetable and plan of action to help give direction.

Week

/ (Pacing may vary depending on time before science fair)
1-2 / Select a problem/topic. Complete and submit required approval forms to your teacher PRIOR to beginning research for safety purposes. Once the project is approved, read publications, textbooks, and reference books. Consult teachers and other scientists who might help you.
3-4 / Continue research. Design experiments and method of investigation. Discuss with others.
4-5 / Collect material needed. Set up necessary equipment to do experiments. Outline research paper.
5-13 / Begin experiments. Complete experiments. Be sure to set aside time for observing and recording each day. When making observations and recording results, organize data in orderly tables and charts.
13-16 / Interpret results and data, draw conclusions, consider applications. Consult with teachers or other scientists. Construct models, illustrations, and/or displays. Finish research paper. Prepare for oral presentation of the project report. Remember, some of the most useful information can come from talking to other people who are interested in your topic.

Selecting a Science Project

When deciding on a topic to investigate, ask these questions:

What topic interests me? What is a question for which I would like to seek an answer?

Is this question too difficult for me to solve?

What materials will be needed? Does this problem require sophisticated or expensive materials?

Is the problem a safe one?

Is it a valid one? Will it be possible to obtain results from this investigation?

Is it of significance to today’s society?

In choosing a project title, it is best to state the title in question form, such as "what are," "how is," or to use such phrases as:

The Effects of…

A Comparative Study of…

The Observation of…

An Investigation of…

A Study of…

Abstract

Abstracts should be completed using the following guidelines or using the NC Science and Engineering Fair Abstract Form which can be downloaded at They may not exceed 250 words and should be typed using 12 point font and single spacing. Be sure to type the title; your first name, middle initial, and last name; and your school’s name, city and state at the top.

The abstract should include:

1. Purpose of the experiment
2. Procedures used
3. Data collected
4. Conclusion

The abstract should NOT include:

1. Acknowledgements (naming those who helped with the project or references)
2. Work done by others with you

Visual Display

Make the most of your space! Here are some helpful hints for creating your display:

Current Year: Make sure the display reflects the current year’s work only.

A Good Title: Your title is an extremely important attention-grabber. A good title should accurately present your research. It should make an observer want to know more.

Take Photographs: You might want to take pictures of important parts of your experiment to use in your display. Please remember that you must have Form 4 (Human Subjects) if you include people in the pictures.

Be Organized: Make sure your display is easy to read. A glance should allow anyone to easily find the title, experiments, results, and conclusions.

Eye-Catching: Make your display stand out. Use neat, colorful headings, charts, graphs, diagrams and/or tables to describe what is being demonstrated. Anyone should be able to understand the visual display without further explanation.

Exhibit Size

Displays will be restricted to a space 122 cm wide (side to side), 76 cm deep (front to back), 198 cm in height (from tabletop), or 274 cm in height (floor to top).

Research Paper – required only for the NC State Science Fair

A report of the research should be presented in a formal research paper. A suggested format follows:

1. Title
2. Abstract–a brief condensation of the entire report, in one page or less
3. Statement of the problem
4. Experimental methods
5. Results–this may include tables and graphs
6. Conclusions

References–use correct bibliographic form in repeating references. One quick means of determining correct form is to look at an article in a scientific publication, such as Scientific American, Science, The Science Teacher, Journal of Chemical Education, or American Biology Teacher. Note the bibliographic form used in references at the end of an article in a recent issue of one of these journals.

Oral Presentation

Students should be at their exhibit during judging at the District Fair. Judges will have some questions about your project.

Questions commonly asked by judges:

1. "Tell me about your project."
2. "What did you find out?"
3. "Why did you do your project this way?"
4. "What does that word mean?"
5. "Why do you think your results turned out as they did?"
6. "If going to study this more, what would you do next?"

Suggestions:

Be able to explain your project in 1/2 to 1 minute.

Talk clearly and simply. Act interested and enthusiastic.

Dress neatly and attractively.

Practice your talk before others. Get others to ask you questions; learn answers to questions that you do not know.

Look the judges in the eyes. Keep eye contact with them throughout the interview.

Category Descriptions

Great care should be taken in selecting the category for competition that best matches the project. The following descriptions should be of assistance in making the most appropriate decisions.

Biological Science– high school projects must specify a group number

Animal science (group 1)
Health of humans and animals (group 1)
Medicine (group 1)
Microbiology (group 1)
Social sciences (group 2)
Behavioral sciences (group 2)
Study of plants (group 2)
Biochemistry (group 2)
Molecular biology (group 2)
Cellular (group 2) /

Earth/ Environmental Science

Geology, mineralogy, physiography, oceanography, meteorology, climatology, astronomy
Study of pollution especially related to the abiotic environment

Physical Science

Study of the nature and composition of matter and laws governing it
Theories, principles, and laws governing energy and the effect of energy on matter /

Technology and Engineering

Technology projects that directly apply scientific principles to manufacturing and practical uses

Please note:

• Scientific models, such as volcanoes, are not encouraged because they do not require the use of the scientific method to solve a problem.
• Projects involving the culturing of microorganisms are allowed for grades 8-12 only with the appropriate ISEF paperwork. Only pictures of the mold/bacteria will be allowed for display purposes.

What is the Scientific Method?

A successful project requires use of the "scientific method." That is not difficult; it only requires that the student: Observe, Plan, Experiment, and Explain what happens in the project.

Statement of Purpose: / Why are you doing this experiment? This two or three sentence statement explains what the student expected to discover by investigating the chosen topic. It also gives the reason why the student chose to learn more about that subject.
Hypothesis: / What do you think will happen during this experiment? An hypothesis is an educated guess about what the student thinks will occur as a result from conduction the selected experiment.
Materials: / What materials do you need in order to do this experiment? This is a list of all the materials and supplies used in the project. Quantities and amounts of each should be indicated especially when experiments are performed.
Procedure: / What steps will you follow in this experiment? The student lists and describes the steps he or she undertook to complete the project. Usually presented in a numbered format, this part of the project shows the stages of the project in such a way that others can reproduce the procedure.
Observations and Results: / What changes occurred during the experiment? At this point, the student tells what he or she learned from the project. What new information was provided as a result of pursuing this topic? What does the student know now that wasn’t known before? It is important to include any graphs, charts, or other visual data that summarizes the results of the study.
Conclusions: / What did you learn from this experiment? This is a brief statement explaining why a project turned out the way it did. Students should explain why the events they observed occurred. Using the word “because” is a good way to turn an observation into a conclusion. In an experiment, the conclusion should tell whether the hypothesis was proven or not proven.

In order to form a generalized conclusion, an investigation must include a number of observations of the events being investigated. For example, if the question is "Does the presence of sunlight affect the growth of petunia plants?" then a dozen petunia plants must be examined over a time interval in the presence of sunlight (experimental group), while another dozen plants must be subjected to the same conditions but in the absence of sunlight (control group). Using one or two plants in each group will not produce a valid investigation.

Conducting the experiment

Keep daily records, recording observations in an orderly manner in tables and charts. Be certain observations include the units of measurement being used. Determine whether results recorded in tables can be more easily understood with the use of graphs. All graphs must have a title, which tells the reader what the graph is explaining. The abscissa (x-axis) and ordinate (y-axis) should be labeled indicating the units and dimensions.

Web Resources

NC State Science Fair Information

htt;p://

Discovery Education Science Fair Central

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

The WWW Virtual Library - Science Fairs

Science Fairs and Science Projects - Resource Page

The Internet Public Library

MadSci Net

Canada’s Science Fair Home Page

Steps to Prepare a Science Fair Project

The Ultimate Science Fair Resource

Super Science Fair Projects

Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators- Science and Technology Links

ABSS Display and Safety Regulations

Adapted from Intel ISEF Display and Safety Regulations

Maximum Size of Project

30 inches (76 centimeters) deep

48 inches (122 centimeters) wide

108 inches (274 centimeters) high from floor to top of project

Project must be positioned at the back of the booth and parallel to the rear of the booth.

Maximum project sizes include all project materials and supports. If a table is used, it becomes part of the project and may not itself exceed the allowed dimensions nor may the table plus any part of the project exceed the allowed dimensions.

Not Allowed at Project or in Booth

1) Living organisms, including plants

2) Taxidermy specimens or parts

3) Preserved vertebrate or invertebrate animals

4) Human or animal food

5) Human/animal parts or body fluids (for example, blood, urine)

6) Plant materials (living, dead or preserved) that are in their raw, unprocessed or non-manufactured state (Exception: manufactured construction materials used in building the project or display)

7) All chemicals including water (Exceptions: water integral to an enclosed apparatus)

8) All hazardous substances or devices [for example, poisons, drugs, firearms, weapons, ammunition, reloading devices, and lasers (as indicated in item 5 in the section of these rules entitled “Allowed at Project or in Booth BUT with the Restrictions Indicated”)]

9) Dry ice or other sublimating solids

10) Sharp items (for example, syringes, needles, pipettes, knives)

11) Flames or highly flammable materials

12) Batteries with open-top cells

13) Awards, medals, business cards, flags, logos, endorsements and/or acknowledgements (graphic or written) unless the item(s) are an integral part of the project

14) Photographs or other visual presentations depicting vertebrate animals in surgical techniques, dissections, necropsies, or other lab procedures

15) Active Internet or e-mail connections as part of displaying or operating the project at the Intel ISEF

16) Prior years’ written material or visual depictions on the vertical display board. [Exception: the project title displayed in the Finalist’s booth may mention years or which year the project is (for example, “Year Two of an Ongoing Study”)]. Continuation projects must have the Continuation Project Form (7) vertically displayed.

17) Glass or glass objects unless deemed by the Display and Safety Committee to be an integral and necessary part of the project (Exception: glass that is an integral part of a commercial product such as a computer screen)

18) Any apparatus deemed unsafe by the Scientific Review Committee, the Display and Safety Committee, or Science Service (for example, large vacuum tubes or dangerous ray-generating devices, empty tanks that previously contained combustible liquids or gases, pressurized tanks, etc.)

Allowed at Project or in Booth, BUT with the Restrictions Indicated

1) Soil, sand, rock and/or waste samples if permanently encased in a slab of acrylic

2) Postal, Web and e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers of finalist only

3. Photographs and/or visual depictions if:

a) They are not deemed offensive or inappropriate by the Scientific Review Committee, the Display and Safety Committee, or Society for Science & the Public. This includes, but is not limited to, visually offensive photographs or visual depictions of invertebrate or vertebrate animals, including humans. The decision by any one of the groups mentioned above is final.

b) They have credit lines of their origins: “Photograph taken by…” or “Image taken from…” are attached. (If all photographs being displayed were taken by the Finalist or are from the same source, one credit line prominently displayed is sufficient.)

c) They are from the Internet, magazines, newspapers, journals, etc., and credit lines are attached (If all photographs/images are from the same source, one credit line prominently displayed is sufficient.)

d) They are photographs or visual depictions of the Finalist.

e) They are photographs of human subjects for which signed consent forms are at the project or in the booth.

4) Any apparatus with unshielded belts, pulleys, chains, or moving parts with tension or pinch points if for display only and not operated

5) Any demonstration for judges or the public must be performed within the maximum size of the project permitted, an area 30” (depth) by 48” (width) by 108” (height)

6) Class II lasers if:

a) The output energy is <1 mW and is operated only by the Finalist.

b) Operated only during Display and Safety inspection and during judging

c) Labeled with a sign reading "Laser Radiation: Do Not Look Into Beam."

d) Enclosed in protective housing that prevents physical and visual access to beam.

e) Disconnected when not operating.

Note: Class II lasers are found in laser pointers and in aiming and range-finding devices. They pose a risk if the beam is directly viewed over a long period of time.

7) Class III and IV lasers if for display and not operated (See the description of Class III and Class IV lasers in the INTEL Rules Radiation section of the Hazardous Chemicals, Activities or Devices).

8) Any apparatus producing temperatures that will cause physical burns if adequately insulate

9) The only items that may be displayed on the front of the provided tables are the required forms