SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

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SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS
Marjory Pasket 4th Grade
Clinton Elementary
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SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

• Understand the Scientific Method
• What makes a good project
• Choose a Topic
• Gather Information
• Form Hypothesis
• Develop Game Plan
• Gather Materials
• Perform Experiment / Record Data
• Analysis
• Conclusion
• Construct Display
• Short Report / Journal
• Presentation

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UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

• What are you trying to find out? Begin with a
  question.
• What is your constant and your variables?
• State your hypothesis. (your educated guess about
  what the answer will be)
• How will you measure the results?

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WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT

• Be interested make it something you like to
  think about
• You can do a test to find the answer to a
  question
• You can do it with little or no help
• It doesnt hurt or scare others
• Its a project that when done, makes you think of
  new things you want to know
• Keep a journal

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CHOOSING A TOPICor PROBLEM

• Think of Something you are interested in.
• People
• Animals
• Plants
• Rocks
• Space
• Weather
• Electricity

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CHOOSING A TOPICor PROBLEM

• Try to focus on one thing about that topic
• People What makes a person an adult?
• Animals How can I best train my pet?
• Plants How can plants best be protected from
  animals?
• Rocks What do the different colors in rocks
  mean?
• Space What is in the night sky?
• Weather How does the weather change?
• Electricity How does electricity work?

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CHOOSING A TOPICor PROBLEM

• Be more specific. What would you really like to
  find out?
• People How do fourth graders compare with
  adults?
• Animals Does the length of an animal training
  session make a difference?
• Plants Can companion planting protect beans from
  beetles?
• Rocks How do you detect minerals in rocks?
• Space Create a personal sky chart of the night
  sky.
• Weather Show how different instruments measure
  weather.
• Electricity Can a worn-out battery work?
• State your purpose

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GATHER INFORMATION

• Get information about your topic.
• Books
• Magazines
• Internet
• People
• Keeps notes

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STATE HYPOTHESIS

• Answer the question, to form an educated guess,
  before beginning the experiment
• State facts from past experiences or observations
  on which you base your hypothesis.
• Don't change your hypothesis even if
  experimentation does not support it. If time
  permits, repeat or redesign the experiment to
  confirm your results.

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DEVELOP A PROCEDUREGAME PLAN

• When, where, how, what and why are you going to
  do what it is you are going to do.
• Select only one element to change in your
  experiment. Don't forget things that can be
  changed are called variables. Change something
  that will help you answer your questions and keep
  the others fixed. You must be able to explain the
  variable changes and measure it. Then you run the
  experiment without these changes. This is called
  the control experiment. This allows measurement
  of change.
• Make a detailed plan of the steps you will
  follow, to help answer your question.

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MATERIALS

• Make a list of all of the materials you will need
  to complete your experiment.
• Gather the items together.
• Must use metrics as a form of measurement.

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PERFORM EXPERIMENT and RECORD DATA

• Follow your procedures.
• Collect and record information.
• Time
• Measurement (metric) weight, length, volume
• Temperature (metric)
• Looks (shape, color, draw pictures)
• Smells
• Observation Reactions, Results
• Take pictures

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ANALYSIS

• Put your data into charts, tables and or
  illustrations.
• Look for patterns.

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CONCLUSIONTHEORY

• Using the information you have collected, answer
  your original question.
• Was your hypothesis correct, or incorrect.
• If you were to perform this experiment again,
  what would you do differently?

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CONSTRUCTDISPLAY

• Keep it neat and clean
• Make it fun, but be sure others can understand
  what you did.
• The title is very important in a display board.
  It should be eye-catching and easy to read. Be
  sure that the letters are large enough to read
  across a room. Use dark colors for the title.
• Most display boards are of a 3 panel
  configuration and the traditional way to setup
  this type of board is
• Before you glue everything down, lay the board on
  a flat surface and arrange the materials a few
  different ways. This will help you decide on the
  most suitable and attractive presentation

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• From Janice VanCleave's Guide to the Best Science
  Fair Projects, Janice VanCleave (John Wiley
  Sons, Inc., 1997)

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SHORT REPORTJOURNAL

• Tell the story of your project
• Title Page Create a Title page including a
  project title, your name, school, and grade.
• Introduction The Introduction includes your
  hypothesis, an explanation of your idea and how
  you got it. Also include what you hoped to
  achieve when you started the project.
• Experiment Describe in detail the method you used
  to collect your data and observations. Your
  report should be detailed enough for anyone to be
  able to repeat your experiment by just reading
  the paper. It would be a good idea to include
  detailed photographs or drawings of your
  self-designed equipment.
• Discussion In this section, your results are
  analyzed. This section should flow logically so
  that the reader can easily follow your train of
  thought. Compare your data, with theoretical
  values, and expected results. Discuss how your
  results varied from similar events. Describe what
  you would do differently if you were to do this
  project again.
• Conclusion Summarize your results.
• Acknowledgments give credit to all who assisted
  you.
• References books or articles, internet, and
  people that you used.

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PRESENTATION

• Make it short but complete
• Explain its purpose, procedure, results, and
  conclusion.
• Be able to discuss your project and answer
  questions.
• Practice, practice, practice.

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REFERENCES CREDITS

• www. Scifair.org
• www. Isd77.k12.mn.us/resources
• www.school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral
• Janice VanCleave's Guide to the Best Science Fair
  Projects, Janice VanCleave (John Wiley Sons,
  Inc., 1997)
• All Websites accessed on 11/14/2002
• 20 Science Activities -Desktop Science B.K.
  Hixson (The Wild Goose Co. , 1994)
• Science Wizardry for Kids Margret Kenda Phyllis
  S. Williams (Barrons, New York, 1992)
• Compiled by Marjory Paskett 4th grade _at_ Clinton
  Elem. Clinton, UT, with the help of Lynn and
  Kenneth Paskett