Transcript STEM Fair Powerpoint - Henry County Schools

2015 C.P.S. STEM Fair Parent
Informational Meeting
Welcome!
2015 STEM Fair
• For several years, Collinsville Primary students
have participated in the HCPS Science Fair.
We now refer to this as the STEM Fair:
• S- Science
• T- Technology
• E- Engineering
• M- Mathematics
• This encourages students to combine multiple
subject areas in their projects.
Which?
How?
Who?
What?
Why?
Where?
When?
The scientific method begins
when you ask a question about
something you observe.
Does my hair stand up longer with or without hairspray?
How far can 2nd graders throw a baseball?
Are bubbles always round?
Do birds eat more sunflower seeds in the morning or at
night?
Do Matchbox cars roll the same distance?
Ask a Question!
Does a Matchbox
car roll the same
distance when
released several
times?
The student will
need to look up
ways to measure
distance,
directions on the
construction of a
ramp, research
what slope is and
what tools are
needed when
measuring the
slope of the
ramp. Have
others tried this
before? What
did they learn?
Create your final
question using
the information
you have
gathered, then
you will be
ready to develop
your hypothesis.
You will be
ready to make
an educated
guess.
• A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work.
• You must state your hypothesis in a way that you can easily
measure, and of course, your hypothesis should be
constructed in a way that it helps you answer your original
question:
If ____[I do this] ____, then ___[this will happen]
.
Do Matchbox cars roll the same distance
when released?
I will release a Matchbox car from the top of a ramp
and measure the distance it travels.
release a Matchbox car from the same place on
the ramp
Smooth floor
10, 20 and 30 degree ramp
measure in inches to nearest quarter inch
If I change the angle of my testing ramp then the
Matchbox car will travel different distances.
If I release a Matchbox car from
the top of an incline at three
different angles, then I will
discover that the car travels a
longer distance as the slope
increases.
List the materials used in the
experiment. Be specific!
What temperature?
Materials
 1 Matchbox car
 12-ft tape measure
 Masking tape
 Shoe box and cardboard
 Paper and pencil
 Multi-purpose room floor
 Protractor and string
Procedure
The procedure is a detailed, stepby-step description of how you
conducted your experiment.
Someone should be able to repeat
your experiment after reading your
procedure.
Procedure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Build a ramp with a 30° , 20 °, 10 ° slope made from
cardboard and a shoebox. Do this by attaching a
string to a protractor making the slope of the
cardboard and the string match at each angle.
Mark a “go line” with tape at the top of the slope.
Place your car front wheels on the facing edge of the
tape.
Let go of the car from “go line.”
Place a labeled piece of tape where the car stopped
for each slope: 30°, 20°, and 10° .
Measure the distance that Car A traveled and record
the distance. Continue until each release has been
measured.
Record your data on a graph.
Test at least two more times, adding each result to
your graph.
Visual Aids
Pictures, graphs, or clip
art related to the
experiment can make a
presentation more
interesting.
DISTANCE TRAVELED BY MATCHBOX CAR
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Car A 30 °
Car B 20°
Test #1 Distance
Car C 10°
Test #2 Distance
Test #3 Distance
Location, car, release,
materials used for the
ramp, starting position,
floor surface
Slope or angle of the
ramp
slope
distance
same car and release
Build a ramp with a 30° , 20 °, 10 ° slope
Mark a “go line”
Variables
Variables refer to anything in
the experiment that could
have been done differently to
change the outcome of the
experiment.
Doing a Fair Test
• It is important for an experiment to be a fair test. You conduct a
fair test by making sure that you change one factor at a time
while keeping all other conditions the same.
• For example, let's imagine that we want to measure the distance
a toy car will travel down a sloping ramp. If we gently release the
first car, but give the second car a push start, did we do a fair test
of which slope forces the car to travel the furthest distance? No!
We gave the second car an unfair advantage by pushing it to
start. That's not a fair test! The only thing that should change
between the two tests is the ramp; we should start them down
the ramp exactly the same way.
• Conducting a fair test is one of the most important parts of doing
good, scientifically valuable experiments. To ensure that your
experiment is a fair test, you must change only one factor at a
time while keeping all other conditions the same.
• Scientists call the changing factors in an experiment
Control Variables
What stayed the Car
same?
Gentle release
Materials
Starting point
and position of
car
Location
Floor surface
Independent
(Manipulated) Variable
What one Slope or
thing did
angle of
you change
ramp
on purpose?
Dependent (measureable)
Variable
What change Distance
are you
traveled
observing?
Write down
the distance
the car
traveled for
each test
Your
observations
while performing
your experiment
This is where you
formally write the
information that is
on your display
board.
Results
After testing my hypothesis that a greater
ramp slope would increase the travel
distance of the Matchbox car, the results
were:
The average distance traveled at 30° over three
tests was 12.6 feet.
The average distance traveled at 20° over three
tests was 11.8 feet.
The average distance traveled at 10° over three
tests was 8 feet.
Conclusion
As a result of testing my hypothesis, I
came to the conclusion that changing
the angle of a ramp can increase the
distance a Matchbox car travels. In
order to reach a definite conclusion, all
angles would need to be tested to
determine which angle best allows
transference of momentum from the
surface of the ramp to the floor.
The STEM Fair Rubric
• All projects should be mounted on tri-fold
boards. If you need a board, one will be
provided for you.
• Preliminary Research Report
– Why was this project chosen?
– What did you learn about your topic before you
began?
– The report should be one to two pages in length.
It may be typed or neatly handwritten. It does not
need to be attached to your tri-fold board.
STEM Fair Time Line
•
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Topics for STEM Fair projects are due.
•
Friday, February 27, 2015
STEM Fair projects are due.
•
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Parents are invited to CPS to view projects from 5:00 – 6:00.
•
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Second Grade STEM Fair winner from CPS will be announced.
•
Wednesday, March 24, 2015
STEM Day at Laurel Park Middle School for grade level winners
•
Open House for student winners and their parents at Laurel Park Middle School
beginning at 6:00 p.m. followed by an Awards Ceremony from 7:00 – 7:30.
•
Helpful Internet Sites
http://www.ehow.com/search.html?s=science+projects&skin=corporate&t=all
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/
http://stemideas.org/
Final Thoughts
• Repeated Trials
– Experiments should be repeated to ensure accuracy.
• Oral Presentation
– Students should be prepared to describe their
projects and to answer questions.
– So each child really needs to take the leading role in
conducting the experiments and completing the
project board.
• Project boards are available tonight for those
that would like one.