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By Crickett Buker Indian River County Science and Engineering Fair Director Science fair projects at the middle school level are much more advanced than elementary projects. Main differences More stringent rules A proposal must be submitted to teacher for approval. Forms MUST be filled out, signed and dated prior to experimentation. 6th-8th grade compete with each other. A student can advance to state level competition. This is not a class project. So what does/does not make for a good middle school project? Product comparisons and surveys are not suitable for middle school. Models and demonstrations are not science fair projects. A good project allows for measurable results, such as time, distance, capacity or temperature changes. Speaking of measurement… Metric is the language of science: meter, liter, gram, Celsius. Do NOT use cups, pints, ounces, pounds, inches, feet, Fahrenheit. Time is the same in metric: seconds, minutes, hours. Where do I begin? Research topics that interest you. Topic selection is the hardest part! Write a proposal of experiment in your log book. What problem are you investigating? Write a DETAILED procedure. Identify your variables. Submit your proposal to your teacher. Log Book EVERYTHING you do should be recorded in your log book. Use pen, not pencil. Date every entry (extremely important). Do NOT tear out pages or white out or scratch out changes. Draw ONE line through changes. Your entries should document your topic research, your proposal, the date the proposal was submitted and returned—everything! Log book sample entry 9/3/08 Today I logged on to the internet to research possible experiment topics. I found several that interested me. Here are the website addresses: http://www.fantasticidea.com http://www.iwonfirstplace.org I discussed the prospects with my teacher and my Mom and decided to do…. What next? AFTER your teacher has approved your proposal, (record the date submitted and approved in your log book) you MUST fill out all required forms. These forms are required—they aren’t hard to do, but you must pay attention to the details! (That is part of science, too.) Which forms do I fill out? ALL projects require a form 1, 1A, Research plan, 1B, and 3. These MUST be completed in blue ink and submitted to your teacher. Leave no line blank EXCEPT actual start and end date (form 1A, #6). Research plan This “form” does not look like a form because there are no blanks to fill in. Read it carefully. You must provide all of the information outlined on this form on another sheet of paper. It should be typed. It must include a bibliography, with a minimum of 5 sources. Your bibliography must use MLA format. We will go over this in class. If your project involves a vertebrate animal, there MUST be a 6th source on care of that animal. Refresh my memory, what is a vertebrate? Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Mammals More forms Additional forms MAY be required depending on the nature of your project. Examples: Working with a vertebrate animal? You will need ONE of the #5 forms. Humans involved in your project? Form 4. Working with a scientist at a research lab? Form 1C Being helped by a scientist? Form 2 PRIOR APPROVAL All projects requiring additional forms require prior approval by a specific review board. Your teacher will get the forms to the board, and you MAY NOT start your project until the board approves the project. (Your teacher will let you know.) Where do I get these forms? Your teacher www.sciserv.org Look in document library. IF 2011 forms are not posted and you want to get started, use the 2010 forms. But I want to start NOW!!!!! Write your proposal. Get it approved by your teacher. Fill out your forms. Your teacher will be your adult sponsor: Joseph Refsland IF I approve your project, you may begin work on your project. Experimentation After you gather your materials and are ready to start, document everything in your log book. Create a chart to record data. A good experiment is repeated many times OR has a large test group. Examples If you are doing an experiment with plants, insects, brine shrimp, or human subjects you should have a LARGE number in each test group. (And always have a control group.) If you are running an experiment that involves timed trials, repeat the experiment as many times as possible and find the mean of your results. Variables These are factors in your experiment that you must identify. (They are a part of your proposal.) Independent-the one thing that you are changing in your experiment. Dependent-What are you measuring? Constants-everything you keep the same for fairness. Control-a group to which the independent variable is NOT applied to. Report I require a detailed research report on the topic of your experiment to be done. In this way I know if you have done sufficient research to thoroughly know your topic and develop your hypothesis. In order to write a report, you should research your topic and make copies of websites that have information specific to your topic. READ them, become familiar with your topic. Place them in a folder labeled “Reprint file” and display this with your project. Important form information You may NOT begin experimentation until all forms are signed and dated by the necessary adults. *The adult sponsor is usually your teacher. Parent signature is required on forms 1B and 3. Graphing results The Excel program or other computer graphing programs should be used to develop computer generated graphs. The judges will be looking for good math in your results. Can you find the mean, median and mode? Your teacher may teach you some more advanced statistics for analyzing your results. Abstract An abstract is a summarized version of your project. It must be typed on the official state abstract form. It includes the purpose, hypothesis, procedure, data analysis and conclusion. It is written in past tense and 200-250 words in length. Make 3 copies, one for your final report, one for your show board, and one for your records. www.fffs.ucf.edu Title Problem Materials Data (graphs) Hypothesis Abstract Procedure Variables Data Analysis Conclusion Completed Project Title Page Abstract Table of contents Introduction problem, hypothesis, why you selected this project and what you hope to achieve Materials and procedures Data (tables and graphs) Data Analysis Discussion Conclusion Recommendations Acknowledgements Research report Bibliography Contacts Cynthia Falardeau 564-0034 Crickett Buker 564-4043 The Education Foundation of Indian River County are the proud sponsors of this program and provide funding for the regional fair. In addition the foundation provides the funds for student participation in state and international competition.