Science FairDecember 7, 2015

Mandatory for 7th grade

Meme Moment

Scientist of the Day

Clair Patterson• Worked on Manhattan

Project• New techniques for figuring

out the age of artifacts, meteorites, the earth, etc (kind of like carbon dating)

• Age of the earth = 4.5 billion years

• Kept finding lead in everything

• Traced it back to leaded gasoline – it was poisoning people!

What’s reasonable for science fair?

7th grade HAS to do this. 6th & 8th optional.

• Testing an idea by experiment!• You do it yourself (don’t just do what your parents

tell you or let them take over)• It doesn’t cost too much money – aim for $20 or

less• If you have a really good idea and plans about

how to make it work, Ms. B can help you get lab access at Notre Dame – no guarantees

Are your parents taking over?

• Is it your idea or theirs?• Do you need to use power tools? You should be

the one operating the tools or giving instructions to the Home Depot employee.

• Do you need a lab to complete the project? You should learn how to use/interpret the equipment (supervision expected).

Example• Probably not allowed to use a $500,000 machine,

but a grad student could run your sample and you could figure out how to read it:

Choosing a Project• Make sure it’s an experiment (that answers a question),

not just a demo (that only shows something cool)

Examples of Demos:• Baking soda & vinegar volcano• Marshmallow catapult• Building something from a kit• Rube Goldberg machineExamples of Experiments:• What is the best ratio of baking soda & vinegar to

produce CO2 quickly? What other variables will change the results?

• Does the catapult appear to obey the law of gravity exactly? What other factors are affecting the flight path?

Documentation• The difference between science and randomness

is writing it down.

• Write or type neatly!• All numbers should be written in metric/SI units.• Get a separate notebook or folder for science fair.• Be as objective as possible. (8th grade: use

empirical evidence)• Pictures are good!• When in doubt, write it down!

Lab Report1. Descriptive title – if someone only read this,

would they know what you’re doing?2. Question3. Hypothesis4. Materials list in metric units5. Procedure – how to do your experiment6. Results (Observations)7. Conclusions – what your results mean8. Reflection – sources of error, what to do next, etc

IdeasAdditional information about regionals: • http://sciencefair.nd.edu/

Project ideas: • http://www.education.com/science-fair/middle-sch

ool/• http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projec

ts/science_project_ideas.php

• (Note that some of these ideas are better classified as demonstrations – feel free to modify them!)

Getting StartedDue Wednesday, even if you aren’t doing science fair:

• Write down your question, hypothesis, and a rough idea of how you’ll test it

• Ms. B will approve your idea, help you modify it, or ask for another idea

• Backup idea recommended!