Science Fair Projects - Complete Guide to a Winning Science Project Step 2 - Topic Research

First, get yourself a spiral notebook to be used as your journal. All science fair projects need to have notes taken as you work though them. This notebook is where you will record your topic research and your project research. It should have your ideas as well as those you get from printed information or from other people. It will also need to include descriptions of your experiment along with diagrams, graphs and other recorded notes of your results.

You will want all information written in the journal to be as neat as possible and make sure to include the date. This will be your complete and accurate record of your project from beginning to end. The information in the journal will be used to write your written report. Your journal will be displayed with your completed project.

Selecting a Topic

You want to get the best grade possible on your project, win awards at the fair and learn anything new about science you can. Judges will evaluate the science fair projects on a number of criteria. You will be able to achieve some or all of these as long as you spend the time working on your project it needs, so you will want to choose a topic you are interested in. If you can, it is best to choose a topic and stick with it. Don't bounce around from topic to topic.

Look at the World Around You

By using an exploring question you can turn things you see everyday into a science project. For an example, the grass in your neighbor's yard is always greener than in your yard. Why is his grass greener than ours? You have a question about plants. Could you turn it into a project? If you keep thinking about it, you might start to realize there is some nutrient in his soil that is not in yours.

If you keep your eyes and ears open and you start asking more exploring questions, you will find numerous things that could be turned into a project. You may wonder about the difference in paints. There are many questions you may have, but you don't always ask them.

Find a Topic in Science Magazines

If you find a topic in a science magazine, do not expect them to come with instructions on how to do the experiment. You will have to come up with that one on your own. Just look at facts that seeming interesting to you. If they lead you to ask and exploring question, you may have a project topic. You can even try looking into a science fair project book or Science Experiment Books.

Three Steps to a Topic

You have decided to enter a project into the science fair, but you really don't know where to start. The first thing you have to do is come up with a project idea. Start with a topic that interests you will have fun and learn something while working on this project. Here are a few hints for coming up with a project idea.

Look at these ideas and find a topic that interests you.

People
Animals
Plants
Rocks
Space
Weather
Electricity

There are many projects you can come up with using any one of these topic ideas. Come up with a question you have about one of these topics. You can start off with a simple question and make it a better question. Such as, "Why does it rain?" You want to get more specific about your question. So then you expound on it to become "How much rain did California get last year compared to 5 years ago?" Good topics for science fair projects include anything that you can do an experiment on to see if it is true or false.

Categories of Topic Ideas

Check with your teacher, but usually every fair has a list of categories. You may need to ask the advice of your teacher to find the right category for your project. You must have your project entered into the right category to win. If your project happened to get entered into the wrong category, you can be penalized because the judges are required to judge a project based on its category. For a list of categories, check out the resources on the web site below:

Your next step is to download a free copy of Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects to lead you through your own project.

A great resource for science project ideas, as well as how to do them, is the science project blog. Definitely worth bookmarking.

Good luck!

About the Author
Aurora Lipper has been teaching science to kids for over 10 years. She is also a mechanical engineer, university instructor, pilot, astronomer and a real live rocket scientist (You should see the lab in her basement!) She has inspired thousands of kids with the fun and magic of science.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Science Fair Projects - Complete Guide to a Winning Science Project Step 7 - Your Presentation

Your science fair project is completed, but your teacher wants an oral presentation of your project and you have to say it in front of the whole class. What do you do? You want to start by writing down what you want to say. Science fair projects that do the best also have a good presentation.

What do you tell them About Your Science Fair Project?

Science fair projects often have an oral presentation as a part of them. You will be talking about your science fair project, so you want them to know the reason for your experiment. What was the question you were trying to answer?

Then you will want to tell them how you did your experiment. What did you actually do to find the answer to your question? The next thing you will want to tell them is the results of the experiment. What happen when you did your experiment?

Finally, all science fair projects have a conclusion. What was the answer? Did your experiment answer your question? If the experiment did not answer your question, why didn't the experiment answer your question?

Make notes on the things you want to say in your presentation. You want to make your thoughts clear when you are speaking to the class or even the judges at the science fair.

Practice, Practice, and More Practice

Look over what you have written down and then practice and practice. If you have a tape recorder, you can tape yourself so you can hear how you sound and what you say.

You can get someone to video tape you. Then you can watch it while you are taking notes on what your might need or want to change about your presentation.

Practice in front of your friends or family members. Ask them for questions about your project. If you don't know the answer, it is best to say you did not discover that answer during your research. Then go on to tell them something interesting about your project.

You need to be proud of your project and the work you have put into it. Speaking with enthusiasm will make you sound confident and excited about your project. They will give you points on how well you can discuss your project, and answer questions about your project. You want the judges to know you did the actual work. Science fair projects that can be clearly explained get good grades.

You can decide on the best way to dress for your presentation to your classmates, but for the actual science fair you will want to look your best.

Judging Tips.

Most science fairs use a similar point system to judge the projects. You will be a little more prepared if you know a little about how the judges will decide on the scores. Here are some things that should earn you extra points.

Project Goal

Used an original idea for your project
You stated the problem clearly
You gave the definition and label each item used
What you read on the subject related to the problem



Project Skills
You know and understand the equipment you used
You did the majority of the experiment on your own without outside help
You showed skills that were needed to do the work for you to get the information
you needed


Collecting Information
You used a journal to write down the information
You did the experiment more than once to double check the results
You made sure you gave the experiment enough time to finish
You had results that could be measured


Understanding the Information
You used table, graphs, and illustrations to show the information you collected
You used research to make the information you collected clear
You collect enough information to come to a conclusion
You used only the information you collected to come to a conclusion


Presentation of the Project
You had a complete report with all the information needed
You answered questions accurately
You used the display in the oral presentation
You gave a good explanation for your conclusion based on the information you collected.
You summarized what you learned
You made your display look creative and original
You made your display attractive and interesting.

If you follow these guidelines to a successful science fair project presentation, you'll do great.

Your next step is to download a free copy of Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects to lead you through your own project.

A great resource for science project ideas, as well as how to do them, is the science project blog. Definitely worth bookmarking.

Good luck!

About the Author
Aurora Lipper has been teaching science to kids for over 10 years. She is also a mechanical engineer, university instructor, pilot, astronomer and a real live rocket scientist (You should see the lab in her basement!) She has inspired thousands of kids with the fun and magic of science.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Science Fair Projects - Complete Guide to a Winning Science Project - Step 2 - Topic Research

I'm going to point out a few helpful hints to help in making successful science fair projects. With a little help, you should easily be able to make a great project!!

If you're still not quite sure how to pick a topic, let me help.

It is really important to make sure you pick an interesting topic for your science fair project. After all, you are going to have to do a lot of research and experimenting. Here are some broad examples for topics:


Plants
Animals
Weather
Outer Space

Obviously, you don't want your topic to be too broad. So think about what you're interested in, and then narrow it down. For example, if you're interested in plants, think of something a little more specific. Maybe you're interested in the differences between growing a plant outdoors and growing a plant indoors.
Now that you've decided on something a bit more specific, it's time to go one step further. Think of ways you can narrow even that down. It's really important to be as exact as possible. Think of a very, very specific question you would like to answer. For example, what is the difference between petunias grown inside versus petunias grown outside?

So you've got the topic. Now it's time to do some research.

Here are the three main types of science fair projects:

Investigation


Ask yourself questions and test them out!
Observe the differences between a plant living outside in the sun or a plant living inside in a dark room


Use a kit/model

Any science or craft store should help out with this one
Model airplanes

Demonstrate and experiment with a scientific principle

And most importantly, make sure to use the scientific method!!

If you've forgot what it is, I'll break it down for you one more time...

Purpose:- ask yourself a question. What is it you want to find out or test?
Hypothesis:- predict a possible answer to your question
Procedure:- do your research and experiment
Results:- this is where you get to make charts, tables, diagrams, etc. to represent all of your hard work
Conclusion:- now you can talk about what you've learned from doing the project and list any additional questions you may have

Some tips for research

Look around

This seems so obvious, but it is so true. Look around and ask yourself some questions. Statement starting with "I wonder" make excellent starting points. Look and listen to those around you. You'll probably get some great ideas.

Every day, you go through many different experiences worthy of testing. Think of the people and environment you constantly interact with. Are you curious about the weather? How about the plant life? Use every day experiences and interactions to come up with an idea for a project.

Use science magazines

Science magazines are a great way to find ideas for your science fair projects. For example, perhaps you read an article about bears and hibernation. Maybe you wonder why bears need to hibernate, and other animals do not. Science magazines are great sources for research because they can help to answer very specific questions.

If you still need a little help picking a science project, download a free copy of the "Easy Steps to Award Winning Science Projects" from the link below.

With all these tips, you should be on your way to a great science fair project! Be creative, and have fun!

Your next step is to download a free copy of Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects to lead you through your own project.

A great resource for science project ideas, as well as how to do them, is the science project blog. Definitely worth bookmarking.

Good luck!

About the Author Aurora Lipper has been teaching science to kids for over 10 years. She is also a mechanical engineer, university instructor, pilot, astronomer and a real live rocket scientist (You should see the lab in her basement!) She has inspired thousands of kids with the fun and magic of science.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Science Fair Projects - Complete Guide to a Winning Science Project Overview

You are doing a science fair project. Good for you. Your project could be chosen to enter into your school fair and move on to regional, state, or national competition. You will have a chance to show off your work at the science fair. You could possibly even receive a award. Science fair projects can be a lot of fun, or they can be a nightmare. It all depends on how you go about doing it. The most important benefit of entering a science fair is that you will learn something cool about science. You can learn a lot by just watching and sharing ideas with the other participants at the science fair.

Do you like mysteries? Science fair projects are a lot like a mystery where you are the detective looking for the answers to your question. You will get the chance to test your detective skills when you take on a science project. You will become the creator of your own scientific experiment that will help you solve your mystery. You will search for clues which will lead you to the answer to your question or mystery. Here is a list of the names of the subjects you will need to read to get the guidance and the ideas you need. They will also tell you all the things you need to know for your science fair project to be a success.

Scientific Method - Research, Problem, Hypothesis, Experiment, Conclusion

This section will help you with tips on how to research your science project. It will help you decide on the problem, and you will learn how to suggest a hypothesis, It will teach you about experiments and the conclusion.

Topic Research - Project types, Three Steps to a Topic, Research a Topic, Topic Ideas

The topic research section is the section that will help you decide on a topic for your science project

Project Research - Primary Research, Secondary Research

You will learn the difference of primary and secondary research. You will learn how to write a bibliography and you will get tips on how to get an interview with people who know a lot about the topic you have chosen.

A Sample Project - Starting Your Project, Procedures, Results, Explaining Your Results, Hypothesis Content, Abstract, Introduction, Experiment and Data, Conclusion, Sources, Acknowledgements. This section will walk you step by step through a sample project so you learn everything you need to know before starting your own project. You will learn how to write an Abstract, the Introduction, the Experiment and Data and the Conclusion. These are all important pieces of information you will need to know when doing the written report for your project.

The Display - The display is important in getting your project noticed and remembered. You will learn all the tips and tricks to making a great looking display for your science fair project.

Presentation and Evaluation - Have you ever given a presentation in front of all of your classmates before? This section will give you all the dos and don'ts for give a good presentation to your classmates. After your classmates you will be ready for the science fair judges at the science fair.

After reading all of this information you will be ready to start on your project. Work hard and follow the steps written in this article and your project will be a success. Lots of kids just like you have done great science fair projects. I've put together a whole series of articles that go into detail on each step of your science fair project. You can look for links here to more articles, or you can find them all together at the web site below.

Good luck!

If you're ready to get going with your own science project, your next step is to download a free copy of Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects.

Good luck!

About the Author

Aurora Lipper has been teaching science to kids for over 10 years. She is also a mechanical engineer, university instructor, pilot, astronomer and a real live rocket scientist (You should see the lab in her basement!) She has inspired thousands of kids with the fun and magic of science.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.