8 Gold - Science Fair


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8 Gold Science Fair Welcome to the website for the 8 Gold Science Fair Project! This website was created for the the parents and students on 8 Gold at Oak Middle School. If any other students, teachers, or parents from other schools happen to visit this site, you are more than welcome to link/share this page as well as utilize the links and handouts available. If you know of any other resources that you think would make a good addition to this site, please let me know! I have provided numerous resources to help you through the different phases of a science fair project. All documents are housed on Google Docs. You can view them online or download them in their native format. (Please note that many documents may look distorted when you view them. When you download the file, it will look fine.) Pay attention to the Science Fair Calendar at the bottom of the page. These dates are flexible, and are meant to be guidelines to help you stay on track with your project. If you have questions or comments at any point, come talk with me.	Quick Links... General Docs and Resources Regional/State Fair Information Science Fair 2.0 Lab Notebook Choosing a Topic/Research Question Background Research Experimental Design Data Analysis Presentation Science Fair Google Calendar
General Science Fair Documents & Resources 8 Gold Science Fair Student Guide (docx) This is the handout received in class on the first day of this project. It gives a brief overview of what you will be doing over the next few months. Science Fair Rules and Regulations (pdf) This is specifically meant for the Worcester Regional Fair but will also apply to the OMS Science Fair Science Fair Project Rubric (doc) This is the rubric I will use to assess you on this project. This science fair will be the main focus for your "scientific inquiry" grade. "How To Guide" for Students by Students (Google Presentation) This is the PowerPoint I showed during the introductory meeting. It gives an excellent overview of what to expect when doing a science fair project. Science Fair student guide (pdf) This guide is provided by the MA State Science Fair and is probably the most helpful resource. It has excellent information for all steps of the science fair process. Some parts are a little advanced and geared more towards high school students. It is pretty lengthy so I did not print out a copy for you, but I highly recommend you download it! Lab Report Format Template (doc) Use this as a guide for your lab report. In fact, you could download this document and use it as a template. Great Overview of the "Scientific Method" Google Global Science Fair Google recently announced the first global online science fair for students aged 13-18. If you are interested in submitting your project, let me know and I can help you out with the steps. The embedded video below explains the registration process. You would need to post all of your project information online via Google Sites. Regional/State Science Fair Information Worcester Regional Science and Engineering Fair (WRSEF) website This is the website for both the middle and high school regional science fairs. Regional Science Fair Forms (docx) Research plan, registration form, Consent Form C, and Supervisor Form D WRSEF Judge's Rubric This is the actual "rubric" judges use at the Worcester Regional Science Fair WRSEF on YouTube! Massachusetts State Science Fair website Science Fair 2.0 Students will be using online resources improve communication and collaboration between students and myself throughout all phases of this project. Google Docs All students are required to create a lab report document and "build" onto it as you complete each phase of the project. This document will be shared with me so that I can give you frequent feedback. If you are working with a partner, you will create one document that is shared with each other. Setting Up Your Lab Notebook The science fair lab notebook is the hardest, yet most important part of your project. You are required to record EVERYTHING related to your project in a notebook. It must be detailed, organized, and written in pen. What makes a great science project notebook? Science Buddies handout Setting up your lab notebook (Google Presentation) Choosing a Topic/Research Question Explore these sites if you need help coming up with a topic. I have many books and science fair programs in my classroom that you can look through as well. Keep in mind that the best projects are original. If you find an interesting idea on one of these sites, change it in some way to make it your own. Do not copy it exactly! Choosing a good science fair question Four Question Strategy for Developing a Research Question This is a great method for developing an experiment based on a topic that interests you. I have provided an example for how this may look for a student interested in "Mentos and Diet Coke". MythBusters Forum Try looking through these M.B. forums to find a myth that you may like to put to the test! I would recommend you start your search with "Science and Myth Questions." Science Buddies Plenty of great ideas and advice. Use their "topic selection wizard" to help get an idea what interests you in science. Keep in mind though that this is a VERY popular site. The topics are no longer original and should be modified. All Science Fair Projects Hundreds of different projects. Search or browse ideas by topic DragonFly TV Science Fair Site Lots of cool ideas from forensics and makeup to snowboarding and ice hockey. Well worth a visit! Julian Trubin Science Fair Website Science Fair Project Ideas This site has easy, medium, and challenging projects. It also includes ways of testing a similar topic. Sport Science Cool site that explains the science behind many popular sports *Renewable Energy Project Ideas* Eco Ideas There are some very cool ideas. Look at their YouTube channel for lots of videos showing some of the cool ideas! Renewable Energy Project Plans Great ideas for energy-focused projects including wind turbines, solar ovens, and hydro generators eGFI: Dream Up the Future Engineering Activities Energy Quest Science Projects Energy Kids Science Fair KidWind Science Fair Ideas *Engineering Design Project Ideas* Engineering and Programming Project Tips Try Engineering Search lesson plans by age range and topic. Design Squad: Engineering Activities Background Research You must conduct background research into your topic so you can learn what is already known about the topic. The research will vary quite a bit depending on what you want to focus on. For each source that you find, you must write down the bibliographical information. Try to get a variety of sources including journals, magazines, books, websites, interviews, etc. All information must be recorded in your lab notebook. Use all of the resources given to you for the medieval research paper! Diigo Bookmarking Diigo an online "social bookmarking" site. This can be used in a few different ways for science fair projects: Bookmark online resources during the background research phase of the project. You can add "sticky notes" and highlight text on websites so you can easily revisit those sites and find the information that is needed. All resources should be tagged with "sciencefair" or a word related to your research topic. This also makes it much easier to build your bibliography later on because you don't need to waste time writing down all of the information; it is all saved for you in Diigo. If you are working with a partner (or if you know of another group doing a science fair topic on a similar topic), you can share bookmarks with each other. This is why it's called "social" bookmarking. You can also search for a topic within Diigo just like you would using a Google search engine. If you search for "renewable energy", it will give you a list of websites that other users have bookmarked with the tag "renewable energy". It also shows you the number of people who bookmarked each site. Background Research Plan Great Science Buddies resource that guides you on how to conduct background research on your chosen topic. I did not print this out for you because it's long, but everyone should read this tonight for homework. Ask an Expert This is a great resource from Science Buddies that allows you to have your questions answered by real scientists and experts in the field. You must sign up in order to post questions, but you can also browse topics and search for answers to other students' questions. Sweet Search This is a great search engine! Every website has been evaluated by research experts so you can trust them and the information they contain. It will not give you as many results as Google, but quantity is not always better than quality! Media Center: Student Resources Use this site to access online databases, reference sources, and research handouts. Popular Science Magazine Archives You can search for information found in any of their magazines over the last 138 years. Discover Magazine Archives Science Magazine Archives ChemMatters Articles by Topic This is a high school chemistry magazine. Scientific American Science News Science News for Kids Science Daily Other Science Resources Below are some science resource sites I provide to my students. These sites contain a lot of content information on different areas of science. Some also contain science fair ideas related to that topic. Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency This site has a lot of great information and resources for both experimental and engineering projects. Chemistry Resources Physics Resources Earth Science Resources Citing Your Sources/Bibliography OMS Media Center Bibliography Guide This guide gives examples for citing every type of reference you may use. EasyBib This is an easy to use bibliography citation generator that is free for MLA formatting. Experimental Design Designing Your Science Fair Experiment (Google Presentation) This is the slideshow I showed in class. Experimental Design Graphic Organizer (doc) Experimental Design Vocabulary (doc) This handout explains all you need know including different types of variables, controls, precision vs accuracy, etc. Writing A Good List of Materials and Procedure (doc) Independent, Dependent, and Controlled Variables Science Buddies Handout Hypothesis Science Buddies Handout Materials List Science Buddies Handout Experimental Procedure Science Buddies Handout Conducting the Experiment Science Buddies Handout Setting up a Data Table (doc) Data Analysis Data Analysis Tips Really good website that explains how to do various types of analysis for your data. Data Analysis and Graphing Science Buddies handout Summarizing your data More "in depth" look at data analysis Drawing Conclusions Science Buddies handout Create A Graph Good website that allows you to enter the data and create and customize many types of graphs. It is MUCH easier to use than Excel. Presentation Tips Tips for Displaying your Science Fair Board Science Fair Display Boards Science Buddies handout Tips for your presentation to the judges Science Fair Google Calendar