Oyster Science Fair and Science Projects
General Information for Students and Parents
The Oyster Science Fair is scheduled for February. At the Oyster Science Fair, students will present their science projects, in the form of a display describing a scientific study they have done. Projects will be judged as part of the fair. Science projects are mandatory for 4th, 5th and 6th grade students. These projects require a lot of preparation, so students should begin planning over the winter break. Students in younger grades are welcome to participate if they choose, and teachers of younger grades will organize class projects. Teachers will provide more information in January, which may vary from grade to grade and class to class, but to help students prepare, here are some general guidelines and suggested resources.
Steps to Prepare a Science Fair Project
- Select a Topic A science fair project is a test you do to find an answer to a question, it is not a report which shows what you know about something. See the resource list (below) to help get ideas, but students are strongly encouraged to develop original projects. Work with your teachers to pick a topic that relates to what is happening in your classroom (and the standards associated with your grade.).
- Gather Background Information Gather information about your topic from books, magazines, the Internet, people and companies. Keep notes about where you got your information. Make a list of the most important sources. This should be included with your poster.
- What is the problem? Include some of the background information
- What are you trying to find out? State your hypothesis which is your guess about what the answer will be. Decide how you will test your hypotheses and how you will measure your results. What are your variables?
- Do the experiment as you described it Keep your notes in one place. Write down everything that happens, you might need the information later.
- What happened? Answer that question, and then put the results in a graph or a chart.
- Conclusions-what did you learn from your experiment? Was your prediction correct? If it wasn't correct, how do you explain your results? Remember, your prediction was only a guess and we learn a lot from wrong predictions.
- Other Questions: Given what you have learned, can you think of any other questions that you might want to ask? You should include at least 2 questions for further research.
- Construct a Poster or Display You want to be sure that people can understand your experiment. Neatness is important! Use graphs, pictures, construction paper, and add color to make your project stand out. Include a title, background information, a clear statement of your hypothesis with your variables, your results and conclusions. You can use either Spanish or English for your presentation – the language of science will come through either way, and there will be a number of bilingual judges.
- Practice your Presentation Practice explaining your project to someone (parent, friend, grandparent, etc.) This will help you be calm on Science Fair Day. The judges are very nice and will be interested in what you did and what you learned. A limited number of awards will be given based on creativity, the quality of the display, explanation of the display and use of the Scientific Method (showing a hypothesis, a procedure that tests variables, data and results, interpretation of the results and follow-up questions).
- Come to the Fair and have fun! See you there!
Resource List
Libraries. Ask a public librarian or Oyster's librarian, Ms. Kleinman, for books on topics of interest. The school library also has several books with specific ideas for science projects. Don't forget about encyclopedias for background information!
Museums. There are terrific science museums in DC to inspire you, particularly: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (Check out the Discovery Room) and the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences.
Internet
Spanish sites Teaching science to your children: http://www.cienciafacil.com/introduccion.html
Developing science projects: http://www.cienciafacil.com/feriadeciencias.html
English sites
Background Information: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Developing science projects: Cyber-Fair, http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/ideas.html
Internet Public Library KidSpace: http://www.ipl.org/div/projectguide/
Aldine Science Project: http://learn.rice.edu/science_fair/index.htm
Discovery.com: http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/
Cole's 4th grade science project: http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/ExmSciProj.html
Dr. Shawn's Super Science Fair Support Center: http://www.scifair.org/
Most of the above links and additional material can be found on Mr. Gamarra's web page: http://www.schoolnotes.com/20008/oyster6.html.
Link on "Página de Ciencias," then "Feria de Ciencias"