Name: ____________________________________

ScienceFairPlanningDocument

#1.ChooseaTopic
Goto
www.sciencebuddies.org
andtakethesurveytohelpyouchooseyourproject.

Mysciencefairprojecttopicis_______________________________________________________
Iwillbe__________________________________________________________________________
TounderstandthesciencebehindmyprojectIwilldoresearchon
o __________________________________________________________________________
o __________________________________________________________________________
o __________________________________________________________________________
o __________________________________________________________________________

#2.Stateyourpurposeasaquestion.Whatisitthatyouwanttofindoutbydoingthisproject?

Thepurposeofmyprojectisto(verb)______________________________________________________

SomequestionsIhaveare
o __________________________________________________________________________
o __________________________________________________________________________
o __________________________________________________________________________
o __________________________________________________________________________

#3.Research
Researchyourproblem.Lookatanybooks/websitesthatmighthelpyou,makeobservationsby
simplylookingatthings,talktopeople,andfindoutasmuchaspossibleaboutyourtopic.

ResearchPaperDirections:T
hepurposeofyourresearchpaperistogiveyoutheinformation
necessarytounderstandwhyyourexperimentturnsoutthewayitdoes.

WriteyourresearchpapersummaryherebutturninyourtypedresearchpaperbyMonday
Include:
Titlepage(withthetitleofyourproject,yourname,yourteachersname,andthesciencefairdate)
Yourreport
o Thehistoryofsimilarexperimentsorinventions
o Definitionsofallimportantwordsandconceptsthatdescribeyourexperiment
o Answerstoallyourbackgroundresearchplanquestions
o Mathematicalformulas,ifany,thatyouwillneedtodescribetheresultsofyourexperiment
Bibliography(DothisinAPAformat)


Pleasecopyandpastethisrubrictoyourpaperwhenyouturnitin.
Name
______________________________________
Homeroom
____________

ScienceFairProjectResearchPaperRubric
Excellent
Good
Poor
Incomplete
(15points)
(13points)
(10points)
(5points)
Titlepageincludes
Titlepageismissingone Titlepageismissingtwo Titlepageismissing
Title
studentsname,subject, ofthefollowing:studentsofthefollowing:studentsseveralcomponentsand
(3)
teacher,andsciencefair name,subject,teacher, name,subject,teacher, isdifficulttounderstand.

daterightjustified.Titleis orsciencefairdateright andsciencefairdate

boldfacedandcentered
justified.
rightjustified.Title

midpageandconcisely Titleaddressesproject somewhataddresses

addressesprojecttopic.
topic.
projecttopic.

Studentintroducesa
Studentintroducesa
Studentintroducesa Studentismissingtwo
specificandtestabletopic specificandtestable
specificandtestable ormoreofthefollowing:
question,provides
topicquestion,provides
topicquestion,but
topicquestion,
backgroundinformation backgroundinformation
provideslittle
backgroundinformation,
Background
onscienceconcepts
onsomescience
backgroundinformation
andwhystudentis
Information
relatedtothequestion, concepts,andexplains
onscienceconcepts interestedinthetopic.
(20)
andexplainswhystudent whystudentisinterested relatedtothequestion.
isinterestedinthetopic.
inthetopic.
Studentdoesnotexplain

whyheorsheis
interestedinthetopic.
Allsourcesarecorrectly Allsourcesarecorrectly
Mostsourcesare
Sourcesaremissing
citedinAPAformat.
citedinAPAformat.
correctlycitedinAPA and/orincorrectlycited.
Bibliography
Includesnumerousand
Includesatleastfew format.Includesonlyone
(7)
varietyofsourcesNo
differentsources.No source.Noplagiarism!
plagiarism!
plagiarism!

TimesNewRomanor
TimesNewRomanor FontotherthanTimes Reportshowslackof
Arialfont,size12,
Arialfont,size12,
NewRomanorArial,size effortandisunclear
singlespaced.Student singlespaced.Student 12.Studenthasseveral
throughout.
usescorrectgrammar,
hasfewerthanfive
misspelledwords,poor
punctuation,andspelling mistakesinthereport.
grammar,andpoor
OverallContent throughoutthereport.
Reportmostlyusesa punctuation.Reportdoes
(15)
Reportusesaformal
formalstyle.Report
notuseaformalstyle.
style.Reportflowsfrom jumpsfromoneideato Reportdoesnotflowand
oneideatothenext. thenext,butdoesdisplay isdifficulttounderstand.
Contentiscorrectand clearunderstandingof
complete.
theproject

TotalScore:_________/45points

#4.Hypothesischooseoneofthesentencestartersbelowtowriteyourhypothesis.

(1) If_____
[Idothis]
_____,then_____
[this]
_____willhappen.
a. Example:IfIheatanapplethenitwillnotturnbrownasquickly.

(2) Iknowthatwhen_______
[thishappens,thisoccurs]
_______.So,when_____
[this]
______is
(increased,ordecreased)________
[Ithinkthiswilloccur]
_________.
a. Example:Iknowthatwhen
youcutapplesandleavethemonthecountertop,theyturn
brown
.Sowhen
thetemperatureoftheapple
is
increased

theapplewillnotturnbrown
.

#5.
PlanYourProject
Howwillyoutestyourhypothesis?Whatexperimentswillyoudo?Howwillyou
measuretheresults?Wherewillyoukeepyourinformation?

ControlledVariable

IndependentVariable

DependentVariable

(whatyouchange)

(themeasuredresult)

Ex.Applenotheated

Ex.Amountoftimeappleis
heated

Ex.Amountoftimeittakes
fortheappletoturnbrown

Myprocedurewillbe

#6.Materials:
ThematerialsIwillneedare:(Material/approximatecost/whereyouwillgetitfrom)
Ex.12largeeggs,$23,grocerystore

#7
.MeasurementTools
:aruleroryardstickifyouaremeasuringdistance,aclockto
measure
time,etc.
Checkthemeasurementstobesureyouarecorrect.Conductyourexperiments.Remember,themoretimes
youdoanexperimentthemorereliableandaccuratetheresultswillbe.Doeachexperimentatleastthree
timesandgetanaverageoftheresults.
Sketchyourdatatableandyourgraphhere
.
Ex
.BrowningTimeofHeatedApples

Variables:

Trial
1

Trial
2

Trial
3

Trial
4

average

Appleunheated

Appleheated(5minutes)

Appleheated(10minutes)

#8
Recordyourdata:(Analysis)
Observationstarters:

DuringtheexperimentIobserved..

WhatIsawwas

BasedonwhatIobservedIthink.

Becausethe.Itispossiblethat.

WhenIlookatmydataInoticedthat.

Whatwassurprisingwas..

Ididnotexpectthat.

Itsimportanttonoticethat..

Istillneedto..

#9.Conclusion
Whatdidyoulearnfromyourexperiments?Haveyouprovedordisprovedyourhypothesis?Youmadea
guessaboutwhatyouthoughtwouldhappen.Nowtellwhatreallydidhappenandwhy.CER
CLAIM:(restateyourexperimentquestion,purposeofexperimentandyourhypothesis.Thenwriteaclaim
answeringyouroriginalquestion.Wasyourhypothesis
supportedornotsupported
bytheexperiment
results?)
Evidence:(defendyourclaimbytalkingaboutyourevidence.Whatdoesyourdatatellyou?Whatelsedid
youobservethathelpstosupportyourclaim?)
Reasoning:(Whatdidyoulearnfromyourresearchthatcanexplainwhyyourexperimentdidwhatitdid?)

#10.Prepareyourclasspresentation:Signupforapresentationdateandwriteithere.
MYCLASSPRESENTATIONISON___________________________________________________________________
Iwilldoa(selectone)GoogleSlides,slideshow,Preziother______________________

ScienceFairPresentations
StudentName:______________________________________________

Exemplary

JUDGINGCRITERIA

Accomplished

Developing

Beginnin
g

None

Purpose/Question
isclearlydefinedandgradelevel
appropriate.

BackgroundResearch
iswelldoneandhelpedstudent
identifythescientificconceptsoftheinvestigation.

Hypothesis
iswelldefinedandtestable.

PlanningandPreparation
isobviousincluding
materialslisted,clearprocedureandsafetyprecautions.

ExperimentalProcedure
islogicalandorganized.
Experimentshowsgoodsample(trial)sizeanddatawas
collectedinmetricunit.

Evidence
isprovidedinmultiplemethodsthatare
effective.Datachart,photographs,graphsand
observationnotesprovideaccurateevidence.

Conclusionwriting
isstatedinmultipleorganized
paragraphs.Itisbasedontheresultsoftheexperiment
andeffectivelyevaluateshis/herproject.

Conclusion/application
includesstatementabout
possibleerrorsduringtheexperimentand/orhowto
improvetheproject.

OralPresentation
skillshelpstheproject.Studentwas
wellpreparedtopresent.

VisualPresentation
Waswellprepared,attractiveand
addstotheoverallexperienceoftheexperiment.

Total:____________