Science Fair

Lake Eola Charter School’s Cluster 2 is about to begin

working on the Science Fair for this year. This is NOT
meant to be stressful or overwhelming for the students, nor
is it a competitive event between students. My goal for the
first several weeks is to teach the Scientific Method to my
students in a way that they can understand. I do not want
the students to simply memorize terms, but to truly
understand the meanings.
This is meant to be fun, educational, and hopefully a life-
long learning experience. With this said, here are some
basic requirements for the Science Fair.

1. All 4th and 5th graders must participate.

2. Students may work independently or in groups of 2,
as long as they are in the same block or class.
3. If students choose to work in pairs on this project,
then everyone must be equally involved. Students
working in pairs will have to document in their
journals the dates, times, and location of their
meetings with a parent signature for verification.
Also included must be a list of what each student did
specifically on the project. It is very important that if
the students work together in pairs that everyone does
an equal amount of the work.
4. This officially begins today Tuesday, February
24th, 2009 and the finished product is due on
Wednesday, May 20, 2009.
 5. Procedures will be taught and explained in class, but
the individual project will be done outside of the
classroom.
6. Projects will be scored on the attached rubric.

7. Students must review this packet with their

parents. Parents please sign and return the last
page by Wednesday, March 18, 2009.
8. Students will have until Wednesday, March 18, 2009
to decide the topic for their Science Fair project. On
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 students must submit
their questions being researched in their projects.
This must be turned into me in written or typed form.
It must also be signed by the student and their parent.
Below is a sample of what I will need each student to
turn in to me.

John Smith
Mrs. Joerg’s 2nd Period Class
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Question: Which popcorn popper is the most efficient?

I will be working with one other student: Sally Smith.

Parents: There are wonderful websites available for 4th

and 5th grade science fair projects. Also you can find great
books for these projects at the library.
Notes for the science fair must be written in ink and kept in a
Science Fair journal and will be used to make their Science
Fair display board. I will help the students properly label
sections of their journals. The students will also be graded on
their journals.

Sections to be kept in your notebook

(please write in ink)
• Table of contents of the following items with dates
• Problem: (must be in the form of a question)
• Research:
• Hypothesis: (your educated guess)
• Materials: all materials needed to do this project
• Variables: things that change in the experiment
• Controls: (control group) – things that stay the same in
the experiment
• Observations: (pictures)
• Procedures: all steps needed to do the project
• Results:
a. Collect Data: What happened when you did
the experiment?
b. Conduct at least three trials for each variable
in your experiment.
c. Record the results in some sort of graph.
Examples: bar graph, circle graph, picture
graph, ect.
• Conclusion: Was your hypothesis right or wrong?
What happened and what did you learn?
• Bibliography: (list of sources)
 Sections to be
Typed on the Display Board
• Problem: (must be in the form of a question)
• Hypothesis: (your educated guess)
• Materials: all materials needed to do this project
• Procedures: all steps needed to do the project
• Observations: (pictures)
• Results:
a. Collect Data: What happened when you did
the experiment?
b. Conduct at least three trials for each
variable
in your experiment.
c. Record the results in some sort of graph.
Examples: bar graph, circle graph, picture
graph, ect.
• Conclusion: Was your hypothesis right or wrong?
What happened and what did you
learn?
If you did the experiment again how
would you do it differently and would
you get the same results?

*Please note: The written part of your display board

must be typed and displayed attractively and neatly.
 Cluster II
Science Fair Timeline

Event Date Due

Science fair packet 3/18/09

AND problem due in class
(both need parent signatures)

Hypothesis due in class 4/8/09

Students must begin all projects 4/9/09

Conclude experimentation 5/6/09

analyze data, and draw conclusions

Projects due in class 5/20/09

***I will be checking the students’ journals on a regular basis.

It is imperative that they keep up with their journals.
 Science Fair Projects: Websites

http://www.scienceproject.com/projects/index/elementary.asp

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-
projects/recommender_register.php (this website ask questions
and suggests possible project ideas based on interests)

http://chemistry.about.com/od/sciencefairprojects/a/sciproelem
.htm

http://www.sciencefairsanity.com/home/sci/smartlist_9/free_ele
mentary_science_fair_projects_3rd___5th_gr.html

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/articles/elementary-project-
ideas.html

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/
 Lake Eola Charter School
Science Fair Project

Name: ________________________ Teacher: Mrs. Joerg

Date: ______________ Period: ___________

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Creativity The project is The project is good The project is The project is
outstanding overall. fair overall. poor overall.
overall.

Scientific The student has The student has a The student has The student does
Explanations mastered all proficient a basic not understand
aspects of the understanding of understanding the project or
project and all of the project and of the project much of the
the information most of the and some of the information
related to it. information related information related to it.
to it. related to it.

Scientific Method Project Project Project Project did not

effectively demonstrated a demonstrated a demonstrate a
demonstrated a solid understanding basic level knowledge of
comprehensive of all steps in the understanding steps in the
understanding of scientific method. of most steps in scientific method
all steps in the the scientific
scientific method method

Data Collection Student provided Student provided a Student No conclusion

a detailed somewhat detailed provided a was apparent OR
conclusion conclusion clearly conclusion with important details
clearly based on based on the data some reference were overlooked
the data and and related to the to the data and
related to hypothesis the hypothesis
previous research statement(s). statement(s).
findings and the
hypothesis
statement(s).
 Science Fair

My child and I have read the science fair packet.

Parent Signature: ____________________________

Student Signature:___________________________

Due Wednesday, March 18, 2009