This document provides guidelines and timelines for a school science fair. It outlines that class projects are due October 20th and will be displayed for critique. On the same date, a science night will be held from 6-8pm. Individual student projects are due December 5th and the top projects from each class will present on December 9th, where category winners and top three overall winners will be announced. It provides examples of different types of projects and their levels of difficulty. Experiments are considered the most challenging type of project. The document also lists requirements for proposals and guidelines for acceptable topics and methods.

1. Science Fair Projects 2011/2012

2. Timeline Class projects begin September 2011 Class Projects end October 20, 2011 October 20, 2011: *Class Science projects displayed by room doors in the hall (or assigned spot if room is not in building) by 9:00 am *9:00 am so 5th grade students critique and classify projects *Whole school” class walk through immediately after lunch following lunch schedule * At 6:00pm Science Night: Backboards on sale $ 5.00 October 20, 2011: Individual Student Projects are starting (booklets go home) December 5 , 2011: Individual projects are due and are presented to classmates, 3 top projects (experiments) are selected in each homeroom class and sent to cafeteria December 9, 2011: Starting at 8:45 am class room top scientists go to Cafeteria to present projects to judges. Classes eat in rooms to allow judges to be thorough. 6:00 pm category winners and three top winners are announced, trophies awarded.

3. Project Booklets/Backboards Backboards: sign list if you need one Project Booklet sign list if you need one Questions? Please re-examine your “re-cycled projects that you put out year after year (What type is it?/DOK???????????????) Student’s backboards $ 5.00 Free booklets to each student

4. Experiments Experiments involve higher levels of DOK Examples of levels and types of projects are on Slides that follow: Grading Scale: Experiments are 4’s (A) Demo of Principles are 3’s (B) Consumer Reports/Opinion Surveys are 2’s (C) Reports/Models 1’s (D)

5. Depth of Knowledge Level 1Recall and Reproduction Recall of information Use a simple procedure Perform a simple Science Process or Procedure

6. Skills and Concepts/Basic Reasoning (DOK 2) Content Knowledge and process involved is more complex than level1 Tasks typically require more than one step in order to respond

7. Strategic Thinking/Complex Reasoning (DOK 3) Cognitive Demands are complex and abstract Tasks have multiple steps Responses require more demanding reasoning Responses require justification

8. Extended Thinking/Reasoning (DOK level 4) Tasks have high cognitive demands Require students to make several connections Often require an extended period of time for carrying out multiple steps Many, but not all, are performance assessments and open ended assessment activities

9. Types of Projects Report glued to a backboard A Model Consumer Report (or Opinion Survey) Demonstration of a Scientific Principle Experiment

10. Report Glued to a Backboard Does water cause Erosion? Hypothesis: Water will cause Erosion Pictures/data from internet Pie pan with sand, spray bottle with water to serve as a visual aid to simulate what the internet pictures show

11. Model How do Windmills Work? Hypothesis: Windmills can use the wind to make Mechanical Energy Windmill out of Lego blocks and gears Paragraph/pictures about windmills of the world

12. Consumer Report/Opinion Survey What flavor “Nerds” do elementary students prefer? Hypothesis: Most kids like “grape” best Everyone in class picks flavor and researcher charts/graphs outcomes Conclusion either supports or rejects hypothesis

13. Demonstration of a Scientific Principle What Causes Rainbows? Hypothesis: Light gets broken into its spectrum when travelling through a prism. Backboard with great pictures from inter net about rainbows. Pictures of student at home using prisms to make rainbows glued on board in lieu of data

14. Experiment What causes my car sickness when I read in the car? Hypothesis: the “fly-by” outside the car window affects my nausea while reading Student times how long he can read before getting car sick daily in the car for a week on the way home from school Repeats the experiment for a week after wearing a shoulder box that blocks out the window “fly-by” Repeats trials for 2 more weeks with and without block to collect data Conclusion meaningful/solves problem

15. Indicators For Actual Experiments Personally meaningful problem/question Out of the box not run of the mill (seen a hundred of those over the years) Data are being collected over time Has application to real life (Addresses one of the SSS in Science not social studies content etc.)

16. Hazards/no-nos Experiments involving the growth of mold, bacteria, and other hazardous materials Experimental “creatures” whose life quality suffers due to variable (treatment) of experiment or results in death (must be a “Fair Test”) Chemicals or electricity other than from a low power battery at the presentation

17. Science Project Proposal My title stated as a question: ___________________________ My Hypothesis stated as : If_________ then_______________ statement. _______________________________ I will collect data from my project the following way:______________________________ The one thing I’ll change (my variable) ______________________________________ Control Group ___________________________