Entry Guidelines

Please register your child's “Question” and proposed "Experiment" and/or "Demo" (see below) using the entry form linked here. 

At the Science Fair on April 6th, you’ll have a space to exhibit your work. This can include a poster and/or demonstration of your experiment.  Please plan to have the student scientist and an adult present during Science Fest to discuss the project with attendees. Entries will be given a specified time during which they should be at their stations ready to present to people attending the fair.

Here are some ideas for how you can structure your submission to the Science Fair.  Younger kids can do something simpler, but below are some ideas for older kids.  At the bottom of this page we have examples from last year's fair as well as links to websites with even more examples.

Question (“Hmm.. I wonder what happens if…?”)

Your question will drive your entire project.  Make sure that your question is something that can be measured and answered by following the scientific process. A great way to write your question is in the form, "What happens to ____ when we do ____ ?" or "What is the effect of ____ on ____ ?"  The project question can also be the title for your project.

Research (“Let me go look that up!”)

Spend some time learning more about your topic. Use reliable sources like books from the library, science materials from class, or science websites.  Not only do you want to be an expert on your topic, but you want to be able to teach others.

After you do your research, write a paragraph where you give your audience some background information on your topic.  Give specific rather than general information.

Hypothesis (“I think y is going to happen when I do x…”)

Based on your research, decide what you think the outcome of your project will be.  Also explain why you think that will be the outcome. Remember, it’s OK if you don’t have the correct answer - that is how scientists make discoveries! 

Experiment (“Let’s see if we can figure out if that’s true!”)

Design your experiment by clearly writing out what you plan to do. 

Variables (“Hmmm… How can I set it up so my test is right…”)

Figure out what your variables will be.  There are three kinds:

• Independent variable - you need to have one (and only one!) variable that you are going to change.

• Dependent variable - what is being measured and observed.

• Controlled variables - what is kept constant to keep the experiment fair.

Materials (“These are the things I will need to do this experiment.”)

List all the materials you’ll need for your experiment.  Be specific about size, type, brand, etc.

Procedure (“These are the steps of my awesome experiment.”)

Write out each step of your experiment.  You can number each step. Other scientists should be able to follow your procedure and get similar results.

Conduct Experiment (“Time to run my awesome experiment!”)

Scientists conduct the same experiment many times to get the most accurate information.  During your experiment, you need to collect data (measure things) and make observations. You can make an Experiment Log where you write down your data and observations.  In the log, you can:

• Collect data - write down numbers that correspond to what you’ve measured (length, time, speed, temperature, etc).  You might want to make a chart.

• Make observations - write down what you notice happening during the experiment using your senses (sight, smell, touch, sound, taste).

Results (“This is what I found out.”)

Now you need to determine the Results! Review your data and observations to find out what happened.  You can show your results using bar graph, line graph, chart, etc. You can also write out the results of your experiment, including your data and observations.

Conclusions (“This is what I learned from my experiment!”)

Analyze your results and determine how they help you answer your project question.  Write down if what you found supported or contradicted your hypothesis. If it contradicted your hypothesis, explain why you think so.  Write something how about you could change or improve your experiment if you were to do it again.

Display (“Watch me whip. Watch me experiment.”)

Now that you’ve finished your experiment, you can share it with your friends and family!  You can make a poster to display at the Science Fair.

It could look something like this, on large poster board:

Here are some tips for your display:

• • If possible, you can also prepare a demonstration of what you did so people can visualize it better. 

  • It’s nice to include photographs or drawings of what you did and what you observed. 

  • You can type or handwrite your report.  If you type, use at least 16-pt font.

  • You’ll have about 4ft x 4ft of space (half of a rectangular table) in which to display your poster (and demo).  If you need extra space, let us know exactly how much you need

 and we’ll see what we can do.