The Free Science Fair Projects Network - Science Project Basics.

The Basics of a Science Project

Before getting started on your science fair project, there is one important thing to keep in mind: keep it simple! Sometimes people think that a complicated science fair project will score higher with the judges and be much more impressive. The opposite is actually true.

A good project focuses tightly on one thing so that you can determine if changing only one variable results in a measurable difference. By doing this, you will be able to repeat the results in a consistent way, thus proving or disproving your hypothesis.

With this idea in mind, lets see what steps are involved in your science fair project.

The Research Question

A science fair project begins with the Research Question. "What if", or "how will something be affected by something else?" The research question is the foundation for everything that follows with your project.

For example, "I wonder if temperature affects the growth of mold on bread" is a good example of a research question. Perhaps you've observed the bread in the cupboard, and noticed that during certain times of the year it molds faster than others. You're curious if temperature is a factor, which leads to your research question.

The Hypothesis or Prediction

A Hypothesis is basically an educated guess. It's a statement of what you think is going to happen with your experiment, and perhaps why you think it will happen.

A Hypothesis should not be worded in a general way. For example, don't use "temperature affects the growth of mold" for your hypothesis. Instead, use something like "I expect that bread will mold faster at higher temperatures."

Whatever your hypothesis is, make sure that you can prove it in a measurable way. In our moldy bread experiment, we can measure time and temperature. This is important for generating data.

Keep in mind that your experiment may disprove your hypothesis. There is nothing wrong with that; your hypothesis is just your best guess. In fact, some of the best science fair projects are the ones that have their hypothesis proven wrong!

The Materials

The Materials used in your experiment are important because if anyone wants to test your research, they can see exactly what items you used. This will keep all testing the same.

List out what you used and include exact sizes and quantities. For example, the list of materials used for our moldy bread experiment might look like this:

Quantity	Item Description
3	Slices of Magic Flour brand bread, expiration date of April 20, 2005 on the wrapper.
3	Quart size Sealable Plastic Bags
1	Digital Thermohygrometer from ScientificsOnline.com

The Procedure

The Procedure is the step by step process that you will use to conduct your science experiment. The purpose of your procedure is to generate data which is the Result of your experiment.

Your experiment will usually consist of three types of variables: Constants, a Manipulated Variable, and a Responding Variable. For example, in our moldy bread experiment, the Constants would be humidity, location, materials used, etc. These are the things we are trying to keep the same for all samples. Our Manipulated Variable is temperature, the one thing we are changing intentionally. The Responding Variable is mold growth, which is what we are expecting to change according to the Manipulated Variable.

Remember to keep your procedure simple and tightly focused. Your experiment should only have one Manipulated Variable. Having more than one manipulated variable makes it very difficult to prove which variable is causing changes in your experiment. It also makes it nearly impossible to measure the effect of each variable. It's imperative to keep it simple.

For example, in our moldy bread experiment, if we decide to do an experiment which varies the temperature and the moisture in the air, you really can't tell how each is affecting the rate at which the mold is growing. It's much better to keep all the conditions the same, and just vary the temperature or the moisture.

You should be able to list the steps of your procedure in sequential order, or diagram them in a flow-chart. That way you, or someone else, can reproduce and validate your experiment by following these exact same steps.

It's important that you repeat your experiment several times, or create several batches of the same experiment. With only one test or sample, an unseen variable can affect the outcome of your experiment. However, with many samples or repetitions, you confirm the results each time you conduct the experiment. This will make your data far more accurate. Make sure you have plenty of time to generate enough data for the science fair!

The Results

The Results are the data that you collected. The data must be objective and measurable. The results are usually always numeric in nature.

In our moldy bread experiment, we woudn't say that "on the 15th day there was a lot of mold on the bread." Instead, we would write in our experiment notebook that "Sample 3 had 95% of it's surface covered in mold." Using a Data Table is probably the easiest way to keep track of your data:

	Sample 1 45 degrees F.	Sample 2 70 degrees F.	Sample 3 110 degrees F.
Day 5	0%	0%	15%
Day 10	5%	20%	50%
Day 15	20%	50%	95%

After collecting all of the data, you should present it in a way that is easy to visualize. Graphs are a great way to do this, and they can really help you draw a conclusion from your results. Nice looking graphs and charts are a key element of your science fair display. Make sure what you are trying to show with your graph is easily understood, even from a distance.

The Conclusion

The Conclusion is where your Research Question is answered using the results of your experiment. This is where you state whether your Hypothesis was proven correct, partially correct, or entirely wrong based on the data collected during your experiment. The conclusion is where you summarize what you learned.

For example, you might say that "I accept my hypothesis which states that I expect bread will mold faster at higher temperatures, because the sample that was kept at 45 degrees F. grew mold very slowly, while the samples that were kept at higher temperatures grew correspondingly faster."

You should also explain why you think things happened the way they did, and describe and problems that occured that might have affected the outcome. Finally, you need to discuss if there were questions that your research brought up, or further research that should be done because of your experiment. For example, you might ask "how high does the temperature have to get before it begins to destroy mold."

Remember, whether or not your original hypothesis is correct is not important. What is important is what you learned from your research. That's what makes doing a science fair project fun!

Miscellaneous

Often times there are variations on the above guidelines. Some science fair projects require additional information, such as Bibliographies, Acknowledgement of Assistance, and so forth. Also, the parts listed above might be called something a little different.

Be sure you consult with your teacher, or science fair coordinator if you have any questions. Keep notes on everything; when it comes to science, you can almost never have too much information!

Have fun with your project, and pick something that you are actually interested in, but don't know what the outcome will be. If you already know the answer to the research question before you begin the experiment, it really isn't very much fun. But, when you don't know for sure what is going to happen, then your science fair project will be interesting and rewarding.