Tutor Doctor Longmont: How to Come Up with a Great Science Fair Idea

A successful science fair project can do wonders for your grade point averages and can even catapult you to stardom in the way that it has for some of our young entrepreneurs. The biggest hurdle for science fair projects is coming up with an original idea. Once you have your idea, you will follow the scientific method for determining the outcome.

What is the scientific method?

A good place to start is to examine the scientific method itself so you can understand where you’re headed. 

·         Step 1: Based on something you have observed, formulate your question.

·         Step 2: Predict the answer you think most likely and formulate this as a hypothesis.

·         Step 3: Create an experiment that will show whether your answer (hypothesis) is true or false.

·         Step 4: Analyze the results of your experiment and decide if your hypothesis is valid or invalid.

Let’s look at an example: If I observe that the plants in my room grow better than plants in the rest of the house, I can ask the question: “Why do the plants in my room grow better than the plants in other rooms of my house?”

I then formulate an answer or hypothesis: “The plants in my room grow better because I play music in my room.”

Now you design an experiment to test your hypothesis. This will involve two plants who have exactly the same growing conditions where one is exposed to music while the other one is not. You will record their growth rates over the stipulated period.

Analysis of the data should lead you to confirm or reject your hypothesis.

If you have time, you can do further experimentation. For example, you can test whether different kinds of music have different effects on plants.

Formulating a hypothesis

Once you understand the scientific method, you can see how easy it is to ask questions about anything in the world around you. Start by thinking about your favorite hobbies and interests; is there a question you can ask about these? You will be spending a lot of time with your science fair project, so it may as well be about something you like.

Look online: Sure, we know that you want an original idea, but looking at other science fair projects can really inspire you. Perhaps you will look at the experiment above and decide to test whether tap water or boiled water will help plants to grow better, or maybe you will want to test whether yelling at plants or complimenting them has an effect on their growth. You can take an existing experiment and put your own spin on it.

Start thinking about your science fair project now so that you have tons of time to come up with a great idea. Remember that science fair projects are only as great as the original question. Here are some resources that offer ideas for science fair projects. Use these to get inspiration for your original science fair project idea.

Science Buddies

Education.com

Science Bob

Science Kids

Buzzfeed

Scholastic

All Science Fair Projects

Need organizational skills or test taking skills help? Are your math or language arts classes getting harder and harder?  Are you starting a new language and need some extra help?  Call Tutor Doctor Longmont for one to one learning in your home.  We serve the St Vrain Valley School n Longmont, Firestone, Erie, Frederick,  Niwot, Dacono, Mead .  A FREE consultation STARTS YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!! We take the stress out of homework and tests : )

  photo:Carnegie Science Center

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Tutor Doctor Longmont: Teaching Responsibility: How to Help your Student to Take Charge

Teaching your students to take responsibility for their learning and their actions is a great way to empower them and to motivate them. Being responsible isn’t something that comes naturally to most students and part of the reason for this is that those areas of the brain which deal with responsibility (frontal cortex) continue to grow and develop well into their early twenties. You can help them to take ownership of their actions and to think things through before acting with these simple techniques.

Instilling confidence

The first step in taking responsibility is for your students to believe that they are capable of making the right choices and of taking the lead. Start with baby steps; ask them how they are going to deal with a situation like an upcoming test or looking after a younger sibling.

Listen to their plan and discuss things that could go wrong and how to deal with possible problems. It’s best here to allow your student to come up with their own solutions; don’t be too prescriptive as to what they should do. Allowing them to formulate their own plans inspires confidence and giving them more responsibility shows that you have confidence in their abilities.

Dealing with failure

As students take on more responsibility with their studies and in other aspects of their lives, it’s inevitable that some glitches will occur. When this happens, try to remain calm and reflect on their actions, and the consequences of those actions.

When discussing failures, ask open ended-questions to allow students to arrive at their own conclusions. Taking responsibility means taking ownership of actions and consequences both good and bad. If you give your students responsibility, but keep taking the issue back or interfering, it will take them longer to assume responsibility.

Developing responsibility at home

Pets, chores and independence should be gradually introduced when your students are ready for them. As they learn to be responsible for all aspects of their lives, they will naturally assume responsibility for their academics too.

If you find yourself nagging them to do the things they know that they are responsible for, allowing them to fail occasionally and to deal with the consequences may inspire greater responsibility in the future.

Assuming academic responsibility

When students are struggling with academics, it may be time to set some goals that are realistic. Decide together on goals that for short term improvement and long-term achievement. Then set out a plan to accomplish those goals.

Get a tutor for students who have fallen behind, set a study schedule and suggest ways in which you can monitor their progress. Be involved, but don’t dictate; remember that they must be responsible for their own academic progress if they are really going to succeed.

Reward their successes with more freedom and responsibility and be patient and supportive when they fail. 

 

Need organizational skills or test taking skills help? Are your math or language arts classes getting harder and harder?  Are you starting a new language and need some extra help?  Call Tutor Doctor Longmont for one to one learning in your home.  We serve the St Vrain Valley School n Longmont, Firestone, Erie, Frederick,  Niwot, Dacono, Mead .  A FREE consultation STARTS YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!! We take the stress out of homework and tests : )