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.
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photo:Carnegie Science
Center
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