Science Fair Proposals are due this Thursday January 30th! Please make sure to have your proposal signed by a parent and remember to bring your Science Fair Notebook to school that day.
Reminder: Eagle Point is selling project boards in school for $5. If you would like to purchase a board from the school, please send it in an envelope with your child’s name labeled “Science Fair Project Board Money”.
Eagle Point Elementary School Science Fair 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Dear Families,
Eagle Point Elementary 4th, 5th, and 6th grades will be participating in the school science fair, held on Thursday, March 6th. This is an exciting event that encourages students to think and act like young scientists. During the next few weeks your child will be designing a science project that uses the scientific method to solve a problem. As students work on their projects, they will practice skills in writing, oral presentation, creative thinking, and problem solving. School project winners will go on to compete at the Joseph Henry Science Fair at The College of St. Rose on March 28th.
Each student will be given instructions and handouts during class detailing the steps of the project. Most of the work will be completed at home. The timeline, listing the due dates for each part of this project, can be found on the back of this letter and in your child’s science project journal.
The Science Fair Grading Criteria has been read over and discussed in class. Please review the criteria with your child and check in with them throughout the process. We ask that you sign the attached slip, acknowledging that you are aware of the requirements.
For suggestions on helping your child through this process (from choosing a topic proposal to drafting the final project board) please visit the websites below:
· www.sciencebuddies.org
· www.all-science-fair-projects.com
· http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/
We ask that you encourage your child and monitor his or her progress along the way. Your support is the key to a successful project, but please do not allow your involvement to extend any further in order to assure fairness and promote student learning. Please guide your child whenever you can, but let the final project reflect your child's individual effort and design. If your child’s project is chosen for the Joseph Henry Science Fair, and judges suspect an overextension of parent involvement, the project will be subject to disqualification.
Project boards are available at stores like Rite Aid, CVS, Staples, and Office Max. We will also be selling project boards in school for $5. If you would like to purchase a board from the school, please send it in an envelope with your child’s name labeled “Science Fair Project Board Money”.
Please contact me if you'd like more information or have any questions. Thank you in advance for helping to make this year’s science fair the best yet!
Sincerely,
Ms. Wall
Eagle Point Elementary School Timeline
Proposal
Due: Thursday, January 30th
1st Journal Entry
Due: Friday, February 7th
2nd Journal Entry and Project Check In:
(Bring in all data, notes, graphs, photos, pictures, and observations)
Due: Wednesday, February 12th
Rough Draft of Project
(Sketch and details of how project will appear on display board)
Due: Monday, February 24th
Project
(Display board and all materials)
Due: Monday, March 3rd
Project with Revisions
Due: Wednesday, March 5th
Eagle Point Science Fair
Thursday, March 6th
Joseph Henry Science Fair
*Selected School Winners Only
Friday, March 28th
Science Project Grading Criteria
6 – 10 points
4 - 5 points
0 - 3points
1. SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Was the scientific method used to answer the question?
Was this a “see what will happen if I...” experiment?
No planning ahead or use of the scientific method.
2. HYPOTHESIS
Is the hypothesis clearly stated and testable?
Is the hypothesis unclear, or is it not well understood by the student? Or is it untestable?
No hypothesis, or not clearly stated.
3. DATABOOK
Is the student’s notebook available; used to gather the data, is it dated, with notes about the project?
Is the notebook available, but rather sketchy, Do you suspect that it wasn’t really a part of developing the project?
No notebook or was everything done very shortly before the Science Fair?
4. DATA PRESENTATION
Are the data tables and graphs appropriate for the project? Were the correct units of measurement used? Was the metric system used?
Is the data presented neatly but not in a table? Is there an attempt at displaying the data in a visual form?
No data tables or graphs.
5. MEASUREMENTS
Have appropriate measurements been made? Temperature, mass, counting, length, size, volume etc. Is there an appropriate number of measurements?
Are there measurements that might have been more appropriate, or done better, or recorded better? Are more measurements needed?
Are there no measurements, or are they clearly inappropriate?
6. MATERIALS
Did the student use materials appropriate to the hypothesis
Were there more appropriate materials that could have been used and were probably available
Did the student use inappropriate materials or use materials incorrectly?
7. DISPLAY, SCIENTIFIC
Does the student’s display contain: Title? Hypothesis? Introduction? Results? Conclusions? Materials and Methods? Future Questions?
Missing 2-3 Elements
Missing more than 3 elements
8. DISPLAY, AESTHETIC
For fair judgment, school name should not appear anywhere on the poster
Is the display neat and attractive? Is there a 3D aspect? Is it easy to understand?
Somewhat neat with moderately clear effort.
Minimal effort shown
9. DISCUSSION AND
QUESTIONS
Does the student understand the project? Can the student explain WHAT was done, HOW it was done, and WHY it was done?
Missing one of the required questions and answers.
Missing more than one of the required questions and answers.
10. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Can the student identify at least one new question that could be addressed in “future research”?
Student hints at future research.
No future research addressed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please return this slip to your classroom teacher as soon as possible.
· Handing in this slip is part of your project grade.
For Parents/Guardians to complete:
My child _______________________, is aware of these important dates. He/she realizes that this is an ongoing research based project that requires their ongoing effort over the next several weeks.
Please Note: Last minute projects will not be accepted due to time restrictions.
Parent/Guardian Signature: ________________________________________
Date: _______________________
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Dear Families,
Eagle Point Elementary 4th, 5th, and 6th grades will be participating in the school science fair, held on Thursday, March 6th. This is an exciting event that encourages students to think and act like young scientists. During the next few weeks your child will be designing a science project that uses the scientific method to solve a problem. As students work on their projects, they will practice skills in writing, oral presentation, creative thinking, and problem solving. School project winners will go on to compete at the Joseph Henry Science Fair at The College of St. Rose on March 28th.
Each student will be given instructions and handouts during class detailing the steps of the project. Most of the work will be completed at home. The timeline, listing the due dates for each part of this project, can be found on the back of this letter and in your child’s science project journal.
The Science Fair Grading Criteria has been read over and discussed in class. Please review the criteria with your child and check in with them throughout the process. We ask that you sign the attached slip, acknowledging that you are aware of the requirements.
For suggestions on helping your child through this process (from choosing a topic proposal to drafting the final project board) please visit the websites below:
· www.sciencebuddies.org
· www.all-science-fair-projects.com
· http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/
We ask that you encourage your child and monitor his or her progress along the way. Your support is the key to a successful project, but please do not allow your involvement to extend any further in order to assure fairness and promote student learning. Please guide your child whenever you can, but let the final project reflect your child's individual effort and design. If your child’s project is chosen for the Joseph Henry Science Fair, and judges suspect an overextension of parent involvement, the project will be subject to disqualification.
Project boards are available at stores like Rite Aid, CVS, Staples, and Office Max. We will also be selling project boards in school for $5. If you would like to purchase a board from the school, please send it in an envelope with your child’s name labeled “Science Fair Project Board Money”.
Please contact me if you'd like more information or have any questions. Thank you in advance for helping to make this year’s science fair the best yet!
Sincerely,
Ms. Wall
Eagle Point Elementary School Timeline
Proposal
Due: Thursday, January 30th
1st Journal Entry
Due: Friday, February 7th
2nd Journal Entry and Project Check In:
(Bring in all data, notes, graphs, photos, pictures, and observations)
Due: Wednesday, February 12th
Rough Draft of Project
(Sketch and details of how project will appear on display board)
Due: Monday, February 24th
Project
(Display board and all materials)
Due: Monday, March 3rd
Project with Revisions
Due: Wednesday, March 5th
Eagle Point Science Fair
Thursday, March 6th
Joseph Henry Science Fair
*Selected School Winners Only
Friday, March 28th
Science Project Grading Criteria
6 – 10 points
4 - 5 points
0 - 3points
1. SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Was the scientific method used to answer the question?
Was this a “see what will happen if I...” experiment?
No planning ahead or use of the scientific method.
2. HYPOTHESIS
Is the hypothesis clearly stated and testable?
Is the hypothesis unclear, or is it not well understood by the student? Or is it untestable?
No hypothesis, or not clearly stated.
3. DATABOOK
Is the student’s notebook available; used to gather the data, is it dated, with notes about the project?
Is the notebook available, but rather sketchy, Do you suspect that it wasn’t really a part of developing the project?
No notebook or was everything done very shortly before the Science Fair?
4. DATA PRESENTATION
Are the data tables and graphs appropriate for the project? Were the correct units of measurement used? Was the metric system used?
Is the data presented neatly but not in a table? Is there an attempt at displaying the data in a visual form?
No data tables or graphs.
5. MEASUREMENTS
Have appropriate measurements been made? Temperature, mass, counting, length, size, volume etc. Is there an appropriate number of measurements?
Are there measurements that might have been more appropriate, or done better, or recorded better? Are more measurements needed?
Are there no measurements, or are they clearly inappropriate?
6. MATERIALS
Did the student use materials appropriate to the hypothesis
Were there more appropriate materials that could have been used and were probably available
Did the student use inappropriate materials or use materials incorrectly?
7. DISPLAY, SCIENTIFIC
Does the student’s display contain: Title? Hypothesis? Introduction? Results? Conclusions? Materials and Methods? Future Questions?
Missing 2-3 Elements
Missing more than 3 elements
8. DISPLAY, AESTHETIC
For fair judgment, school name should not appear anywhere on the poster
Is the display neat and attractive? Is there a 3D aspect? Is it easy to understand?
Somewhat neat with moderately clear effort.
Minimal effort shown
9. DISCUSSION AND
QUESTIONS
Does the student understand the project? Can the student explain WHAT was done, HOW it was done, and WHY it was done?
Missing one of the required questions and answers.
Missing more than one of the required questions and answers.
10. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Can the student identify at least one new question that could be addressed in “future research”?
Student hints at future research.
No future research addressed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please return this slip to your classroom teacher as soon as possible.
· Handing in this slip is part of your project grade.
For Parents/Guardians to complete:
My child _______________________, is aware of these important dates. He/she realizes that this is an ongoing research based project that requires their ongoing effort over the next several weeks.
Please Note: Last minute projects will not be accepted due to time restrictions.
Parent/Guardian Signature: ________________________________________
Date: _______________________