Tri-County Science Events

Five Easy Steps

1. Ask a question with a Subject, an Independent Variable, and a Dependent Variable.
   1. Example: What is the effect of the amount of sunlight (IV) on the height (DV) of a sunflower (S)?
2. Conduct background research to formulate a hypothesis.
   1. Research information about the subject of your questions.
   2. Establish "what is normal" for the dependent variable.
3. Design and conduct an experiment, recording all data in your handwritten journal.
4. Analyze data and make conclusions.
5. Communicate your findings through a display board and research paper.

Creating a Winning Project

Judges look for these characteristics in a winning project:

• All required parts of a Science Fair project are included
• Complete data reported in clear graphs, tables, or charts
• Analysis of data to reach conclusion
• Correct spelling on the display and in the research paper
• Project data journal – handwritten, contains all mistakes, spelling not judged
• Project shows creativity and presents a new concept or a new angle on a problem.  Using a commonly researched topic, one that the judges have seen year after year, is not a good way to win awards.