Go back to part one.

OK, now lets take these statements one by one, to see whether they are scientifically testable.

“Science Fair Project!”

Ahh, those three special words that can strike terror into the hearts of students, parents, and teachers. I have already begun to get emails requesting fun, quick, easy projects that no one has ever done before, and that will win the science fair. I wish I had a few hundred thousand projects that fit those requirements, but even that would not take the frustration out of this annual ordeal.

“I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.”

Confucius, Chinese philosopher

Many of the things that students struggle with in the process of doing a science fair project are the result of not fully understanding unfamiliar tasks. If they have never written an abstract, or even read one, the challenge of composing one for their project can be truly daunting. The same is true for selecting a good topic for their project, properly stating their hypothesis, controlling variables, etc.

Go on to Part 4

Back to the Science Fair Resource Page

Now we need to design our project so that it will be scientific. This means looking very closely at variables, things that could change the results we get. We want the variable we are testing to change, but we want everything else to be as close to the same as possible.

Go on to Part 3

Back to the Science Fair Resource Page

What if someone else has already done the project you want to do? Replicating a project that someone else has done is a very important part of the scientific process, but if you REALLY need a unique project, take a look at Thoughts on a Science Fair Project, part 2.

Once you know what you would like to do, then you need to form a hypothesis.