Balmacewen Science and Technology Fair Term 2 2010

No doubt you will have heard about the ‘Science Fair.’ It is a school wide event that has been happening at Balmacewen Intermediate for a number of years now. We are always very successful and a number of students go on to be very successful at the Otago Science and Technology fair each year. It is a great opportunity for students to undertake and inquiry of their own choice.
WHO: All Balmacewen Intermediate students will individually complete a science fair project guided through the process by their classroom teacher/
WHEN: The Science and Technology fair takes place over the course of Term Two. All students complete a project which is due into their classroom teacher for presentation in Week 10, Monday 21st June.
From here all projects will be exhibited in the hall later that week and judged. The best entries will be selected to represent Balmacewen at the Otago Science and Technology fair.
WHERE: Students will carry out science investigations and learn how to put their project together, create graphs and procedural writing techniques in class. They will get some class time to work on their projects and the rest will be made up of homework time for the term.
WHAT IS A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT?
A science fair project can be an invention, investigation or experimental research. There has also been a change that includes aspects of ICT use as part of an investigation – developing a new programme, animation techniques, Robotics etc.
TIMELINE GUIDELINES
 HOLIDAYS – WEEK 1: It will start with a big question, idea or aim that the student wants to explore. For example: ‘How can I keep the fizz in my fizzy for longer?’ ’ ‘How can I make myself safe on my skateboard coming to school in the mornings?’
 WEEKS 1-3: Next the students will need to research and gather background information around this big idea.
 They will use this information to make a hypothesis or (in the case of an invention) come up with a prototype or plan.
 WEEKS 3 – 7: From here the students need to come up with a plan for how they are going to carry out their experiment, invention or investigation. They need to remember to use a fair test, think about what they are changing and measuring and repeat their testing at least three times for accuracy. (This will be explained fully at school by their classroom teacher)
 The students carry this plan out over the next few weeks and keep a log book and take photos of the process along the way.
 WEEK 8: Next the students put together their results. They may use graphs, tables or written observations.
 WEEK 8-10: They then summarise their results, making reference to their hypothesis.
 They will be given details and explanations at school as to how they must present their inquiry onto a display board. Samples of previous projects will be on display in the library and parents are also welcome to come in and look at these for ideas. (Pictures of these may also be on some class blog pages.) The display boards are available from the school library for $10. The rest of the information goes into their log book/clear file which will be kept with the display board for the judge’s reference.
The GUIDELINES used here are approximate and may change slightly.
We will have a lot of discussion and sharing of ideas in class and there will be notices coming home with additional information. But this gives you a basic run down to help you get your head around it all. If you have further questions please feel free to get in touch with me.