Uplift MS School

Science Fair
2023-2024

This project belongs to the following scientist:

Name: __________________________________
Period: __________________
Uplift Education would like to thank Ms. Marx, High School Chemistry teacher at Uplift Heights, for sharing this work
with the entire network. Some modifications have been made for middle school.
Planning:
Research Question: Should NOT have a yes/no answer. Sample stems:
● How does ______ effect…?
● How does ______ correlate with…?
● What is the relationship between _____ and ______?
● What are the effects of _____ on…?

Variables: Fill in the table with the appropriate information for your own experiment
Independent Variable Dependent Variable Controlled Variables

(the variable you will be (what you will be measuring/ (variables that should remain the same
changing in the experiment looking for) throughout the duration of the
and the levels if applicable) experiment; list as many as you can)

Your Hypothesis
The correct format to write a hypothesis: If the independent variable changes in this way, then the
dependent variable will change in this way because of this reason.

If ______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________,

then ___________________________________________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________________________________________________

because _______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________.

Experimental Materials and Procedures

Design an experiment that will allow you to answer your question. Before you start, think about what you
are changing in the experiment (your independent variable), what you will measure in the experiment (your
dependent variable), and what factors you will keep the same in order to design a “fair” experiment
(controlled variables).

For this section you need to list your materials and write procedures. Your materials should include
quantities. Your procedures can be written as a paragraph or in step-by-step form. Be specific, after
reading your material list and procedures someone else should be able to reproduce your experiment.

Materials
Instructions: Be as specific as possible when creating your list of materials, including amounts of each
material needed. (For example, do not just write “water”, write “50mL of deionized water). Include
everything you will be using throughout the duration of the experiment.

Materials I already have at home or have access to:

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 ●

I will need to purchase or acquire the following materials for my experiment:

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 ●

Experimental Procedure
Describe in detail how you are going to conduct your experiment. Make sure that it explains the procedure
in a way that anyone could replicate your experiment exactly how you do it. Make sure you include safety
measures (e.g. goggles, gloves, fume hood)

Record your experimental procedure below step by step, using extra paper if necessary:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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 8.

9.

10.

Table 1. This is an example of a data

table that can be used to collect
information during an experiment. In

Results Part I: Data Collection and Observations

As you conduct your experiments, you should always be recording your data. Sometimes that involves writing
down qualitative data that describes your observations (photos, adjectives, video, etc.). Most of the time it is
quantitative data, which is measured in units (e.g. centimeters, minutes, milliliters, etc.) and then recorded in
a TABLE. Every table should have the following:
- Independent Variable on left (Include UNITS)
- Dependent Variable on right (Include UNITS)
- Trials can be added to the right (at least three)
- Your final column may be used to show the average of trials
- In your lab report, you will need a legend that explains each table.

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Results Part II: Data Analysis
After your procedure, you have a lot of “raw” data. Now it’s time to figure out what all that information
means. In order to show trends (patterns) in your data, put it in a chart or graph. ALWAYS INCLUDE A FIGURE
LEGEND in your report. You may need to transform your data first - depending on your experiment!

. Click here or do a Google search for the Create A Graph website.

Examples:
★ Pie Chart: best to use when you are ______________________

______________________. They do not show changes over time.

○ Data in ____________________________ form

○ The sum of all parts must equal _____________________

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 ★ Bar Graph:

___________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________

○ X-Axis: ________________________________________

○ Y-Axis: ________________________________________

★ Line Graph:

___________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________

○ X-Axis: ________________________________________

○ Y-Axis: ________________________________________

○ Key: Tells what each _____________________ represents

★ Scatter Plot:

___________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________

○ X-Axis: ________________________________________

○ Y-Axis: ________________________________________

○ Trendline: ______________________________________

○ R2 Value: _______________________________________

Discussion/Analysis

1. Summarize the results briefly.

2. What do the results mean? (eg: what does it mean that there was an increase in bacteria everyday at school?)
3. How do the results connect to your hypothesis and research question (see p. 3 of this packet)?
4. Why are these results important for your research question?

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Conclusion

1. What is the answer to your research question? Is the answer supported by your data?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your project?
3. Were there any issues with your methods?
4. How was your experiment limited? What does that mean for the accuracy and validity of your experiment?
5. What are some realistic and relevant improvements to your experiment or extensions to your experiment?

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Citations and Works Cited
What does it mean to “cite” your work? Why is this important to do? Answer in a complete thought.

Key Terms and Definitions:

● Works Cited: __________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

● Citation: ______________________________________________________________________________

● APA: ________________________________________________________________________________

Example Works Cited Citation: Label each part of the following citation - include formatting.

Tagg, A., Roland, D., Leo, G. S., Knight, K., Goldstein, H., & Davis, T. (2018). Everything is awesome:

don’t forget the Lego. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 55(8), 921-923. doi:10.1111/jpc.14309

In-Text Citations: When you are writing about information that you learned elsewhere, you need to
paraphrase/summarize the information and give credit to the original source by citing it.

Example In-Text Citation:

APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998).

Table 1. If you cite a source multiple times, many of them get shortened after the first citation.

First Citation The Rest of the Citations:

2 authors (Wegener & Petty, 1994) (Wegener & Petty, 1994)

3-4 authors (Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993) (Kernis, et al., 1993)

5 or more authors (Harris et al., 2001) (Harris et al., 2001)

Organization (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2000) (MADD, 2000)

Unknown Author (Title, Year) → (Candy Cane Madness, 2018) (Candy Cane Madness, 2018)

Unknown Year (Author, n.d.) → (Wegener & Petty, n.d.) (Wegener & Petty, n.d.)

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Science Fair Poster Final Checklist

Note: There will not be a physical science fair board this year, as our science fair will be virtual.
Please use the link below to acquire your digital science fair board.

❏ Digital Science Fair Board

● Please go to the following link to acquire a digital science fair board
● [Link]
Dhg57LEI/copy?usp=sharing
❏ Tri-fold poster: Below is the MAXIMUM size
● Height (top to bottom): 28 inches
● Width (side to side): 40 inches
❏ Presentation
● Choose a font that is legible and not too small
○ suggested font: 72 for titles, 16 for passages
● Neatly organized like the example below

❏ Quality
● All sections are included (project title, abstract, question, hypothesis, background
research, materials, procedures, results, discussion, conclusion)
○ Choose an eye-grabbing project title
Display Board (Should be attractive, clear, organized, and free of grammatical errors. See example below.

DISPLAY BOARD EXAMPLE

Discussion

Conclusion

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 MYP Science Fair Rubric
Section 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8

Research State a problem or Outline a problem or Describe a problem or Explain a problem or question
Question and question to be tested question to be tested question to be tested by to be tested by a scientific
Introduction by a scientific by a scientific a scientific investigation investigation
investigation investigation

Prediction Outline a testable Formulate a testable Formulate and explain a Formulate and explain a
hypothesis hypothesis using testable hypothesis testable hypothesis using
scientific reasoning using scientific reasoning correct scientific reasoning

Method Design a method Design a safe method Design a complete and Design a logical, complete and
with limited success in which he or she safe method in which he safe method in which he or
selects materials and or she selects she selects appropriate
equipment appropriate materials materials and equipment
and equipment

Variables Outline the variables Outline how to Describe how to Explain how to manipulate
manipulate the manipulate the the variables, and explain
variables, and outline variables, and describe how sufficient, relevant data
how relevant data will how sufficient, relevant will be collected
be collected data will be collected

Results Collect and present Correctly collect and Correctly collect, Correctly collect, organize,
data in numerical present data in organize and present transform and present data in
and/or visual forms numerical and/or data in numerical and/or numerical and/or visual forms
visual forms visual forms

Conclusion Accurately interpret Accurately interpret Accurately interpret data Accurately interpret data and
data data and explain and explain results using explain results using correct
results scientific reasoning scientific reasoning

Evaluation State the validity of Outline the validity of Discuss the validity of Evaluate the validity of the
the hypothesis based the hypothesis based the hypothesis based on hypothesis based on the
on the outcome of a on the outcome of a the outcome of a outcome of a scientific
scientific scientific investigation scientific investigation investigation
investigation

State the validity of Outline the validity of Discuss the validity of Evaluate the validity of the
the method based on the method based on the method based on method based on the
the outcome of a the outcome of a the outcome of a outcome of a scientific
scientific scientific investigation scientific investigation investigation
investigation

Next Steps State improvements Outline improvements Describe improvements Explain improvements or
or extensions to the or extensions to the or extensions to the extensions to the method
method that would method that would method that would that would benefit the
benefit the scientific benefit the scientific benefit the scientific scientific investigation
investigation investigation investigation

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