Dear Students and Parents,
It’s time to start work on our school’s Science Fair! The science fair will be held on March 15, 2013, so ample time has been scheduled so that students can complete the work at a comfortable pace.
This is a major project and will represent a significant portion of your child’s grade for the next grading period(s). The primary objective of this project is to have students approach a problem scientifically. This includes:
- Asking questions and forming hypotheses
- Creating experiments to test those hypotheses
- Organizing data and drawing conclusions
- Writing about scientific research
Students have selected their project topics and have been given handouts outlining the abstract and objectives.
Students will be working in small groups of three or four. Each group member will be responsible for contributing equally to the project and keep up with the research. To encourage all group members to share equally in the work, grades will be given individually based on the amount of work they have contributed. Here are some ideas on how to divide up project tasks equally so everyone has something to add:
1. Observations: This person is in charge of entering data on a regular basis.
2. Scientific Paper: The Scientific Paper chronicles how the project evolved, how the research was done, the results, and conclusion. This paper must be typed or word processed.
3. Display: This person will be responsible for organizing the display. This includes taking pictures or making sketches of the experimental process, gathering materials, building, and setting up the display for presentation and judging.
In order to do well on these individual tasks, all group members must be engaged in the project from the beginning and not wait until the last minute.
Project guidelines state that all work must be done by the students; however, assistance may be provided by teachers, parents, etc. It is very difficult to work alone without the exchange of ideas, so we encourage you to brainstorm with your child on different ideas your child may want to pursue.
This is a school science fair, so prizes will be awarded to the group/groups with the best presentations.
I am looking forward to working with you to make this a valuable learning experience for your child. I appreciate your support on this important project. As acknowledgement and part of your child’s homework, please sign, date, and return the bottom portion of this letter by February 27, 2013.
Sincerely,
Ms. Suckoo
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I have reviewed the Science Fair information and calendar with my child, ____________________, (Printed Name of Child) and we understand the requirements for a successful Science Fair Project.
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(Parent Signature/Date)
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(Student Signature/Date)