WHERE DO PROJECT IDEAS COME FROM?

PROJECT IDEAS CAN ORIGINATE ALMOST ANYWHERE. A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT IS USUALLY DONE OVER A SERIES OF MONTHS. TO DO A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT, YOU WILL HAVE TO GUIDE YOURSELF IN YOUR LEARNING AND TAKE THE INITIATIVE TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO DEVELOP A GOOD PROJECT. IF YOUR PROJECT IDEA IS INTERESTING TO YOU, THEN YOU WILL LIKELY BE MORE MOTIVATED TO DEVOTE TIME TO YOUR PROJECT. WORKING ON YOUR PROJECT COULD BECOME YOUR HOBBY (WE HOPE)!

EXCELLENT PROJECT IDEAS CAN BE INITIATED RIGHT AT HOME. TRY TO THINK OF A WAY TO IMPROVE OR UNDERSTAND A CERTAIN ASPECT OF THE THINGS AROUND YOU. PERHAPS YOU LIVE ON A FARM AND HAVE HAD DIFFICULTY WITH KEEPING CULTIVATOR SHOVELS SHARP. MAYBE YOUR DAD OR UNCLE HAS TRIED DIFFERENT BRANDS OF CULTIVATOR SHOVELS AND PERHAPS THEY HAVE SOME IDEAS ABOUT WHAT COULD BE DONE TO MAKE CULTIVATOR SHOVELS LAST LONGER. THIS IDEA COULD BE FURTHER INVESTIGATED BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO HAVE ACCESS TO A VARIETY OF CULTIVATOR SHOVELS AND YOU WOULD NEED ACCESS TO A TRACTOR TO TEST SHOVELS. TO DO THESE TESTS YOU WOULD ALSO NEED TIME. YOU WOULD HAVE TO KNOW HOW LONG CULTIVATOR SHOVELS NORMALLY LAST AND THEN YOU WOULD HAVE TO PROPOSE WAYS TO MAKE THE SHOVELS LAST LONGER AND THEN YOU WOULD HAVE TO DO THE TESTS AND RECORD THE DATA. FOR CULTIVATOR SHOVELS, MANY PASSES UP AND DOWN THE FIELDS WOULD BE NECESSARY TO DETERMINE THE WEAR ON THE SHOVELS.

IN THIS LESSON YOU WILL TRY TO COLLECT SEVERAL PROJECT IDEAS THAT INTEREST YOU. TO LEARN ABOUT POSSIBLE IDEAS YOU WILL READ BOOKS AND READ THE INFORMATION FOUND ON MANY WEB SITES.

ACTIVITY

PART 1:

LOOK AT BOOKS AND WEB SITES THAT PRESENT SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT IDEAS. THINK ABOUT WHAT IDEAS WOULD BE OF GREATEST INTEREST TO YOU. WEB SITES ABOUND THAT GIVE PROJECT IDEAS. A GOOD PLACE TO START LOOKING WOULD BE TO SELECT LINKS AT THE VIRTUAL SCIENCE FAIR SITE OR AT DR. BOB'S SCIENCE FAIR SITE. THE SCIENCE CONNECTIONS 10 TEXTBOOK ALSO HAS A LIST OF PROJECT IDEAS TOWARD THE END OF THE LAST CHAPTER. THESE RESOURCES ALSO OUTLINE THE STEPS REQUIRED TO DO A GOOD SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT. THESE STEPS SHOULD BE OF INTEREST TO YOU.

PART 2:

DECIDE ON TWO PROJECT IDEAS THAT YOU THINK YOU WOULD ENJOY EXPLORING.

PART 3:

TALK TO YOUR PARENTS OR GUARDIANS ABOUT YOUR TWO PROJECT IDEAS.

PART 4:

DISCUSS YOUR TWO PROJECT IDEAS WITH THE TEACHER AT YOUR SCHOOL.

ASSIGNMENT

SELECT THE PROJECT IDEA THAT YOU WILL BE USING FOR YOUR SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT. TELL YOUR PARENT(S) AND/OR GUARDIAN(S) AS WELL AS YOUR TEACHER AT YOUR SCHOOL ABOUT YOUR FINAL CHOICE OF TOPIC. BE SURE THAT THEY ALL APPROVE OF YOUR PROJECT IDEA.

EMAIL ME TELLING ME:

• ABOUT YOUR TWO PROJECT IDEAS
• ABOUT THE PROJECT IDEA THAT YOU HAVE DECIDED TO USE FOR YOUR PROJECT
• WHY YOU SELECTED THIS IDEA TO EXPLORE OVER THE OTHER IDEA THAT YOU HAD
• WHAT YOUR TEACHER AT YOUR SCHOOL SAID ABOUT YOU EXPLORING THE IDEA THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN
• WHAT YOUR PARENT(S) AND/OR GUARDIAN SAID ABOUT YOU EXPLORING THE IDEA THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN

ASSESSMENT

IF YOUR PROJECT IDEA IS ACCEPTABLE, YOU WILL RECEIVE AN EMAIL FROM ME TELLING YOU TO BEGIN YOUR RESEARCH.

IF YOUR PROJECT IDEA IS NOT APPROPRIATE, YOU WILL RECEIVE AN EMAIL FROM ME TELLING YOU TO SELECT A DIFFERENT IDEA TO EXPLORE. YOU WILL HAVE TO SELECT AN APPROPRIATE IDEA. TO HELP YOU IN YOUR SELECTION, BE SURE TO READ THE RECOMMENDED RESOURCES AND THE SCIENCE FAIR RULES SO THAT YOUR NEXT SELECTION IS FOR CERTAIN APPROPRIATE.