WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?

ALL SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS REQUIRE THAT YOU DO SOME RESEARCH. YOU WILL WANT TO DO SOME READING ABOUT YOUR SELECTED TOPIC. IT IS BEST TO USE SEVERAL RESOURCES TO GAIN A BALANCED VIEW OF YOUR TOPIC. IT IS ALSO GOOD TO HAVE SOME PRINTED REFERENCE MATERIAL AS WELL AS SOME WEB SITE REFERENCES.

BE SURE THAT YOUR WEB REFERENCES GIVE AUTHENTIC INFORMATION. MANY SITES OUT THERE CAN BE FOUND THAT PROVIDE INCORRECT OR FALSE INFORMATION. DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ.

YOU MUST KEEP CAREFUL RECORD OF YOUR REFERENCE MATERIALS. YOUR PROJECT LOG BOOK WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT PLACE TO KEEP THIS RECORD.

WHEN READING RESOURCE MATERIALS IN PREPARATION FOR AN ESSAY OR PRESENTATION, MANY PEOPLE ORGANIZE THEIR RESEARCH ON CARDS OR PAGES IN A NOTEBOOK. EACH RESOURCE WOULD USE A DIFFERENT CARD OR PAGE. ON THE BOTTOM OF THE CARD OR PAGE, PEOPLE USUALLY RIGHT THE REFERENCE TITLE, AUTHOR, PUBLISHER AND DATE. AS THEY READ THROUGH THE RESOURCE, THEY WRITE POINT FORM NOTES IN THEIR OWN WORDS ON THE CARD. THESE POINT FORM NOTES ARE NEVER TRANSFERRED INTO A TYPED DOCUMENT. THEY ARE INSTEAD, YOUR VERSION AND NOTES FROM THE RESOURCES THAT YOU READ.

IF YOU WERE DOING A PROJECT ON CULTIVATOR SHOVELS, THEN YOU WOULD NEED TO FIND SEVERAL RESOURCES ABOUT CULTIVATOR SHOVELS AND PERHAPS A FEW RESOURCES ON METALS. YOU WOULD LOOK FOR STATISTICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CULTIVATOR SHOVELS (AVERAGE HOURS OF USE, FAVORITE MODELS, MOST LIKED CULTIVATORS FOR THE SHOVELS AND ABOUT THE METAL USED TO MAKE UP THE CULTIVATOR SHOVELS). YOU WOULD ALSO BE INTERESTED IN LEARNING ABOUT WHAT MAKES METALS HARDER OR SOFTER. NOTES ON THESE TOPICS WOULD BE KEPT ON YOUR CARDS OR PAGES IN YOUR PROJECT LOG BOOK. AS YOU READ ABOUT HOW TO ALTER THE HARDNESS AND STRENGTH OF METAL YOU WOULD JOT DOWN IDEAS OF THINGS YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRY: MAKE A CULTIVATOR SHOVEL OUT OF THIS METAL INSTEAD OF THAT METAL, MAKE A CULTIVATOR SHOVEL LARGER OR SMALLER, MAKE A CULTIVATOR SHOVEL A DIFFERENT SHAPE. THESE IDEAS COULD BE USED TO HELP DEVELOP A HYPOTHESIS AND/OR AN EXPERIMENT.

REFERENCES FOR PROJECTS CAN ALSO INCLUDE PEOPLE. IF YOU KNOW OF AN "EXPERT" WORKING IN YOUR PROJECT TOPIC AREA, THIS PERSON COULD BE OF GREAT USE TO YOU. AN EXPERT ON CULTIVATOR SHOVELS COULD BE A RELATIVE WHO FARMS AND USES CULTIVATORS, A MECHANICAL ENGINEER OR EVEN A WELDER. BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON YOUR EXPERT WOULD INCLUDE THEIR NAME, THEIR POSITION OR TITLE AND THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION.

ACTIVITY

FIND AT LEAST THREE REFERENCES THAT WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU AS YOU EXPLORE YOUR PROJECT IDEA. AT LEAST ONE OF THESE REFERENCES SHOULD BE IN PRINTED PUBLISHED FORMAT.

DECIDE HOW YOU WILL KEEP YOUR NOTES AS YOU READ YOUR REFERENCE MATERIALS. DEVELOP YOUR SYSTEM. ALL RESEARCH NOTES SHOULD BE TAKEN IN NEAT BUT LEGIBLE FORM AND IN YOUR OWN WORDS. ENSURE THAT YOU RECORD THE REFERENCES FROM WHICH YOUR POINT FORM NOTES WERE GATHERED. "EXPERT" REFERENCES CAN SOMETIMES BE LOCATED BY CONTACTING THE INNOVATORS FOR SCHOOLS PROJECT LEADER.

ASSIGNMENT

EMAIL ME TELLING ME:

• WHAT IS YOUR SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT IDEA?
• WHAT ARE THE THREE REFERENCES THAT YOU WILL USE?
• WHAT METHOD ARE YOU USING TO COLLECT YOUR POINT FORM NOTES?
• WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ENSURE THAT YOUR REFERENCES ARE LISTED ON YOUR POINT FORM NOTES?
• WILL YOU BE USING ANY "EXPERT RESOURCES"? IF SO, WHO? THESE WOULD BE PEOPLE FROM INNOVATORS IN THE SCHOOLS OR PERHAPS A KNOWLEDGEABLE RELATIVE OR PERSON IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

ASSESSMENT

IF YOU HAVE FOUND ACCEPTABLE REFERENCES FOR YOUR PROJECT IDEA AND HAVE SHOWN THAT YOU HAVE DEVELOPED A SOUND METHOD FOR GATHERING POINT FORM NOTES MATCHED WITH REFERENCES THEN YOU WILL RECEIVE AN EMAIL FROM ME INDICATING THAT YOU ARE DOING WELL. OTHERWISE, YOU WILL BE ASKED TO FIND DIFFERENT REFERENCES OR TO ADOPT A MORE ORGANIZED APPROACH TO YOUR NOTE TAKING.