All About the “Scientific Method”
In order to do a science fair project you must observe the “scientific method”. This is a procedure established many years ago for all scientific research. No matter what your grade level or how easy or difficult your science fair project, you must play by the rules which means you must use the scientific method.
The scientific method involves experimenting and exploring observations and answering questions. Scientists in real life try to determine the causes and effects in the natural world,. You must behave as a real scientist while doing your science fair project.
First you must ask a question
The first thing you must do to observe the scientific method is to ask a question. There are many different questions that may be asked,. For example you may ask how something can be done, or what is it all about, or when will it happen or who or which or why or where. In order to answer the question that you ask the experiment should something that you can measure. The answer will probably be a number.
The next thing to do is background research
The second part of the scientific method is to do background research to enable you to answer the question that you asked. The chances are that quite a lot of information is available on any topic that you choose. Scientists have probably been researching your project for a long time. So rather that starting from scratch, you can take advantage of what others have learned about your problem. You will find these answers by doing background research. You can use the internet and go to the library. You must find this information and create a bibliography of just where the information came from, and use this information in your project display.
Now you must construct a hypothesis
Now you get into a guessing game. A hypothesis is your estimation or your guess of what will happen in your experiment. It is a guess of what the results of the project will probably be. The hypothesis is in direct response to the question you asked. It is your best thinking of what the answer will be.
At this point you will test your hypothesis and do an experiment.
There is a proper way to do experiments and you must learn about them. The experiments must be a fair and proper test. You must learn whether your hypothesis is correct or incorrect. When you do your experimenting, you must only change one variable at a time and keep all of the other variables the same. It is also wise to do your experiment over and over to make certain that you avoid errors.
It is now time to analyze the data the you uncovered and come to a conclusion.
When you have finished all of your experimenting, gather all of your data and measurements and look them over carefully to see if the hypothesis that you made earlier is justified and accurate. You may have to construct a different hypothesis and start the experiment all over again, or conduct your test in a different way.
You must reveal what you have found and share your findings with others.
There are many ways to display your findings. Many people use heavy cardboard displays with colorful charts and pictures.
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