Science Fair Projects - Complete Guide to a Winning Science Project Step 5 - Your Project Report

Your report is a written account of your science fair project starting from the beginning to the end. Those people who will be reading the report for the science fair projects will know absolutely nothing about your project - until they read your report. This means you will have to write your report to where they understand what you did and how you did it. You will have to give them details about your project. After reading your report the reader show know exactly what you did, why you did it, the ending results, whether or not the experiment matched up to your hypothesis, and where you got your research information, like what books or articles you read.

What goes in the report?

A large portion of your report will come from your journal because you will be recording everything in your journal as your project develops. For the report you will need to organize the information and copy the information neatly from your journal. Make some colorful tables, graphs and diagrams to go into your report. If you can, use a computer to make some or all of these illustrations for your report. Science fair projects that have clear diagrams and pictures are easier to understand than ones that just have text.

What should the report include?

You will need to check with your teacher to find out what is expected to be seen in your report and the order it is to be in as regulated by the local fair. A project report is usually expected to be typed, using double-spaces, and bound in a folder or a notebook. It should have a title page, a table of contents, an abstract, an introduction, one or more experiments and the information, a conclusion, a list of your sources, and acknowledgements.

Title Page

Before you do your title page, what goes on the title page can vary. Some fairs only want the title of the project centered on the page. As a rule your name will not go one the title page during judging. Your teacher can give you're the specific instructions on how to do the title page for the fair you will be entering. As you are creating the title of your project, you should say something about the subject of your project, but it also needs to be an attention getting title. The project title can not be the same as the problem question.

Table of Contents

The second page of your report should be the table of contents. It should have a list of everything that is in the report after the table of contents page. Just to give you an idea look at the example below.

- Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Experiment
- Data
- Conclusion
- Sources
- Acknowledgements

Abstract

The abstract is just a brief overview or summary of the project. It should only take up one page and should include the project title, a statement of the purpose, a hypothesis, a brief description of the procedure, and the results.

Many times the abstract of science fair projects must be turned in to the science fair officials on the day of judging, and it is a good idea to have copies available at your display. The judges will have some they are able to refer to when they make their final decision.

Introduction

The introduction is a statement of your intention, along with any background information, which led you to running this experiment. It should have a brief statement of your hypothesis based on your research. In other words what facts did you learn in your research that led you to assume the answer to the project's problem question. Make sure to reference the information or the experience that made you decide to do that project's point.

Your teacher may require footnotes. If so, include one for each source of information you used.

Experiment and Data

If you performed more than one experiment, you will need to write an experiment page for each experiment. The experiment page should tell in detail the actions performed in doing the experiment. In needs to be written as an outline. After each experiment you should have tables, graphs, charts or diagrams to show the results you received from the experiments

Conclusion

The conclusion is a short summary about what you have discovered. The conclusion should only take up one page. The conclusion is written using the results of your experiment. The hypothesis will be written in the conclusion and will point out whether the data you gathered agrees. Your conclusion can also include any plans you might have for future experiments on the same subject. Science fair projects should always leave people thinking "What would be a good experiment to do next?"

Sources

You got your information from somewhere and this is the page you list where your information came from. Your sources can be a book or article your read or a person you interviewed.

For the written materials you will write a bibliography. You will list the people you interviewed separate from the books. Place their names in alphabetical order by their last name. Their title will go next to their name along with the business address and business telephone number, but only if you have their permission. Never list home addresses or phone numbers. This part of science fair projects sometimes seems silly, but it is important so that someone who is interested can learn more about your topic from the same places you did.

Acknowledgement

Your acknowledgement is your thank you to all the people who helped you with your project and what they did for you. It can start out something like this.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the members of my family and my teacher for helping me with this project. To my mother who typed this report for me.
Etc.

Finally, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get your report written, AND to have it read over by at least a couple of other people.

If you're ready to get going with your own science project, your next step is to download a free copy of Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects.

Good luck!

About the Author

Aurora Lipper has been teaching science to kids for over 10 years. She is also a mechanical engineer, university instructor, pilot, astronomer and a real live rocket scientist (You should see the lab in her basement!) She has inspired thousands of kids with the fun and magic of science.

High School Science Fair Topics For a Winning Science Project

High school science fair topics are known to be difficult; the competition is fierce, the judges expect more, and the project often counts for a percentage of your grade. For these reasons, you want to do high school science experiments that will cause the judges to take notice.

One way to decide on a topic is to look at problems in the world around you and try to explain them or even solve the problems. Demonstrations and models are generally not accepted in high school, as you are expected to use the scientific method within your experiment and explain your results in report form. It can be a challenge to come up with a science experiment topic suitable for your education level, but with a little work you should be able to come up with an appropriate experiment that interests you.

One science fair project suitable for high school would be to test and see if a black light is able to pick up invisible stains around your house. Another is to find out if insects are attracted to lamps at night because of the light or the heat. Another idea would be to see which brand of anti-freeze is the safest for the environment. You could also find out if different brands of orange juice contain different levels of Vitamin C, and does the level of vitamin C in orange juice change over time?

If you are a girl and you like to dye your hair, maybe you could experiment and see which brand of hair color holds its color the longest. You could go a step farther and see if previous treatments such as a perm or straightening will affect how long the color will stay in your hair. If you know someone with gray hair, you could test the brands that claim to cover grays and see how well they really do their job.

For more high school science fair topics and step-by-step instructions, visit www.easy-kids-science-experiments.com Be sure to check out the site for tons of simple science projects elementary science experiments, middle school, and high school science.

© Copyright 2008. Feel free to reprint this article on your site as long as the article is not modified in any way and the resource information (about the author) is listed as above.

Teenagers and Technology - 7 Tips for Parents of the Wired Generation

As a parent, do you feel like technology has taken over your teenager's world? Does your teenager spend what seems like hours texting or literally hours on the computer? Or do you sometimes feel a sense of distance in your relationship with your teenager because technology? Here are 7 tips for parents of the wired generation:

1. Be aware

Do you know what an iPod is? What do you know about social networking sites like Facebook and Linkedin? Twitter? Flickr? This biggest mistake many parents make is not taking the time to find out about the latest gadgets, software, and websites. If your knowledge of technology is limited to a cell phone, then a good starting point is simply finding out what is available.

2. Become a consistent user

As a parents do you feel like your teenager is more techno-savvy than you? There is good news. The world of computers changes as rapidly as time itself, and it seems to become more user friendly in the process. Get educated. Take some classes, read some books. Better yet - ask your teenager to help you. Most teenagers enjoy showing their skills and tend to be pretty good teachers - the key is in the asking.

3. Embrace technology, rather than avoid it

Can you remember what the new technology was that your parents were resistant to when you were a teenager? Perhaps it was the use of a computer itself. We all know that technology is here to stay. It is not going to go away, and with all of its benefits, why should it? By embracing technology rather than ignoring or resisting it, it sends the message of openness and interest in your teenager's world.

4. Help them discover balance

Too much of anything is bad for you. Moderation is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Teenagers, like many adults, are still learning how to find that balance between overindulgence and relaxation. Excessive time with any technology leaves little room for down time and allowing your mind and body to rejuvenate.

5. Teach responsibility

As with anything useful, there can be harmful applications as well. Technology is no different. Yet, lack of responsibility can result in harm to your teenager physically and emotionally. Help your teenager discover that using technology responsibly, rather than avoid it altogether, is essential within his/her highly wired lifestyle.

6. Strengthen your parenting relationship by using technology

What is a parent to do about all this technology and the internet? Use it to foster your relationship with your teenager! The wired generation of today's teenager often uses technology to build a sense of community. As a parent, why not use this as a vehicle to build community with your teenager as well?

7. Establish some rules

As stated, technology can sometimes be harmful in as much as it can be beneficial. Identify what the household rules are, and communicate them to your teenager. Rules are necessary for safety and accountability.

Technology and teenagers go hand in hand. It is difficult to find a teenager that does not enjoy listening to his MP3, or communicating with her friends via text messaging. In reality, technology can be a great tool in parenting the wired generation.

Are you looking for more practical solutions for parenting your teenager? I invite you to check out [http://www.parentingyourteenager.com/] where you will find more information to help parents and teens become better friends when they feel like enemie

Microsoft LucidTouch - The Technology That Will Change Laptops Forever

Technology Innovations continue to surprise us with new and improved products to help make our lives easier and our days go smoother. Touch screen technology is one of the technologies that has emerged to help make our days go by a bit more efficiently, allowing people to access their calendars, address databases, and memo records all with just one tap of a screen. The biggest drawback about it is that sometimes, fingers get in the way of touch screen technology. This is where Microsoft's new LucidTouch technology has come to the rescue in efforts to solve this problem.

LucidTouch Technology Works in Reverse

Currently the type of touch screen technology that most people are used to has to do with pressing their finger on a point and making an application pop up. While this may seem just well and fine, there are some people who are a great deal busier than that and have to be able to do multiple things at once-including type emails and open email applications at the same time.

With LucidTouch technology by Microsoft, there is no problem with the fingers blocking the screen because the hands are behind the device. Similar to a projector screen the image of the hands is projected through the device and to your eyes, and the actual touch screen capabilities are on the backside of the device. This means no more having to hold your device in one hand and tap the touch screen with another.

The image of the user's hands can be seen through the screen, making it especially useful for games and things like navigational systems. It gives the illusion of the actual device being see-through, when really it is just the LucidTouch technology transmitting an image of the hand through the screen onto the person's eyes. This helps greatly, allowing even the busiest of people to see the screens and navigate through the screens at the same time without their hands getting in the way.

Where did Microsoft LucidTouch Technology Come From?

Many users feel that Microsoft's LucidTouch technology came from nowhere, and it really did. The touch screen being blocked by the fingers has been one of those problems that plenty of users had but few actually cared enough to speak up about, and the new technology has just emerged at the right time to make users in general that much more efficient with their phones. It makes business phones that much more easily worked and even simplifies GPS navigational devices. While the technology is sensitive to a person's touch, it is also not so sensitive that it jumps at every little tap to the screen, which is one problem with the Iphone and other phones whose whole front is a touch activated screen.

What is next for Microsoft? Only time can tell, and this LucidTouch technology has not yet entered the mainstream market. AS a matter of fact, it was only introduced and put on display for the first time at a technology show in early March 2008, so many people don't even know that this amazing technology is coming at them. In the meantime, it will surely be tweaked and redefined as time goes on, making for an even better piece of equipment once the final product rolls off of the lines-whenever that may happen to be. Are you frustrated with your touch screen phone or GPS? Look out for Microsoft LucidTouch technology in a device near you!

Best Rated Laptops Guide

Research is your best solution. Our comprehensive Tablet PC research and reviews will arm you with everything you need to know.

A Book Review - Educational Leadership in Pakistan: Ideals and Realities

All about the Book

This is the first ever book on educational leadership, published in Pakistan. Dr. Jan-e-Alam Khaki and Dr. Qamar Safdar are the editors of this book. The book consists of a series of empirical studies undertaken by qualified educational researchers in Pakistan, associated directly or indirectly with AKU-IED. There are various thought provoking and insightful topics in this book; each complements our learning experiences. The book is divided into four sections and fourteen chapters; each section and chapter is intertwined with each other and illuminates issues and its remedial measures. Section one describes the development of education leadership in Pakistan. The second sections deals with the Diversity of Leadership: perceptions and practices of leadership in Pakistan. The third session looks at the role of the educational change agents, and the fourth sections explores the future prospects of educational leadership in Pakistan. In order to get in-depth insights from the book, we decided to focus on first two sections and reviewed initial six chapters.

In first chapter, Dr. Sajid Ali and Muhammad Babur highlight the issues and nature of governance during pre and post independence. Structure of education during British and after independence is analytically compared. Chapter indicates that involvement of educational leadership is missing in both periods, causing various issues in education system, ineffective management and indistinct teaching methodologies, etc. In the second chapter, Zubaida Bana reflects upon the understanding of effective leadership. Using the Katha (storytelling) approach, she starts the discussion pints of a headteacher who imaginatively discovers the meanings in allegories and metaphors in order to understand the roles and responsibilities of an effective education leader in his/her school. Katha of leadership described in this chapter stimulates our minds that every person has the capacity to lead. Some may lead in wider space; others may lead in smaller landscape.

The third chapter is all about of a female pedagogical leader's journey in a traditional context in Pakistan. The writer reflects upon the critical incidents, she came across in her personal to professional life, which helped or impede her way to become a pedagogical leader. The notion of 'leader as a bridge between management and stakeholders' and 'leader as a life-long learner' is evident from her story. In the fourth chapter, Qamar Safdar explores the roles of two effective headteachers of early years in two private schools. The writer reflects on the capacity and ability for the overall development of children. The chapter 5, deals with an ethnographic study conducted by Mola Dad Shafa in a rural context of northern areas of Pakistan. The author discusses the challenges the headteachers faced and the way addressed them. The chapter six, 'Effective School Leadership Practices' is a doctorial research of Dr. Jan-e-Alam Khaki. In this case study, Khaki explores the roles and beliefs of three effective secondary school headteachers and their influences on the teaching and learning practices in schools.

Key Learning from the Book

Being a student of Teacher Education, I was very unfamiliar with different kinds of leadership and its characteristics. The very first time, in our PL course, I heard the terms instructional, moral, transformational, participative, managerial, contingent and pedagogical leadership. But these terms were not much clear to me; I mostly thought them as just theories with no connection with practical life of a leader. This book review provided me with access not only to understand and differentiate in different kinds of leadership, but also relate it with real-life situations.

I have learnt many new things about effective leadership from this book, but due toe limited word limit I will describe some crux of it. While analyzing the first chapter of the book, I feel the same that governance and planning has the role in deteriorated education system in Pakistan. It takes a lot of time in planning and framing the policy, then sending it to the national assembly and senate for debate and translating it into the law. Then piloting of the policy takes long time and when it comes to be implementation, the government gets changed and so the policy. It creates the environment of despair, but when I go through the second chapter (Katha of Leadership), it gives a hope. Here, I learnt that nothing is unachievable in this world. Every person is capable to contribute in the process of change and everyone has capacity to lead. We should not stay waiting for any cosmos power to come to help us; it is high time for everyone to come forward and lead.

The third chapter of the book was the most inspiring and learning factor for me. Here, I learned that how a person (particularly a woman), with her/his strong will, sincerity and zeal breaks the chains of traditional rules. While reading that article, I was deeply thinking that someone has to initiate and take the first step toward the collective development. This article took me in my own context, where female is still considered as the property of the man and only the reproductive machine. Education, even the good food is the sole right of male child. Here, my elder sister (who could not get education herself) by sending her daughter into school, proved herself as traditional rule breaker. Some of other females start following her foot-steps by sending their daughters to the schools. Ten years back, there was no single literate girl in my village, but due to that small step, more than forty to fifty girls have completed their primary education so far. Besides it, I also learnt that leader is life-long learner. He/she learns through self-reflection and negotiating and discussing the issues with others and seeking guidance from them.

Overall, this book serves as a pioneer of exploring our thinking about our own role as a leader and proves to be a best resource for the policy makers to develop alternative approaches to deal with school and teaching and learning practices.

Conclusion

This book very obviously describes the role of leadership and management in an educational organization. A leader being a role model should motivate and encourage the staff because performance and commitment of people employed in any organization makes it effective. Through critical analysis of the book, I came to know that this book possesses stories and cases from Pakistani context so many of the ideas suit my own. So, it would be easier for my future role as a teacher educator to deal with the school management and leadership related issues in an effective manner.

Sayed Muzaffar Ali Shah
M.Ed. student
Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development, Karachi, Pakistan

Reference:

Khaki, J., & Safdar, Q. (Eds). (2010). Educational Leadership in Pakistan: Ideals and Realities. Karachi: Oxford University Press

Is Networking Critical to the American Educational System?

For years, scientists didn't communicate all that much with scientists from competing organizations. The race for being the first to discover a new cure meant that sharing information could boost a competitor and give them an edge. That all changed when Susan G. Komen for the Cure came along, transforming the way that scientists across the country do business by making cooperation the backbone of the project. Networking and collaboration are crucial to boosting any system as a whole.

The same is true with education. The one thing that's possible in the U.S. that's not feasible everywhere else is open communication. Although China recently emerged as a top contender in educating its youngsters, their country doesn't support a free exchange of ideas. Websites are routinely blocked by the Communist Party of China and the government intentionally provides misinformation to its citizens on a routine basis. Although the Chinese have an educational edge because learning is celebrated and highly esteemed, they don't have the same kind of fundamental approach to open communication.

By doing what Americans do best, which is freely exchanging goods and services, the U.S. will not fail in the race to educate. When educators, administrators, and others freely collaborate, the entire educational system receives a boost. Thanks to the Internet, it's easier than every to share resources and information.

One way that educators and professionals can exchange services is through an educational exchange website. The site basically functions as a medium for the buying and selling of freelance services and unwanted educational materials. If you need to hire someone to design a workshop, write a grant, or create a curriculum for your school, you can find another trained professional to do the work for you. Essentially, you can find experts to give your school a helping hand when you need it. By the same token, you can lend your expertise through the networking site and sell your own services.

The Internet serves as a way for educators to unite and help each other. Peer collaboration and teamwork can make all the difference in a diminished economy. It's time for educators and schools to share critical resources and ideas and trade goods and services. By taking advantage of an educational exchange website, you can discover what services are on hand for special projects, and you can also ascertain what services you can put forward to other educational centers and schools. Sharing resources is what the Internet and America should be about.

ExcelAssist.com is a premiere online educational auction and education freelance network that allows educational professionals to buy and sell new or used equipment and supplies, as well as hire freelance providers for various projects from consulting to grant writing.

Selecting the Best Science Projects For Varying Grade Levels

Upon getting information about an upcoming school science fair and the need to consider a topic of interest, many students will typically have no idea where to get started. While the science fair is typically a common occurrence in any school at any grade level, there are different types of topics that should be taken a look at depending on the age of the student. After first taking a look at the many different categories of science projects, you will be able to locate a suitable choice of topic to take to the next level.

There is a wide variety of categories that fall under the types of science projects that can be chosen for a school science fair. These include biology, chemistry, physics, microbiology, biochemistry, medicine, environmental, mathematics, engineering, and earth science. While you may not have yet learned very much in any of these categories, don't be afraid to see what each one entails. Taking a good look at your interests will allow you to focus on the right direction to take.

Many resources are also available for those who are unsure as to the topic they are wanting to use to create their science projects. If you take a look at the topics that fall under the biology category, you will likely notice that there are topics that deal with plants, animals, and humans. For those who are in 2nd grade or 3rd grade, an interesting topic may be to determine if ants are picky over what type of food they eat. While this topic might not be of interest to an 8th grader, it is certainly something in the biology category that an elementary school student would enjoy.

Along with the biology category, a high school student may want to take a look at diffusion and osmosis in animal cells as this would be a more appropriate topic for the grade level. A student in 6th grade would be more advanced than an elementary school student, but not as advanced as a high school student. At this middle school grade level, a topic of how pH levels effect the lifespan of a tadpole may be of interest.

Whichever resource is used to locate a topic for science projects, it is always a good idea to consider the grade level of the student prior to making a selection. It is always assumed to be best to have a project at an appropriate level in order to keep the attention of the student and provide a fun and enjoyable learning experience.