Creating a Purpose for Your Project
All good projects need to have a clear purpose. Your purpose should be a clearly written, concise paragraph that explains what you'll be learning and why you're working so hard to learn it.
Before you write your purpose, consider the following questions. WHAT will you discover during this project? WHY are you conducting this research? HOW will your project benefit others? WHY would other people be interested in learning the results of your projects. If you can't answer these questions, you may need to dig deeper into your area of study to find the answers, or consider choosing another topic.
Question and Purpose Worksheet | |
File Size: | 47 kb |
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Conducting Background Research
Now that you've chosen a topic, you need to learn more about it. Conduct research on the internet and in books to discover what others already know about your area of study.
Sometimes, the best way to do this is to create an idea web of keywords related to your topic. Next, use your web to search the internet and the library for reliable information. You'll want to find a minimum of three reliable sources, but the best projects have five to ten references. Be sure to keep track of all your sources. Check out www.easybib.com for an easy way to setup your reference list (which is also called a bibliography).
Research Worksheets | |
File Size: | 56 kb |
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Writing Your Hypothesis
Before you conduct any experiment, you should write a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess or prediction. Based on what you know about your topic, you should predict what you think the results will be. It's important that you explain why you made that hypothesis.
Hypothesis worksheet | |
File Size: | 32 kb |
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Getting Variables Under Control
Variables are the parts of an experiment that can affect the results or outcome. In a scientific study, you should control all variables except for ONE.
Start by creating a list of all the things that could affect the results of your project. Decide which ONE variable you will change. For example, if you are testing which brand of microwave popcorn cooks the best, then the variable you allow to change is the popcorn brand. This is called the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE. The independent variable is the ONE thing you will change during the experiment. After you have identified the idependent variable, explain how you will control all the other variables. Those are called the CONSTANTS. The constants are all the other details of the experiment that must stay the same each time you run your test. In the popcorn project, the controls would be the cooking time, size of the popcorn bag, and the cooking temperature.
Fifth graders also need to identify the DEPENDENT VARIABLE. This is what happens as a result of changing the independent variable, or how you will measure the results. The dependent variable is what you will be measuring or observing. For the popcorn project, the dependent variable is the number of unpopped kernels. The outcome depends on the brand of popcorn used (the independent variable.)
Variables Worksheet | |
File Size: | 65 kb |
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