Poplar Tree Elementary School PTA

Sponsored by the PTA, the Poplar Tree Science and Engineering Expo is an exciting opportunity for each student to create a STEM-related project that captures their interest. All students will get the chance to present their project and each participant will receive a certificate recognizing their efforts and participation. Please remember that parental supervision the night of the Expo is required. If you have any questions, please email Phil Storch.  

Students are expected to:

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• Complete projects with minimal assistance from parents/guardians.

• Develop a project that connects with a scientific topic.

• Display their project in a creative and neat manner. Each project must have a display, such as a chart, graph, pictures, photographs and your experiment and/or model.

• Have a tri-fold board that explains the process they went through to create their project from idea to results. These boards can be found at local office supply, big box, and teacher materials stores.

• Complete their projects at home, not during the school day.

• Have fun extending their understanding of an area of interest in science or engineering!

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Expo Night Information

 

• All projects need to be brought to school at 6:30 p.m. on April 15.

• Parental supervision the night of the Expo is required.

• All projects will be displayed on tables and all students will present their projects to volunteer judges. If your child needs an extension cord and/or computer, they may use their school equipment. 

• All projects need to go home at the end of the event on April 15.

• No animals may be brought to school as part of a project!

• No open flames, flammable materials, and/or harmful chemicals may be used!

Student Resources 

• Science Buddies: Topic Selection Wizard

• Science Buddies: Data Analysis and Graphs

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Science Fair Guide
 

Science fair projects are activities that are both fun and educational for students. They can pick topics that pique their curiosity, test their hypotheses by creating their own experiments and learn how to  use the scientific method  — a practice used by professional scientists around the world. 

 

Follow these steps to get your scientific investigation underway:

1. Pick a topic you love:  You are much more likely to enjoy this process, and do it well, if you pick a topic you’re passionate about. Don’t limit yourself to scientific or engineering topics, but rather think of your favorite interests and how they may be related to science or engineering. An experiment can be created using practically any topic. For instance, if your passion is art, you could investigate the reaction of paint chemicals or how to make artificial colors. Choose a topic that is suitable for your age. While you can pick a topic that is challenging, you don’t want to choose a topic so difficult that you can’t complete it in time.  

2. Think of a question:   Once you’ve decided on your topic, think of a question you can test.

3. Formulate a hypothesis:   A hypothesis is an attempt to answer your question. 

4. Think of a procedure:   A procedure is an experiment that can be conducted to affirm or deny your hypothesis.

5. Acquire materials:   Once you know how you’ll conduct your experiment, start gathering materials you’ll need to do it.  

6. Record your results:   By experimenting, you can see if your hypothesis was correct.  

   1. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/data-analysis-graphs

7. Arrive at a conclusion:   Take a good look at the result you got, and determine whether your hypothesis was right or wrong. Also, think of ways you could further explore the question.  As you’re doing your experiment, take notes so that afterward you can more easily share what you did and what you learned.  

 

Creating Your Display Board
 

Elementary school students create posters with basically the same format as those presented by professional scientists at conferences.  In general, display boards at science fairs are tri-folds, meaning that they’re folded on both sides so that they can easily stand. It’s not uncommon for boards to measure up to 14 inches deep and 3 feet wide. You can find these boards at office supply, craft and drug stores, or you can make your own with cardboard or poster board.

If you decide to make one yourself, it’s probably best to create three separate pieces then attach them with duct tape so that they can easily bend.
 

Organizing the Display Board
 

When it comes to organizing your poster, you’ve got several options. However, no matter you decide to do the layout, make sure that it includes these key sections:
 

1. Title:  When writing your title, you can simply go with your question or some other message that grabs your audience’s attention.

2. Question:  Clearly state your question. Also, provide some background why this topic interests you and how you thought up the question.

3. Hypothesis:  Tell your audience what you guessed the results would be before you conducted the tests.

4. Procedures:  Clearly explain the steps you took to test your question and why you decided on that procedure.

5. Equipment and materials:  Include a list of the things you needed for your test.

6. Data and results:  Describe what happened when you conducted your experiment. Use graphs, charts or other visuals to help convey your results.

7. Conclusion:  In your previous step, you just described the data. In this step, you want to make sense of them. Mention whether your hypothesis was correct or not, and explain why you think you got those results. Also, if you were to redo the tests, mention what you would do differently.

8. References:  Include the resources you used, whether they’re websites, books or people.

9. Your Name:  Also add your grade and the name of your teacher.