Project Guides (Page 8)

Experimental Design for Advanced Science Projects

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Sandra Slutz, PhD, Vice President of STEM Education, Science Buddies Kenneth L. Hess, Founder and President, Science Buddies Preface Advanced science projects and independent scientific research are invariably subject to much scrutiny. Other scientists in the field will be looking at your work and will expect that the data has been rigorously analyzed. But rigorous analysis also requires careful experimental design. If you don't spend time thinking about the types of observations you'll be… Read more

How to Find a Mentor

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by Amber Hess Special thanks to Terik Daly, Benjamin Pollack, and Mary Lou O'Donnell, who contributed to this article. The vast majority of winners at top fairs have a mentor, and the vast majority of students have to find their own mentors. Why is a mentor important? Mentors can: Give you access to a lab for your research. Explain difficult concepts, which can save you a great deal of time and frustration. Help you with trouble-shooting your experiment or providing… Read more

Lift and Drag on Planes, Parachutes, and Rockets

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You may have heard the words lift and drag, but do you know what they mean? Lift and drag are aerodynamic forces that act on an object moving through a fluid (a liquid or a gas). Understanding which way lift and drag point can be important for an aerodynamics science project. This page will try to clear up some common misconceptions about the directions of lift and drag. Figure 1 shows a diagram frequently used to represent the aerodynamic forces on an airplane. The plane’s weight pulls… Read more

Roadmap: How to Get Started on an Advanced Science Project

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Introduction An advanced science project is science research where you produce a novel scientific contribution. It can come in the form of either new data that helps address an open question in a particular scientific field, or a new technique that improves upon methods currently being used in a scientific field. Advanced science projects can also be done in the engineering field (see sidebar). Most advanced science projects are undertaken with the goal of competing at a top science competition… Read more

Science Fair Supplies & Materials Approved Supplier

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Ordering From Sigma-Aldrich Sigma-Aldrich is a major chemical supplier offering the largest available selection of chemicals. We have ordered from Sigma-Aldrich in the past and found their sales representatives to be courteous, extremely knowledgeable, and very helpful in finding the most appropriate materials for a particular project. Here are some tips we would like to pass along to you: Sigma-Aldrich only sells to institutions, so here are some tips on placing orders: … Read more

Titration Tutorial: Tips & Tricks for Titrating

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Not sure what titration is or what you can do with it? Then you are in the right place! In this tutorial, you will find information on titration, including the chemicals that are commonly used and the chemical reactions that make titration work, as well as how titration is performed and some tips to get better results. What is Titration? Titration is a method commonly used in chemistry to figure out the amount of a chemical in a solution. This chemical is called the titrand. To figure out the… Read more

Variance & Standard Deviation

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It would be useful to have a measure of scatter that has the following properties: The measure should be proportional to the scatter of the data (small when the data are clustered together, and large when the data are widely scattered). The measure should be independent of the number of values in the data set (otherwise, simply by taking more measurements the value would increase even if the scatter of the measurements was not increasing). The… Read more

Writing a Hypothesis for Your Science Fair Project

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What is a Hypothesis? A hypothesis is the best answer to a question based on what is known. Scientists take that best answer and do experiments to see if it still makes sense or if a better answer can be made. When a scientist has a question they want to answer, they research what is already known about the topic. Then, they come up with their best answer to the question based on what they know. This is called a hypothesis. The hypothesis has to be testable. A scientist must be able to do… Read more

Accelerometer Technical Note

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The following information is intended to supplement the Science Buddies tutorial on using the accelerometer sensor options in Google's Science Journal app. This resource provides more in-depth explanation of the science behind an accelerometer and the X, Y, Z, and Linear accelerometer options in the app. What is an accelerometer? An accelerometer is a device that measures acceleration, which is the change in an object's velocity per second. Since velocity is measured in meters per second… Read more

Alternative Display Boards

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Reusable (plywood) display board. Pentafold display board. Tripod board stand. Poster printout mounted on a flat board. A display board constructed from Plexiglas or acrylic sheet is very unique, but it does come with some problems. Depending on what is behind this clear board, it can be very difficult to read. Tubular frame for display board. Accordion display board. "Retractor"… Read more

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