Parent's Guide to Science Projects

Information on the Scientific Method

Science projects should follow the six-step scientific method. Use the link below to access a comprehensive Science Buddies Project Guide that provides direction on each step.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/steps-of-the-scientific-method

Time Management

See your child's Student Science Project Planning Timeline for all of the key due dates. Help your child meet these dates by marking the interim due dates on your family calendar. Block out times for checking in with your child on their progress and to work on specific tasks. Look for any scheduling conflicts, such as vacations, and be sure to discuss any time conflicts with the teacher.

How to Help

As your child works on his or her project, he or she will likely face stumbling blocks. To help, ask open-ended questions to help your child figure things out; don't just provide the answers. Sometimes just talking it out can help children get unstuck. If not, ask the teacher for support. Respect your child's independence in learning by helping at the right level. Open-ended questions you might ask include:

What else could you try to solve this?
What is stopping you from going on to the next step?
How can you break this problem down into smaller steps?
Can you explain your thought process to me?
What does your research suggest about how to tackle this?
Is there a way to test your idea on a smaller scale first?

Helping at the Right Level at Every Step

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Project Step	Helping at the right level:	Going too far:
Ask a Question	Discussing with your child whether a project idea seems practical considering time and material constraints Asking your child questions about how they can adjust a project idea to better fit their unique interests Encouraging your child to look for project ideas that are genuinely interesting to them	Picking an idea and project for your child. A topic they are not genuinely interested in will be challenging for them to complete.
Do Background Research	Helping your child think of keywords for Internet searches Helping your child evaluate whether sources they find are reliable	Doing an Internet search and printing out articles for them
Construct a Hypothesis	Asking how the hypothesis relates to an experiment the child can do Asking what other hypotheses they might consider based on their background research	Writing the hypothesis yourself Telling the student what you think the hypothesis should be
Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment	Assisting in finding and obtaining materials Monitoring safety Letting them make mistakes Checking in and encouraging them when they get stuck (see the open-ended questions above for ideas) Reminding them to keep track of their work in their lab notebook Take pictures of them completing their experiment	Writing the experimental procedure for them Doing the experiment yourself (except for potentially unsafe steps) Telling your child step-by-step what to do Writing their results in their lab notebook for them
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion	Asking how your child will record the data in a data table and helping them refine their data table Reminding your child to check their teacher's requirements for graphs and charts Reminding your child to tie the data back to the hypothesis and draw a conclusion	Creating a spreadsheet and making the graphs yourself, even if your child helps type in values Determining the conclusion yourself
Communicate Your Results	If a presentation is assigned, act as the audience as your child practices their presentation If a display board is assigned, help obtain the required materials and bring the final board to school	Writing any of the text on the display board Determining the color scheme and other graphic elements