Science Fair - Applications of Science in Daily Life - Criteria

Here are the expectations for the science fair projects.

1. The MOST important expectations: Be SAFE, Be Ethical, Be Responsible, Be legal - No tests should harm any pets, students, or animals. If your idea is questionable, we will discuss options. If you are fishing, driving, trapping, so on, you'll need a license. If you are doing ballistics, you will need to draft a permission slip from you parents that outline your safety plan, present adults, and other specific needs for your project - we will talk about those too. You cannot do anything illegal - no underage drinking, or partaking in drugs of any kind, no speeding or driving recklessly. Use common sense. If a police officer was present, would you want them to see what you were doing? How about your parents? 
2. Fit the theme "Applications of Science in Daily Life" - All projects have to relate to our daily life.  Consider some testable questions you have as you go about your day.
3. The variables have to be organic or natural - Pick variables and comparisons that actually happen. I do not know about you, but I have never heard of any one (outside of the movies that make fun of society) watering plants with soda or playing music to them to see if it makes them grow. Those are just not regular habits. We do have options in life though: which soda to buy; whether to boil or microwave our water to heat it; which brand of juice to use; whether to grow organic or commercially produced plant seeds; whether to wash our fruit right before we eat it, let it sit on the counter or put it in the fridge. SO many options!
4. Your study must pertain to your science class - Chemistry students will have to have a project related to chemistry or even physics. Biology students must have a project related to life science.
5. There must be one control  - Define the variables you are controlling (the temperature, amount of water, size of the cups, day that the food was purchased on, the expiration date and brand of food).
6. You will have 2 tests cases, each where only one variable has changed. - You will choose 2 variables you want to look at and perform 2 separate test cases, one for each variable. You can only change ONE variable per test case, otherwise, you will never know which variable caused the change.
7. You will need 20 replications of each set - The minimum number of data points will be 60. There will be 20 data points for the control, 20 for variable A, and 20 for variable B. Depending on the experimental design, there may be more than just 2 variables your group will look at. So, even if you are looking at 4 variables, you will still need 20 points per variable. 
8. Fit in the time frame - These projects will be presented during class May 21-23. So, everything must be done by this point. 
9. Meet the check- points - There will be parts of the assignment due throughout the next few weeks. Your group needs to meet those dead lines to keep on top of the assignment. View the check-points here. 
10. Get Started  - If your project can be done in just a few days, you are not doing it right. Especially if you are looking at growth, survival, or decomposition, you will need a good 3-4 weeks to collect data. 
11. Work as a group - At the end of the project, you will submit a statement as to what your role was in the project. You will also describe the role of each of the other group members and score their participation and effort in the project. Just because the project is submitted as a group DOES NOT mean that you will all get the same grade. 
12. Consider your budget - If you cannot afford 25 burgers, do not choose a project that needs them. There are studies you can do that cost little to no money, you just have to get creative.
13. Be able to attend the Fair - There will be a portion of your score from a question and answer session. This is also where we will figure out who did what. If you have no idea what happened in the tests, we'll know you didn't  have an active role in the assignment. This date will be given to you shortly so that you can arrange to have off for work. 
14. Keep a record of what you do - Part of science is being able to repeat what you did. Take pictures, maybe even video. You will each be keeping a blog of what you did for each check point. Add the pictures, diagrams, data tables, and so on.