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Science Fair - Everything You Need to Know

STM School 2011 - 2012 Science Fair

Due Dates and Expectations

                                                                                         

St. Thomas School Science/History Fair              ** Thurs, Feb 9 **          

Region #5 Paper Session                                      Sat, March 24 (IMSA)

Region #5 Project Session                                    Sat, March 17 (NIU)

State Paper Session                                              Fri, May  4 (U of I)

State Project Session                                            Sat, May 5 (U of I)

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    Section to be completed                       Due Dates                          

  • Final Proposal Page                             - Mon, September 19
  • Notecards (25 each week)                  - Fridays, Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28
  • Outline for “Review of Literature”        - November      
  • Rough Draft: “Review of Literature”      - week of Nov. 14 - 18
  • Project Outline (hypothesis, purpose, procedure, materials                                                - Monday, Dec 5
  • Experiment completed                              -Friday, January 6 (due to Mrs. Kamp) 
  • Final copy of GRAPHS                                 - Friday, January 13
  • Rough Drafts                                              - Friday, January 13 

       (conclusion, abstract, acknowledgements, future plans, errors)

  • Final Copy of Entire Paper                         - January 23

       (ENTIRE paper as listed below - IN ORDER)

  • Presentation Boards                                  - Friday, February 3
  • Oral Presentations during class                * Feb 6 - Feb 8
  • Science Fair at STM                                   **Thursday, February 9 **



    Physical Arrangement of the Written Report

The following items are to be included (in the ORDER):

  • ABSTRACT - concise summary of the work, first page of the paper, Physical form: single-spaced; 200 words or less; has purpose, procedure, conclusion
  • SAFETY SHEETS - identify all safety hazards and precautions
  • ENDORSEMENTS - for human subjects & non-human vertebrates
  • TITLE PAGE
  • TABLE OF CONTENTS - complete with page numbers
  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS - precisely states question and expected outcome of experiment
  • REVIEW OF LITERATURE - report on background information, references properly documented and listed
  • MATERIALS & METHODS OF PROCEDURE - simple and concise chronological account of what was done so others could follow it; apparatus and materials are listed, diagramed, and explained
  • RESULTS - organized in tables and/or charts with graphic presentations; if no quantitative results, then a day-by-day log is required
  • CONCLUSION - concise evaluation and interpretation of the data and/or results; limited to this investigation and purpose only; includes experimental error
  • EXPERIMENTAL ERRORS/FUTURE PLANS - paragraph stating what errors were encountered during testing and how they were addressed, as well as any errors that could have occurred but did not; future plans is a paragraph that states how the project could be continued or extended in the future 
  • REFERENCE LIST - list of published articles, books, and communications actually cited in the paper; listed alphabetical according to APA style format

Techincal Points of the Written Paper

  • typed, double-spaced with at least 1-inch margins
  • uses only one side of the paper
  • appropriate style and font (10/12-point, Times New Roman)
  • last name of student author at the top of each page
  • tables and graphs in paper are kept to a minimum and properly labeled
  • photographs are of good quality and have captions under them
    Further specific information can be obtained at the IJAS website:
    Science Fair Links – Ideas for Topics