| It does not matter if you are working on a one day | | | | Question- That will trigger some questions. Why did it |
| science fair project or one that is be completed in a | | | | break? Why does the ice melt faster? Why doesn't |
| weekend or a long term project. No matter how short | | | | the calamine lotion work? |
| or long, the scientific method needs to be applied to | | | | Hypotheses- From the question you start thinking of |
| the process. The results are never as important as the | | | | possible reasons. Maybe I need a new battery. It could |
| procedure used to get those results. Results that | | | | be the outdoor temperature? Would the itch stop if I |
| come from a faulty procedure are not worth the | | | | use a different brand? |
| paper they are written on. The key principal here is | | | | Experiment- So you then try some things out. Check |
| that the experiment is designed to prove or disprove a | | | | the batteries or if anything is loose. Keep track of the |
| question. So it does not matter is the experiment is a | | | | amount of sun and see if that makes any difference |
| success as much as if it proves one way or another | | | | with the ice. Try using different brands of the lotion or |
| the idea. | | | | other types of itch control. |
| Children need to learn that most experiments in most | | | | Results- From your experiment you can take the |
| research labs end up disproving and idea. It is using the | | | | results and start to make some conclusions, that you |
| information you get from the things that do not work | | | | proved. No, the changing the batteries did not solve the |
| that often end up giving you the ideas to create and | | | | problem, it must be something else. Yes, the outdoor |
| experiment that will eventually find the solution to your | | | | temperature makes a big difference. No, the brand the |
| idea. It is well known that some of the biggest | | | | does not make a difference, but now I wonder if the |
| breakthroughs in science, like penicillin, came from the | | | | antihistamine sprays work better. |
| failures or from the unexpected results. We use the | | | | As you can see, we use this thought process every |
| scientific method to solve problems we run into in our | | | | day to solve problems. When doing a science |
| life every day. Simple experiments in one day science | | | | experiment, it just needs to be structured and |
| fair projects or long term projects all need to use the | | | | organized. One day science fair projects will be simple |
| scientific method. | | | | questions that can be experimented with in a short |
| Here is a summary of the Scientific Method: | | | | time. Weekend projects might involve keeping track of |
| Observe- This simply means you notice stuff. You | | | | something over a day or two. The professional |
| notice when a flashlight is not working, or that ice melts | | | | scientists often take months or years to work through |
| faster in the summer, or that your mosquito bite still | | | | one experiment. All follow the same structure, so the |
| itches even after you put on calamine lotion. | | | | results will answer the question one way or another. |