An Illustrated Guide to Doing a Nearly-Painless Science Project

We have homeschooled our 4 children for over 20 years. During that time we have guided them through just over 40 science projects—all of which we had them enter into at least one science fair. My husband is not a scientist; I'm not either. In fact, neither of us did science projects when we were in school. We got started at the urging of a friend when a local science fair was just starting. That was when our oldest was 6. Now he’s 23! Over the years, science projects have taught us much and given us many timeless memories.

As I explain the process, I’m assuming that the project is being done so that it could be presented at a science fair. It wouldn’t need to be, though, for the process to be the same. If you read this page and need some extra encouragement, some additional ideas for specific projects, or some guidelines about what we’ve found works well (and what doesn’t!) please look at my second hubpage entitled Science Projects: Tried and True Tips and Tricks.

This is CRITICAL. Science projects take time. If your child chooses something he’s only marginally interested in, he will burn out long before the project is done. Elementary students will need guidance about what is within their ability or is feasible for the time of year, the expense involved, and the equipment required. Your local library probably has a host of books with science project ideas for students of any age. Letting your child browse through several of them to see what strikes his fancy may generate a good project idea. With your oversight, your child could also search the Internet for science projects by age group or by a general topic. One note, though—we’ve never used a project directly from a book or internet site without altering it at least a little.

Library sources, Internet sites, interviews with experts and observations are all good sources. To guide you through this process, I’m using pictures of an actual project our son did as a 1^st-grader fourteen years ago. He began with a general topic of “weather.” We found several library books on his reading level, and a chose a couple to read with him. Soon he narrowed his topic to “clouds.” We didn’t have Internet access then, but if we had, we could have researched the topic online and then printed activity sheets, puzzles and quiz sheets about the different types of clouds and what kind of weather they indicate. As he did his project, our son recorded bibliography information and took notes into his PROJECT LOG. The LOG can be recorded on the computer and then printed at the end of the project. We just had him use an ordinary notebook. Either way, the student should use the log to record EVERYTHING! Obviously, a 1^st-grader isn’t going to take extensive notes, or get the bibliography entries in MLA format. He doesn’t need to! What he needs is to gather lots of information and make notes about what he learns. We also had our son observe the sky each day to see what he could learn about clouds. As he researched, he looked for a particular subject to study. He eventually decided that he wanted to study how cloud cover and temperature were related. The PURPOSE for his project was stated like this—“My purpose is to find out if clouds affect how much the temperature drops.” As he studied further, he decided that the specific question he wanted to answer was, “Does the number of clouds affect how far the temperature falls?” This question became the PROBLEM or RESEARCH QUESTION for the science experiment to answer. Since our son was only six and the term PROBLEM was nebulous to him, at least in this setting, we had him include the statement WHAT I WANTED TO FIND OUT as part of his heading. We’ve seen this done frequently for very young students.

This becomes the project’s HYPOTHESIS. The hypothesis is the young scientist’s best guess, based on what he has researched. For the clouds experiment, the HYPOTHESIS or WHAT I THINK statement was, “I think it will not make any difference if there are lots of clouds or some clouds or no clouds.” Note that the wording is both a bit awkward and a little vague. If our son had been an older student, he would have needed to define things better. However, one of the key things about a good science project is that the student does as much of his own work as is possible!! The wording made sense to our 6-year-old, so we left it alone.

A good experiment design allows your student to do most of the work, is controlled and is measurable, preferably with something objective—like numbers—rather than something subjective—like opinions. The “experiment” in this case consisted of 30 days of observing the sky to determine the amount of cloud cover and the temperature associated with it. . To provide experiment control, our son observed the sky at the same time each day. He also decided to check it 3 times each day so that he could notice temperature trends at certain times of the day. To provide some “brackets” for his answers, he set up 3 categories for the amount of cloud cover—Clear, Partly Cloudy, or Cloudy. Every cloud cover situation fit into one of those categories. He noted into his log everything he would need to use in order to do the experiment and used a pencil and ruler to make columned sheets on which to record his observations.

Each day for 30 days our son went outside to check the amount of cloud cover. His PROCEDURE—or WHAT I DID—contains this statement, “I checked between 2:00-2:30 pm, between 5:00-5:30 pm, and between 8:00-8:30 pm. This time period usually included the warmest part of the day. It also had some evening hours after the sun had set.” I should point out that he did his observations in January and February, so he was able to note a substantial drop in temperature even by 8:30 at night. You might point out that the observations probably didn’t cover the day’s actual low temperature. You’re right, but 6-year-old scientists need a good night’s sleep in order to be able to think well! At the end of 30 days he had 90 observations—3 each day for 30 days.

To analyze the data, our son first noted how many days were in each of his 3 categories, and which were a combination of clear and cloudy days. He then calculated averages.  This was “advanced math” to him and required a bit of explanation so that he understood what average meant.  Had he been older, he would have also calculated the  median and mode, as well as other statistics like the standard deviation and variance.  At this stage, too, your child should note any weakness in his experiment design, and determine whether  this significantly affected the results he saw.  The RESULTS ( WHAT HAPPENED)—section, included this statement,  “Of the 30 days I checked, 11 days were cloudy, 3 were partly cloudy, 7 were clear, 9 were a mix of either clear, partly cloudy or cloudy . . . There was more temperature drop on mixed and clear days.”   After your student tabulates the results, he will need to graph his results.   This cloud project was done before we had a graphing program on our computer, so the graph looks a bit primitive, but I think you get the idea. 

If your child’s experiment results support his hypothesis, “YEA!!”  Pat your child on the back.  When he writes his CONCLUSIONS (WHY) section, he can say that they do so.  He may not—technically—say that the results prove his hypothesis.  That would take much more testing over an extended time and by lots of others.  Please note that that the results of the cloud experiment did not support the hypothesis.  I remember very clearly the moment our 6-year-old realized this.  His face fell, and he said, “I was wrong.  Clouds do affect temperature drop.”  If that happens to your child . . . “YEA!”  He has learned something he won’t forget!!  By the way, having a hypothesis that isn’t supported by the results is no disgrace.  The great scientists tested lots of duds; your child is in good company.  This project was a winning project.  Judges weigh the process that was involved, how much the child did himself,  and how well the student can communicate what he learned more than they consider whether the student ‘s educated guess was apparently correct.

I’ve included several extra pictures of other projects to show how a display is generally done.  There are lots of variations.  My husband makes wooden displays so that we can reuse them.  Cardboard displays are also fine.   The paper can be simple.  Some science fairs want to see a research paper of the topic; others are looking for a paper that summarizes the project itself, and includes much of what is on the display.  Older students usually are expected to clearly delineate the dependent variable, the independent variable and the control.  Often their displays include a one-page ABSTRACT that concisely explains the whole project.