My Science Fair
How
it works:
Technology
- Students will become proficient at Web Based research as it
relates to the scientific method.
- Students will be able to produce basic word processing
documents to use on a science board presentation.
- Students will use photography, graphing and charting software,
and drawings to produce illustrations of the scientific method
and its processes.
Academic
- Students will be able to follow multi-step instructions to
produce a science fair project.
- Students will formulate a testable question.
- Students will use research techniques to answer questions
about a topic.
- Students will be able to read, comprehend, and write using
summary techniques about a chosen topic.
- Students will be able to present their acquired knowledge
about the topic in an oral presentation to the class and to
the public.
- Students will engage in scientific investigation.
Assessment:
Assessment is ongoing through bi-weekly conferencing
with the students. In addition the following rubrics were used
to assess student work.
Standards:
Language Arts
-
Reading Comprehension
-
Evaluate new information and
hypotheses by testing them against known information and ideas
-
Compare and contrast
information on the same topic after reading several passages or
articles.
-
Follow multiple-step
instructions in a basic technical manual (e.g., how to use
computer commands or video games).
Writing Strategies
- Select a focus, an organizational
structure, and a point of view based upon purpose, audience,
length, and format requirements.
- Locate information in reference texts by
using organizational features (e.g., prefaces, appendixes).
- Use various reference materials (e.g.,
dictionary, thesaurus, card catalog, encyclopedia, online
information) as an aid to writing.
Writing Applications
-
Write information reports:
-
Frame a central question
about an issue or situation.
-
Include facts and details
for focus.
-
Draw from more than one
source of information (e.g., speakers, books, newspapers, other
media sources)
Listening and Speaking Strategies
Organization and Delivery of Oral
Communication
-
Present effective
introductions and conclusions that guide and inform the
listener's understanding of important ideas and evidence.
-
Use traditional structures
for conveying information (e.g., cause and effect, similarity
and difference, and posing and answering a question).
-
Emphasize points in ways
that help the listener or viewer to follow important ideas and
concepts.
-
Use details, examples,
anecdotes, or experiences to explain or clarify information.Use volume, pitch, phrasing,
pace, modulation, and gestures appropriately to enhance meaning.
Speaking Applications
-
Make informational
presentations:
-
Frame a key question
-
Include facts and details
that help listeners to focus.
-
Incorporate more than one
source of information (e.g., speakers, books, newspapers,
television or radio reports).
-
Differentiate observation
from inference (interpretation) and know scientists'
explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from
how they interpret their observations.
-
Formulate and justify
predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
-
Conduct multiple trials to
test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships
between predictions and results.
Language Arts Standards Fifth Grade
Listening and Speaking Strategies
-
Select a focus,
organizational structure, and point of view for an oral
presentation.
-
Clarify and support spoken
ideas with evidence and examples.
-
Engage the audience with
appropriate verbal cues, facial expressions, and gestures.
-
Analyze media as sources for
information, entertainment, persuasion, interpretation of
events, and transmission of culture.
Speaking Applications
-
Deliver informative
presentations about an important idea, issue, or event by the
following means:
-
Frame questions to direct
the investigation.
-
Establish a controlling idea
or topic.
-
Develop the
topic with simple facts, details, examples, and explanations
Reading Comprehension
- Draw inferences, conclusions, or
generalizations about text and support them with textual
evidence and prior knowledge.
Writing Strategies
Research and Technology
- Use organizational features of printed
text (e.g., citations, end notes, bibliographic references) to
locate relevant information.
- Create simple documents by using
electronic media and employing organizational features (e.g.,
passwords, entry and pull-down menus, word searches, the
thesaurus, spell checks).
- Use a thesaurus to identify alternative
word choices and meaning
Word Recognition
- Read aloud narrative and expository text
fluently and accurately and with appropriate pacing,
intonation, and expression.
- Vocabulary and Concept Development
- Use word origins to determine the
meaning of unknown words.
- Understand and explain frequently used
synonyms, antonyms, and homographs.
- Know abstract, derived roots and affixes
from Greek and Latin and use this knowledge to analyze the
meaning of complex words (e.g., controversial).
- Understand and explain the figurative
and metaphorical use of words in context.
Reading Comprehension (Focus on
Informational Materials)
- Structural Features of Informational
Materials
- Understand how text features (e.g.,
format, graphics, sequence, diagrams, illustrations, charts,
maps) make information accessible and usable.
- Analyze text that is organized in
sequential or chronological order.
Comprehension and Analysis of
Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
- Discern main ideas and concepts
presented in texts, identifying and assessing evidence that
supports those ideas.
- Draw inferences, conclusions, or
generalizations about text and support them with textual
evidence and prior knowledge.
Expository Critique
- Distinguish facts, supported inferences,
and opinions in text.
Writing Strategies
- Organization and Focus
- Create multiple-paragraph narrative
compositions:
- Establish and develop a situation or
plot.
- Describe the setting.
- Present an ending.
Create multiple-paragraph expository
compositions:
- Establish a topic, important ideas, or
events in sequence or chronological order.
- Provide details and transitional
expressions that link one paragraph to another in a clear line
of thought.
- Offer a concluding paragraph that
summarizes important ideas and details.
Research and Technology
- Use organizational features of
printed text (e.g., citations, end notes, bibliographic
references) to locate relevant information.
- Create simple documents by using
electronic media and employing organizational features (e.g.,
passwords, entry and pull-down menus, word searches, the
thesaurus, spell checks).
- Use a thesaurus to identify
alternative word choices and meanings.
Evaluation and Revision
- Edit and revise manuscripts to
improve the meaning and focus of writing by adding, deleting,
consolidating, clarifying, and rearranging words and
sentences.
Writing Applications
- Write research reports about
important ideas, issues, or events by using the following
guidelines:
- Frame questions that direct the
investigation.
- Establish a controlling idea or
topic.
- Develop the topic with simple facts,
details, examples, and explanations.
Science Standards Fifth Grade
Investigation and Experimentation
-
Develop a testable question
-
Plan and conduct a simple investigation based
on a student-developed question and write
instructions others can follow to carry out the procedure.
-
Identify the dependent and controlled variables
in an investigation
-
Identify a single independent variable in a
scientific investigation and explain how this variable can be
used to collect information to answer a question about the
results of the experiment.
Software or Materials Used:
Software used was Microsoft Office,
specifically Microsoft Word. The Internet was also required and
a printer. Other materials included a presentation board for
each student and the students were required to get their own
materials for their project.
Keywords:
Science, Science Fair, Science Project, science fair project
pictures
The
Students:
Participants were all fourth and fifth grade students at our
school, except one class of fourth graders for whom the project
was optional (Below Basic and Far Below Basic learners). The
participants included resource students, GATE students, and
students of our general demographic make up which includes 63.5%
Hispanic, 28.5% white, 3.7 % black, 2.1% Asian, 1.0% American
Indian, 0.7% Filipino, and 0.5% Pacific Islander. The total
number of students participating was approximately 170.
Overall
Value:
Not only does this project give students the opportunity to
pursue something of their own interest but also provides them
the opportunity to use internet research, word processing, and
oral presentation skills. It is easily adaptable for all
students of all levels. An especially important feature is
letting students choose their own paths of scientific
exploration. What we found was that by allowing them this
freedom and exploration, there were many science standards
addressed. The children developed pride and self confidence in
their work.
Details:
Subject Area:
Science
Second Subject Area :
Language Arts, Oral Presentation
Starting Grade Level: 4
Ending Grade Level: 12
Tips
for the Teacher:
- It is really important to have a color
printer available since Word Art is all about color and design
choices.
- Have lots of science project books
available in addition to the website list.
-
I ordered 200 science boards and sold them for $3 a piece to
the students rather than having them be responsible for the
purchase of them themselves. This avoided two problems: 1. the
cost of the boards was cheaper for the kids, 2. We only have
one store that sells them and with 200 children needing them I
did not want the store to run out.
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Name of Project
Designer
Karen J. Hamner
Karen Hamner is in
her 5th year at La Honda Elementary school in Lompoc, CA, a
small agrarian community on the central coast. This is her
second year with a 4/5 combination class. She enjoys having both
grade levels since she has fun with both curriculums. She is
the only GATE certified teacher at her site and has a GATE
cluster of both 4th and 5th graders. Karen
is also the technology coach for her site and a Write From the
Beginning (the LUSD adopted writing program) trainer.
She received her bachelor's degree from UCSB and both her
masters and teaching credential from Chapman University.
School Name
La Honda
Elementary School
Email
addresses:
hamnerk@lompoc.k12.ca.us
kjhamner@netscape.net
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