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Mrs. Germeraad |
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SCIENCE FAIRSYNOPSYS CHAMPIONSHIP 2012
The Synopsys Championship is a county-wide fair for middle and high school students. The fair organizers regulate the application process and the way projects are to be conducted. Schools are limited in the number of students who can attend. At Redwood, we identify interested students early and try to guide them through the process to optimize their experience. This requires checking in with the teacher regularly. A meeting at lunch on September 15 will help you decide if Science Fair is for you!
Carefully look over the information available at the fair website: http://science-fair.org/
Students and their parents are encouraged to attend a student workshop conducted by the fair organizers. Those dates and locations are being posted at the bottom of their home page as they are arranged. In the past few years there have been workshops at either Saratoga or Monte Vista High Schools.
Science fair is a totally optional activity. Students may work individually or in groups of 2 or 3. The best projects keep a detailed notebook for all stages of the process. I recommend that you read the student handbook and check in with me at EACH STEP in the process. (See Worksheets icon for Check-in Sheet.)
Student Process:
1. Identify a question. Ideally, the subject of your project should be something in which you already have an interest. Your enthusiasm will be important in sustaining you through the process! (Suggested deadline: end of September)
2. Do some research and/or observation to help you come up with a hypothesis. (Suggested deadline: end of October) If you choose an engineering project be sure to look at the special rules for these projects.
3. Design a test of the hypothesis and a timeline for completion. (Suggested deadline: before Thanksgiving)
4. FILL OUT THE APPLICATION. Do not start your experiment until your ideas have been reviewed by Mrs. Germeraad and your paperwork has been approved by the fair organizers. Applications for any project that involves humans, other vertebrates, bacteria, viruses, chemicals, and potentially hazardous procedures must come across MY desk before winter break so that the application can be submitted by the fair's January deadline. Ideally, these should go to the organizers as early as possible so that you have plenty of time for conducting the experiment. (My Deadline: December 17, 2010)
5. After approval, follow your timeline to success! Carry out your experiment, analyze and evaluate your data. Would it help to repeat the experiment, make a change in the procedure and repeat? Leave time for this if possible! See Mrs. G for help with statistical analysis of your data.
6. AT LEAST TWO WEEKS BEFORE the fair, design your presentation (both the visuals and the oral). The presentation board should be reviewed and completed by Monday, March 7.
Parent Roles: Parents are welcome to support their student, but the project itself should be designed and conducted by the student(s). The students may need your help in collecting/buying/finding materials, supervising activities that are potentially hazardous, and assistance in using spreadsheet/graphing or other analysis or presentation software. They will need an application fee and transportation to the fair itself.
Teacher Roles: The fair organizers require the sponsorship of a teacher at the student's school. They expect teachers to monitor projects and their quality. They require that applications that name me as the sponsor be submitted through me. I will check them over before I forward them to the fair. I will be available several times a week at lunch and after school to help students at each step in the process. Communication is critical. Please keep me informed about your progress and let me know when you run into problems. I'm glad to advise you!
IMPORTANT DATES
ASAP Let Mrs. G know that you are interested!!! Come see her before mid-September .
Turn in Mrs. G's form.
Sept., 2011 Meet with Mrs. Germeraad at lunch for information (Room 70)
December, 2011 Turn in your completed application (and registration fee) )to Mrs. G
As soon as you have approval, you may start your experiment(s)...the sooner you get the application in, the sooner you start!
March 5, 2012 Bring your presentation board to school for previewing by science teachers
March 6, 2012 Science Fair Setup
March 7, 2012 Science Fair Judging
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