2015 C.P.S. STEM Fair Parent
Informational Meeting

2015 STEM Fair
• For several years, Collinsville Primary students have participated in the HCPS Science Fair.
We now refer to this as the STEM Fair:
• S- Science
• T- Technology
• E- Engineering
• M- Mathematics
• This encourages students to combine multiple subject areas in their projects.

Which?
How?
What?
Who?
Where?
Why?
When?
The scientific method begins when you ask a question about something you observe.

Does my hair stand up longer with or without hairspray?
How far can 2 nd graders throw a baseball?
Are bubbles always round?
Do birds eat more sunflower seeds in the morning or at night?
Do Matchbox cars roll the same distance?

The student will need to look up ways to measure distance, directions on the construction of a ramp, research what slope is and what tools are needed when measuring the slope of the ramp. Have others tried this before? What did they learn?
Create your final question using the information you have gathered, then you will be ready to develop your hypothesis.
You will be ready to make an educated guess.

• A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work.
• You must state your hypothesis in a way that you can easily measure, and of course, your hypothesis should be constructed in a way that it helps you answer your original question:
If ____[I do this] ____, then ___[this will happen] .

Do Matchbox cars roll the same distance when released?
I will release a Matchbox car from the top of a ramp and measure the distance it travels.
release a Matchbox car from the same place on the ramp
Smooth floor 10, 20 and 30 degree ramp measure in inches to nearest quarter inch
If I change the angle of my testing ramp then the
Matchbox car will travel different distances.

If I release a Matchbox car from the top of an incline at three different angles, then I will discover that the car travels a longer distance as the slope increases.

List the materials used in the experiment. Be specific!
What temperature?

 1 Matchbox car
 12-ft tape measure
 Masking tape
 Shoe box and cardboard
 Paper and pencil
 Multi-purpose room floor
 Protractor and string

The procedure is a detailed, stepby-step description of how you conducted your experiment.
Someone should be able to repeat your experiment after reading your procedure.

1.
Build a ramp with a 30° , 20 °, 10 ° slope made from cardboard and a shoebox. Do this by attaching a string to a protractor making the slope of the cardboard and the string match at each angle.
2. Mark a “go line” with tape at the top of the slope.
3. Place your car front wheels on the facing edge of the tape.
4. Let go of the car from “go line.”
5. Place a labeled piece of tape where the car stopped for each slope: 30°, 20°, and 10° .
6. Measure the distance that Car A traveled and record the distance. Continue until each release has been measured.
7. Record your data on a graph.
8. Test at least two more times, adding each result to your graph.

10
8
6
14
12
4
2
0
16
DISTANCE TRAVELED BY MATCHBOX CAR
Car A 30 ° Car B 20°
Test #1 Distance
Car C 10°
Test #2 Distance Test #3 Distance

Location, car, release, materials used for the ramp, starting position, floor surface
Slope or angle of the ramp slope distance same car and release
Build a ramp with a 30° , 20 °, 10 ° slope
Mark a “go line”

Variables refer to anything in the experiment that could have been done differently to change the outcome of the experiment.

Doing a Fair Test
• It is important for an experiment to be a fair test. You conduct a fair test by making sure that you change one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same.
• For example, let's imagine that we want to measure the distance a toy car will travel down a sloping ramp. If we gently release the first car, but give the second car a push start, did we do a fair test of which slope forces the car to travel the furthest distance? No!
We gave the second car an unfair advantage by pushing it to start. That's not a fair test! The only thing that should change between the two tests is the ramp; we should start them down the ramp exactly the same way.
• Conducting a fair test is one of the most important parts of doing good, scientifically valuable experiments. To ensure that your experiment is a fair test, you must change only one factor at a
time while keeping all other conditions the same.
• Scientists call the changing factors in an experiment

What stayed the same?
 Car
 Gentle release
 Materials
 Starting point and position of car
 Location
 Floor surface





Write down the distance the car traveled for each test

This is where you formally write the information that is on your display board.

After testing my hypothesis that a greater ramp slope would increase the travel distance of the Matchbox car, the results were:
The average distance traveled at 30° over three tests was 12.6 feet.
The average distance traveled at 20° over three tests was 11.8 feet.
The average distance traveled at 10° over three tests was 8 feet.

As a result of testing my hypothesis, I came to the conclusion that changing the angle of a ramp can increase the distance a Matchbox car travels. In order to reach a definite conclusion, all angles would need to be tested to determine which angle best allows transference of momentum from the surface of the ramp to the floor.

The STEM Fair Rubric
• All projects should be mounted on tri-fold boards . If you need a board, one will be provided for you.
• Preliminary Research Report
– Why was this project chosen?
– What did you learn about your topic before you began?
– The report should be one to two pages in length.
It may be typed or neatly handwritten. It does not need to be attached to your tri-fold board.

• Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Topics for STEM Fair projects are due.
• Friday, February 27, 2015
STEM Fair projects are due.
• Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Parents are invited to CPS to view projects from 5:00 – 6:00.
• Thursday, March 12, 2015
Second Grade STEM Fair winner from CPS will be announced.
•
• Wednesday, March 24, 2015
STEM Day at Laurel Park Middle School for grade level winners
• Open House for student winners and their parents at Laurel Park Middle School beginning at 6:00 p.m. followed by an Awards Ceremony from 7:00 – 7:30.
Helpful Internet Sites http://www.ehow.com/search.html?s=science+projects&skin=corporate&t=all http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ http://stemideas.org/

• Repeated Trials
– Experiments should be repeated to ensure accuracy.
• Oral Presentation
– Students should be prepared to describe their projects and to answer questions.
– So each child really needs to take the leading role in conducting the experiments and completing the project board.
• Project boards are available tonight for those that would like one.