DepEd Division of Bohol
Science Investigatory Project
Training and Workshop
Tagbilaran City
3 – 5 July 2014
Mock Science Congress: Comments
Remarks
Presentor 1
Title / Topic
Calamansi juice and fluoride Not using scientific
for cleaning teeth
terms
Motivation/Problem
Effectiveness and cost
Hypothesis
Calamansi effectiveness
Variables
No graphs; dependent,
and independent ,
controlled variables
Changes occurred...
Measurements;
quantify; numbers (by
how much?) with
proper units
Experimental Method
Results
Overall Presentation
Just reading the
abstract; Pronunciation,
gestures;
Do not read. Have eye
contact with the judges.
PowerPoint allowed.
Remarks
Presentor 2
Title / Topic
Motivation/Problem
Phases of the Moon and
Childbirth
Folklore – more child births
during the full moon; study in
France relation between full
moon and accidents
Hypothesis
Experimental Method Correlational method; date and
time of deliveries for a year
Results
Overall Presentation
Last quarter has highest
frequency; Significant degree of
relationship between phases of
the moon and delivery
With recommendations
Open Forum
Q: Do we show calculations of mathematical
results and statistical tests?
A: Yes, in the full paper. There should be a basis
for your conclusions.
Honesty is very important in science.
Q: Comparative study between rural or urban
setting?
A: Some data but not enough
Open Forum
CCB: Context is important; presence of
confounding variables; averaging effect
that negates correlation between variables
Fine-tuning: other factors – age of the
women, etc.
Be your number 1 critic of your project.
Anticipate all possible questions, list and
check responses. Avoid too many „For
future study“ responses.
Open Forum
CCB: Stick to the scientific method. Do not love
your research work too much. Otherwise,
you will not be objective. If wrong,
troubleshoot, and if it cannot be solved,
throw it away. The judge always has the
option to follow your procedure and should
get your results.
Humility.
Open Forum
CCB: Data presentation: bar graphs, pie chart,
aside from tables
For each slide, do not put in too much text
or numbers, otherwise the reader (judge)
may be irritated because he/she would
have liked to read.
Literature survey
Open Forum
Q: We have no journals, are the Internet sources
okay?
A: Wikipedia is good first step, leads to references
in international professional journals.
Wikipedia has a self-checking mechanism,
because of open-editing.
Journals published by professional societies,
e.g. American Physical Society publishes the
Physical Review; IEEE for engineering
Remarks
Presentor 3 (CD 2)
Title / Topic
Pests in rice production, kuhol
Motivation/Problem
Correlation between gemelina
tree and presence of kuhol; cost
and preference for natural
products; gemelina bark and
leaves known for medicinal uses
Hypothesis
Gemelina root extract, effect on
kuhol
Experimental Method
Results
Overall Presentation
Significant effect as natural
pesticide
Reading; not organized
Open Forum
Q:
Isn‘t gemelina poisonous? Polluting rice fields and
rivers? Kills kuhol but also kills other organisms? Is
it really environmentally friendly?
CCB: That is an example of: what are the possible
questions judges could ask.
Quantify results; give quantified background, e.g.,
normal lifetime
Scientific name of kuhol?
Impact on the environment
Q:
What was read was not the abstract but the
rationale? Is there a limit to the number of words?
CCB: Follow the rules: number of words, format, font
Open Forum
CCB: Read sample abstract, etc., get a copy of
the most recent rules and guidelines.
(MVCB: toxicity; ethics; )
Remarks
Presentor 4
Title / Topic
Biofuel from rice and corn chaff
(agro-inudstrial waste)
Motivation/Problem
Hypothesis
Experimental Method
Results
Overall Presentation
Fermentation process;
filtration, fractional distillation,
iodoform test for alcohol
purity, flame test, NPK test
Rusted equipment not
allowed, no improvised
(e.g. Ice cream plastic
container); write chemical
equation, diagram or
flowchart; maintain purity
of samples, reactants and
products
Products: feeds, biofuel and
fertilizer
Not allowed to use clip art
or animation; artwork
should be original;
personal photos not
allowed
Open Forum
Intel winner sharing:
• Importance of adult supervision
• Proper use of pathogenic organisms,
hazardous substances and devices, disposal
of wastes
• Acceptable norms of laboratory procedures
and technical writing
• In-text citations
• Accuracy of recording of dates
Open Forum
CCB: Presentation of scientific paper
published in Physics Letters A
• Sample of abstract, use of graphs,
imbedded text citation
Remarks
Presentor 5
Title / Topic
Used Engine Oil as Lamp Fuel
Motivation/Problem
Recycling
Hypothesis
Experimental Method
Results
Overall Presentation
Kerosene has bigger flame and
more soot than the engine oil
lamp
Format of bibliography or
references
Mean = average
Median
88 90 76 91 89
76 88 89 90 91
Mode
• 92 100 85 84 92 89
• 35 46 50 35 49 46
(bimodal)
• Controlled Variables