Science Fair Due Dates and Timeline (2014-2015)
September 15 or 16, 2014 – Topic and
Research Plan Deadline (20 points)


Research Plan following Form 1A format.
See specific guidelines.
September 16, 2014 – Microbiology
Projects ONLY Meeting



Room 4004 with Mrs. McCoart 3:00PM.
Mandatory Meeting
Bring $25 CASH, for supplies.
September 29 or 30, 2014 – Introduction
Deadline (20 points)

2-3 pages, see specific guidelines.
October 6 or 7, 2014 –Paperwork Deadline
(ISEF Forms (typed), SRC Checklist)
(20 points) see p.4-5.


December 4 & 5, 2014 – Results Deadline
(20 points)
December 18 or 19, 2014 –
Analysis/Conclusions (25 points)
January 8 or 9, 2015 –Abstract Deadline
(20 points)
January 16, 2015 – Display Board Deadline–
Mandatory for Everyone

ISEF Forms 1, 1A,1B
Animal, bacteria, human participants need
additional forms: attend meeting and do risk
assessment. (there will be another meeting for
human projects’ – date TBA.
Attach revised Research Plan to 1A.
See specific guidelines.
In order to begin your experiment you must
have your research plan approved and ISEF
forms complete.
See specific guidelines.

See specific guidelines.


1 page Abstract – See Description.
See Rubric.


One board per group
See picture and description.
January 24, 2015 – Washington-Lee Science
Fair ATTENDANCE IS Extra Credit

Extra Credit: presenting at the science fair is 15
points added to 3rd quarter test grade.
March,6-8 2015 – Regional Science Fair,
Wakefield High School
February 5 or 6, 2015 Final Paper with
Corrections Due for VJAS

Extra Credit: 15 points added to 4th quarter
test grade.

Extra Credit: 15 points added to 4th quarter
grade test.
VJAS Symposium : May 20-22 JMU
Bring in paper copies ready



November 6 or 7, 2014 – Procedure &
Materials Deadline (20 points)


February 11 ALL VJAS PAPERWORK due!
Late Projects: 1/2 credit will be given on any missed Deadline.
Everything turned in must be TYPED! Anything handwritten will NOT be scored!
Your work is due on your class meeting day (W or L) according to this calendar.
1
Guidelines
September 15 or 16– Topic and Research Plan Deadline (20 points)
(See research plan format P.8 or on blackboard)




A. Topic Question being addressed
B. Hypothesis/Problem/Purpose
C. Method or procedures (brief)
o Minimum 5 Sentences
Include: IV/DV, control/experimental groups
Data Analysis: How you will analyze data (brief),
include and statistics
D. Bibliography: APA Style 5 minimum scholarly
references included. See page 11-12 for VJAS scholarly
reference examples and search engines.
A. Topic The subject of interest that will be explored. This should be something of interest to
the student and to which he/she can relate. Refer to page on topics to avoid.
 A good topic has a problem that can be answered only by experimenting. If a topic is
broad or general, too many (variables) will exist that cannot be controlled, and you will
find it difficult to produce reliable results.
 Another good source would be going to websites of local universities and finding out
what type of research they are doing. Many professors and graduate students are
welcoming and may share research results with you.
 Also, the Arlington Career Center has an Animal lab where you can conduct
experimentation. (seek prior approval)
CAUTION:
 Plants take some time to grow or sometimes will not work. Choose young seedlings to
work with and not seeds.
B. Hypothesis – An educated guess presuming the outcome of the experiment. Follows the
background research and definition of the problem. Written in “If…then…because” format,
present tense.
o
Problem – The scientific problem that is going to be investigated. State this
in the form of a question.
o
Purpose – A statement about what will be discovered during the experiment.
C. Method or procedures - brief explanation of how you will conduct the experiment. )
o 5 Sentences minimum
o Include: IV/DV, control/experimental groups.
o The group receiving the variable or treatment is called the experimental
group, and the group not receiving the variable or treatment is the control
group. The control group establishes a baseline for reading ability in this
2
experiment. The researcher compares the performance of the experimental
group with that of the control group.
o An independent variable is the item that a scientist changes when
conducting an experiment. Variable that causes change. It starts the
experiment and is the first/only thing that is changed by the student. “I”
change! The dependent variable is named because it is affected by the
independent variable and it’s what’s observed and measured.
o Should have 20-30 trials when conducting actual experiment.
o Data Analysis: How you will analyze the data once it is collected (brief). Any
statistics tests that will be done with your data once it is collected.
D. Bibliography: APA style (at least 5 scholarly references, may have more)
o The American Psychological Association Style or APA style is the most
widely accepted and preferred way of presenting documentation and
supporting information when it comes to writing, especially in terms of
research and reference writing.
o The Literature cited is a list of all books, publications, and communications
from which significant materials were cited in the paper. The listing is
alphabetical by the last name of the first author of a citation. “Scholarly”
Computer sources should be archived (library digital archives, files,
databases, books, etc. which are available for inspection but are digitized
and put on-line for easy access and convenience) or refereed on-line
journals. See addendum on page 11-12.
o One of your non-scholarly sources must be the source where you found your
idea for your science fair experiment. Make sure you make modifications to
your experiment and it’s not just a carbon copy of an experiment that’s been
done.
o Use www.bibme.com to easily put sources in the correct format. The notes
should be paraphrased in your own words. Direct quotes should be in
quotation marks. Watch out for plagiarism in your final report.
September 29 or 30 – Introduction Deadline (20 points)

Introduction – Learning about the topic by reading books, newspapers, and magazines/journals.
Information gathered is 2 – 3 pages in length using the formal writing procedures (Passive voice:
do not use I, we, or you). In the passive voice the subject is the recipient of the action. The
subject is placed at the end of the sentence or omitted. "The bike was ridden by the girl," is an
example of passive voice. Passive voice sentences include a be-verb such as am, is, was, were, are
or been.

This is where you include citations throughout the body of using the sources in your literature
cited. The introduction starts with a broad basis and then narrows it down to your particular field
of study, explaining the rationale behind each step.
o In the introduction, you are attempting to inform the reader about the rationale behind
the work, justifying why your work is an essential component of research in the field.
3
You can include information from previous research, explanations or theories, methods or
equations.
o The introduction does not have a strict word limit, unlike the abstract, but it should be as
concise as possible. The introduction gives an overall review of the paper, but does address
a few slightly different issues from the abstract. It works upon the principle of
introducing the topic of the paper and setting it into a broad context, gradually narrowing
down to a hypothesis. A good introduction explains how you mean to solve the research
problem, and creates ‘leads’ to make the reader want to delve further into your work.
o Define terms you are using in your experiment and explain what they are. Research other
experiments like yours and state what their outcomes were.
o
October 6 or 7 –Paperwork Deadline –International Science & Engineering Fair
(ISEF Forms (typed), SRC Checklist (20 points)
FORM 1B Only one per person even if working in groups!
All projects must submit ISEF forms. These are the forms you use to apply for permission to do the project. They
must document that the project follows the rules of the ISEF. The project is evaluated by your teacher for preapproval. Some projects require additional approval by a school Instructional Review Board (IRB) or a county
Science Research Committee (SRC). These are official forms and must be carefully and meticulously completed
before submission. Data collection may NOT begin until the project has been officially approved. Link to Forms can
be found on my SCHOOL webpage. (not blackboard). They must be typed!

Every student must complete forms 1, 1A and 1B. If you are doing a project involving
humans, microbiology or hazardous materials or a continuation project, you need to access the
form wizard to see which additional forms are required :
http://student.societyforscience.org/forms OR (link also in my School Webpage) OR Forms
under WL- Academics – Science –Science Fair OR type ISEF Forms using any search engine

For form #1 Type in your student name and project title. List your teacher’s name as the adult
sponsor. The phone number should be the school’s phone 703-228-6200. The email should be your
teacher’s email “firstname.lastname@apsva.us” The only blanks on this page should be the checklist
and the sponsor’s signature. You are required to type in the rest.

For form #1A. Fill in the student check list. The school’s address is 1301 N. Stafford Street
Arlington VA 22201. Leave the actual start date blank, but do estimate when you will start and
when you will finish experimentation. This section also requires the REVISED RESEACH PLAN on a
separate piece of paper. Type each of these headings and then fill in with the information for your
project.
Remember: If you are doing a human project, vertebrate animal or a microbiology project or one
involving any type of hazard there are additional requirements listed on the research plan
document. READ THEM and INCLUDE the extra documentation.
4
For form #1B, type in your full name and your parent’s full name. Both you and your parent must
sign and date this form. If you are doing a group project, both team members must complete form
1B.

November 6 or 7 – Procedure & Materials Deadline (20 points)
o
o
o
o
Procedure/Methods – Step-by-step instructions describing the entire experiment. Steps should
be explained so that another person could duplicate the experiment. Graphics or drawings of setup may be included in more complex experiments. Do not include any results in this section. Any
changes must be added as an addendum to the procedure. Use paragraph format, not cookbook
format. Use Passive Voice Ex: Passive – The window was broken yesterday vs. Active: Dave broke
the window yesterday.
Materials – Incorporate into the paragraph of your procedure. Example: A solution of 50ml of
vinegar was used to cover one egg. Include equipment, chemicals, organisms, etc. (be specific ).
Emphasis on Safety: List all necessary precautions you took while conducting your experiment.
Take a look at the safety contract.
Include Quantities!
December 4 or 5 – Results Deadline- 25 Points
o
Results – The information or raw data (weights, temperature, etc.) you gained from the
experiment. The results are usually presented in the form of data tables, figures, graphs, and
photographs, which should then be referred to in the body of the paper ( and then explained in
detailed in the analysis/conclusion part).
o
Data Table – A table containing all of the data collected. If there are multiple trials in the
experiment an average or mean should be included. Give each data table a name. Ex: Table 1: The
effect of sunlight on plant growth.
o
Graph – A visual representation of the data. Usually only the averages are graphed. Do not graph
raw data. Give each graph a title. Ex: Graph 1: Correlation between time and growth. ( “Graph” is
NOT a title!)
December 18 or 19 – Analysis/Conclusions -25 points
o
Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis is a form of statistical measuring. It involves asking a
question, analyzing as appropriate and evaluating the raw data. Collect as much data as possible so
you can run statistical analysis on your data that is meaningful. That is why 20-30 trials are
encouraged.
o Key descriptive statistics include the mean (the arithmetic average) and the standard
deviation (the amount of dispersion in the measures of a particular variable). You can use
these descriptive statistics, for example, to summarize average rates of growth in plants
under different climate conditions.
o Use the appropriate inferential statistics for your experiment to analyze your data and
draw conclusions. Inferential statistics refer to the range of procedures used for drawing
5
conclusions about the data in an experiment. Popular inferential techniques include tests of
statistical significance (chi-square or t-test), analysis of variance ( anova test), factor
analysis and linear regression. The nature of your science project and the types of
questions you want to answer will help determine the appropriate inferential statistical
methods. Dr. Nichols will also have a meeting to help you understand some of these
concepts better.
Conclusion – In the discussion and conclusion section, the data collected are interpreted in relation to
the hypotheses or purposes proposed in the introduction. It will take a minimum of 1-3 pages to do
this. You will be shown how to develop and incorporate a Null Hypothesis in this section. Your findings
should be related to existing knowledge on the topic. You should also be able to suggest future
experiments that might clarify areas of doubt in your results. This section should not just be a
restatement of the results, but should stress interpretation of the data, relating it to existing theory
and knowledge. In writing this section, you should explain the logic that allows you to accept or reject
your null hypotheses.
January 8 or 9 –Abstract Deadline (20 points)
o
Abstract – A summary of the entire experiment describing major results and conclusions. It
should be about 2 paragraphs long;
no more than one page double spaced.
The purpose of an abstract is to allow the reader
to judge whether it would serve his or her
purposes to read the entire report. Write the
abstract LAST, after completing the rest of
the report, even though the abstract comes
just after the title. The abstract should never
contain images or reference citations. It is
written in past tense, passive voice, and
includes the following:
 Purpose
 Hypothesis
 Summary of procedure (very few words here)
 Summary of principle results and conclusions
January 16, 2014 – Display Board Deadline–Mandatory for Everyone


Instructions and samples will be provided in early January.
A tri-Fold board will be required!
6
Research Plan Format for Form 1A
(FIND your copy on blackboard to type into)
Topic:
Problem/Purpose: What is the effect of _______________________ on ___________________?
Hypothesis:
If … then… because….
Independent Variable:
Dependent Variable:
Control Group
Experimental
Group 1
Experimental
Group 2
Experimental
Group 3
Describe Each
Group
# of Trials
(At Least
20-30)
Constants (controlled variables):
Materials: (list here, but in paragraph form for paper)
Procedure: (brief)
Data Analysis: (i.e. how will you collect data and analyze this data) (brief)
Bibliography: (APA- 5 minimum-varied sources, 5 scholarly references, reference cite of modified idea)
7
Topics To Avoid
The following contains examples of topics that you will want to avoid for your science fair project.
Topic to Avoid
Why?
Any topic that boils down to a simple
preference or taste comparison. For
example, "Which tastes better: Coke or
Pepsi?"
Such experiments don't involve the kinds of numerical
measurements we want in a science fair project. They are more
of a survey than an experiment.
Most consumer product testing of the
"Which is best?" type. This includes
comparisons of popcorn, bubblegum,
make-up, detergents, cleaning products,
and paper towels.
These projects are more of a marketing project and only have
scientific validity if the investigator fully understands the science
behind why the product works and applies that understanding to
the experiment. While many consumer products are easy to use,
the science behind them is often at the level of a graduate student
in college.
Any topic that requires people to recall
things they did in the past.
The data tends to be unreliable.
Effect of music or talking on plants
Difficult to measure.
Effect of running, music, video games, or
almost anything on blood pressure
The result is either obvious (the heart beats faster when you run)
or difficult to measure with proper controls (the effect of music).
Effect of color on memory, emotion,
mood, taste, strength, etc.
Highly subjective and difficult to measure.
Any topic that requires measurements that
will be extremely difficult to make or
repeat, given your equipment.
Without measurement, you can't do science.
Any topic that requires dangerous, hard to
find, expensive, or illegal materials.
We care about your safety and your parents' pocketbook.
Graphology or handwriting analysis
Questionable scientific validity.
Astrology or ESP
No scientific validity.
Any project in violation of state law,
federal law, state science fair rules, or
International Science & Engineering Fair
rules.
In brief, you may not do a project that involves:
working with bacteria (except in a designated, qualified lab),
unacceptable risk (physical or psychological) to a human subject,
collection of tissue samples from living humans or vertebrate
animals, drugging, pain, injury to a live vertebrate animal, or use
of illegal or prohibited materials
8
You’ve Chosen A Topic? How Does Your Topic Measure Up?
The following table will help you check to see if the research topic/question is both narrow and interesting
enough to work.
What Makes a Good Science Fair Question
For a Good Question, You
Should Answer "Yes" to Every
Question
Is the topic interesting enough to read about AND work on for the next couple months?
Yes / No
Can you find at least 3 sources of written information on the subject?
(you will eventually need a minimum of 5 sources)
Yes / No
Can you measure changes to the important variables using a number that represents a quantity
such as a count, length, width, weight, voltage, time, etc.? Or, just as good, is your
Yes / No
variable one that is simply present or not present?
For example,
o Lights ON in one trial, then lights OFF in another trial, .
o Incremental increases of your variable.
If your data is qualitative, are you able to make a scale to convert it to
quantitative data?
Yes / No
Can you control other factors that might influence the variables, so that they do not interfere
with your experiment?
Yes / No
Is your experiment safe to perform?
Yes / No
Do you have all the materials and equipment you need for your project, or will you be able to
obtain them quickly and at a very low cost?
Yes / No
Do you have enough time to conduct many repeated trials for your experiment before the lab
report is due per the timeline that has been provided to you?
Yes / No
Does your project meet all the rules and requirements for your science fair?
Yes / No
Have you checked to see if your project will require SRC (Scientific Review Committee)
approval (i.e. is your project considered a sensitive topic and are you eligible to plan a sensitive
project?)
Yes / No
Have you avoided the bad topic areas listed above?
Yes / No
P. 8-10 Modified from: Ms. Jenn Choumil- McLean HS
9
Addendum: Changes in VJAS Scholarly References
Last year, VJAS made significant changes to the Literature Citation portion of the paper presented. They now require 5 scholarly
references that are specifically identified as such. In brief summary here is the change:
Literature Citations. You must have at least 5 peer-reviewed or scholarly references. These are references
written for an audience of scholars and researchers in a particular field and are published in scholarly
publications.
A complete description of the change can be found in the VJAS handbook at www.vjas.org
a. Reference Requirements.
i. There should be a minimum of three peer-reviewed or scholarly references.
ii. Each reference must be cited at least once in the paper.
a. Types of References.
i. Peer-reviewed or Scholarly. These are references written for an audience of
scholars and researchers in a particular field and are published in scholarly
publications. Other terms commonly used to describe this type of journal are peer
reviewed, academic, or refereed. Peer review is a process used to ensure the quality
of articles. When an article is submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, the editor(s)
send it out to experts/scholars in the field (i.e. the author’s peers) to review and
critically evaluate the article on quality, importance, and appropriateness to the
journal. Website sources can be peer-reviewed and scholarly.
ii. Non-peer-reviewed. Many website “sources” such as, magazine articles, are only
judged/reviewed by the editor/writer of the source/magazine, who may not have
any knowledge of the article's subject matter. Writers for popular publications are
usually paid for their articles. The articles are also usually geared to a more general
audience.
Note. If you are not sure whether an article is peer-reviewed or scholarly or not, please check with someone who
might know or who could check on this.
iii. See the following for more information: http://www.linfo.org/peer_review.html, or
http://www.library.tcu.edu/howto/primary.asp#scholarly.
b. Format and Style.
i. The citations are to be listed (divided) into two sections: Peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed. See example below.
ii. Use APA style or the style shown in the VJAS Style manual. Also see
www.citationmachine.net.
iii. The list is alphabetical by the last name of the first author of a citation. Use single spacing within each listing
and double space between the listings. See example below
EXAMPLE:
Peer-reviewed and Scholarly references
McCaffrey, Cheryl A. and Raymond D. Dueser. 1990. Plant associations of the
Virginia barrier islands. Va.J.Sci.41:282-299.
Spry, A. 1969. Metamorphic Textures. Pergamon Press, New York. 350pp.
Storrs, Carina. 2009. One for the Ages: Bristlecone Pines Break 4,650-Year Growth
Record. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=great-basin-bristleconepinegrowth-rate-tree-line> (24 November 2009).
Non-peer-reviewed references
Bristlecone Pine. 1986. < http://www.woodmagazine.com/materialsguide/
lumber/wood-species-1/bristlecone-pine/> (February 1986).
10
HOW TO DO A SEARCH:
1. Go to W-L Web page
2. Go to Academics: Library: Databases: scroll down to Science or Encyclopedias or Literary Criticism. There
are many you can use. See examples below.
3. Use the Passwords on the green bookmarks!
4. Note: Questia: Directions below, if any problems see Mrs. De Sisneros (school librarian).
For our Login Pattern for W-L Questia database: ( questiaschool.com )
Username: ID#@questia.com
Password: first name (lowercase only)
However, if first name is fewer than 5 characters the password is:
Password: firstname2013
Science
eLibrary Science
Comprehensive science database
with books, journals, audio and
video files, web site links and help
with science experiments
Science Resource Center
Reference books, journals, web
sites, images and multimedia
https://www.questiaschool
.com/QuestiaSchool.com
See Login directions above.
Encyclopedias and Reference
Encyclopædia Britannica
The world's best-known encyclopedia. Also
includes dictionary and atlas
World Book
One of America's most popular encyclopedias;
includes dictionary and atlas
Gale
Search General Reference Center Gold or
Virtual Reference Library
11