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             Challenger Is Crazy About Science

Experiment Guidelines

All experiments should be conducted using the Scientific Method.  An experiment can answer an original question or can recreate testing an existing question.  It is important that you perform each step of the process yourself and use your own ideas to explain your experiment.  You can search websites, science books, etc., for thousands of ideas on possible experiments.  However, the best experiments always stem from questions in your mind about something you are interested in.

The Scientific Method

1.  Observation – Look around your world.  What do you see?  Is there an area that interests you?  Do you wonder about something? 

2.  Question – Develop a testable question about your observations.  The question should be narrow enough to be answered by a single test.  The Purpose of your experiment is to answer this question.

3.  Hypothesis – This can also be called a prediction.  What do you think will happen when you perform your test?  This should be a careful educated guess

4.  Procedure – This is the test to answer your question.  What are the steps to perform your experiment?  The best experiments usually have a control and a variable to compare results.  Record each step of your procedure so that your test is reproducible.  Carefully record what happens at each step.

5.  Results – What happened during your test?  This is the experiment’s answer to your question.  This may or may not be the same as your hypothesis and that’s ok.  It is always best to repeat your experiment a few times to confirm your results.

6.  Conclusion – Discuss your results – did they surprise you or were they just as you expected?  Why?  Was there a scientific principle that explains your result?  What would you do differently if you could do this again?  This is the part we love to hear about because it shows how much you were thinking about your experiment.  It’s also the part that is most useful to another scientist who may create further experiments to learn more about your results.

Displays for Experiments

The following information should be included on your display.

Please see the Display Guidelines section of the website for more important considerations for all displays. 

Samples, results, reports, or any supporting materials can be displayed in front of your display.  However, space is limited so it must fit on the tabletop in front of the display.  Also, please be sure any supporting materials adhere to the Science Fair Rules. 

Pictures are a great addition to any display board and fit well in our limited space.  We encourage you to have someone take pictures of you performing your experiment.  Including these pictures on your display allows others to see how much fun you had doing your project!