Save the date for the East School Science Fair on Wednesday, March 6th.

It’s a night full of fun and exciting experiments to see and learn from.

 

Show us what sparks your curiosity!

Test it out at home and share your discoveries with us.

All grades are welcome. 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wednesday, March 6th

Time: 5:30 - 7:00 PM

Location: East School - Lobby, Galley and Gym

  

The East School Science Fair is a great event that gets students excited about science concepts by doing rather than simply learning about it. 

 

A scientist first asks a question about some aspect of the world and then tries to find its answer. 

 

At the science fair, each student presents a project, both visually and orally, with the question and answer displayed in an interesting way. Students should be able to explain their projects and answer questions. 

  • Participation is free. 

  • All grades are welcome.

  • Entries can be made by a single student or in a small group. Each partner in a group must individually register online.

  • The submission deadline is Friday, March 1st.

  • All projects and experiments should be brought to East School by 5:30 PM on the day of the fair.

  • Participants must be able to stay to present their experiment until the fair concludes at 7:00 PM. 

 

 

This year’s science fair theme is the environmental impact of humans at a local, national and worldwide level. Below are some unique challenge questions as possible topics for children to explore to get them thinking about how to solve real-world problems.

Students can choose to take on one of these challenges or choose any topic of interest.


Human Impact on the Environment

Humans are part of the environment, and with about 7.9 billion people on Earth our actions have a big impact on the environment. Many of our actions have a detrimental effect, leading to pollution, climate change and other issues. But if we work as individuals or groups, we can lessen the harmful impacts of the billions of people on the planet. Some of these environmental effects are felt locally, some nationally and some worldwide. Explore one of these environmental problems and think of ways to help lessen the impacts. What environmental challenges do you see facing New

Canaan? The United States? What about worldwide or even out in space? How can you as an individual or as a group make an impact on our environment for the better?

 
                        

 Local

Challenge #1: Food Waste

What are some of the food waste issues facing restaurants? How can food waste be handled in an environmentally friendly way? What kinds of take out containers are best for the environment? Can unused food be repurposed?

Challenge #2: Algae Growth

Algae is a normal part of a pond ecosystem, however certain pollutants can affect the growth of algae. Test how different pollutants can affect algae growth such as acid rain, fertilizers and phosphorus (found in detergents and fertilizers).

 

                        

National

Challenge #3: Air Quality

Breathing clean air is important for our health. How is the air quality at your house? How about at a construction site? Test the air quality at different locations, or look at the air quality in different cities. How do the locations compare? Why?

Challenge #4: Life Cycle of Waste

Many locations have recycling programs. However, a lot of trash still ends up in the dump. What types of trash will break down? What will not? How could people change their purchasing habits to help address the problem?

 

                        

 

Worldwide

Challenge #5: Soil Erosion

Soil erosion washes pollutants into our streams and rivers and causes the loss of farmland worldwide. What are ways to help prevent soil erosion? Can plants help with this problem?

Challenge #6: Space Junk

What is ‘space junk’? How does junk get into space? Why is it a concern? What are some ways we can prevent additional junk from getting into space? How can we address this problem?

 

 

                        

 

Two support sessions with Ms. Nori will be available to all students. Parents will need to pick their children up from the session.

 

Tuesday, February 13th - after school until 4pm

The first session is a preliminary overview where students can attend to come up with thoughts and ideas. Students do not need to have a topic selected for this meeting.

 

 

Monday, February 26th - after school until 4pm

The second session will be for project specific help and support.

 

 

1. Start with a Question

 

Science fair projects are at their core problem-based learning. You start with a great question that attempts to solve a problem. The best questions can’t be answered just by searching for answers online but rather with experiments and results.

 

Effective questions include questions asking about causes and effects. For example, “What effect does changing how often I water have on plant growth?” 

 

 

2. Research Your Topic

 

The best science fair projects start with research about the main concepts and background. Generating a question is important, but finding information on the topics in the science projects is just as worthwhile. Help your child how to choose keywords for their topic, and how to search them online or at the library. Focus on words that answer who, what, where, and when of the topic.

 

 

3. Create a Hypothesis

 

Now it is the time to predict what you think will happen if you test your problem.  This type of “smart guess” or prediction is what real scientists call a hypothesis. Using this fancy word will amaze your friends and will have you thinking like a full fledged scientist. 

 

So how do you begin?  Well, just answer this very simple question: What do you think will happen (even before you start your experiment)?

                        

Example Problem: Which Paper Towel is more absorbent? 
Example Hypothesis: I think Brand X will be more absorbent because it’s a more popular brand, it is thicker and the people I interviewed said that the more expensive brands would work.

  

 

4. Collect Materials

 

Designing an experiment will require materials. Encourage your child to choose science project materials that are easily available at home. There is no need to buy expensive electronics or chemicals for a science project. Experiments can be done with water, plastic bottles, plants, food coloring, and other easy to use and find materials at home. Inexpensive science project materials are everywhere. 

 

 

5. Run an Experiment & Record Your Results

 

Now it's time to run an experiment to find out if you were right about your hypothesis. Record data from your experiment. Table, charts and diagrams are generally the way scientists keep track of experiment trials. Use your notebook to write notes, observations and data. 

                        

Plant Amount of water per day Size it grew in two weeks
Plant A none 0.5 cm
Plant B 5 ml 2 cm
Plant C 10 ml 5 cm

 

 

6. Form a Conclusion

 

What did you learn from your experiment? Summarize the experiment results in a few sentences and state how these results either support or contradict your hypothesis. You can include key facts from your background research to help explain your results. 

 

 

7. Presentation & Practice

 

Once you have completed your experiment, you can display your research on a board. You can find tri-fold boards from stores like Staples, Walmart and Amazon. Below is an example of a layout.

 

 

 

 

Practice describing your project and results, so you will be ready for visitors to your exhibit at the science fair. 

And last and most important, have fun!

 

Please contact your Science Fair chairs, Ali Stevenson (alison.e.stevenson@gmail.com) or Komal Juneja (komalrjuneja@gmail.com).