Scientific Research & the Process of Science

The ISEF and Affiliated Fairs are research (data) driven. Research is the process by which people discover or create new knowledge about the world in which they live. Students will design research based projects that provide quantitative data through experimentation, followed by analysis and application of that data for their project. Note: Projects that are demonstrations, "library" research or informational projects "explanation" models or kit building are not appropriate for research based science projects.

Good scientists question what they know! Use the ‘Scientific Method’, also known as the ‘Inquiry Cycle’, simplified in a list below to conduct your Scientific Research: 

1) Ask a question Be curious, but choose a limited subject that you want to know more about. Identify a testable problem and move on to step 2! 

2) Perform background research Hit the books! (To ensure that your project will be approved by the Scientific Review Committee, remember to read the Rules & Guidelines first at www.societyforscience.org/isef/rulesandguidelines) ** Be sure to cite the sources of where you obtained your information.

3) Hypothesize Take an educated guess of what you think will happen based on what you learned in your research & record it 

4) Design your experiment Make sure your experiment is “controlled” – meaning only one thing changes at a time so that you can measure exactly what happens.  Collect data - Record your development in your experiment.

5) Experiment & Analyze results. Once you have your data from your experiment, we suggest graphing the results – not only can you use this on your project board, but you can also visualize what happened more easily! 

6) Conclude Tell us what happened. Is it what you thought? Why or why not? 

7) Report & Exhibit Make the report and exhibit informative and detailed, but memorable as well.

Sample "Science" Project 

judging rubrics

Click here for link to Judging Rubric guideline.