2. Research
Research
You need to do some studying before you start your project. But the great thing is that this required section gives you an opportunity to share information that you have discovered in regards to your science fair project. Sources of information include school and public libraries, professionals in the specific fields of study, and the Internet. Find out what is already known about the topic you have chosen and use it to direct the topic of your project.
Also, once you have some background, you might consider writing, telephoning or e-mailing a scientist who works in the field you've chosen for your project. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that they have resources available to the public that you could use for your project. This would be very useful to you since you will be expected to include 3 to 5 pages of research in your scientific method project notebook (some teachers may require more or less pages).
A record of where you have found your information is also required within your notebook. Be sure to include all of your references. Copies of these items are also often helpful in documenting your work. You can place them in the back of this section in your notebook.
Do not, however, copy from your resources word for word! Your report should be in your own words. These resources are only to be used as references - not as your report. Sometimes it is helpful to list a reference and then follow it with a brief summarizing paragraph about what you have learned from it. Your language arts teachers have probably already taught you how to write a summarizing paragraph as well has how to construct a reference page. If not, they are always available to help you.
HINT: When completing the research for your project it is always a good idea to start with one idea, and as you read about your topic you will be directed to the next idea. For example, if you chose to do an experiment related to bacteria then, your research might begin with searching for information about the nature of bacteria. As you read that information you may discover that there are positive and negative aspects of these tiny organisms. That would be where you go next on your search for information. While doing so, you might discover other interesting bits of information which relate to the topic and to your experiment. See, one thing leads to another. That's the beauty of research!
The website ScienceBuddies.org has a wonderful guide to help students plan their research, click here to go to the: