Science Fair Parent Letter
Date:
Dear Students and Parents:
It’s time to start work on our school’s Science Fair! Enclosed is a schedule outlining due dates and important information regarding your child’s project. Ample time has been scheduled and work has been spread out, so students can complete the work at a comfortable pace.
This is a major project and will represent a significant portion of your child’s grade for the next grading period(s). The primary objective of this project is to have students approach a problem scientifically. This includes:
- Asking questions and forming hypotheses
- Creating experiments to test those hypotheses
- Organizing data and drawing conclusions
- Writing about scientific research
The project must be experimental in nature as opposed to research oriented. In other words, students must do a test, survey, or experiment to determine the answer to their question instead of just looking it up in a book. We encourage students to pick topics that they are genuinely interested in, since they will be working on these projects for the next several months. Topics must also be “original” - something students do not already know.
Students will be working in small groups of three. Each group member will be responsible for contributing equally to the project and keep up with the research. To encourage all group members to share equally in the work, grades will be given individually based on one of the specific tasks each student selects. The three tasks are outlined as follows:
1. Notebook: This person is in charge of entering data into the project notebook on a regular basis.
2. Scientific Paper: The Scientific Paper chronicles how the project evolved, how the research was done, the results, and conclusion. This paper must be typed or word processed.
3. Display: This person will be responsible for organizing the display. This includes taking pictures or making sketches of the experimental process, gathering materials, building, and setting up the display for presentation and judging.
In order to do well on these individual tasks, all group members must be engaged in the project from the beginning and not wait until the last minute. Please note on the schedule, Notebooks are due for 1st Check on _____________. At this time, each student will also be required to turn in 1/2 page paragraph summarizing the progress of the group’s research.
Project guidelines state that all work must be done by the students; however, assistance may be provided by teachers, parents, etc. It is very difficult to work alone without the exchange of ideas, so we encourage you to brainstorm with your child on different ideas and possible topics your child may want to pursue. Students have been given lists of Science Fair Categories and Guidelines and Project Ideas . Please take a moment to review these with your child in order to generate topic ideas. Science Fair Proposals are due on _________.
Please keep in mind that our school’s Science Fair is the first step to participating in the County Science Fair. Students who complete a First, Second, or Third Place Science Fair Project for our school’s Science Fair will be considered for participation in the County Science Fair.
I are looking forward to working with you to make this a valuable learning experience for your child. I appreciate your support on this important project. As acknowledgement and part of your child’s homework, please sign, date, and return the bottom portion of this letter by _________________________.
Sincerely,
Science Teacher
Enc.
I have reviewed the Science Fair information and calendar with my child, ____________________, (Printed Name of Child) and we understand the requirements for a successful Science Fair Project.
_______________________________
(Parent Signature/Date)
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