Science Fair Journal-Info and Rubric

Scientific Journaling

The journal is your most treasured piece of work.  In any experiment, a scientist must make observations and record ALL relevant data pertaining to the experiment.  The journal begins as soon as a question is approved. A journal entry should be completed every time you work on the investigation.  Examples include shopping for supplies (include receipt), writing a hypothesis, or brainstorming ideas.  

Your journal should include the following:

1)      Date of each entry (Left margin)

2)      The question  

3)      Rough drafts of each step to include mark-ups (skip lines in order to leave room for revisions)

4)      What you did that day

5)      What you learned

6)      Observations - What you saw, heard, felt, and smelled; Use your senses.

7)      Anything unexpected that happened

8)      Problems encountered; Solutions to problems

9)       What problems still need to be solved

10)   What else needs to be accomplished

11)   Drawings that might help explain the investigation

12)   Measurements from the experiment

13)   Data tables/charts to organize the information 

14)   Plan(s) for the next day

NOTE:  Do NOT write on the back of the pages.

Science Fair Rubric Checklist – Journal

Expectations - Journal	Points
§  Handwritten §  Dated entries §  Rough drafts of each step §  Detailed/Factual notes (no opinions)   §  Sentences/phrases §  Problems/solutions §  Drawings/Observations/Brainstorms §  Measurements §  Data table/chart §  Mark ups with arrows, rewrites, etc. (Use red ink for revisions) §  Rubric placed inside of composition book (front)	30
SCORE

Due Dates 2013-14

SCIENCE FAIR ASSIGNMENT SHEET 13-14

The following assignment sheet contains the assigned/due dates for the various parts of your Science Fair Project.  Each step has been assigned a point value.  Most assignments are required to be typed (Times New Roman/12/double-spaced). A parent signature is required for each step on the actual typed assignment.  HAVE PARENTS PROOFREAD each step before signing the assignment. The paper will not be graded without a parent signature.

Each step should be saved on a memory stick under a folder labeled “Science Fair.”  The assignment should have an assignment title.  Example: Save hypothesis as “Hypothesis.” A science fair folder or notebook is required for this project.  Label the folder as follows:  (1) Forms/Info, (2) Rough Drafts, (3) Final Drafts, and (4) Research. Highlighted assignments are test grades and must be typed, unless otherwise stated.                                        Parent/Guardian Signature ______________________________________

Assignment	Point Value	DUE DATE
QUESTION	10	11/8
CSCA Science Fair Info Form	5	11/8
PURPOSE	10	11/8
INFORMATIONAL PARAGRAPHS (Rough)	25	11/15
FILL-in-the-BLANK Works Cited Pages	10	11/22
MLA Works Cited	(+5 EC)	11/22
INFORMATIONAL PARAGRAPHS (Final)	25	11/22
VARIABLES/OPERATIONAL DEFINITION (Rough)	15	12/4
VARIABLES/OPERATIONAL DEFINITION (Final)	15	12/6
HYPOTHESIS (Rough)	10	12/4
HYPOTHESIS (Final)	10	12/6
MATERIALS/PROCEDURE (Rough)	35	12/11
MATERIALS/PROCEDURE (Final)	35	12/17
START EXPERIMENTING AS SOON AS ALL PARTS HAVE BEEN APPROVED!!!!
DATA-Bring in data table to show experiment is done!	15	1/10
CHARTS/GRAPHS DATA ANALYSIS (Rough)	40	1/17
CHARTS/GRAPHS DATA ANALYSIS (Final)	40	1/24
CONCLUSION (Rough)	30	1/31
CONCLUSION (Final)	30	2/7
APPLICATION	(+5 EC)	2/7
ABSTRACT	10	2/7
FOLDER	20	Date of Science Fair
TRIFOLD/PRESENTATION/PROJECT	32/28/30	Date of Science Fair
CSCA Competition (Participation)	10	Date of Science Fair
Pikes Peak Regional Competition	(+25 EC)

Formatting Science Fair Final Drafts

All final drafts must be typed in Times New Roman, 12 pt font, and double spaced.  They must be signed by parents or guardians. A note saying that you read it is not sufficient; it is the student's responsibility to take the final draft to you and get it signed. Final drafts count as test grades, so they can be turned in at the end of the day with no penalty and be turned in up to 5 days late for 10% per day.

Here is an example of an appropriate heading:

Heather Walls

Science 7.1

November 8, 2013

Science Fair Question and Purpose

Everything is left justified, nothing should be centered. Everything is the same font size, nothing should be centered or bold. There should not be more than two spaces between anything. The title should always start "Science Fair" and then include the assignment title. 

Naming Ionic Compounds

There are three different types of ions that could be involved in an ionic bond and the rules for naming changes with the type of ion. (Please note,

First, a simple bond between a metal that is NOT a transition metal and a nonmetal. The charges of these elements is always the same, so we don't have to do anything fancy with the names. We simply write the name of the positive ion first. Then, we write the negative ion and change the ending to -ide. Simple! For example, NaCl would be sodium chloride; MgBr2 would be magnesium bromide. There is no need to mention the subscript 2 because it only tells us that we need 2 Br- ions to balance out the Mg+2 ion.

Second, bonds involving transition metals and nonmetals can be a little trickier. This is because many of the transition metals can have different charges. Iron can have a +2 or +3 charge! That means iron can bond with oxygen in two ways. It can be FeO or Fe2O3! So, how are you supposed to clarify that it the name? Simple, we write the charge of iron in parenthesis. FeO would be iron (II) oxide (notice the negative ion still ends in -ide) and Fe2O3 would be iron (III) oxide.

How do you figure out which iron is which using the formula? How about a little reverse formula writing :) Now, FeO has iron and oxygen bonded in a 1:1 ratio; in class we said that is the ratio is 1:1 that means the charges are equal and opposite. We know that oxygen always forms a -2 ion (because it is in family 6 and gains two electrons); that means that iron has to be a +2 ion (opposite and equal). On the other hand, Fe2O3 is a 2:3 ratio, so we'll do the criss-cross method in reverse.

Fe₂O₃

Fe⁺³    O^-2

Since this iron had to have a +3 charge, we write it as iron (III) oxide.

Third, the bond can involve polyatomic ions, which are atoms bonded together and acting as a single ion. Any compound involving polyatomic ions is named with the positive ion first and the negative ion second (as all are and as the formulas are written). BUT, the name of the polyatomic ion is NEVER changed. If the formula is MgSO4 then the name is magnesium sulfate. Mg+2 is the positive ion of magnesium and SO4 -2 is sulfate. There is no change to the ending of the negative ion because it is a polyatomic ion. We haven't had any of these for you to name in class and you aren't expected to memorize the names of polyatomic ions.