| Botany is a field of science that kids can explore | | | | day for test experiment B, six hours a day for |
| in their science fair projects. There are many | | | | experiment C, 12 hours a day for experiment D |
| aspects of plants that can be studied. In this free | | | | and 24 hours a day for experiment E. |
| science fair project example, a plant’s growth | | | | Data Collection |
| is going to be examined. | | | | Collecting data for this plant growth science fair |
| Hypothesis | | | | project is going to be pretty easy to do. It will |
| In order to develop a science fair project | | | | start with a digital photograph taken of the plant |
| students need to create a focusing tool for that | | | | at the same time each day. This will allow you to |
| project. This focusing element is called a | | | | create a stop motion growth rate animation clip |
| hypothesis. It identifies the cause and effect | | | | for each experiment. |
| relationship that the student wants to study or | | | | Next the student will need to measure the |
| manipulate. For this sample project the hypothesis | | | | growth of the plant each day. They will need to |
| is, “plant growth will be positively effected by | | | | document the height and width of the plant, and |
| exposure to music.” | | | | they will also need to count the number of leaves |
| In this hypothesis the variable that will be | | | | and stems that the plant develops. |
| manipulated will be the exposure rate of music | | | | Finally the student will need to document general |
| and the variable that will be measured for change | | | | observations about the growth pattern of the |
| will be the plant’s growth rate. | | | | plant. This can be documented in a journal entry. |
| Experiment | | | | Data Analysis |
| The control experiment is the first experiment | | | | The analysis of the data that is collected will start |
| that needs to be developed for this project. It will | | | | by determining how fast the plant reached critical |
| basically just replicate normal growing conditions | | | | phases in its development. For example, how |
| for the plant with zero exposure to music. | | | | many days until it germinated, how many days |
| Students need to pay attention to how much light | | | | until it sprouted its first leaf and how many days |
| the plant is exposed to and how much water it is | | | | did it take to reach maturity. These growth rates |
| given during the experiment. | | | | can then be compared and contrasted to find out |
| The test experiment for this science fair project | | | | if the plants exposed to music grew faster than |
| is going to involve a number of experiments. Each | | | | the plants not exposed to music. |
| test experiment will be set up with the same light | | | | The analysis can be deepened by determining if |
| exposure, heat exposure and watering conditions | | | | the amount of music exposure has an effect on |
| as the control experiment. The amount of music | | | | the growth rate of plants. To determine this the |
| exposure will be manipulated in each of the test | | | | growth rates in the test groups can be compared |
| experiments. The exposure rates will be two | | | | and contrasted to find trends and correlations. |
| hours a day for test experiment A, four hours a | | | | |