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Eskom Cape Town Expo for Young Scientists 2005 : Science Projects

Eskom Cape Town Expo for Young Scientists 2005 : Science Projects. What is Expo?. The Eskom Expo for Young Scientists is an NGO whose aim is to encourage young scientists to become involved in science outside the classroom.

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Eskom Cape Town Expo for Young Scientists 2005 : Science Projects

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  1. Eskom Cape Town Expo for Young Scientists 2005: Science Projects

  2. What is Expo? • The Eskom Expo for Young Scientists is an NGO whose aim is to encourage young scientists to become involved in science outside the classroom. • ‘Science’ encompasses all associated fields of study like Physics, Chemistry, Health Care and Medical Science, Plant and Animal Sciences, Geography, Computer Science, Maths and Statistics, Design and Technology, Engineering Sciences and Earth Sciences. • Cape Town is one of 27 South African Expo regions.

  3. How does Expo work? • The Expo is a combination of an exhibition and a competition. • Learners bring their posters, files/notebooks and equipment to the venue and put up their own exhibition. • Judges view the projects and judge them based on criteria which everyone has seen in advance – judging includes in depth interviews by the judges. • After a lot of discussion awards are made to projects of merit – the best of these are chosen to participate in the next round. • After each round, projects must be upgraded by learners.

  4. Choosing a project • The most important step in doing a project is choosing the right one. • Spend a lot of time on this. • The best way to choose it to go with personal interests, hobbies, sports, via family contacts or solving community problems. • The learner must enjoy doingthe project and in doing so learns many problem solving skills.

  5. Great site: Science Buddies Topic Wizard • http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/tsw_start.shtml • Teachers should go to this site first and try this out. • Learners must be encouraged to be honest when answering the questions on the site. • The Topic Wizard will assist the learners with choosing a project title based on their likes and dislikes.

  6. Format of a science project • Observation and question, choose a topic and find a title • Background reading/research • Aim or hypothesis • Method of doing research or experiment • Results • Interpretations • Conclusions • Errors and modifications • Acknowledgements • Bibliography • Appendix with raw data – not on poster

  7. Background reading • Once the project has been chosen, the next step is to do a lot of background reading around the chosen topic. • This is absolutely essential – the learner needs to have an idea about the topic before beginning research or experimentation. • Evidence of this must be shown in the project file or notebook and judges will ask questions about it in the interview.

  8. Problem statement or question that needs answering in the project • Identify a problem that could be investigated – usually written as a question. eg. Does firescaping help landowners prevent fires on their properties? • The question needs to be changed into a hypothesis or into the aim of the experiment (possible project title).

  9. Hypothesis • The hypothesis is a question which has been reworded into a form that can be tested by an experiment. (More suitable to a true investigation that the learner carries out themselves). eg. Succulent indigenous plants would be the most effective protection against veld fires.

  10. Aim • An option is to write an aim to the project. • This is suitable for a research project using available data (which needs to be acknowledged). eg The aim of the project is to investigate the relationship between the size of a bird’s eye and how early it sings in the morning.

  11. Method • Design the investigation – for example design an experiment and control to prove something. Include apparatus to be used. • Describe the process in such a way that someone else can follow the steps and do same experiment. • Steps are numbered and written in the third person. • The method must include the variables that affect the results.

  12. Variables • These are factors that affect an experiment – eg temperature. • The controlled variables are the factors that cannot change throughout the experiment. • Independent variable: this is the factor that is being investigated in an experiment. • Dependent variable: The results obtained after doing the investigation. They are dependent on the independent variable and change as the independent variable changes.

  13. Results • Carry out the investigation or do the research. • Record and analyse the results. • Best way to record – Excel table. • For most projects a journal or notebook should be kept with dates – essential as it shows progress of project – must be shown to judges (NB for technology projects).

  14. Graphs • Using data from the experiment or from research draw graphs to show results in a visual form - this makes interpretation much easier. • Different types of graphs are appropriate for different experiments. This site explains it all: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_data_analysis.shtml

  15. Interpretations • These are not the same as the conclusion(s) • This is when the results are described in words • Trends and patterns within the results may be explained

  16. Conclusion(s) • This refers directly to the hypothesis or aim. • The conclusion shows whether the results prove or disprove the hypothesis or aim. • Engineering & programming projects should state whether they met their design criteria.

  17. Errors and modifications • Often when the project is finished, the learner discovers that there are errors in their method – these should be discussed here. • Modifications – what would they do if they had had more time? What would they do differently? • New questions that have arisen as a result of doing the project should be added here.

  18. Acknowledgements • All learners will get help from someone – its what they do with that help that makes a good project. • This is where the learner will list the names of all the people who assisted with the project and what assistance they gave.

  19. Bibliography - sources of all information used in the project • Must be correctly referenced • Search engines eg. www.google.co.za are not references – eg the actual site visited must be referenced • Basic how to reference – see next page

  20. Referencing • You should use the heading “References” and the list should contain all the material to which you referred and from which you quoted in your assignment. All sources should be arranged alphabetically according to the surname of the first author. • The references should be written in the following order: • Author’s surname and initials, year of publication, title (underlined), edition, place of publication, publisher. • BOOKS: • e.g. 1. KRITZINGER, A.A.C. and FOURIE, C.M.W. 1996 Basic Principles of Financial • Management, Cape Town : Juta. • JOURNALS • The journals should be written in the following order: author’s surname and initials, year of • Publication of the journal, title of article, title of journal (underlined as before), volume, pages. • e.g. 1. MANNING, T. 1996. “Three steps to the future”, Human Resource Management, 12(8), 8-9.

  21. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS e.g. Smith, R.J. Comparative themes in higher education, in “Trends in Higher Education” edited by J.N. Green. London: Benton. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES The references should be written in the following order: year, newspaper, date and month, page. e.g. 1980. Business Day . 25 June : 7 INTERNET REFERENCING www Pages: e.g. Unknown (1995) Sentient microfilaments: A tempest in a tubule [On-line]. Available: http://somecomputer.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/psyc.95.3.26/consciousness/11/bixley THESES and DISSERTATIONS e.g. Smith, R.H. 1998. Critical Theory and University Transformation. DPhil thesis, Rhodes University, Grahamstown/

  22. At Expo: Display/poster and equipment

  23. Expo posters • These are summaries of the project – not the whole project They should be: • Easy to read • Easy to understand • Explain what you did • Explain how you did it • Explain what you found out • Eye catching- colourful and interesting • All the headings of the project are on poster eg. Hypothesis, method, some results etc

  24. Display • The display must be inviting • Each project gets 2 exam desks • On desks – file and relevant equipment • 1.5m x 1.0m total poster size • Best if poster is free standing

  25. At Expo: Judging • Judging is done by teachers, academics, people from related industries – anyone with a love of science and an understanding of high school learners • The content of the project is judged separately from the interview giving judges more time with the learners • Every school entering Expo supplies a minimum of 2 judges

  26. At Expo: Interview • The interview is done by judges asking questions about how the project was done as well as about the content of the project itself • Two or more judges will carry out the interview • At Expo this count 10 % of the overall mark

  27. At Expo: Judges form • A rubric is used to assess the project • Aspects that are assessed are: • PART A: SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT & CREATIVE ABILITY (Total / 50) • PART B: EXHIBITION (POSTER BOARD & DISPLAY) (20) • PART C: REPORT – FILE/NOTEBOOK WITH FULL WRITE UP (10) • PART D: INTERVIEW (10) • TOTAL - 100

  28. Where to from here? • School project - done during class and after school with lots of support from parents and teachers (February to April) • Mini expo – held within a school – display and discuss projects with others in same school (Term 2) • Zone/cluster expo – held jointly by a small group of schools (Term 2) • Regional expo – best cluster projects enter the Cape Town Expo (31 August and 1 September at UCT) • National Expo Finals – best Cape Town projects participate in the National Expo finals in October in Pretoria – the cost of attending is not carried by Expo.

  29. The very best South African Projects will participate in International Expos

  30. Assistance • Parents – support and encouragement at home • Teachers – guidance and time management • Friends – support one another • Internet – via some sites can contact experts for help • Books – local or school library • Authorities - universities or technikons • Expo committee – Monday August 4th – meeting for learners entering Expo to get assistance with preparation for the CT Expo

  31. Sources of information for teachers • Expo Project Guide • GTZ Booklet • Web sites: • http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/ • http://www.scifair.org/ • http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/ • www.physics2005.org.za • www.saao.ac.za

  32. Eskom Cape Town Expo for Young Scientists 2005: Contact details Chairperson: Mrs Olga Peel email: opeel@bishops.org.za fax: 021 – 6591013 cell (after hours): 083 4634597 Vice chair: Ms Sharon Sickler email: allways@mweb.co.za cell: 083 3101072 Thanks to Cheryl Douglas for information used in this presentation.

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