Twenty AMS students are conducting research in a wide variety of science fields and preparing to present their findings at the Science Fair of Iowa on March 26 and March 27 at Hilton Coliseum. The twelve research topics range from educational psychology to electrical engineering. A sampling of the questions:
Food Science: Can fiber be added to chocolate chip cookies without changing the flavor?
Electrical Engineering: Is it possible to make an ion lifter that works at low voltages?
Psychology: How does background music (Mozart, hip-hop, and rock) affect short-term memory?
Horticulture: Does gray water inhibit or help the growth of plants?
Aerospace Engineering: How does airfoil shape affect the lift-to-drag ratio?
Important note for participants:
You will find useful information about the fair at http://www.sciencefairofiowa.org/students.html
In particular, see "Writing an ABSTRACT" and "Project Board Design" (pdf version)
We will have a practice session for the Science Fair on March 22 during homeroom in the Media Center. Homerooms will be invited to come see the projects and ask questions about them.
You must be registered online by Monday, March 1 so that the paperwork can be delivered to the Science Fair Director on March 2. Please record your registration number on the SSTFI permission form and turn this form in to Mrs. Dixon.
Research Paper (OPTIONAL)
It should have 6 sections:
1. Introduction: describe your question and why it is interesting.
2. Literature review: background information about your topic that you learned in your reading.
3. Procedure: a complete description of the experiment you designed to answer your question. An explanation of how you analyzed your data.
4. Your conclusions. Do the data support your hypothesis or refute it? Did you find any interesting or unexpected results? Are there new avenues of investigation that you would pursue as a result of your findings? How do your results connect with the larger picture, for instance your research field, society, or the planet?
5. Bibliography. There are binders in the MC with format information.
6. Acknowledgements. Thank the people who have helped you to conduct the research, particularly if you have had outside help (eg. from ISU students and staff) or unusual help within the school.
There are many effective methods for studying for this test. Need some ideas? Try one of the methods below one day and another the next. Remember that frequent review, rather than one long study session, will help store the words in your long-term memory.
1. Use your word cards and have someone quiz you on the definitions.
2. Group the words. Which words go together? Do they have similar meanings? Opposite meanings? How can they connect?
3. Review the analogy patterns that WordMasters uses. Can you make analogies using the 50 words?
4. Tired of review? Visit the Wordles website to create word art with the word and words connected to the definition. This may help you to remember words.
5. Use the VisuWord website to reinforce definitions and see how words are connected.
