Here is the 411 on class. And I WILL have treats next week! And noodles!
Grammar (Latin): The pace is MUCH more doable this semester. This week we covered 2nd Conjugation - same tense (present), mood (indicative), and voice (active). So have some fun and use any extra time on reviewing your weak areas!
Exposition/Composition (LTW): Elocution week = paper time! Looking forward to hearing the Secret Garden papers from at least two of you. The new tool this week is antithesis and it's a fun one to play with.
- Note: This may be a more helpful antithesis worksheet than the one in the book: ANTITHESIS WORKSHEET
Debate (Cartography): Nothing new here...keep drawing Asia, practice AT LEAST one cumulative map a week, read the Cartography book about each region, watch Geography Now videos for noodles (yes!), and memorize those capitals and features! That's it 😜.
Logic: Math problems!
Research (Science Fair): Good job on your boards and abstracts! Each of you gave a basic run through of your abstract and felt what it was like to try to give an overview of your project while fielding questions from your audience. It was great practice! You will need to be ready to express your project clearly, focusing on the key components of the scientific method. Here is a load of helpful information to help you focus these last couple of weeks. You should do the following with your parent(s)!
- REVIEW THE BASICS: Look in your guide and on sciencebuddies.org and review the requirements for each step of the project. Do you know what an independent variable is? What is supposed to go on the board or in your research plan? Look at the resources you have, then ask me if you're still wondering!
- PRACTICE PRESENTING YOUR PROJECT: As you all realized in class yesterday, presenting to a group can reveal how well you really understand the elements of this project. It's tough! You'll want to practice presenting this week (especially after reading the tips below). Remember, your abstract is a summary of your project, but you don't have to use it as your presentation. Your MEMORIZED presentation should include all of the important project information. Here is a great site I just found to help you organize your thoughts: PRESENTATION HELP
- PARENTS: You can use the following judging form to evaluate your student. (Note: I am not in charge of which judging form will be used at our Fair, but it should contain these elements) JUDGES FORM
- READ THIS ADVICE: Another Challenge Director got some feedback from their Challenge A/Challenge B Science Fair judges. These judges had science backgrounds and had some great tips! Note: not all of these tips can be followed at this stage in the game...no need to re-do your whole project! This is a learning process for all of us, so just do what you can.
1. Complicated does NOT make it better. Make sure you are testing only ONE thing.
2. Conduct multiple trials. They could not say that enough. This was our overall weakness with most of the projects.
3. ALL the raw data does not need to be on the project board. The details should be recorded in the lab journal, but for the board, the judges want to see the data that led you to your conclusions. Superimpose the averages (because you should be doing multiple trials) on top of one another. This way the judges can CLEARLY see the differences in your results.
4. Speaking of results, the results should be something that is measurable. Saying that one plant has leaves that are more "vibrant" than another is subjective not objective. The judges really loved everything about the grass growing project, but when explaining his results he used words like best, sturdier, thicker with no numbers to go along with them. That was the only reason he didn't get a ribbon. He totally got the multiple trials part right, though.
5. Understand and clearly label your variables. Whether you use language like "independent, dependent" or "manipulated, responding" doesn't really matter. The students should understand those concepts and be able to explain how they used them in their projects. Definitely have a constant in there.
6. On the graphs, make sure the horizontal and vertical axes are clearly labeled WITH the unit of measurement. It makes no sense to a judge when you have tons of numbers, but it is unclear if we are talking about centimeters or feet. These things matter.
7. Also, on the graphs, make sure the numerical intervals are the same. Look at the "Insulation Sensation" board in the pictures below. This student had fabulous graphs showing his results, but the numerical intervals on the vertical axis were different from one graph to the next. This makes it very hard to compare results. It would have been much better if he had put all of his lines onto one graph (use different types of lines or colors or something). It would have been much easier for the judges to see the comparisons.
8. Number, numbers, numbers! List your materials using quantities. In other words, don't just say flour, say how much flour. Also in your procedure, don't just say "scoop", give a measurement.
9. Express your question in terms of "What effect does (manipulated variable) have on (responding variable)? Or something along those lines.
10. Make sure the font of the text on the board can easily be read by the judge. They didn't like having to lean way over and squint. I saw it suggested on science buddies.org to have your text at least 16 pt. font.
- FINE TUNE YOUR BOARD: SCIENCE BUDDIES BOARD TIPS Now that you've identified areas of weakness, edited your presentation, and clarified any confusing elements of your project, you can now fine tune your board to reflect your changes.
- FINALIZE YOUR OTHER ITEMS: Lab journal, Research Plan, Research Paper, pictures, visual aids, etc.
- REMEMBER THE DATES:
- 1/29 (NEXT WEEK): Bring your project and be ready to present to class again! Each of us will get a change to 'judge', and I'll have some questions that judges could potentially ask you. It will be great practice!
- 2/5 (Week 5): You will present your projects during the Foundations/Essentials opening assembly. It is a good opportunity to work out any last minute 'kinks'.
- 2/6 (Tuesday evening): SCIENCE FAIR!
Rhetoric: Mostly productive discussion this week (along with a bit of unnecessary goofiness). READ THE CHAPTER! HIGHLIGHT IN AS MANY COLORS AS YOU CAN! MEMORIZE THOSE CATECHISM QUESTIONS!
Have a great week!
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