Some of those irrelevant questions might be very interesting to you they just don't belong as part of your science fair project. Our table of question words is a great way to generate ideas for your background research, but some of them will be irrelevant and we just throw those out. Questions that will not help you design and understand your experiment are called irrelevant. Questions that will help you design and understand your experiment are called relevant. You can always find more information to research, but some questions just don't have anything to do with the experiment you will define and perform. But what's that column in the table called "Relevant?" Those look like pretty good questions to research because they would enable us to make some predictions about an experiment. When does spiciness cause upset stomachs? What are the properties and characteristics of spicy substances? What causes spiciness to increase (or decrease)? What is the relationship between _ and _? What are the properties and characteristics of _? Possible Questions for Background Research These are just samples to get you thinking there are always many more questions and the most important ones for your project may not be in the list! Keywordsįill Your Keywords (or Variations on Your Keywords) into the Blanks But, since libraries and the Internet both contain millions of pages of information and facts, you might never find what you're looking for unless you start with a map! To avoid getting lost, you need a background research plan. (Which way do your parents drive?)įinding information for your background research is very similar. When you are driving a car there are two ways to find your destination: drive around randomly until you finally stumble upon what you're looking for OR look at a map before you start. Making a Background Research Plan: How to Know What to Look For You do library and Internet research so that you can make a prediction of what will occur in your experiment, and then whether that prediction is right or wrong, you will have the knowledge to understand what caused the behavior you observed. In other words, science fair judges like to see that you understand why your experiment turns out the way it does. A scientist named Mike Kalish put it humorously like this: "A year in the lab can save you a day in the library."īackground research is also important to help you understand the theory behind your experiment. You want to learn from the experience of others rather than blunder around and repeat their mistakes. Rather than starting from scratch, savvy investigators want to use their library and Internet research to help them find the best way to do things. So that you can design an experiment, you need to research what techniques and equipment might be best for investigating your topic. Making a Background Research Plan Why the Need for Background Research? Ask them: "What science concepts should I study to better understand my science fair project?" and "What area of science covers my project?" Better yet, ask even more specific questions.
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