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Boiling Springs SC 29316 |
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December 12, 2007 Volume 2 Issue 17 Our on-line newsletter |
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Science
Fair: This issue of BSIS at Home is
devoted to the science fair which will be on Tuesday, February 26. We want this to be a learning experience
for all students, not just another hurdle so we are spending a great deal of
time teaching students how to work through each step of the process. The reading teachers will be helping
students with research, the English teachers will aid in writing up research
done on the questions. The math
teachers will help them create graphs for the display. The social studies teachers will take their
turn helping put together the display boards. Your job will be to help your child do the actual
experiment. This is the most important
part of this project. Without an
experiment, the project is just research.
We teach students that true scientists do any
experiment at least 3 times to check for validity and they document
everything they do. This should be
done by writing down each step of the experiment, what they observe, even
pictures will help. Finally, come to the fair. Celebrate the great work our students do. |
Research: Students are currently doing research in the
library. Though the research section
is not long, it is an important part.
Students should find out information about their topic – past research
or data that supports the reason for more experiments. If you find your child needs more
background knowledge, you might spend some time talking with them and helping
them understand the topic. |
Display Board: The
display board is what catches the judge’s eye. It is the showcase for all the work that
has been done. We will take parts of
two days in February to put these together.
To be eligible for display, all boards will be created in class. Boards are available for sale. If you purchase your own, send it in, with
student name and HR teacher on the back, and we will store it until we put
them together. |
A good science fair project: 1. You are interested in the
topic - it's something you like to think about. 2. You can do a test to find an answer to a question. 3.
You can do it with only a little help from parents, teachers and
friends. 4. It doesn't hurt or scare people or animals, including you. 5. It's a project that, even when you
are done with it, makes you think of new things you want to know.
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Tiger
Traits: He who receives a benefit with
gratitude repays the first installment on his debt. Seneca The
world is blessed most by people who do things, not by those who merely talk
about them.
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Science fair projects are not designed to be displays of
models. Though it is fun to create volcanoes,
build cars and motors, that in itself is not an experiment. Asking people if they can tell the
difference between Coke and Pepsi is just a kind of survey, again, no
experiment involved. Checking to see
if an animal likes one kind of food over another has
too many variables involved – if an animal is hungry enough, he will probably
eat most anything! |
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Projects: We are working on helping students choose
questions that can be turned into an experiment. For example, “Why do leaves
change color?” is not an experiment because you can look up the answer. “What materials best clean up oil spills?”
is a good question because you can do an experiment to test the results. “Which paper towel soaks up the most
water?” is an experiment, though greatly overdone. If the question starts with the word “How”,
chances are you can probably look up the answer and don’t need the
experiment! |
Upcoming Events: Dec 13 – Christmas Concert 6:30
BSJH auditorium Dec 20 – last day before
holiday MAP testing through Dec 20 January,
BSIS At Home will be published bi-weekly. |
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The Puzzler #1: How many squares are on a traditional 8x8 checkerboard? (The answer is not 64!) 204 squares
The Puzzler #2: On November 14, 1889, Nellie Bly set off on a trip around the world. Her goal was to make the trip in less than Phileas Fogg’s fictional 80 day trip. It took her 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds to make the trip by boat, train and horse. How much quicker was her trip than Fogg’s?
7 days, 17 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds