1. What was the most enjoyable part of creating your science fair project (not counting the actual fair)?
The most enjoyable part was probably making the poster because I had so much ideas for it. I had a picture of it in my mind, and even though it didn't necessarily turn out like it, I really liked it. I wanted to make it neat yet colorful, and in the end it did turn out that way.
2. What was the most difficult or frustrating part of your project?
The most difficult part was probably doing the background research because it took us a long time to get everything together. We also needed to research about multiple things because we were doing a project that had multiple aspects. Furthermore, we had put our research in an order that made sense.
3. Pick one project (other than your own) that you found interesting and/or impressive. Describe what you liked about it.
I found Manuela's and Nati's project very interesting; the whole concept of conformity really mesmerizes me. It was very interesting how they did their experimenting and how they thought about the situation they were going to create. It was very original and very well thought out and I hope to do something like that next year.
4. What problems/challenges did you run into this year as you worked on your project? What steps did you take to overcome these challenges?
Some of the difficulties that we ran into was the fact that we didn't know how to begin our conclusion and just the whole conclusion in general. It was very tough to see what we would write about, and how we would explain everything in a logical manner. Also I was trying to be very precise in order to do well.
5. Thinking of your own project, what would you do differently next time? Address only those factors that you have control over (you don’t have control over getting sick or your mom going out of town, for example).
Next time I would probably try to have all our experiments done in one day because it would be much more simpler and organized. For example, Lauren and I finished our experiments on different dates so we didn't know when to start out lab report. Also it would've been better to do it on the same day because we would be doing it together instead of separately.
6. While presenting your project, what do you think you did you do well?
I think I spoke very enthusiastically.You could tell that while my partner and I were speaking the audience was listening attentively. I also believe I did this since I tried to sound as excited and happy as possible because if you are happy, then your audience is happy. Also I tried to engage the audience in with the speech. For example, before we would start I would ask what grade they are in and what their project is. I liked doing this technique because it made the audience feel a part of something.
7.While presenting your project, what do you think you could have done better?
I could've definitely worked on my eye contact because I knew sometimes I would look too much at my clipboard. I sometimes have a problem with mumbling but when I read something off a page, I don't mumble, so thats why I looked down often. I tried to work hard on looking at the audience but sometimes that made me forget my speech. But, as the presentations went on, I got better and better with this problem and started looking more at the audience.
8. Did you work alone or in a pair? Would you choose to do that again? Why or why not?
I worked in a pair with Lauren Householder, and I don't think I would do it again. This is because sometimes I would wait on her to do something, and meanwhile I would be doing nothing or vice versa. Also it caused a lot of stress for me to write a conclusion that fit her idea of what it meant; sometimes our ideas clashed, and we didn't like the opposing thought. Furthermore sometimes we got very distracted and didn't work on the project when we were supposed to. Overall I would work alone next time we do the science fair.
9. Are you happy with the topic you chose? Would you chose to investigate it again in the future? Why or why not?
I am very proud of our project and all we have done with it. I would definitely choose it again in the future for multiple reasons. First off, my knowledge would grow larger which would make the project more logical. For example, we didn't take into consideration measuring the mass of the fruits. The mass should've been the same between each of the fruits in order to get accurate results. In the future, I would also study the chemical compositions of each fruit we are measuring to explain why I believe the results came out the way that it did.
10. Do you feel you were prepared enough to present you project to others at the science fair? Why or why not?
I think I was prepared to do the presentation because I knew what I was going to say in my head and I remember being very confident before the speech. There could've been more work with my memorization but I think I did a pretty good job. I said every line I was supposed to and it just flowed very well together as a whole. Also I stood up with a good posture which means that I was happy and confident with my work. Furthermore, I feel that I was prepared for my speech.
11. Did you use the feedback that you were given electronically? If so, in what ways was it helpful? If not, why not?
I don't think it was very helpful. This is because everyone gave us high numbers so we didn't really know what to improve on. Also no one gave us personal feedback where they specifically tell us what we need to improve on. I found this very challenging to work with because I didn't know how to improve or grow as an academic learner. Other times I couldn't even access the page of responses and it told me I didn't have access. Also there was one point in our presentation when our QR code didn't even work at all and it told the scanners that it was because of the authors of the QR code. My partner and I hadn't changed anything, but it soon started working again in a few minutes.
12.Self Evaluation
Evaluate yourself in these areas. (5 is highest, 1 is lowest) Highlight the number that you feel best describes your overall performance. Feel free to explain your ratings in the space below.
Originality of Topic 1 2 3 4 5
Knowledge about your topic 1 2 3 4 5
Effort/Hard Work 1 2 3 4 5
Communicator 1 2 3 4 5
(board, speech, etc.)
13. What did this project do to help you become a better learner/better thinker?
I think project really helped me learn the importance of background research. This is because we had done some research about our topic, but once we did the experiment we needed to research more about our topic. This threw off our schedule a little since we couldn't start writing our lab report when we didn't even know what had happened. This experience helped me as a learner because I learned that I need to fully understand the topic to a maximum before I should start experimenting.
14. What do you think your teacher could do differently next year to help future students be more successful?
I think next year the teacher can help us more with writing our conclusions because my partner and I couldn't quite understand the ruric. I would've liked it a lot more if the teacher had done mini lessons on what to have in the conclusion and how to write it and the techniques that she was looking for. Other than this, I think our science teacher helped us a lot with the project and answered all the questions that were asked.
15. Do you have any other thought about the science fair that you would like to share?
I wish next year there would be a more organized system for bringing people up to our rooms. My room was upstairs, and the only one in its hall so the majority of our time was spent sitting down and talking to each other. I just would have wished that an even amount of people come to each room, or the room arrangements are changed.
16. Here is where you can include pictures and/or video that you took of yourself with your project
