What question should I ask for my Science Project?

You have to come up with a good idea for a science fair project but are a bit confused about what kind of question you should ask.

There are two really important tips for deciding: First, keep it simple. Trying to find out how the universe began is GREAT, but it is difficult to fit it all on to one science project display board.

You need to be in complete control of all the possible answers to your question. An easier question to answer would be ´What kind of water is best for plants?´

This one is easier as you can set up three of the same kind of plant in the same place. This is important! A good scientist tries to make sure that all their test subjects (the plants) have the same conditions, EXCEPT for the thing you are testing.

The thing you are testing is called your VARIABLE. Then you can water one with tap water, one with microwave water and one with distilled water. Take photos of the plants every day and write down anything you notive about them. After two weeks, see which one is healthiest. Easy!

The second tip is to choose a question that you can answer OBJECTIVELY in your science project.

The difference between OBJECTIVE and SUBJECTIVE is something that bothers scientists all the time. SUBJECTIVE is usually someone´s opinion. It´s difficult to test things like ´which hurts more – a paper cut or a bruise?´ because the only way to know is to ask people how they are feeling. Everyone feels things differently, so it´s hard to measure.

Things that are OBJECTIVE can be measured. For instance, if you are writing up your Plant Water science project, you can talk about how your plants grew X number of inches. This is easy for everyone to see. A good science project question will have only two or three possible answers (simple) and be objective (so everyone can agree on the results).