Dr. Michael H. Salinger Z”L Science Fair invites 5th -8th graders at an ATT affiliated school to ask an exciting science question and attempt to answer it by performing a real science experiment!

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?

1. Click the register button down below by May 11 to reserve your place in the contest.

2. Come up with a question or hypothesis. Is there a question that you are curious about that can be answered through a science experiment?
   • For example, a question could be: does the small package of flower food that comes with flower bouquets increase how long flowers will stay freshYou can also state it as a hypothesis, which is a prediction or educated guess that can be tested.
   • For example: if flower food is used, then flowers will stay fresh longer.

The question or hypothesis can be related to any of the following themes: plants & animals, energy & motion, food & nutrition, and color & visibility. Make sure the question or hypothesis you choose is testable, meaning that with your science experiment, you will be able to answer the question, or support or refute the hypothesis. The question/hypothesis should be creative, clearly stated, and show some sophistication. (Do not use our example of flower food for your project.)

3. Explain why you chose your project. Explain in words why the project question or hypothesis interested you. Through your explanation, try to demonstrate why your project choice is original, innovative, and creative.

4. Describe how you designed your experiment. Explain in words how and why you designed your experiment this way. Your description should include why your experiment does a good job testing your question or hypothesis and how it produces sufficient results or data for testing.

5. Analyze the results. Explain in words how your results or data from your experiment answer the question or hypothesis. The explanation should be convincing, and you should include a visual representation of your results/data.

6. Create a trifold board for your project. The board should be standard size 27×39 inches, and it should present the 4 components above (question/hypothesis, why you chose your project, design, and analysis) in an organized way. The science fair judges should be able to understand your project fully from the content on the board without any additional explanation.

7. Bonus: Torah component. You can earn up to an additional 2 points by including a Torah concept or theme related to your project. The source for the idea should be cited, and you should explain how it relates to your project and why it interests you.

8. Bring your board to the science fair on May 27, and judges will evaluate your project, according the full rubric included below. Participants with the highest scores will win as detailed below.

Guidelines:

1. Sign up Deadline: Monday, May 11 by 5:00pm
2. Live Exhibition and Competition: Wednesday May 27 from 6:00-8:00pm at Walder Science (Adas Yeshurun Social Hall)
3. Prizes for 5-6 Grade Division and for 7-8 Grade Division

• 1st Place $150
• 2nd Place $100
• 3rd Place $75
• $25 for all entries that include all 5 components

4. No cost to participate
5. Limited to one entry per student
6. Students are encouraged to begin early and reach out to Walder Science or their science teacher for guidance on creating an appropriate hypothesis and experiment

Judging Rubric:

Goals of the Science Fair:

1. To encourage students to apply and practice scientific thinking
2. To foster critical thinking and real-world problem solving
3. To allow students an opportunity to relate their science work to a fundamental Torah idea

Click for the judging rubric.