Science Fair Project...Middle School Style

What does it take to complete a Science Fair Project? This assignment gave us the opportunity to create and carry out a Science Fair Project, just like the students of Bishop Dunn were.

The idea behind completing this project was so that we would know what our students would be going through if they were assigned a Science Fair Project. It is important for students to work with the Scientific Method and use all of the steps to complete an experiment from start to finish. 

This process allowed me to become aware of all of the expectations and work that is required to create a successful and meaningful project. There is time and work required to create a Science Fair project. It is not a one day project, instead, it is one that takes days, even weeks to complete properly.  

Now that I have completed the project, I am aware of the work and steps it takes to create a science fair project. It all starts with the brainstorming phase, then the developing stage and creating stage. I know that students will have the most trouble coming up with an idea and I want to make sure that I help each of these students to the best of my ability. It is important that they have a project that they are interested in. If they are interested in the project and outcome of the experiment, they will put their best effort into the project. 

For this project, I chose to ask the following question: "How can we prevent an apple from browning once it is cut?" I then went on to investigate if an acid solution or a base solution would be the best option to prevent the browning of an apple. I thought this would be a good science fair project as I have an interest in seeing which solution will keep my apples from browning and prolonging their edible life. I knew that this project would lend itself to a number of results, which I would be able to use to prove or disprove my hypothesis which was: "Acidity of a solution or liquid does effect the rate of of the enzymatic browning of cut apple slices."

Here is a close up picture of my apples at the beginning of the experiment:

This is a close up picture of the apples after they have been exposed to the acids and bases:

From my experiment, I found that the apple slices in the water and lemon juice browned the least of all of the samples used. 

Here is my finished projects poster board: