Rubrics:
- research paper
- evaluation
J udging
Forms:
- individual
- team
Project Number:
_____ Student Names: ___________________
Project Title: _______________________________________
Judge's Name: ______________________________________
Grade Level:
6th
7th 8th
(Students
compete across all grade levels. In evaluating projects, judges should
give ample consideration to the age of the students; less should be
expected of younger students.)
The following judging criteria and point distributions are based on the Regional and State Science Fair Guidelines provided by the Boulder Valley School District.
| Part I: Creative Ability (Missing = 0, Unsatisfactory = 1, Satisfactory = 3, Excellent = 5) | |
| _____ | Title: The project title is creative or clever. |
| _____ | Approach: The students demonstrate original thinking and creativity in the purpose and hypothesis, and in the problem-solving approach. |
| _____ | Materials and equipment: The students chose appropriate-perhaps even ingenious-measurements and materials, taking into consideration time and budgetary constraints and availability of useful equipment. |
| _____ | Exhibit: The style of the exhibit or other aspects of the project are creative or clever. The students use creative lettering. All posters, charts, etc. are securely attached. |
| _____ | Discussion: The students are able to critically evaluate the experiment (looking back on what could have been improved), and demonstrate creativity in exploring additional research needed to substantiate the findings or extend the research to a closely related question. |
| Part I SUBTOTAL: __________ (maximum = 25) | |
| Part II: Scientific Thought or Engineering Goals (Missing = 0, Unsatisfactory = 1, Satisfactory = 3, Excellent = 5) | |
| _____ | Question and Hypothesis: The purpose or question is clearly stated. The students' hypothesis either uncovers an underlying pattern in the natural world or identifies a cause-and-effect relationship-experimental variable(s) that influence the dependent variable(s). |
| _____ | Scientific Merit: The students ask a question that has real scientific merit and is genuinely curious about the question. |
| _____ | Procedure: The students show evidence of careful planning in designing a procedure that can test whether the hypothesis is true-emulating a professional scientist's desire to discover what is true and to search for proof. |
| _____ | Variables: The students clearly identify the experimental and dependent variables in the project. |
| _____ | Controls: The students carefully considered other variables that could contaminate the results or confuse the interpretation of what caused the results; the students responded by using a control group, by making an effort to keep these other variables constant, or by performing naturalistic observations in a way that disturbed the subjects as little as possible. |
| Part II SUBTOTAL: __________ (maximum = 25) | |
| Part III: Thoroughness (Unsatisfactory = 0, Satisfactory = 1, Excellent = 2) | |
| _____ | Observations (Data Records): The exhibit includes very complete and accurate data records (recorded immediately and carefully), and the students have been completely open and honest in reporting results, even if the results undermine or disprove the hypothesis. |
| _____ | Observations (Repeated Measures or Tests): The student experimenters repeated the procedure a sufficient number of times to give confidence in the results. The repetition enabled the students to prove/substantiate that a pattern occurs regularly, a cause-and-effect relationship exists, a theory or principle is accurately illustrated, or a technical device or computer program works satisfactorily. |
| _____ | Research: The students thoroughly researched the topic and thought seriously about the problem before forming the hypothesis. |
| _____ | Conclusions: The students have drawn logical conclusions based on the data collected, evaluating the significance of the experimental findings. |
| _____ | Discussion: The students have written a thorough discussion of the results and have weighed alternative interpretations of the data. |
| _____ | Sources: The students have acknowledged the people consulted and the sources used, including a bibliography. |
| Part III SUBTOTAL: __________ (maximum = 12) | |
| Part IV: Skill (Missing = 0, Unsatisfactory = 1, Satisfactory = 2, Excellent = 3) | |
| _____ | Laboratory Skills: The students show evidence of the laboratory, computation or engineering skills required to collect the data for the project. |
| _____ | Results: The students have analyzed the results in depth by preparing tables and/or graphs, and by computing averages and other statistics. The students have accurately labeled graphs and tables using correct units. |
| _____ | Adult Help: The students did the research and prepared the exhibit with minimum help from adults. |
| _____ | Safety: The students used safe procedures in conducting the experiment and in presenting the results. |
| Part IV SUBTOTAL: __________ (maximum = 12) | |
| Part V: Clarity (Missing = 0, Satisfactory = 1, Excellent = 2) | |
| _____ | Title and Student's Name: The title accurately describes the project. The students' name and grade level are given. |
| _____ | Oral Presentation: The students' oral explanations are clear and effective, and reflect a good understanding of the project and the exhibit. |
| _____ | Exhibit: The exhibit communicates effectively. The display is well organized and uses large lettering or visual aids to emphasize main points. Details are clear from a distance of 3-5 meters. |
| _____ | Backboard: The backboard is clearly written and uses correct grammar and spelling. |
| _____ | Written Report: A written report is on display that includes most of the same elements as the exhibit. |
| Part V SUBTOTAL: __________ (maximum = 10) | |
|
Part VI: Team Work (Unsatisfactory = 0, Satisfactory = 2, Excellent = 4) |
|
| _____ | Oral Presentation: The students contribute about equally to the oral presentation. |
| _____ | Research: The students contributed about equal amounts of work and time to the overall research conducted. |
| _____ | Knowledge: The students demonstrate equivalent knowledge and understanding of the project. |
| _____ | Responsibility: The students are polite and respectful of the judges, teachers, and their fellow team students. |
| Part VI SUBTOTAL: __________ (maximum = 16) | |
TOTAL SCORE: __________ (maximum = 100)
Some of the best features of this project:
Some ideas the students might like to try in the future:
Introduction
| Guidelines
|
2001 Schedule
| Grading
& Rubrics
| Resources
Summit
Middle School Science Fair
Designed
and updated by Mery
Molenaar
October
2000
URL: http://www.geocities.com/mery_molenaar/sci_fair