5/6 Grade Science Fair Projects - Student Help Needed

A message from the Wolf class:

 The Wolf class is currently designing and completing experiments for our science fair project. We have some very creative ideas and are excited to complete our studies! Four students are in need of data that can only be collected from school friends, and are thus requesting your permission to have your child participate in these science experiments.  

All four projects meet the standards for a Waiver of Informed Consent by the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (the parent fair of the State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa). Regardless, we felt it best to share the students’ plans and give all families the option to deny consent for their child(ren) to participate.

Here are the four experiments:

1.  Gender Stereotypes and Young Children - The student researcher is interested in how age and gender

impact the development of gender stereotypes. She will show a picture of an infant and ask each participant

to select six adjectives from a provided list to describe the baby. Personal information, other than age and

gender, will not be collected. Time needed: 3-5 min per child.

2.  Perception of Time - The student researcher is testing if the level of enjoyment one feels while completing an activity affects the amount of time the participant feels has passed. Activities will include basic school tasks, such as math problems, reading, drawing, or writing. Each participant will complete the activity, rate their enjoyment, and predict the time spent. Personal information, other than age and gender, will not be collected. Time needed: 10-15 min per child.

3.   The Stroop Effect - The student researcher is exploring how age and gender impact the Stroop Effect. The Stroop Effect is tested with the well-known task using the names of colors printed in colors that don’t match the name. You are required to say the color of the word, not what the word says. For example, for the word RED, you should say "Blue." Each participant would complete a computer-based task designed to test the Stroop Effect. Personal information, other than age and gender, will not be collected. Time needed: 3-5 min per child.

4.  Sugar in Soft Drinks - The student researcher is conducting a survey to measure children’s understanding of sugar levels in soft drinks. She will display a variety of soft drinks and ask participants to predict, using sugar cubes, how much sugar is contained in the given volume of each drink. Personal information, other than age and gender, will not be collected. Time needed: 3-5 min per child.

All experiments will take place at Willowwind between February 13 – February 23, 2017.

Thank you for your consideration of these young scientists’ project needs. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at racheld@willowwind.org. If you do not want your child to participate in any or all of these experiments, please contact both your classroom teacher and me (e-mail is sufficient) to withdraw by Friday, February 10. If you are comfortable with your child participating, no response is required.

Many thanks for your support of our scientific endeavors!

Rachel DeMaris, 5/6 teacher

and student researchers Claire, Miranda, Rosie, and Ruby