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Canadian Science Fair Journal Partnership
Workshop 1
Introduction
Workshop 2
methods and MAterials
Workshop 3
Results and Discussion
Scientific Proposal
We have partnered with the Canadian Science Fair Journal to provide an exclusive opportunity for all GSM mentees. The Canadian Science Fair Project is an open-access online journal that showcases student science fair projects while working to foster passion, networking and science literacy. Participants have the chance to have their science projects published in a science journal. Many students do not have this opportunity until post secondary school or ever later in their academic careers, that's why we are really excited for our mentees to have the chance to be published in a scientific journal at a young age,
Submission details
Divisions
Junior: grades 7-10
Senior: grades 11-12
Submission
deadline
Sunday March 13th, 2022
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2
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3 Reasons
Why you should participate
It looks great on resumes as it shows you have research and scientific writing experience. Perfect for when applying to jobs related to STEM.
It get's the attention of reviewers when you apply for grants, scholarships or awards. It helps you stand out and become noticed.
Overall it's excellent to have this experience at an early age especially if you are interested in enrolling in a STEM post-secondary program. Scientific writing and research are large components of STEM academics thus having early exposure will help you in the future.
Office Hours
Age Group
The GSM events team will be hosting weekly office hours on Thursdays at 6pm to help participants with their research proposals.
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January 27th
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February 3rd
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February 10th
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February 17th
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February 24th
Introduction
Materials
and
methods
There will also be a part 4 of the workshop series hosted by CSFJ on Thursday February 24th at 7pm. We will go over how to put all the sections together and answer any questions.
Visit our events page to RSVP.
Workshop 1
Introduction
3 Things to Include
1.
Introduce relevant literature
2.
3.
Explain why your study is novel/important
Hypothesis
Avoid These Common Mistakes
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Jumping to the hypothesis and not providing a background of your experience
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Starting too broad and not specifying your topic
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Not defining important key terms
Watch part 1 of the workshop series
Work through an example paper
How to come up with an experiment topic
A science experiment does not need to be complicated and over the top. Some times the best experiments are the simple ones. Start asking yourself these questions if you have a hard time finding inspiration for a topic:
What is something that makes you wonder?
What is something that you're curious about?
Experiment Topics Examples
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What type of grass seed grows the fastest?
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Are hybrid cars really more energy-efficient than gas or diesel-powered cars?
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Can you tell how much biodiversity is in a water sample by how murky the water is?
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What type of grass seed grows the fastest?
A list of more science experiment topics can be found on these websites
Workshop 2
methods And Materials
3 Things to Include
1.
Description of the tools and resources used
2.
Explain how you conducted your experiment
Clear instructions on your procedure and how data is collected
3.
Avoid These Common Mistakes
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Writing a list and not a descriptive paragraph of materials used
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Background information that is irrelevant to the materials and procedure
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Weak description on how you conducted your experiment
Watch part 2 of the workshop series
Work through an example paper
Components of a Controlled Experiment
Independent Variables
A variable that ins't changed by other variables
Can you systematically and precisely manipulate them?
EX: age
Dependent Variables
A variable that changes due to another variable
Can you precisely measure changes in this variable?
EX: weight,
Confounding Variables
A variable that influences the dependent and independent variables
Can you control them? How? Do you know their effect?
EX: gender
Designing Your Study
How many subjects/trials
More trials allow for better statistics but can also cause complications
Avoid bias
Assign groups randomly
Need a control group
It's the baseline, to which everything get's compared to
Workshop 3
Results and Discussion
3 Things to Include
1.
Interpret what you would expect the results to be
2.
Explain any errors that could alter the results
Find literature that supports your predicted results
3.
Avoid These Common Mistakes
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Not labeling all figures and tables
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Writing a list and not a descriptive paragraph of results
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Not explaining any errors that occured
Watch part 3 of the workshop series
Work through an example paper
Source of Errors
Sometimes in scientific experiments there are errors and that can alter your results. You don't need to explain and outline every error but it's important to recognize that a specific error could have altered your expected results.
Source of Error Examples
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The temperature was not the same between all trials
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Calculations were not properly calculated
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Incorrect unit of measurement
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The volume of liquid that was measured was not the same between trails
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Did not read measurements correctly
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Spilled or dropped a piece of equipment
Don't Forget Citations
Citations are important as it shows your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information. It also helps support your results and hypothesis. There is no minimum or maximum number of references/citations required. Do not copy and paste sentences from scientific literature rather take key words, phrase in your own sentences and then indicate the source of literature where the idea came from.
Workshop 4
Submission Review
Listen to part 4
of the workshop series
Audio recording
Format
1.
Less then 10 pages single-spaced
2.
Font size 12, Times New Roman
No more then 8 figures and/or tables
3.
Listen to some of the questions that participants asked