Stop 3 of 6 · Weekly
Science-fair helper
Turn a vague idea into a plan you can actually run, and check the one fact that matters.
What you are making
One page: the question, what you will change, what you will measure, and what you predict. Karim signs the bottom before you start.
Start with a question, not a topic
"Volcanoes" is a topic. "Does warm water dissolve sugar faster than cold water" is a question, and you can answer it at the kitchen table in an afternoon. Maya lets Claude squeeze the topic down by asking her things, and she answers out loud so Karim hears the idea take shape.
The plan and the one check
Once the question is small, the plan writes itself: what you change, what stays the same, what you measure, how many times. Then comes the checking habit. Any number Claude hands you gets checked somewhere else before it touches the poster.
Try this
I am 11 and my dad is next to me. I want to do a science project about [your topic]. Ask me one question at a time, up to six, until we have a question I can test at home in one week with things we already have. Do not suggest the project yourself until I have answered.
Turn my question into a plan with four parts: what I change, what I keep the same, what I measure, and what I think will happen. Keep it under one page. At the end, list any fact in it that my dad and I should check somewhere else. My question is: [your question].