........60NOTECARDS
You will be asked to take brief notes on 3 x 5 cards from some of the references you’ve found. Notecards may contain 1-2 sentences, quoted or paraphrased, or diagrams, definitions, etc.
Notecards also contain a category title, and a code system to tell which reference and page the information was taken from. See below for a typical notecard.

Only write notes which you feel will be usable in some way in writing a background research paper. DON’T WRITE notes if YOU do NOT understand what they mean!!!!

Be sure to use your notecards by assigning a category title in the upper left hand corner, then, number them from 1-100+ in the upper right hand corner. (JUST IN CASE you drop them!!)
A typed Bibliographic Reference Sheet must accompany the notecards, in which the numbered references match the coding system used on the notecards.

Remember: you will need a minimum of 3 previous experiments that are similar to your project that provide information to validate your hypothesis. Be sure your research will be of value to you and your paper!

RESEARCH PAPER
CLICK HERE FOR PDF OF PAPER OUTLINE
CLICK HERE for Article by Judy Fisher: How to Get an A

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SEARCH:
Locate books, periodicals, television references, web sites, and human resources which might help you learn more about your subject. READ about your topic before attempting to design an experiment. Write out bibliographic references in standard form for all resources used.
See the end of this page for standard bibliographic format. Before turning in this part of the assignment organize all references in alphabetical order by last name of authors. All references with NO authors follow the alphabetized references with authors. Those references without authors are alphabetized by the first letter of the first word in their titles. TV programs and interviewed consultants are listed last.

THE FINAL WRITTEN RESEARCH PAPER
PLEASE FOLLOW THIS FORMAT!
USE YOUR CARDS!!

Once a topic has been approved, the student may start researching their topic. A thorough understanding, thus serious research, is crucial to the success of the project. Often, through research, a student will develop their question even more and the project will get better and better. Before beginning the paper, students will spend over 2 weeks recording their research on note cards and creating a bibliography. There are 5 parts to the research paper, along with a few essential rules.

RESEARCH PAPER PARTS: Brief summary

Introduction (minimum 1/2, maximum l page)
A description of the problem being investigated; NOT a question. State how (not why) the experimenter (you!) selected this problem.

Previous Research in This Field Tie to Your Hypothesis
(3-4 previous experiments) 3-4 pages
What has been done by others in this field, or on related topics? This section should cite specific experiments, 3 or 4 that you have read about. For each include a short 3-4 sentence summary indicating what was done (the problem), what they found out (result, conclusion), and who did it. This section is ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT and will be 50% of your paper. Tie this previous research in with your project and tell how it led to or influenced your hypothesis.

Your Hypothesis: a quantative presentation of what you hope to discover based on your research. 1/2 page.

Techniques and Resources: 1-2 pages
Write a synopsis of your experiment - NOT numbered procedures, but a one paragraph summary or general view of what you will do, or what you might tell a friend about how you were going to conduct your experiment, but in more formal language. Describe the techniques that must be mastered in order for you to conduct this experiment, and a discussion of the resources and assistance that might be required.

Core Science Knowledge: 1-2 pages
This section should include core scientific information that you need as background to understand the specific research papers and technical information that you used in planning and conducting your experiment.

Conclusion: 1/2-1 page
Summary of key points that were made in above sections, NOT in same words. Include relevance, key research leading to hypothesis and an ending or phase out.

10 source minimum:
2 books must be used and
1 mentor (other than a parent)- find someone/ an adult who knows A LOT about your topic and have a conversation with them.
ASK THEM GOOD QUESTIONS.
E-mail mentors are great!!

ESSENTIAL RULES
* No “I”s or “you”s - write from the 3rd person
* Minimum of 5 pages of solid information, well written, in student's own words; you must know and understand what you are talking about.
* 12 point, Double spaced, Time Roman type font. Upper & lower case
•One inch margins
* EDIT, EDIT, and EDIT (no spelling mistakes!)
* USE YOUR NOTES & CARDS!!
* Cite references (footnotes) for all specific information & facts that are not common knowledge, for all quotations, and for all research results (a mininimumof 3 max of 9)
•Include numbered bibliography for all references used and cited; Place them in ALPHABETICAL ORDER!!
No more than ONE encyclopedia article (that includes WIKIPEDIA / ASK etc type of web site, include periodicals; include recent resources (last 5 years)