Project Step

  Helping at the Right Level

              Going Too Far

Ask a question

Discussing with your child whether a project idea seems practical

Picking an idea and science project for your child; a topic that isn't of interest to him or her will turn into a boring project.

Do background research 

Taking your child to the library

Helping your child think of keywords for Internet searches

Doing an Internet search and printing out articles

Construct a hypothesis

Asking how the hypothesis relates to an experiment the child can do

Writing the hypothesis yourself

Test the hypothesis by doing an experiment

Assisting in finding materials

Monitoring safety (you should always observe any steps involving heat or electricity)

Writing the experimental procedure

Doing the experiment

Telling your child step-by-step what to do

Analyze data and draw a conclusion

Asking how your child will record the data in a data table

Reminding your child to tie the data back to the hypothesis and draw a conclusion

Creating a spreadsheet and making the graphs yourself, even if your child helps type in values

Announcing the conclusion yourself

Communicate your results

If presenting orally, acting as the audience

If displaying results on a board, helping bring it to school

Writing any of the text on the display board.

Determining the color scheme and other graphic elements