th Grade Science Fair Projects About What Items Are The Most Biodegradable

When students enter the 6th grade they are transitioning between elementary school and junior high school. This grade is a challenging year where science students are exposed to more complex science concepts and processes. This new exposure can be supplemented with science fair projects that explore the biodegradability of common products.

Hypothesis

The first component of any good science fair project is a good hypothesis. A hypothesis needs to clearly define the cause and effect relationship that the project wants to study. For this free sample science fair project for 6th graders the hypothesis is going to be, organic materials are more biodegradable than inorganic materials.

Experiment

To test the validity of the hypothesis that has been created at least two different experiments need to be developed. The first experiment is the control experiment and the second will be the test experiment.

The control experiment is going to focus on the average rate of decomposition of organic materials. Organic materials are going to include things like fruits, wood and meat. To test how biodegradable these materials are the student will need to see how long it takes for the organic items to decompose when left out in the air, when buried under dirt and when submerged under water.

The test experiment is going to replicate the control experiment in every aspect except it will test inorganic materials as opposed to organic materials. Inorganic materials are going to be non-living things such as plastic and metal.

**You can amp up the value of your science fair project by also exploring how enzymes can be used to speed up the decomposition of organic and inorganic materials.

Collecting Data

The next step is to collect data from each experiment. The data that will be collected in this project will include both observations about the physical state of the materials during the decomposition process and a day count to reach specific stages of decomposition.

For example, stages of decomposition include no decomposition, initial stages of decomposition, half way decomposition and complete decomposition. You will need to define each stage of decomposition so that your data will be consistent.

Results

The results of your science fair project on which items are the most biodegradable are going to start by describing the data that you collected. For this project you will want to describe how the decomposition process of organic materials differed from that of inorganic materials. You will also need to describe each groups rate of decomposition.

Next you will want to identify the trends in your data. For example, you can say that on average the organic materials decomposed in 30 days as opposed to the inorganic materials that had only minimal signs of decomposition after 30 days.

Conclusion

The conclusions that you draw from your results are going to be based on your background research and on the data that you collected. It is important not to jump to conclusions that cannot be fully supported by your data or your research. Finally, you need to either state that your data supported your hypothesis or that it contradicted your hypothesis.