Dear Ulrich,
FIRST of all, define whether your project is “research” - trying to find out the relationship between different things that are not already known, or “demonstration” - showing how a scientific principle or idea is exhibited in nature or technology. Then you will know how to set up the project and describe the process and outcomes.
Many different demonstrations can be found in books and online sources. The interest for a science fair project is to show what you have learned about the subject in a way that is both entertaining and educationnal for the audience. A research project is a bit different, as no particular experiments may exist for reference. An important difference between a demonstration and a research project is that the research project should follow the “Scientific Method” of investigation. Again, many good references on how to do that are available in books or online. Many good one-page graphics are available on Pinterest.
The most important part is to NOT try to obtain a particular result! The point is to show through experimentation whether there is any relationship. You want valid results, no matter what the conclusions are. This is done by stating a “Hypothesis”. That is not a “guess” or hoped-for outcome, as often used in popular discussions, but a specific “yes-no” question that can be answered with statistical significance by your experiments.
Specific answers to your questions on this experiment:
I'm doing a science fair project on which popcorn brand out of Orville Redenbacher's, Act 2, and Hyvee's brand leaves the least kernels when popped for 2 minutes and i wanted to ask a chemists advice, so i came to you.
A: Is there anything I should do to make sure I get the best results?
Understand that “best results” are those that are consistent, realistic and repeatable – NOT necessarily a result that you wanted! So, the best result are obtained with the most careful experiments. A clear, “Yes/No” Hypothesis Statement that can be analyzed with the data from the experiments should be stated.
B: Which brand do you think will come in first?
That is a good example of a question that should NOT be part of a research experiment! The experiment might show that one fits the hypothesis better than others, but even if it is one motivation for doing the experiment, the project itself should not be biased by a preference.
C: What would you ask me if our roles were switched and I was the chemist and you were the student?
What is a good hypothesis statement for this experiment? How can II conduct the experiment in the safest possible way? How much data, and what statistical tests should I apply to the results to determine whether my Hypothesis Statement is true or not?
Best regards,
Steven
