Nurturing a Culture of Science & Technology Science Research Methodology

Lesson plan

MODUL 1: SELECTING A TOPIC FOR YOUR SCIENCE PROJECTS

Duration: 80 min.

Objectives of learning outcomes: A student is able to:

1. State the importance of doing science investigation in school.
2. State the process involved to select the topic of a science project.
3. Differentiate between scientific investigation projects and non scientific projects.

Materials: LCD projector and screen, Appendix 1 (checklist of acceptable science

project question, computers accessible to internet, scientific magazine, books,
encyclopaedia.

Activities:

1. Teacher asks students about anything around them that were not available 10
years ago. Teacher may give a few examples and then explain briefly that R&D
has to be carried out before products can be commercialised eg. MP3’s and
hand phone, DVD’s, plasma TV. Teacher then may explain that to become a
developed nation we need more scientists who are involved in doing science
research.
2. Teacher asks students why they need to carry out science projects.
3. Teacher explains the learning outcomes.
4. Teacher then shows Powerpoint presentation ‘Selecting a Topic for your Science
Projects’ slides 1 - 9. Teacher explains to the students that scientific discoveries
start from making observations. Teacher asks students how Newton started his
thinking process about the falling apple until he discovered the Law of Gravity.
5. Teacher explains to the students that in order to conduct a science project,
students should have ideas or topics of interest. Getting an idea for a project is
not easy. Brainstorming is a way to generate ideas for science projects. Teacher
shows slides 10 - 14 and elaborates the procedure in handling brainstorming
session.

54513195.doc
Nurturing a Culture of Science & Technology Science Research Methodology

Lesson plan

6. Teacher asks students to form groups of 4 – 5. Each group will be given 15

minutes to brainstorm until they can come up with at least one project question.
(Teacher shows slide 15).
7. Teacher asks representatives of each group to share their science project
questions. Teacher shows slide 16 (science project question checklist) and ask
students to check their project questions. Group representatives then share their
reflection and explain the strength and the weaknesses of the question.
8. Teacher shows slide 17 - 18. Using the internet, teacher demonstrates / asks a
student to demonstrate how to access the website pages using search engines
to reach the appropriate websites. Teacher also shows how to get information
from electronic encyclopaedias (e.g. Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica /
Encarta etc).
9. Teacher shows slides 19 - 23 (examples of acceptable and unacceptable science
projects).

Closure:

Teacher summarises his /her lesson. Teacher asks students if they need further
clarification on certain parts of the lesson.

54513195.doc