Science fair results table template: print it, fill it, graph it

A science fair results table has the thing you changed down the side, one column for each try across the top, and, from about 4th grade, a last column for the mean (the average of the tries). Put the unit in the header, write every number the moment you measure it, and draw the graph straight underneath. Peabody's results table prints exactly that, blank or already filled in for any of its projects.

I built the science fair pages so the sheets come from the same data as the project, which means they always agree: the levels you're told to test are the rows of the table, the unit you're told to measure is in the header, and the graph's labels match. Here's how to read one and fill it in.

What goes where

• The left column is what you changed: the levels you tried, in order. For the ramp project that's 1 book, 2 books, 3 books.
• The middle columns are your tries: Try 1, Try 2, Try 3. Three is the minimum, because one try can be a fluke.
• The unit goes in the header, not in every box: "Try 1 (cm)". A table with no units is one of the commonest mistakes judges see.
• The last column is the mean, from 4th grade. Add the tries and divide by how many there were.

A filled example (made-up numbers)

Here is the ramp project, Does a steeper ramp make a toy car go farther?, with numbers made up for the example:

Finding the mean: for 1 book, 78 + 82 + 80 = 240, and 240 ÷ 3 = 80. If it doesn't divide evenly, round to one decimal place, or to the nearest whole number for younger children.

Notice the tries in each row are close together. That's a good sign: the test was fair. If one try were way off (say 40 instead of 80), you'd do that try again and write in your logbook why.

Drawing the graph

The template has graph paper under the table, ruled at 8 mm.

• What you changed goes along the bottom. What you measured goes up the side, with its unit.
• A bar graph when the things you tried are separate kinds (three kinds of paper towel, four kinds of floor).
• A line graph when the thing you changed is a number that goes up (1, 2, 3 books; 10, 20, 30 pennies). Each Peabody project says which.
• Plot the means, not every try. Older students can mark the highest and lowest try as a little line above and below each point.

Try tonight

Print a blank results table and do the quickest test in the house: drop a ball from 100 cm onto three floors, three times each, and measure the bounce. Fill it in, find the means, and draw three bars. That's a real project, start to finish, in under an hour.

Questions grown-ups ask

Does a 2nd grader need a mean?

No. Three tries in the table is the habit that matters at 1st to 3rd grade, and a bar for the middle try is fine. The mean column starts at 4th grade on Peabody's sheets.

Can my child type the table instead?

A handwritten table is better at elementary fairs: it shows the child did the measuring. A typed copy for the board is fine if they made the original.

What if the numbers don't show a pattern?

Then that's the result. "Changing the ramp height made no clear difference" is a real conclusion, if the tries were done fairly.

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