🗓️ Two weeks, one week or one weekend: three plans

The five jobs

• 🧺 Gather what you need and print your sheets.
• 🧪 Do the test: the first try at every level.
• 🔁 Do it again until every level has its tries.
• ✏️ Find the middle numbers, draw the graph, write the conclusion.
• 🪧 Make the board.

The jobs always go in this order, and none gets skipped. When time is short they share days. When there's time to spare, the spare days go between the testing and the writing, so the board never gets done in a rush.

Count your days, then take away three for gathering, writing and the board. What's left is your testing time. Day 1 below is the day you start, and the fair is the day after the last one.

One weekend

The fair is on Monday and it's Saturday morning. You need a project that tests in a single day, like Which ball bounces the most times?. Here's its plan:

• Saturday: 🧺 Gather what you need and print your sheets.
• Saturday: 🧪 Do the test: the first try at every level.
• Saturday: 🔁 Do it again until every level has its tries.
• Sunday: ✏️ Find the middle numbers, draw the graph, write the conclusion.
• Sunday: 🪧 Make the board.

94 projects fit a weekend. Here are the easiest:

• Which ball bounces the most times?: kindergarten, 1 day of testing, free.
• Does a higher ramp make a toy car roll farther?: kindergarten, 1 day of testing, free.
• Which paper goes farthest: a flat sheet, a ball or a plane?: kindergarten, 1 day of testing, free.
• Does a toy's shadow get bigger when the flashlight comes closer?: kindergarten, 1 day of testing, free.
• Sink or float: does a bigger foil boat carry more blocks?: kindergarten, 1 day of testing, free.

See them all on the one-weekend page.

One week

With seven days you can do your tries on different days, which is better science anyway. Here's the plan for Does a paper bag make a banana ripen faster?, which takes 4 days of testing:

• Day 1: 🧺 Gather what you need and print your sheets.
• Day 2: 🧪 Do the test: the first try at every level.
• Days 3 to 5: 🔁 Do it again until every level has its tries.
• Day 6: ✏️ Find the middle numbers, draw the graph, write the conclusion.
• Day 7: 🪧 Make the board.

These need more than a weekend, but less than a week, of testing:

• When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?: kindergarten, 3 days of testing, free.
• Do green onions regrow best in water or soil?: 1st–5th grade, 7 days of testing, about $2.
• Does a paper bag make a banana ripen faster?: 2nd–6th grade, 4 days of testing, about $3.
• Where does the most rain land: the open yard, under a tree or by the house?: 2nd–8th grade, 7 days of testing, free.
• Do soaked beans sprout faster?: 2nd–6th grade, 7 days of testing, free.
• What softens an eggshell fastest?: 3rd–7th grade, 3 days of testing, about $3.
• Do seeds sprout faster somewhere warm?: 3rd–7th grade, 7 days of testing, free.
• Do bigger seeds sprout faster?: 3rd–7th grade, 7 days of testing, about $3.
• Do roots grow down even if you turn the seed?: 3rd–7th grade, 7 days of testing, free.
• Where is it windiest around your home?: 4th–8th grade, 3 days of testing, free.
• Which grows crystals faster: salt or sugar?: 4th–8th grade, 5 days of testing, free.

Everything that fits is on the one-week page.

Two weeks or more

Two weeks opens up the projects that grow. Where does grass come up first: a sunny window, a shady room or a dark cupboard? takes 10 days of testing, and its plan looks like this:

• Day 1: 🧺 Gather what you need and print your sheets.
• Day 2: 🧪 Do the test: the first try at every level.
• Days 3 to 11: 🔁 Do it again until every level has its tries.
• Day 13: ✏️ Find the middle numbers, draw the graph, write the conclusion.
• Day 14: 🪧 Make the board.

The projects that need more than a week:

• Where does grass come up first: a sunny window, a shady room or a dark cupboard?: kindergarten, 10 days of testing, about $3.
• Do plants bend toward the window?: 1st–5th grade, 12 days of testing, free.
• How much water do bean seeds need to sprout?: 2nd–6th grade, 10 days of testing, free.
• Does a bean grow taller in the dark?: 2nd–6th grade, 10 days of testing, about $2.
• Do beans grow best in soil, sand or cotton?: 2nd–6th grade, 14 days of testing, about $3.
• Do potatoes sprout faster in the light or dark?: 2nd–6th grade, 14 days of testing, free.
• Which paper colour fades fastest in the sun?: 2nd–6th grade, 14 days of testing, free.
• Does planting a seed deeper make it slower to come up?: 3rd–8th grade, 14 days of testing, about $1.
• Does grass grow best under red, blue or green light?: 4th–8th grade, 14 days of testing, about $3.
• Does salty or sugary water change a bean plant?: 4th–8th grade, 14 days of testing, about $2.
• Do crowded seeds grow shorter?: 4th–8th grade, 14 days of testing, about $2.
• Do grass roots stop soil washing away?: 4th–8th grade, 14 days of testing, about $3.
• Which kitchen scrap helps a plant grow most?: 4th–8th grade, 21 days of testing, about $3.

Keep a logbook every day, even the days you only look. A dated line each day (what I did, what I saw, what I think) shows a judge the work happened over time. Print the logbook sheet, and see everything for two weeks or more.

Let the countdown do it

Keep a project from Pick my project and add your fair date. The countdown spreads the five jobs over your days and shows today's job. If the plan is tight, it says so, while there's still time to pick a shorter project.