Over the last 100 years, our understanding of the world has evolved tremendously. Much of what we've learned has come from scientists who have had questions about the world and the way things worked. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Alfred Wegener questioned whether the continents had once formed a single land mass and then drifted apart, astronomers wondered if the Milky Way galaxy was the entire universe, and Theodore Roosevelt pondered whether setting up a national park system would help to preserve America's natural beauty. Today, we know that plate tectonics is a major force that shapes Earth's surface, that the universe stretches far beyond our galaxy, and that our national parks not only preserve America's natural beauty but also the plants and animals within.
Each year our Museum scientists go on expeditions to pursue the answers to their own questions. They travel across the planet to places as far away as the island of Madagascar and as close as Central Park in New York City. These scientists observe, predict, gather data, and document what they find. They record their data and refer to it again and again. With each careful, detailed field study, scientists add to the existing body of knowledge.
You Are Invited!
You too can join scientists in exploring the world around you. The Young Naturalist Awards program invites you to plan and conduct your own scientific investigation, one that will include observations, questions, predictions, trips into the field to gather data, and analysis. You are not expected to make a new scientific discovery. However, your investigation should provide you with a new understanding about your question. Tell us about your investigation in an essay that includes tables, charts, or graphs and artwork or photographs that help illustrate your findings. To learn more about the project you can do, see Selecting and Planning a Project.
Essays can be mailed to the Museum beginning December 1, 2011, and received no later than March 9, 2012. A panel of judges will review each essay, and twelve winners, two from each grade, will be chosen. Winners will receive cash awards. In May 2012, they will be invited, along with a parent or guardian, on an expense-paid trip to New York City to attend an award ceremony at the Museum and to take a behind-the-scenes tour. In addition, their essays will be published on the Museum's Web site. For more information regarding the awards and eligibility see Rules and Regulations.
Selecting and Planning a Project
Plan your own investigation!
You can plan your own scientific investigation whether you live in a city, in the suburbs, or in the country. You can investigate a local park, lake, stream, beach, or woodlands or even your own backyard. Your investigation should be a journey into the natural world where you will research a question that you have or a question that you may uncover. You may also conduct experiments that will help you answer a question. To get ideas, read the essays of past winners on this website and learn how they conducted their investigations. Choose a topic in one of the following areas: biology, ecology, Earth science, or astronomy. Use scientific inquiry to help you plan and conduct your research.
The Process of Scientific Inquiry
- Make Observations
Go to a natural area—a park, a stream, or a backyard. Take a notebook; leave your cell phone and music-playing devices at home. Look closely; listen carefully. What do you notice? What sparks your curiosity?
- Ask Questions
What questions do you have about what you’ve seen? Can doing research and collecting data answer them? Formulate a specific question that will be the focus of your investigation. It must be a question that can be answered through scientific research. See What Makes a Good Scientific Question?
- Do Background Research
Research your topic to learn more about it. Find sources on the Internet. Find information in scientific books and journals. If possible, interview an expert on the topic.
- Make Predictions
Based on your research and your observations so far, come up with a hypothesis. The hypothesis is a possible explanation or answer to your question. If you are not ready to make a hypothesis you can wait until you have collected more data. Using the hypothesis make a prediction, a testable statement that describes what you think the outcome of your investigation will show.
- Plan Procedures to Gather Data
What data will you need to test your prediction? You can gather data by making observations, taking measurements, and conducting an experiment (experiments can be physical or computer-based). Plan how you will collect the data you need. Write down your plan.
- Collect, Organize, and Display Data
Collect your data in an organized way. Make sure you have enough data to test your prediction. Present your data in charts, tables, or graphs so that it can be easily shared and analyzed.
- Analyze Data
Look at your data. Identify any patterns or trends. What does your data show? What inferences can you make?
- Use Data as Evidence to Evaluate Your Predictions
Once you’ve analyzed your data the results become your evidence. Does the evidence allow you to support or reject your hypothesis? Does it lead you to formulate a new hypothesis? If the results are not clear, you may have to collect more data or rethink your procedure.
- Gather Feedback and Revise
Prepare a draft of your essay (see Essay Checklist and 2011 YNA Judging Rubric). Have your teacher, mentor, or classmates read the draft. Ask for suggestions on how your essay could be improved. Revise your essay, if necessary.
- Prepare Your Final Report
Write about your investigation and your results to share with others. Be sure to include any new questions that came about as the result of your investigation.
Our goal is for you to explore the natural world. If you can relate an indoor experiment to an investigation in the natural world, then that is acceptable. If you have questions regarding this, contact the Young Naturalist Awards Administrator at yna@amnh.org.
How do I conduct background research to learn more about my topic?
Once you have a topic that interests you, do research to learn more about it. Go to outside sources such as books, science magazines, and websites. (Be careful to select reputable websites associated with universities, government organizations, and museums. User-generated content sites, such as Wikipedia, can be informative, but cannot be cited as a source.) If possible, find an expert on the topic that can provide you with more information. Consult your sources as you conduct your investigation. Keep a list of sources for your bibliography. If you use information from your sources in your essay you will need to credit them properly. See How to Avoid Plagiarism.
What is a prediction?
A prediction is based on a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a possible explanation or answer to your question. Your prediction is a testable statement describing what you think the outcome of your investigation will be. It should be based on your initial research and observations. For example, you may be aware that a creek nearby is polluted. Your question could be: “Why is the water in the creek polluted?” In your initial research you find that there is a factory on the banks of the creek. This leads you to formulate the hypothesis: “The creek is polluted by water coming from the factory.” From this hypothesis you can make the following prediction: “Water samples taken downstream of the factory will show higher levels of pollution than water samples taken upstream of the factory.”
How do I begin my investigation?
Start by making a plan. Think about what you’ve already learned through research and observations. Decide what data you will need, how you will collect that data, and how you will record it. Can you record information in a chart? A table? A list? Can you document your information using photographs? Suppose you were looking for the number of species of trees in your neighborhood. You would need to decide the boundaries of the area you are investigating. You might make a map and identify where each tree was found. You could also make a chart to record how many of each tree you saw.
You may need tools or equipment to conduct your research. If you are testing water, for example, you will need a water-testing kit. You might also need a thermometer to test the temperature of the water and the air. If you are taking measurements of size, you will need a tape measure. Field guides will help you identify plants and animals. Binoculars are also useful. Prepare all necessary items before visiting your site. See How to Plan an Investigation.
How many times should I visit my site?
The number of times you visit the site or sites you select will depend on the type, nature and amount of the data you need to collect. You want enough data in order to analyze it properly and come to solid conclusions. Remember that the natural world is dynamic. Changes occur daily and throughout the seasons, so most often more than one visit will be needed. Each time you visit, bring along a journal and any other research tools you may need.
How can I record data?
Keeping a field journal is a helpful way to record your expedition activities, observations, and questions. You may also use your journal to make drawings or to record data in charts to help keep your information organized. Photographs of your site or of the specimens you find is another good way of collecting data.
Most importantly, set up a control (or controls) in your procedure to ensure the data you collect is accurate. Suppose you want to know how temperature varies in a nearby pond over the course of a season or even the year. You determine that you will take temperature readings at the pond each day. Make sure you always take your temperature readings at the same time of day. Water temperature can fluctuate over the course of a day, so taking temperature readings at the same time will provide you with more consistent and reliable data.
When writing your essay, use drawings and photographs to further the reader’s understanding of your research topic and findings. When you do an illustration, make sure it is detailed, neat, and labeled. The drawing should reflect some aspect of your research. For example, you might notice that a squirrel flattens itself against a tree as a way of camouflaging itself. Draw a careful and detailed picture of the squirrel on the tree. Do not re-create illustrations you find in books or on the Internet.
Photographs are another good way of providing information to your reader. Do not take a series of random shots. Plan each photograph. Make sure the object you want to highlight is centered and in focus. Choose to include only those photos that illustrate the points you are trying to make. Write meaningful captions that connect the photo or illustration to your research. For more information, see How to Keep a Field Journal.
Do I need to collect more information?
Sometimes the data you collect will not provide you with all the information you need. You should expect to return to the library or go on the Internet to find more information about your topic as you analyze the information you collected during your expedition. This will help you put your observations in context and make more sense out of them. You can also conduct interviews with experts on the topic to gain more knowledge. It is very important to document the outside sources you use. Write down the title, author, publisher, and publication date of every book you consult. Note the pages that you read. Write down the website addresses of the sites you visit. You will need to cite these sources in your bibliography. For more information, see How to Write a Reference List.
What do I do after I've collected all my data?
The next step is to analyze your findings. Look at your data: your observations, measurements, sketches, photographs, notes, and the information you gathered from outside resources. All of this becomes your evidence. What can you infer? Was your prediction correct? Decide whether or not your evidence allows you to accept or reject your hypothesis. For example, suppose you questioned whether a nearby factory was polluting a lake. Based on observations you hypothesized that the factory was the polluter. If your evidence showed the factory as the polluter, your hypothesis would be supported. Suppose however that your evidence showed that the factory was not the polluter. In that case your evidence rejects your hypothesis. That would lead to new questions and hypotheses about who or what the polluter is. As you draw conclusions, it is very important to review your procedures to make sure that they are not flawed and how you might have refine your research methods. You should also think about any new questions that arose during your investigation and how they might lead to future research.
Will feedback help?
Sharing your work with others can be very valuable. Your teacher, mentor, or classmates can point out areas where your essay can be improved. Maybe a section needs to be made clearer. Maybe your data needs to be presented in a different format, a chart, for example, rather than a graph. Maybe captions are needed on photos. Look over the feedback you receive and use it to revise your essay.
How do I prepare a final report?
Present your findings in a narrative essay. Begin by outlining what your essay will include and in what order. Combine the story of your personal investigation with sound facts, detailed observations, and insightful questions. Look at the 2012 YNA Judging Rubric to see how judges will evaluate your essay. As you write your essay, keep the following points in mind:
- Personal voice
Tell about your expedition in your own words, with your own unique style. While your essay is a scientific paper, we prefer that you do not write it according to a strict scientific style. We are looking for your thoughts and insights as you put into writing the experiences you encountered and the knowledge you gained.
- Clarity
Your ideas should follow a logical progression. Your procedures, research, documentation of findings, and conclusions should be presented with a clear and consistent focus.
- Grammar
Check that grammar and sentence structure are correct. Check spelling.
- Proper citing of sources
If you use materials from other sources you must credit them properly. If you quote a source you must use quotation marks and cite the source. For more information, see How to Avoid Plagiarism.
- Presentation
All entries must be typed and submitted on 8.5" x 11" white paper (no card stock). All artwork and photos must be submitted on 8.5" x 11" paper. All artwork and photos must be the student’s own work. Artwork or photographs downloaded from the Internet are not permissible and will disqualify an entry. All charts, tables, and graphs should be clearly labeled and referenced in the text of your essay. (Some maps or charts from other sources may be acceptable. Check with the YNA administrator.) Essays (along with visuals) may not exceed 20 pages. Neatness counts! For more information, see Rules and Regulations.
- Reference Lists
The reference list shows those judging your essay that you have researched your topic thoroughly by consulting a variety of sources. It shows that the findings you have presented in your essay are backed up by solid evidence. The background information that you built upon in your research was based on the ideas of others. These people and their works need to be cited in your reference list. (See How to Write a Reference List.)
